TV Review: NBC's 'Free Agents'
The U.S. adaptation of British comedy Free Agents premieres on NBC Wednesday at 10:30 p.m., before moving to its regular timeslot next week at 8:30 p.m. The following are reviews from TV critics around the Web, compiled by B&C.
“I found Free Agents more than tolerable, and there’s potential in the office ensemble that surrounds these two characters (though I wouldn’t mind if the super-sass of Natasha Leggero’s assistant character was toned down a bit).” — Maureen Ryan, AOL TV
“It’s virtually impossible to care about the characters, and not only is the show without a single laugh line, its attempts at humor come off as brittle and nasty.” — David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle
“It’s a show I would really like to like, and there are elements present in the pilot that make me want to see how it’s doing by, say, episode four or five, but it’s not there yet.” — Rick Porter, Zap2It
“Azaria and Hahn are both talented comedians, and the showrunner is John Enbom, who was the head writer on Starz’s brilliant-but-canceled Party Down, but they’ve combined to make a pilot that’s much more awkward than funny.” — Alan Sepinwall, HitFix.com
“The U.S. pilot, on the other hand, isn’t willing to be as dark — the real difference, beyond swear words, between NBC and BBC — and as a result, it seems flippant toward his characters.” — James Poniewozik, TIME
Ninfa commented:
I have to admit that I was not going to be sucked into hciawtng a series on T.V. (they take up too much time) but since I don't have cable to watch Monday Night Football, I watched Heroes and I absolutely am waiting for the next episode. I believe this might be one of those that I have to get the dvd of.I at first could not place the girl who is the cheerleader, but she is the one who came on Racing Stripes.The teaser for the next episode has me waiting to see what will happen. The flying guy had me totally surprised when it was his brother that could fly. And the man who is the father to the cheerleader, is he wearing the glasses from the guy who was killed in the beginning? I could go on and on with questions ..
Akash commented:
I can't confirm that it would be worth my time hitcwang, also, because I didn't.Professor Gates implies that his altercation with the white police officer should be used as a teaching moment. Let's look at another teaching moment.You Liberal screwballs need to understand something. Homeless people are often troubled and can be on drugs and dangerous. If you don't teach your children this fact, and how to protect themselves, then you are negligent. Must a murder of an innocent youth also be a teaching moment?