TV Review: NBC's 'Save Me'

NBC premieres comedy Save Me, starring Anne Heche as a woman who communicates with God after a near-death experience, premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. The following are reviews from TV critics around the Web, compiled by B&C.

“[T]he program is at least initially too mired in sitcom conventions and flourishes - including musical riffs seemingly lifted straight out of Desperate Housewives - to derive much mileage out from the ‘Is God really talking to Beth?’ conceit.”
–Brian Lowry, Variety

“The pilot, too, doesn’t make full use of Ms. Heche’s acting and comedic talents, and the bland family around her…doesn’t give her much to work with. All of these problems could ease with time, but time is something not many series are given these days.”
– Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

“Based on the pilot (which, again, may not represent what the show looked like once Hunt took over), it’s an unpleasant series full of hostile caricatures in need of fixing by Beth’s heaven-sent advice. And though the gimmick is supposed to be that you can’t tell if Beth is crazy or genuinely conversing with the Almighty, there’s a gag in the pilot that gives up the game at a much too early point.”
–Alan Sepinwall, HitFix

“The show…promises very little beyond the spectacle of Heche amping up her energy to convince everyone in her life that she is saved.”
–Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe

“Ostensibly a comedy, Save Me is more quirky than outright funny. It almost feels like a weird, little indie film if indie films were somewhat flat and predictable.”
–Rob Owen, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette