Family comedy The Carmichael Show premieres Aug. 26 at 9 p.m. ET with back-to-back episodes. From executive producers Jerrod Carmichael and Nick Stoller, the sitcom stars Carmichael, Amber Stevens West, Lil Rel Howery, David Alan Grier and Loretta Devine. The following are reviews from TV critics around the web, compiled by B&C.
“And by splitting the two shows up, NBC did a favor to Carmichael Show, which is a sharper, more thoughtful, and just plain funnier version of the kind of retro multi-cam sitcom Mr. Robinson was trying to be.”
—Alan Sepinwall, HitFix
“Over the course of three episodes, some funny moments do emerge, but too often the writing feels as if it’s veering out of its lane to make points instead of doing so organically.”
—Brian Lowry, Variety
“Even though it’s not a perfect mix, you can see the series The Carmichael Show is striving to be here, and it’s a shame that it likely won’t be able to hone its voice further, given NBC's vote of no confidence.”
—Keith Uhlich, The Hollywood Reporter
“Every successful family sitcom, from I Love Lucy up to Black-ish, has had some extra dimension, some subtly deeper layer. For all there is to like about Carmichael, that added bit of substance, at least out of the box, feels elusive.”
—David Hinckley, New York Daily News
“The star is as good as he needs to be, given the excellent company. Smartly, the heavy lifting has been turned over to the seasoned professionals: Carmichael may be the man in the middle, but for much of the time this might as well be called ‘The Devine and Grier Show.’ They are unfailingly funny, whatever they are asked to say.”
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times
