Keith Staskiewicz

Minority Report is networky to the extreme. Bland heroics, banter with all the snap of wilted celery, characters that are the sum of three adjectives and are so effortfully congenial you can practically see the studio exec’s red ink on their foreheads reading “More likable,” and, of course, that odd pro-authoritarian bent that most cop procedurals (except maybe Person of Interest) end up adopting.

They’re all well acted, wryly funny, and between 6 and 11 minutes long: the perfect dosage to leave you smiling, with no unpleasant aftereffects.

[Both first episodes are] funny enough on their own, although taken together they reveal how easily the show's formula can be read after being on the air for so long. [12 Sep 2014, p.58]

Overall, it’s a whole lot of premise-setting and foundation-building, but there’s enough here to be optimistic that this will be one more tick in the Good column of movie/TV synergy.

The pilot is less than the sum of its creative parts. [17 Jan 2014, p.61]

The expected jokes about Botox, nose jobs, and Alley's weight abound and are executed with old-school shticky competence, like a middling '90s sitcom that never was. [6 Dec 2013, p.74]

There are a few chuckleworthy lines, but overall the show is aiming straight down the middle, and that's exactly where it ends up. [25 Oct/1 Nov 2013, p.94]

The show takes place in the same tight-knit pseudo-Mayberry that serves as a locale for many of the channel's uninspired movies. [19 Jul 2013]

[An] overlong and cheesy adaptation.

[Mankind is] filled with overdone battle reenactments, unqualified celebrity talking heads, and slo-mo iron smelting set to electronic dance music.