❮ Boss
Season 1
Season Premiere:
Oct 21, 2011
Metascore
Generally Favorable
78
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.1
My Score
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Season Episodes
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
78
71% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
29% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Oct 19, 2011
100
Starz has its channel-defining series in Boss, a wholly impressive new drama that comes out of the gate with gravitas, swagger, originality and intrigue.
Sep 21, 2011
91
The script is tight and ambitious, as it attempts to anatomize corruption in the big city.
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.1
86% Positive
96 Ratings
96 Ratings
5% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
9% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
Sep 25, 2016
10
After putting it off for a long time (the series is not the most accessible because it doesn't follow any overly familiar pattern), I just finished the first season of Boss. There is no doubt in my mind this is a political show superior to House of Cards (also a great show put under the spotlight by the simple presence of Kevin Spacey). Where House of cards pushes a dramatic but unconvincing reality of extreme machiavelism in its first 2 seasons, Boss neutrally describes what is power in a major american city. The show's convincing depiction of its subject, its realism (while in the context of the extraordinary dramatic context of the mayor's illness) leaves the spectator with an admirative (for the show) feeling of unease (for what it describes) towards the political system we live in. It is a reminder that every political personality should be watched as a snake, if not because he is one, then because the person had to swallow so many of those reptiles to get into his position that it does not make much a difference in the end.
Feb 10, 2012
10
It is rare that you find a show which doesn't care if its audience won't keep up. Boss makes no excuses - it powers ahead, but without falling into the Aaron Sorkin motor-mouth mode. Fans of the West Wing might enjoy this, but Boss is deeper, faster and meaner - in more ways that one. Kelsey Grammer plays the lead character as if he was born for it - and it is hard to think of anyone in TV that quite matches Mayor Kane's power, malice and sheer evil. But before you learn that lesson, you will learn to love Kane and root for him: through his political fights, his estranged relationships and his disease (which makes for some fantastic "Whu?!" moments in the show). Boss is exceptional and arguably my best new show of 2011.
Oct 20, 2011
90
Starz' new eight-episode drama is at once the most cynical and most captivating portrayal of American politics ever presented on television.
Oct 21, 2011
80
Boss is electric with self-importance, and that is in itself is a hoot, given its particular combination of thematic pomp and expressionistic pulp.
Oct 20, 2011
75
Lots of the characterizations work wonderfully, and the acting is fantastic.
Oct 20, 2011
60
The problem is, the show that's been built around the actor (who's also a producer on the project) isn't nearly as interesting as what Grammer brings to the screen, and the sluggish pacing and melodramatic excesses of Boss could put off those drawn in by the actor's confident star turn.
Sep 21, 2011
58
Boss works hard to resist the usual "this is how we do things in Chicago" nonsense and dutifully aims for a somewhat "Wire"-esque believability. Yet it can also feel like a burden to watch.
Jan 29, 2012
10
Amazing show! I hadn't even heard of it until I saw Grammer win the Globe for best actor in a tv drama. Too bad this is on Starz and hence the limited audience. If this was on Showtime or HBO, there would be much more fanfare associated with the show. I watch quite a bit of TV and keep up with a lot of shows and somehow, I hadn't even heard of this. Thank goodness they greenlit a second season even before the premiere aired. Hopefully ratings will be better in S2 because I can't wait too see what happens with Tom Kane and everyone else down the road. The acting is great and it's produced and written very well. It is however, very dark and cynical. It's probably one of the most cynical shows I've ever **** if you like real dramas...this show's got it in spades.
Oct 24, 2011
6
25 minutes in I thought I'd just stumbled across the best new show of the year. Unfortunately those thoughts had vanished utterly by the end of the hour. Grammer is superb, the direction is incredible, and the general tone and setting is pitch perfect. Unfortunately the Writer (or perhaps Producer?) didn't seem to trust that a "straight" drama would be compelling enough and dips into the realms of the absurd resulting in a loss of all believability. Some of the things done would have been more at home in a comic book or superhero film portrayal of villainy / anti-hero. Adding insult to injury is a smoldering but incongruous sex scene utterly lacking in context. (and I have absolutely NO problem with gratuitous and graphic sexuality as long as it has even the merest justification) Grammar may get a well justified Emmy nomination for his performance, I just wish that the writing was equally as worthy of acclaim.
Nov 10, 2011
4
Kelsey Grammer does a great job as the morally conflicted Tom Kane, and the acting and storytelling is satisfactory. But unfortunately none of the characters are at all likable enough.
Oct 23, 2011
4
I'm not getting it. It seems like something we've ALL seen before. Starz is probably hoping this a winner. I will continue watching, but I'm not a fan.
Jan 4, 2017
0
Série politicarde sur la vie chiante comme la pluie d'un maire atteint d'une maladie incurable (c'est pour titiller la corde sensible, une ficelle grosse comme une maison) un maire qui se débat dans sa vie de politicard avec un tas d'autres tocards du même acabit dont on a rien à secouer et rien à branler. C'est donc bourré de blablas sur une mise en scène à deux de tension. Le journal télé de TF1 en comparaison (une comparaison très con mais appropriée) et ses chats écrasés s'avère infiniment plus intéressant à suivre que cette série à la godille qui donne envie de jeter sa godasse dans la gueule de l'écran.
