Grace and Frankie

Tomlin and Fonda have to find humor in harrowing moments and vice versa. They’re obviously up for the task, especially in the final three episodes, which set up a strong, surprising ending.

It's hard to classify Grace and Frankie except to say it’s splendid television.

If there are occasional rough spots in Grace and Frankie's third season, they're more than made up for by the deepening of the relationship and the charm of the leads.

That balance of gimmicky and profound undulates throughout the season. ... But the cuckoo is stitched together by the heft of Fonda and Tomlin’s performances and the intimacy of the writing when the show manages to take a step back and give the characters a beat for self-analysis.

The setup is stagey, the dialogue slack (or--worse--obvious).... [Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin] effortlessly know how to elevate even average material--and pretty much do so here.

Grace and Frankie has become, therefore, a show about letting go of grudges, being more accepting, and enjoying life--all very good sentiments that surface rarely in most other current sitcoms. Still, there’s the matter of actually being funny, which the show is, most of the time, not. At its worst, G&F goes for that most obvious of current sitcom clichés.

Beyond feeling like it’s a flippant NBC comedy, Grace and Frankie also feels very 1999.