House of Lies

The series is so pervasively cynical--and, by the way, brilliantly funny--it has the potential of making any viewer feel his or her life isn't so bad after all.

Lies is cynical enough to make "Up in the Air" look like "Once Upon a Time," but it's a stylish, sometimes witty cynicism.

House of Lies began as a brash comedy but ended its first season as a drama-comedy hybrid, a direction that needs to continue to keep the show from drowning in its own caricatures. The future might lie in Ms. Bell's character, Jeannie.

House of Lies is not a revolutionary show, but it is a fun study of men behaving badly.

Too brittle and full of bile to cleanly hit the target.

House of Lies lacks the heart of "Shameless" and Kaan lacks the likability of Duchovny's Hank Moody, which means we care very little about the characters after two episodes.

Because from its embellished execution to its uninspired writing and very conception, the smarmy House of Lies is like so many speculative financial bubbles that characters like Marty have had their hands in: There's just nothing there.