Critic Reviews

The series feels familiar but also fresh; predictable but not without character.

Generally an appealing little comedy, able to juggle things like identity and success and privilege and a general terror of aging with some nimble skill in a way that felt actually fresh.

Should Lopez go big and broad with cultural comedy, trafficking so hard in stereotypes they seem all the more absurd? Or stay subtle and let its less-enlightened characters hang themselves? “Lopez” can’t decide, overloading its pilot with maid/valet/parole jokes (those crazy Mexicans!) vs. “white-man problems.”

There is potential for Lopez, but George has to stop relying on old tricks.

Many jokes are barely smile-worthy, and the show still feels broad and sitcom-y, despite its single-camera format. Sometimes, Lopez seems to be recycling lines from his stand-up act. But it's another step forward for TV Land.

The first three episodes are good if a little erratic, but that's true of most sitcoms.

Some [single-camera semiautobiographical comedies] were bad (The Paul Reiser Show), others were not so bad (The Jim Gaffigan Showe). I wish I could say George Lopez's effort is on the higher end of things. [1/8 Apr 2016, p.99]

Lopez works best when it settles into being a mostly warm show with a bit of a bite, not a mostly biting show with a bit of warmth.

Despite a few references to well-publicized aspects of his biography--like divorcing his wife after she donated a kidney to him--the show is largely flavorless, with the funniest gag being a StarLine Tour bus that keeps swinging by his house and insulting him.

It's not that Lopez is terrible, just terribly unoriginal as it depicts its lead character as slightly out-of-touch, overly concerned with his image, etc.