Right now, the best advice for Nia and her new husband is to move far away from her family. Far, far away. [25 Feb 2003, p.46]

If the characters and conflict of My Big Fat Greek Life continue to feel true to life, while regaining some of their edge, things might just turn out OK. Nia, at least, has learned to trust that they will.

The honeymoon's over. My Big Fat Greek Wedding ended its charmed existence as a word-of-mouth movie and became a noisy, standard-issue CBS sitcom Monday night. [25 Feb 2003, p.21A]

The series suffers from several major problems. Vardalos and Eckholdt do not have chemistry. He is a bland replacement for John Corbett, the film's charismatic heartthrob who is making another series.

Make a list of sitcom cliche shtick, and you'd find it all here. The eye-bulging hard-trying line sell. The ba-dum-bum punch line rhythm. The motormouth babbling to signify "wackiness." The louder- the-better sense of comedy. Even the family visit where members enter a room precisely a peculiar eight paces apart so each has time for an entrance "joke." [27 Feb 2003, p.B31]

So sadly, whoever missed out in the theater will be scratching their head wondering why this piffle of a project was the talk of 2002 and how it became the most profitable indie hit in history. But they should ponder all of that on the way to Blockbuster, where the movie, a much more pleasant endeavor, is available on DVD. [26 Feb 2003, p.12]

TWENTY-three million people tuned in Monday night to see My Big Fat Greek Life, expecting, no doubt, to see a new version of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Instead, we were dished up lukewarm leftovers that were about as funny as a big fat pan of spoiled spanikopita.