GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Television

2008-09 Midseason
2008 Fall Season
2008 Summer Season
2007-08 Midseason
2007 Fall Season
2007 Summer Season
2006-07 Midseason
2006 Fall Season
2006 Summer Season
2005-06 Midseason
2005 Fall Season
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss TV In Our Forums

 

 

Upcoming & Recent Series Premieres

Damages Season Two 80
FX, Wednesday

13: Fear Is Real 31
CW, Wednesday

Game Show in My Head 34
CBS, Saturday

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Standoff
SERIES: Fox, Tuesday 9:00p (60 minutes)

Standoff
Critic Score
Metascore: 37 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.1 out of 10
based on 20 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?
based on 46 votes
read user comments
rate this tv show

Starring Ron Livingston, Rosemarie DeWitt, Michael Cudlitz, Gina Torres, and Raquel Alessi

The short summary: FBI hostage negotiators in love. The slightly longer summary: Fox tries for "Moonlighting," but the witty banter part proves to be too tough to reproduce.

GENRE(S): Drama
CREATED BY: Craig Silverstein
FIRST AIR DATE: September 5, 2006

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75
Christian Science Monitor Gloria Goodale
The series' unique angle lends itself to interesting psychological drama as it explores the hows and whys of hostage negotiation - even as it dishes out a heavy helping of FOX's de rigueur hoppin' hormones.
Read Full Review
75
Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn
Standoff doesn't recreate the genre, but it certainly refreshes it. [15 Sep 2006, p.64]
50
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
Can we negotiate for a better premise if we release some hostages?
Read Full Review
50
Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith
The main thing in its favor is the chemical tension between its stars. That may not be enough, but it's something.
Read Full Review
50
USA Today Robert Bianco
It's hard to say what seems sillier: the show's misplaced attempts at comedy or the intuitive leaps that allow the agents to solve the case.
Read Full Review
50
Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy
From start to finish, "Standoff" is slickly contrived, formulaic crime drama nonsense.
Read Full Review
40
Newsday Verne Gay
"Standoff" does seem to emerge miraculously out of the fumes of '70s TV - a near-perfect reformulation of every bone-weary cliche, every hackneyed piece of cop chatter (Dan Tanna lives!) that last-century TV glorified in.
Read Full Review
40
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
Chemistry is supposed to be the binding element of “Standoff,” and the two leads, while appealing in their own right, seem neither well matched nor sufficiently mismatched.
Read Full Review
40
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
There's potentially a good show here; the pilot's just a miss.
Read Full Review
40
Los Angeles Times Paul Brownfield
The standoffs... are less than exhilarating thrill rides.
Read Full Review
38
New York Daily News David Hinckley
These actors more than deserve a series of their own. They deserve a good one, and "Standoff" isn't it.
Read Full Review
38
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
If Matt and Emily blow up, the show doesn't get a second episode. Because they'll be dead. Keep your fingers crossed.
Read Full Review
30
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
"Standoff" isn't a terrible show, it's just an unnecessary one.
Read Full Review
30
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
The tonal dissonance in "Standoff" is deafening, like pairing up, say, Jewel and Meat Loaf for a duet.
Read Full Review
30
Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart
I’m having a reverse case of Stockholm Syndrome with “Standoff”: The more time I spend with it, the less I like it.
Read Full Review
20
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
The series premiere suffers from a catalog of problems longer than most demand lists.
Read Full Review
20
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
"Standoff" fails to connect on almost every level.
Read Full Review
10
Variety Phil Gallo
An awkward pairing of adult relationship drama and procedural cop show, "Standoff" bombs on both counts.
Read Full Review
10
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
Never mind the unbelievable premise -- the way the audience is introduced to it is so strained it's painful to watch.
Read Full Review
10
Washington Post Tom Shales
It's hard to imagine a civilized audience of any significant size wanting to sit through these trumped-up conflicts and lazy-daisy crises week after week.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this tv show is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 46 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

J C. gave it a9:
This was one of the only shows that I actually looked forward to... it was easy to get into the show with the actors involved.

Sheila gave it a10:
I am very disappointed that the show was canceled. It was 1 of only 2 shows I looked forward to all week and Ive already started watching past episodes on myspace.

Mary M. gave it a10:
I enjoy the romance of Matt and Emily and I find the hostage negotiations interesting.

Teresa S. gave it a10:
have you ever noticed, even with movies, "professional" critics (and i use the word professional loosely) tend to not like a lot of things that the people (who are what really matters) seems to love them? I don't even listen to critics anymore. I pay attention to what people like myself have to say. And I say this show is excellent and would be extremely sad to see it go.

edward d gave it a10:
I think this is a great show. Why would anyone like a cartoon better? I guess I don't get how some people think?

Wynne S gave it a10:
The entusiasm and fine acting of Ron and the others are worth watching even if the storyine is bad, which it isn't

Nathan S gave it a9:
It is a very good T.V. Show.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this tv show in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: MLB | Spore | iPhone 3G | Paris Hilton | Antivirus Software | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use