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


8.1

based on 20 reviews
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based on 46 votes
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

Official Show Site

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

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...

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.

Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn

Standoff doesn't recreate the genre, but it certainly refreshes it. [15 Sep 2006, p.64]

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

Can we negotiate for a better premise if we release some hostages?

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.

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.

Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy

From start to finish, "Standoff" is slickly contrived, formulaic crime drama nonsense.

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.

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.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall

There's potentially a good show here; the pilot's just a miss.

Los Angeles Times Paul Brownfield

The standoffs... are less than exhilarating thrill rides.

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.

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.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

"Standoff" isn't a terrible show, it's just an unnecessary one.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

The tonal dissonance in "Standoff" is deafening, like pairing up, say, Jewel and Meat Loaf for a duet.

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.

Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron

The series premiere suffers from a catalog of problems longer than most demand lists.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

"Standoff" fails to connect on almost every level.

Variety Phil Gallo

An awkward pairing of adult relationship drama and procedural cop show, "Standoff" bombs on both counts.

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.

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.

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.

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

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