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This American Life
SERIES: Showtime, Thursday 10:30p (30 minutes)


9.8

based on 20 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 15 votes
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Starring Ira Glass (host)

This spinoff of the popular public radio show (well, as popular as a public radio show can get) hosted by Ira Glass adds visuals to the program's usual mix of storytelling and reporting, revolving around a single theme each week.

GENRE(S):	Other, Reality (Non-Competitive)
CREATED BY:	Ira Glass
FIRST AIR DATE:	March 22, 2007

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...

100

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

It's really kind of a glorious little miracle, a half-hour series of little pictures of simple, complex and unfamous Americans breathing everyday lives, with a twist of kookiness, while they search for the Meaning of Everything and The Big Picture.

100

People Weekly Tom Gliatto

The show falls prey to a faint preciousness in the voiceover narration from its correspondents and host Glass. They overarticulate the ironies instead of just letting you watch. Which you should do. Watch. [26 Mar 2007, p.37]

The New Republic Sacha Zimmerman

The haunting and sometimes mirthful tales that are the stock-and-trade of "This American Life" are not lost in imagery but heightened by it.

New York Post Linda Stasi

In their own bizarre way each episode is very American, very naive and very full of hope. Oh, yeah - and a lot of laughs, too.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

This handsomely produced experimental series ought to please flexible fans. [30 Mar 2007, p.62]

Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart

“This American Life” on TV achieves the same contemplative mood as the radio show. And it has a striking spareness of imagery, much as “Life” on radio has a spareness of sound.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

The radio show is so much about voice and language and storytelling, I worried that the TV folks would mess it up. Luckily, the radio show's host, Ira Glass, hasn't allowed that to happen.

Baltimore Sun David Zurawik

Its power radiates from the screen as forcefully as it does from the radio.

Hollywood Reporter Randee Dawn

"Life" makes the ordinary extraordinary and along the way makes the world seem wider, bigger and an eternally more interesting place to be.

Newsday Diane Werts

They've translated the radio show's aural mosaic to the visual medium so effortlessly in this first season of six half-hours, we hope Showtime orders more of this life we all can recognize.

Salon Heather Havrilesky

"This American Life" features the same rich, rambling storytelling that makes the radio show so hypnotic, but it's enhanced by cinematography that's lovely and artful without distracting from the story lines or the tone of the show.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

"This American Life" lost none of its authenticity in transition from radio to Showtime.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

This TV version not only has a distinct, appealing look, it also retains the radio show's sound and personality.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

The television version of "This American Life" does not ruin the fragile, hip beauty of the radio version. Glass and the team responsible for adding pictures to words have created a compelling television series.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

It's a welcome addition to nonfiction television and a loyal friend to the radio show.

Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd

The show's attitudinal mix of the jaded and amazed, the shocked and amused, is supported by the production itself.

Variety Phil Gallo

The selections in the first two episodes possess compelling strength, whimsy and ambiguity in both the stories and the characters, providing a solid transformation from radio to TV.

Slate Troy Patterson

It's an ambitious if occasionally pushy effort.

The New York Times Virginia Heffernan

If “This American Life” is all like this [opening] segment, it will be an immaculate and historic documentary series, with or without the storytelling pretext.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

“This American Life” really begins to show its TV potential in episode three, when the show stops trying so hard to be perfect and lets its storytelling sprawl.

The average user rating for this tv show is 9.8 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

snortch gave it a10:
While the movies let me down sooo often, I am now discovering that TV seems to have the most compelling stuff. TAL on TV is really really great. I thought that I wouldnt like being shown the imagery, but this is a perfect translation from radio to TV. Don't get me wrong...I still really enjoy the little pictures that develop in my head when listening on the radio...but this is shot in a way that is not heavy handed. There are still many dots left to connect. I really enjoyed the last act of episode 2. Haunting and poignant as the photographic equipment slides up and down and left to right. Well Done!

buzz c gave it a10:
perfect.

CB gave it a10:
It's the best show on TV and RADIO.

Kevin N gave it a9:
This nearly perfect television show surprised me in a couple of ways. Showtime's clearly taking a risk by airing this unusual take on the human-interest story from the nightly television news of decades gone. A minimalistic take on storytelling accompanied by a spare soundtrack encourages a kind of philosophic contemplation in the viewer. The tone is both sad and hopeful. 'This American Life' is unlike any television show I've seen and elegantly captures the spirit of its public radio progenitor.

Otho S gave it a10:
This American Life translates beautifully to TV, although I miss the radio program's reliance on Glass' dulcet tones. I think that Maureen Ryan of the Trib gave it a lukewarm review simply so that she wouldn't look like parochial by praising a Chicago-originated program. It's okay, Maureen, Chicago is a big city. We're fairly sophisticated here. it doesn't matter what the New York Times says. You can like the show without looking like the television reviewer for the Des Moines Register.

Dale D gave it a10:
I thought that you couldn't possibly get any better than the radio show. I know now that you can equal it!!!

Ron W gave it a10:
This is real for the real and life for those who love to live it. Phenomenal production. Shadows on the ground and clouds in the sky. True love hurts and through pain we can grow. Bravo Mr. Glass.

This American Life SERIES: Showtime, Thursday 10:30p (30 minutes)

This American Life
SERIES: Showtime, Thursday 10:30p (30 minutes)