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

Game Show in My Head 34
CBS, Saturday

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Twenty Good Years
SERIES: NBC, Wednesday 8:30p (30 minutes)

Twenty Good Years
Critic Score
Metascore: 29 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.7 out of 10
based on 26 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?
based on 37 votes
read user comments
rate this tv show

Starring John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor, Heather Burns, and Jake Sandvig

Two aging, oddly-coupled friends (John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor) decide they have 20 good years left to live, and decide to make the most of it.

GENRE(S): Comedy
CREATED BY: Marsh McCall
Michael Leeson
FIRST AIR DATE: October 11, 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...

60
Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray
The pilot for "Twenty Good Years" has some genuinely funny moments even as it makes no apparent effort to reinvent the form.
Read Full Review
60
Washington Post Tom Shales
The laughs generated are not subtle, but at least they're there.
Read Full Review
50
Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm
Without these two, 20 Good Years would be 22 bad minutes of television, but they bring so much skill to their roles, and seem to be having so much fun, you can see the comedy running, if not for 20 years, maybe four or five.
Read Full Review
50
People Weekly Tom Gliatto
So far, it's of interest only for watching Lithgow--who likes to shout his lines with quivering urgency, as if he'd just seen a UFO--as he goes over the top to get a laugh. [16 Oct 2006, p.39]
50
Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz
The writing could be sharper, the vision less soft-headed.... That aside, there's no mistaking the sense of life and vitality that comes bouncing out of this series, or its cause -- namely, its two stars.
Read Full Review
50
Variety Brian Lowry
Even if the material is a trifle slight, pairing of John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor brightens matters, serving up smiles if not outright guffaws.
Read Full Review
40
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
"Twenty Good Years" is not flat-out awful. It's nowhere close to great, either.
Read Full Review
40
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
This show is for people who find Lithgow's shameless shtick uproarious.
Read Full Review
40
Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart
A perfectly serviceable but utterly forgettable sitcom.
Read Full Review
38
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
I will be rooting for this series to improve, but not watching it.
Read Full Review
37
USA Today Robert Bianco
Everything about the show seems designed to misuse its stars and erase our memories of the better work they've done.
Read Full Review
30
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
Viewers who like their comedy broad, loud and silly might take a liking to this "Odd Couple"-like sitcom.
Read Full Review
25
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
The jokes in "Twenty" are both predictable and telegraphed.
Read Full Review
20
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
What's particularly appalling is the way Lithgow is allowed to go way, way over the top in his performance.
Read Full Review
20
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
"Twenty Good Years" is based on the premise these two comedy warhorses can make just about anything work, but this tired vehicle proves too much -- or rather, too little -- for even them.
Read Full Review
20
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
If "Twenty" proves anything, it's that even gifted performers can't conceal the flaws of a truly uninspired script, though they can distract from them here and there.
Read Full Review
20
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
There's nothing inherently wrong with the premise... But what's been done with it, on the evidence of the pilot, is weak, and slightly embarrassing to watch.
Read Full Review
20
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
It is a male version of “The Golden Girls,” but with weaker writing, and older viewers are not saps.
Read Full Review
20
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
If it weren't for [Lithgow's] shameless bellowing, "20 Good Years" would be excruciating, instead of the (very) occasionally amusing hackfest it's turned out to be.
Read Full Review
20
Newsday Verne Gay
It is so ancient - in approach, tone, style and energy - that you can almost see the dust bunnies tumble across the set.
Read Full Review
12
New York Daily News David Hinckley
"Twenty Good Years" is so bad, its pilot doesn't contain 20 good seconds.
Read Full Review
12
Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy
Despite Lithgow and Tambor's capabilities, the series sags badly amid the moldy excesses of generic, over-the-top slapstick.
Read Full Review
10
Time James Poniewozik
This is the same kind of odd-couple pairing that TV has been trying to sell for decades, and, like most every odd-couple concept after the actual Odd Couple, the premise has not even Twenty Good Minutes of humor in it.
Read Full Review
10
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
This show just isn't funny. At all. Ever. Under any circumstances.
Read Full Review
0
New York Post Linda Stasi
If you last through 20 minutes of "Twenty Good Years," NBC's new sit-no-com, you are either a saint, a madman or in a tragic and irreversible coma.
Read Full Review
0
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
The show is just awful.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this tv show is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

billy b gave it a0:
When watching this show, I just sat there waiting for a punch line that never came.

nil m gave it a9:
Very differend and funny tv show. Must see.

Rhonda B gave it a10:
Excellent show - love it. I was enjoying it more w/ each episode.

Compo gave it a10:
Given the opportunity, this could have been the next version of LOTSW. Two thumbs down to NBC for pulling the plug in such a short period of time.

Hol H gave it a0:
Just awful. Really really awful.

simon s gave it a10:
John Lithgow at his best.

Max G gave it a9:
Great show. Lithgow is alays terrific

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