Scoundrels: reviews

America’s adaptation of Outrageous Fortune is about to kick off and while the critics seem to like Virginia Madsen, they aren’t entirely rapt in the rest of Scoundrels. But they do like it more than The Gates, the new supernatural drama with which it is being paired on ABC.

Variety said:
A slighter and frothier version of FX’s “The Riches,” “Scoundrels” asks the not-quite-burning question whether a family of grifters can potentially go straight. Virginia Madsen cuts a fine figure as the matriarch trying to hold her family of four kids together while their dad goes to prison, but the fanciful tone makes the show a little too pastel-colored when a bolder palette would seem to be required. Initially, anyway, these scoundrels simply aren’t dirty or rotten enough to give ABC’s summer cocktail the necessary kick.

The Hollywood Reporter said:
At first, it’s hard not to like “Scoundrels,” based on a New Zealand series. It has Madsen as Mom-in-charge, and she brings a warmth and soulfulness to a role that could have been lost amid the shuffle of many quirkily obvious “characters.” Plus, it comes from the creative minds of two “Nip/Tuck” alumni, and if Ryan Murphy’s “Glee” is any indication, that portends well. Finally, the first episode’s frenetic rush of activity and intersecting story lines can make “Scoundrels” seem like a crackerjack new series. Alas, there’s an essential elusive element missing that prevents it from really hitting the mark. It’s got a stuffy sense of pretension about it, as the story takes self-conscious stabs at being clever and hip and, well, like a cable series. Instead, those stabs translate into undaring and cheap theatrics that often go sour, particularly in dealing with the elderly. Alzheimer’s played for laughs? An Asian grandmother who kung-fus attackers into submission? Ugh. It’s as if there’s a black hole where the funny should be.

Seattle Post Intelligencer says:
Virginia Madsen is the best reason to watch. As Cheryl West, an all bark and little bite Ma Barker, she wearily tries to keep her annoyingly wacky kids in line — including twin sons (Patrick Flueger), one a straight-arrow lawyer and the other a doltish thug — as she watches her man (David James Elliott in a sheepish change of pace) go off to prison. The premise of Scoundrels finds Cheryl trying to get the family to go straight, but for this group, acting normal appears to a crime against nature. The problem is that Scoundrels is never as funny as it thinks it is. And its companion piece The Gates, which is like Dark Shadows in a ritzy gated community, is rarely as scary as it wants to be.

Newsweek said:
Scoundrels, meanwhile, stars the always-welcome Virginia Madsen as the matriarch of a family of grifters who must keep the pack together after her husband is sent to prison. It’s at least light in its execution, which gives it an advantage over the entirely too serious Gates, but neither show is well-written or appealing enough to warrant prolonged attention.

USA Today said:
Of Sunday’s two debuts, Scoundrels at least can brag about a good performance from a fine actress, Virginia Madsen, though that’s about where the bragging rights end. Based on a New Zealand series (really, we’re now importing TV ideas from New Zealand?), the show stars Madsen as Cheryl West, the matriarch in a family with a long and proud tradition of thievery. Her goal is to set her kids on a more socially acceptable path, now that hubby “Wolf” (David James Elliott) is off to jail.

Star Telegram said:
Scoundrels’ writers and directors need to make Madsen’s character more forceful, but they seem more interested in quippy one-liners — and the ones they have come up with so far aren’t all that great. Scoundrels (which is based on a New Zealand series) is taking the slot usually held by Desperate Housewives, but it feels more like a diluted subplot on DH than an acceptable substitute.