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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed shows.

Hank

EMAILPRINTSERIES: ABC, Wednesday 8:00p (30 minutes)

Hank
37
4.4 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 24 votes
Read user comments
Rate this show >

Show Info

Genre(s): Comedy

Created By: Tucker Cawley

First Air Date: September 30, 2009

Summary

Starring Kelsey Grammer, Melinda McGraw, Dave Koechner, Jordan Hinson, and Nathan Gamble

Hank and his family are forced to move from New York City to his hometown after he loses his company.

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

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

There's nothing here you couldn't imagine from the premise, but there's also nothing wrong with what's here: McGraw is a good foil for Grammer, and Grammer is good at what he does.

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58

NewsdayVerne Gay

This isn't only "Frasier," recast as a standard family sitcom. It's "Green Acres."

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50

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

The comedy pivots on Hank’s painful adjustment to middle-class living, but that joke is undercut with syrupy life lessons about parental responsibility and quality time.

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50

Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser

The basic concept isn't bad. It's nice to see a captain of industry humbled, particularly now, but even that is unsatisfying in Hank.

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50

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

The show's main strength is the admirable comic acting ability of Kelsey Grammer and decent wordsmithing by sitcom veteran Tucker Cawley. But even with those assets, Hank comes across as familiar and formulaic--something you don't mind watching but wouldn't go out of your way to see.

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50

USA TodayRobert Bianco

It just doesn't seem the best fit for Grammer. He's playing a character who's as pompous as Frasier but with less justification, less heart, less wit--and less able support.

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50

Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker

Lacking vividly drawn characters to react against, he must use his trademark crack timing and deadpan silences to carry the show, which just makes you feel bad for the star.

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40

TV GuideMatt Roush

Hank does fill a network void where family-friendly comedy is concerned, but Grammer is just going through the paces here. And I’m not sure a void actually deserves another void.

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40

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

It's a slight premise, and the odds of it morphing into a fresh, lively weekly adventure feel about the same. Slight.

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38

Slant MagazineKatherine Stevens

Hank is a multi-camera sitcom shot on a cheap-looking set with a forgettable supporting cast speaking rarely funny dialogue.

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30

Washington PostHank Stuever

This new version works so hard to not fall flat on its face that of course it falls flat on its face.

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30

Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall

It’s lazy, predictable and spectacularly tone-deaf.

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30

Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray

In Hank, pompous comes off as merely pitiful. Or it would, if you could waste even a moment feeling sorry for anyone but the viewers, for whom the laugh track's likely to serve as a bitter reminder that somewhere, someone else is having a good time.

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30

Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm

In a bad sitcom, everybody dies, as the laugh track gets louder and louder, and Hank, though it isn't a horror, has that loud laugh track and the slight, familiar scent of death.

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30

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

Hank is the kind of show Dr. Frasier Crane would sneer at, which makes it particularly sad to see Kelsey Grammer reduced to starring in this ABC sitcom as a Dumb Daddy.

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30

Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin

There's an unfortunate whiff of Marie Antoinette about Grammer's breezily ungrounded Hank.

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30

VarietyBrian Lowry

While Hank doesn't promise to add much cachet to those Hall of Fame credentials, this is a show transparently designed for paychecks, not posterity.

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30

Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik

The result is a silly, one-dimensional cartoon of a family that I am guessing viewers will start tuning out before the half hour ends.

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30

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

A junky sitcom that isn’t old school so much as mold school.

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25

New York PostLinda Stasi

Hank, is one of the worst new (or old) comedies of this or many other seasons.

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25

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

Grammer's so much better than the unfunny show that has been built around him.

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0

San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman

A moronic and ghastly effort that suffocates under the cloying and annoying blanket of a laugh track so disturbing it should be destroyed.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this show is 4.4 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Shawn L gave it a7:
Not extremely funny, but will still give a good laugh here and then. At least it's clean and appropriate, which is something that most shows don't try to be these days. Give it a chance, it's not as bad as the critics say it is.

Angela G gave it an8:
I like this show- characters aren't jaded, well except maybe the daughter. I like Hank's enthusiasm. And the idea of someone losing their job and having to start over is particularly relevant right now.

Esther M. gave it a2:
Bad writing. Overacted. Irritating.

Kat J. gave it a0:
This show is almost unwatchable. It's a lot like bad Community theatre without the empathy for unpaid nonprofessionals. I wonder if Grammer even looked at the script or just showed up for a check.

JR H. gave it a1:
Sad to see Kelsey Grammer in such a pitifully unfunny show. Bringing the Frasier Crane character to Green Acres is a bad fit. I realized at the end of the premiere episode that I had not cracked even one small smile. This one is definitely a short-timer.

Sid L gave it a10:
Very much enjoyed it. Good clean family show.

Joseph L. gave it a0:
Hackneyed, cliched dialogue; offensively loud laugh track; stereotypical characters. Can;t Grammer find a better vehicle than this? A total waste of time.

Read more user comments >

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