NCIS: Los Angeles

Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara

Writer and executive producer Shane Brennan has worked on "NCIS" for years; he knows what he's doing and how to do it well; the casting is solid, the crimes international. What's not to like?

Entertainment WeeklyLeah Greenblatt

The plot bats at logic like a cat toy, but the experience is still slickly entertaining.

Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser

The nonstop action lulls you into kind of a pleasant daze--as if Cool J were saying to the screen, "Sit back and relax, ma'am, you're in good hands." It's certainly not brain food, but I'll be back for a second helping.

TV GuideMatt Roush

An efficient if predictable procedural that arrives on the scene after last spring’s two-part “backdoor pilot” with plenty of fistfights and gunfights and the sort of jovial camaraderie that endears classic NCIS to its millions of fans.

VarietyBrian Lowry

The series can at best be lauded for its efficiency and at worst be chided for resorting to the convenient fallback of Mexican drug lords as its initial heavies.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

It’s all about the crimes, the technology, the guns, and, mostly about not having--or wanting--to think too much.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

NCIS: L.A., like its parent, relies on a sturdy, mostly youthful cast, sporadic action, and sprightly dialogue.

The New York TimesMike Hale

While the new series may not stand out at this point, it’s already a better-than-average cop show, well paced, with reasonably snappy and believable dialogue.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

O'Donnell and LL Cool J form an easy alliance that's filled with lighter moments of humor even as they investigate a plot that's decidedly obvious and unsurprising.

Washington PostTom Shales

It isn't innovative or brilliant, but there's some kind of joy to be had from watching the parts of the machine fit together just right and operate slickly and smoothly.

Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray

I've seen just enough of "NCIS" to appreciate its appeal, which I suspect lies in casting and character development (combined, of course, with occasional explosions of action). Those elements appear to be part of the DNA for NCIS: Los Angeles.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

It's a serviceable hour that takes the NCIS formula--a light tone and a lot of banter wrapped around a fairly rudimentary investigatory plot--and transfers it to a special, undercover NCIS division in Los Angeles. Nothing more, but also nothing less.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

It all adds up to an hour of decent entertainment, and there's room for enough character development to give NCIS: Los Angeles a personality of its own.

NewsdayVerne Gay

It's a Pre-Cambrian specimen that crept out of the primordial ooze of TV past, with a rhythm so profoundly familiar that if you happened to fall asleep during the first few minutes and woke up for the last, you'd be able to mentally reconstruct the entire program from scratch.

San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman

What NCIS: Los Angeles does well is what all CBS procedurals do well--bring mostly believable, semi-pulse-pounding justice to bad guys by the end of the hour with some action, a dose of humor and the weekly, methodical unpeeling of each character's private onion skin.

Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm

It's slightly less entertaining than the moderately entertaining original, with a far-fetched connection that these undercover wonders somehow have something to do with the Navy, which is the "N" in NCIS, and who really cares what the "CIS" is?

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

I have nothing against procedurals per se, but all this rather soulless copy has going for it is the jaunty performance of LL Cool J and a fairly efficient tick-tock plot. Depending upon your mood or preference, that may be enough.

Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall

Most of the humor feels like a show that’s trying too hard, except when we’re watching the great-yet-tiny character actress Linda Hunt as the boss of NCIS’s Los Angeles field office.

Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin

It's a drab third-generation clone (a spinoff of the original NCIS, which in turn was a spinoff of JAG) of a show from the shallow end of the TV gene pool.

Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith

Ms. Hunt gets some humorous lines, and the banter between partners Callen and Hanna can make them seem like a new-age Starsky and Hutch.

Slant MagazineKris King

It's an overused premise dressed up with new cars, bright sun, and cool shades.

PopMattersLesley Smith

One could watch NCIS: Los Angeles. But one could also watch paint dry with far less pain and no less gain.