Based on a best-seller by James Patterson, the new miniseries “Zoo” depicts what happens when animals decide to work together to kill humans. It sounds a little like Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” only with a lot more species.
It stars Billy Burke (“Revolution”), French actress Nora Arnezeder (“Mozart in the Jungle”), Carl Lumbly (“The Returned”), James Wolk (Bob Benson on “Mad Men”) and Kristen Connelly (“House of Cards”), who is also starring in ABC’s summer miniseries “The Whispers”!
... The characters, dialogue and pacing are all very familiar, much like “Under the Dome,” a Stephen King thriller on CBS that began its third season last week. …
... It's all great fun …
The Pittburgh Post-Gazette says:
... Viewers may cheer on the animals once they see the silliness humans have wrought by making the inane “Zoo.” …
... a laughably over-serious pilot episode makes it difficult to take “Zoo” on its own terms. … For all the mauling, it’s got very little bite.
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... Brad Anderson has skillfully directed the pilot, eliciting strong and credible performances from every member of the cast. …
... I wanted to be excited, to be scared, to be mystified. But as far as extinction events go, “Zoo” is lame and tame.…
... already seems, after that one hour, like a story that's going to stretch out too far for its (and our) own good. …
... scary but not as scary as it could be — the horror is mostly achieved by ominous music and what we don't see. As the series progresses, one of the main characters probably will have to die to raise the stakes. But the pilot lays the foundation for a potentially great series even if it makes you want to spend your summer far away from any zoo.
... might build toward something more satisfying, but based on the premiere, there’s not particularly strong incentive to take the bait. …
9 p.m. Tueday. CBS.
Inspired by the big-screen slasher movie franchise created by Kevin Williamson (“Dawson’s Creek,” “The Following,” “Stalker”), the MTV version of “Scream” comes to us from “Matador” co-creators Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin.
... The one episode of the new series made available for review vacillates between sort of scary and trying too hard. …
… For younger viewers just discovering irony and metafiction and possibly not acquainted with the screen originals, which have done them to death, this may seem fresh and fun. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... The performances are bland, robotic and uninteresting--clearly these actors were recruited for their looks, rather than their acting chops. And most of the main cast white, which is inexcusable in this day and age and completely unrealistic. …
... more soapy than scary …
... thoroughly mediocre, with a cast of actors who are generically pretty playing characters who are generic types. …
... while the “Scream” films kept audiences jumping, “Scream” the TV series risks putting viewers to sleep. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... Whether "Scream" can overcome Noah's legitimate concerns about adapting a slasher movie for TV remains to be seen. But tonight's premiere gets the show off to a strong creative start. …
... leverages the initial murder to build suspense without much actually happening during the remainder of the hour, using a lot of dissonant strings instead of opened veins to set the mood. Yet the real trick will be teasing out the suspense as the number of viable suspects gradually dwindles, as well as making the audience see these characters as more than just chum. …
... The scariest occurrence in the first episode is Nina’s lightning-speed texting ability. If the series is going to continue as a high school drama that every so often is interrupted by a literal stab to the gut, then the stories need to be much more compelling and the performers much less central casting bland. …
10 p.m. Tuesday. MTV.
