Son of a Critch (2022– ) User Reviews

The Wonder Years with a twist but not a clone at all

[bluesman-96747 · 8/10 · 25 March 2022]

Upon watching, you are inevitably drawn to make comparison with The Wonder Years (original) but also notice the differences that makes this stand out on it's own.

It has all of the comical absurdity that revolves around a typical family type that most will recognise.

Great performances all round, with particular note for Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Malcolm McDowell (in his best role for years).

It is silly and of course absurd but oh so delightfully so, partly because of the Canadian elements attached.

Cute show, funny

[brandydacanay · 8/10 · 3 July 2022]

I really like this show. I'm new to Canada, so it's nice to see a take on 1980s Canada, and New/Lab in general. Not being Canadian, I sometimes miss the inside jokes but my Canadian husband will explain.

He really likes it b/c it reminds him of growing up in the same time frame (he's the same age as Mark). The show is well written, well acted, and funny. The actor that plays Mark, Benjamin, is just delightful. Love the friendship between him and Ritchie.

We can't wait to see season 2.

Nice show!

[Reckat · 7/10 · 28 January 2022]

I actually like the show. Strong cast, funny enough. I was surprised to see Malcolm McDowell, but I guess they wanted to add some credibility to the cast.

What's clear is that they have not only a few similarities to Young Sheldon. I mean, the mother and the brother even look similar to the mother and brother on Young Sheldon. It's almost like they want to be confused with that show.

Charming cast, easy on the brain, funny

[melissamlaverdure · 9/10 · 13 January 2022]

I'm only 2 episodes in but as someone who relates to this pre-internet era and has spent a great deal of time in rural NFLD, I love it so far. I'm looking forward to the next episode each week. The set designers have really nailed this, and the cast is superb (Sophia Powers as Fox especially!)

A funny, Canadian WONDER YEARS

[ram-30 · 10/10 · 5 January 2022]

SON OF A CRITCH seems to be a very promising new sitcom for CBC. The plot follows along the lines of YOUNG SHELDON and the new WONDER YEARS except it's a Canuck childhood recollection. Hopefully, they treat it with respect and keep it on the air, at least until the young actor playing Mark graduates. I could easily relate to the setting, having grown up and gone to school in Canada (albeit Saskatchewan, not Newfoundland), and a decade earlier. The show is full of quirky Canadiana: the Wayne and Shuster lunch pail, the Rich Little poster, the moose headline. The creator of the show, Mark Critch, plays his father on the series. A nice surprise for me was Malcolm McDowell playing Mark's 80 year old grandfather with whom he shares a bedroom. I am looking forward to enjoying many years of this show, tickling my funny bone and reliving memories of being a nerdy kid in Canada.

Got better and better

[wrigco · 9/10 · 11 August 2023]

This series started off a tad slow for me, I wasn't sure if I was going to persevere with it. But.... as it got going it just got better and better.

I don't know anything about Newfoundland apart from other TV series I have seen which have been mainly really dramatic, so this was a wonderful change.

Great to see the sets from the 80's too. A lot of people are making comparisons with The Wonder Years and Young Sheldon, but I think this stands on its own, and indeed, it's based on the Father's real life experiences growing up. The humour is wry and self deprecating, not in your face laugh out loud although there are a few of those too.

I see it has been renewed for Season 3, so I'm definitely looking forward to that!

Left feeling a little disappointed

[andreayoung · 7/10 · 15 January 2022]

I was really pumped for this show as my entire family are Newfies, but I was pretty disappointed that only one of the main actors is a Newfie. The accents they try to pull off waver between English and Irish but never quite hit the mark of a real Newfie (or even an East coast) accent. The story was good, and I love to support anything Canadiana, but I just wish the actors were as authentic as the storyline. I will keep watching, but my bias as a Newfie often takes me out of the story, however, I am happy to see our traditions are being shared with the world.

Worth watching so far

[iamoilers · 9/10 · 5 January 2022]

With the popularity of the Goldbergs, it's nice to see a Canadian sort of version of it. Kind of grew up in this time period so it relates. Enjoyed the first episode so far and will definitely tune in for the next one. Casting seems right and it's funny.

Getting Crowded

[thildreth-44731 · 5/10 · 29 March 2024]

Cute and amusing show - the Great Malcom McDowell - but I will stop watching if Mike Jr's pregnant girlfriend moves in and has the baby.

Yes I know, based on true events of the Dad's growing up, so gotta be loosely based on true events, but.... just saying!

And not to be pickly but why does the Fox girl not adhere to the strict Catholic dress code! While all the females students wear skirts and the oblatory blue sweater vest, she wears dungarees and an untucked shirt!! Very much against the dress code rules!! Why? Along with her 17yo brother (why is he in a class of 13/14 year olds??) Again yes based on true events growing up, but.... Just saying - again cute show, just dont add a baby and unwed mother : (

The Canadian version of The Wonder Years

[weirdg · 10/10 · 4 February 2022]

I'm on the first episode of Son of a Critch and right away I got The Wonder Years vibes. The show is being told through Mark's (the son) perspective, but he's a nerdier version of Kevin Arnold. The show feels very similar but with a Canadian spin on it.

I can see Ritchie being the Paul Pfeiffer and Fox as the Winnie Cooper (possibly even Becky Slater?) of the show. Tina might even be the Winnie Cooper of the show.

The narrator is even an older version of Mark, very similar to how Daniel Stern played the older version of Kevin Arnold doing the narration in The Wonder Years.

The one thing I like is that they added a Filipino kid to the show. Being an east Indian person, I remember dealing with similar types of BS from some of the kids in my school that didn't understand our cultural differences. Ritchie deals with similar types of BS and all he wants to do is fit in. That's something that's actually missing from The Wonder Years.

So far the how is pretty good, so I hope it develops into something like The Wonder Years or even funnier. I love that they went with the 80s for the time period, since I grew up in Canada during the 80s and 90s. I also grew up watching The Wonder Years back then, so Son of a Critch gives me that nostalgic feeling.

Going downhill

[gdump · 4/10 · 24 January 2024]

The problem when you base a show on childhood anecdotes is that eventually you're going to run out of material.

Season 1 of this show was decent, season 2 mostly OK, and season 3... well let's just say that the anecdote well has run dry.

It's still mildly amusing and nothing is ever offensive so it probably suffices as family entertainment, but don't expect to be rolling on the floor laughing.

To meet the character, here's a verse from al old Newfoundland sea chanty: You bully boys of Liverpool I'll have you all beware When you sail on them packet ships, no dungaree jumpers wear But have a big monkey jacket all ready to your hand For there blows some cold nor'westers off the banks of Newfoundland.

Delicious

[brenda-85553 · 10/10 · 15 January 2023]

This show is delicious. Funny, charming, and oh so innocent. A wonderful look back at life in the 1960s in St John's Newfoundland. For those who are unaware, you will be charmed. Bring on the cucumbers, moose, boiled vegetables, and enjoy the ride. You will not be disappointed. I can't wait for future seasons. And the casting is bang on - Malcolm McDowell is superb as granddad, as is Benjamin Evan as the precocious Mark Critch, and Mark Critch as his sweet, naive, radio announcer father. While the show takes on real world topics - bullying, religion, hypocrisy, inequity - it does so in a way that generates empathy and understanding, with a good bit of self depreciating humour. I love it.

A bright spot in a dreary winter

[magicxtian-283-858983 · 10/10 · 28 January 2022]

This is a funny, ironic, and entertaining period comedy. The characters are drawn larger than life and the show captures the many absurdities of life in the 1980s. The young actors are really wonderful....from Mark, to Ritchie, and Fox...not to forget Fox's moronic brothers. The real Mark Critch plays his father to an absurdist "T" while the mother and grandfather (Malcolm McDowell) are spot on with their daily routines and dry delivery. The show captures a time when youths still had to fend for themselves in the battlefields of middle school and pre-pubescent hell, a decade before social media turned everyone into selfie junkies. The humor is subtle and the writing is fast so you have to keep up to really catch this gem. It also confirms (to one who endured catholic school a dozen years prior to the time in which this show is set) that the nuns were sadists at heart with their ability to create and maintain a community that was something akin to Lord of the Flies. Berating the weak while ignoring but tacitly encouraging the banal stupidity and brutality of the bullies who believed it was their birthright to keep everyone else in line. Some things never change. Looking forward to a second series of this show.

Great T.V.

[lovegbbo · 10/10 · 13 January 2022]

I LOVE Son of a Critch! It is in my top five shows. CBC has a winner with the cast and the whole show. It's cute, it's funny, there no vulgarity and it's Canadian.

One of the best on CBC

[davidtremblett-36125 · 10/10 · 18 April 2022]

This is an absolutely amazing show. Great cast, great acting, an absolute gem, the only thing wrong with it that I can see, is not enough episodes... 13 episodes and now I have to wait for next season...

Assumes stupidity is somehow funny

[interactbiz · 4/10 · 13 January 2022]

I admit to underestimating Schitt's Creek when it was first shown so I chose to stay with this new Canadian comedy for more than the first episode. Halfway through the second, I couldn't go further. It is another series that assumes stupidity is funny.

It's just funny

[MapleSnow · 8/10 · 15 August 2023]

I'm not usually a big fan of family comedies, but I really like this one. The characters are well done, esp. Mark. And I love the little bit of sarcasm that's thrown in. The setting is unusual for those of us in the U. S., and it's not mean-spirited. Grandfather (Malcom McDowell) delivers his lines with the kind of dry humor that levels out the sillier parts. The Catholic School setting (and the nuns) are priceless. And the "love interest", Fox, is quite beautiful. I would like this one to stay around awhile; I think I could become part of the family and really care about them. Good luck to continued success.

Really bad

[electricalhellfire · 1/10 · 26 January 2022]

The bad acting of the main protagonist kills the whole idea. There have been many youth actors, which have been really good, but he poor boy (and the crew) misunderstood making faces as acting.

As a German I also really would like to have seen more of the local scenery.

Story

[zach72 · 10/10 · 1 January 2023]

My favourite episode was episode 12. Was really funny and also liked the buildup with Fox and Mark. The political arguments about Newfoundland are so hilarious. Would definitely be exactly to see this series keep going even past the next coming season 2. A lot of great tv shows like this only last a season or two, and I would hate to see this one die out. One last thing I'd like to mention is the episode length being 40 minutes instead of 20 would probably make it a little more appealing to me, but maybe thats just my preference. Such a great story, and very relatable too! It's an awesome tv show and am excited to watch the next season!

Nicely

[hassanaljadaani · 9/10 · 11 March 2022]

Very nice tv show i hope release second season And enjoy with these show And mark is very talented and funny boy Him Grandfather also very funny 😂 The duration of the show actually acceptable.

Better than Young Sheldon

[willz187 · 8/10 · 30 July 2022]

Reminded me of the show Young Sheldon, only realer and better. The mom, teenage son and main kid are identical in appearance in both shows. Theres even a surly grandparent and an asian best friend. Its almost like these shows are versions of each other. Critch is funny and heartfelt where Young Sheldon has too much domestic melodrama as well as being short on laughs. Both shows are set in the 80s and full of nostalgia. Critch is likely a million times better because i read its based on real memoirs and not a spinoff of a mega studio sitcom. I stopped watched Young Sheldon but eagerly await more Critch episodes. I assume it will only get worse as all the fresh new character discoveries have been used. New school, new friends, etc. We shall see.

Love it!

[ddtravelsvcs · 10/10 · 10 November 2023]

This is pretty much the Canadian version of the Wonder Years. The lovely Sophia Powers is great as Fox. Wish it were an hour long though. Brings back lots of memories of growing up back then. They don't hide and in fact make decent references to where it's shot - in Newfoundland. The rest of the cast, including Mark of course, is spot on. Looking forward to a real relationship between Fox and Mark eventually as the series progresses and hopefully the suits at the CW and the CBC can keep it alive for a long time. It's so great to see this kind of series shot far from Hollywood and so well done. Thanks o the production team for what will be a real classic!

Pop's Brother Leo

[lyndavanleeuwen · 8/10 · 28 February 2024]

Okay, we are regular viewers and enjoy each & every episode!

It's been very satisfying to see the character development!

Each family member adds to the story and the sense of Newfoundland heritage!

Enjoying Fox and her relationship with Mark developing!

Good to see how the friends interact as they grow and get more mature!

Seeing the combination of British and Canadian cast has been interesting!

Okay so my BIG question now: Who is the actor who played Pops brother Leo! I recognized that actor, but I cannot remember his name!

Please, please, enlighten me!! I'm frustrated that I can't remember who he is! Please 🙏 share that with me!