The Millers (2013–2015) User Reviews (25)

Good actors but some awkwardness

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 15 November 2014]

Nathan Miller (Will Arnett) is a self-obsessed local TV reporter who is shocked by his parents Carol (Margo Martindale) and Tom (Beau Bridges) announcing that they're getting divorced. Now his parents split up to live separately with him, and his sister Debbie (Jayma Mays) and her husband Adam (Nelson Franklin) and her daughter Mikayla (Lulu Wilson). Nathan is best friend to his cameraman Ray (J.B. Smoove).

This started awkwardly with the parents splitting up. It's just more annoying than funny. The show is better off to start off after the split. Also for a separating couple, the family keeps hanging out together. The family does grow on me. I love Martindale and she's terrific as the bossy matriarch. The old couple's constant fighting fades more to the background. It is a little uneven. There are some likable laughs. The awkwardness starts to fade. Then the second season tries to bring in Sean Hayes to do a bad recurring role. It's one more mistake that the show doesn't need.

This Show got the time slot after The Big Bang Theory. Why?

[officefan01 · 5/10 · 6 October 2013]

Out of all the new shows that were debuting this season, this was one of the ones I had mixed reactions about. The cast sounds incredible. With the talents of people like Will Arnett, Margo Martindale, Beau Bridges, JB Smoove and Jayma Mays, it sounds like they would have great chemistry. Also, Greg Garcia is the creator of the one of the most underrated shows right now Raising Hope, which I also had mixed reactions toward before watching it, and it turned out be one of my favorite shows from 2010. The premise sounded really generic and the jokes sounded really lame from the preview. But that was the least of my problems.

This show really wasn't that good. It wasn't all that funny. Fart jokes are not funny anymore...oh wait...EVER! As for the cast, they're all being underused. Will Arnett wasn't funny, Margo Martindale was annoying, Jayma Mays was boring, JB Smoove wasn't funny either and Beau Bridges just annoyed me almost as much as Margo. The writers think by having her character as a chatty person and Beau Bridges's character as a total idiot is funny. However, they use lame jokes that we've seen over and over and over again and we'll probably continue to see them in the next few years. I haven't gotten to my biggest problem with this show.

The laugh track, is so damn annoying. They use the laugh track like every two seconds. They use it for situations that are not even funny. My love of laugh track sitcoms are dying and they're dying fast.

My biggest question with this show is why did it get paired up after The Big Bang Theory? The Big Bang Theory is probably the last laugh track sitcom that I still like, but CBS picked the wrong show to put on after it. The Crazy Ones and Mom are better than this and one of those shows should be on after The Big Bang Theory, not this generic and repetitive garbage.

So in the end, if you liked the preview, you'll like the show. If you didn't like the preview, you won't like the show. The cast is incredibly underused and I hope this show can get better from the pilot at least.

Decent sitcom

[RandomTard · 6/10 · 20 April 2022]

It's a perfectly watchable show. The writing is not too shabby and it is actually pretty funny. J. B. Smoove again proves he can't act or speak, but other then him the acting is good. For the second season they decided that they needed a gay character and that kind of messed up the show.

We're the Millers is Funny!

[Sylviastel · 5 October 2013]

Will Arnett may have finally struck gold with this comedy. He plays Nathan Miller, newly divorced reporter, in an unspecified East Coast city. His parents are played by Emmy winners Beau Bridges and Margo Martindale who is a scene stealer. His parents have split after 43 years of marriage. His father is a klutzy mess who manages to cause messes like a child. He moves into their previous home who is being rented out to his daughter and son-in-law. Nathan gets momma at his place. She can be too much too handle at times. She is bossy and interferes in her son's life. She is also so lonely that the viewers see through the facade. The show was created by Greg Garcia who has created "Raising Hope" and "My Name is Earl" sitcoms. He really grasps family dysfunction into comedy. Hope this show lasts a long time and will with cast and crew.

Umm a bit dumb but very funny

[DrDumb · 6/10 · 29 January 2024]

Yes it was very funny. I am not an American but I the show made me laugh heaps of times. Although it was dumb but it was a great comedy and it was so sad to see there were only two seasons. Wish there could be more because I can't get enough of this. Now there was a new character Kip in S02 so it would be definitely good to see some more about him and the Millers. What wasn't good about the show was that everything was supposed to be hilarious, even sth was very serious (e.g. Family matters) but you ended up laughing in front of screen. Guess we could have made sth that make people think about themselves, being reflective. Anyway, good comedy.

Putrid

[trans_mauro · 1/10 · 7 October 2013]

"The Millers" is another (yes, another) sitcom about a dysfunctional family...

So far so good, other sitcoms were about this type of thing and they succeeded, and some of them even became classics.

But, the problem is that people are running out of ideas and because of it writers have to resort to scatological humor (sic).

First example: Mother farts in the living room and the main conclusion is that noisy farts are funny, quiet one are disgusting.

Second example: Husband complains that he has had no sex for the past ten years, woman tells she saw husband masturbating in the shower and that counts as sex because she saw the whole thing.

Third example: Postmenopausal mother had a sleep pill and gets dizzy... In a party she invites strangers to have sex withe her. Her selling point is that she cannot get pregnant...

Are these situations funny? I guess not.They are horrid examples of the lack of imagination of writers. What next, sex with animals, people urinating in each other? Not even "Idiocracy" could go that low. This is another example of the dumbing down of America.

Stupidity is packaged as humor.

Not worth watching

[pensman · 2/10 · 10 January 2014]

I like J. B. Smoove even though he plays the same character in every sitcom. Having said that, this show could qualify as the offspring of Mean Girls i.e. mean family. Margo Martindale plays a mother minus any redeeming qualities. She is a mean bossy busy body who puts the dis in dysfunction. Arnett is a weak well intentioned boy/adult with mom issues. Beua Bridges is there for the money as any actor could stand in for him. I suspect this show survives because of its great time slot following The Big Bang Theory. Anywhere else it would be on cancellation road. Arnett's character has a sister and brother-in-law but they are so pathetic they don't deserve any more acknowledgment.

A real gem

[steevo51 · 9/10 · 20 December 2014]

Some of the reviews here are ridiculous. This is one of the best TV programmes on telly. People cribbing the fact that they have seen the concept before when it's rare to see something unique. The writing is witty and snappy and in Arnett and Smoove it has possibly the two best comedy actors around. Ignore the IMDb score and ridiculous reviews this is an excellent programme, the jokes are clever and there are some nice tie ins with previous jokes. In one scene Nathan (Arnett) gets home to find his best mate Ray (Smoove) in his apartment with Nathans mother, Ray says he is staying in Nathans for a few night and Nathan asks what is wrong with his apartment, Ray says he had a big lady back and he wants to give the memory foam mattress a chance to forget, excellently delivered by the two mentioned actors. Watch a couple of episodes and thank me later

Greg Garcia created this mess?

[lordanidem · 4/10 · 18 October 2013]

Occasionally, you find a show that takes a while to find its groove, like Scrubs. The Millers seems to think it has found it from the start. The talented cast seems ready and willing to dive headfirst into the roles with abandon, herein lies the big problem.

Almost everything here is so overblown that it is almost reaches farce level. Kinda like watching Scrubs, sans the whimsy, and the charm and the clever banter and smart humor and the likable characters. If the 1980 cult turd Flash Gordon was to be serialized, it would be and apt comparison to the tone of this mess.

Lets be honest, when Will Arnett is the actor showing the most restraint you either have a horrible idea or have no directorial control over the cast. Director Kevin Smith once mused that he was not strong enough to control Ben Affleck during the making if Dogma. The Millers leave you with similar feelings.

gave it another chance

[mareller-1 · 8/10 · 24 January 2014]

I was really looking forward to this show because of the great cast, but it just didn't seemed to catch on with the the first couple of episodes so I supposed it might get cancelled. After the holidays I gave it another chance and in the last couple of weeks and I saw two episodes worth watching. With the focus off the mom/dad haranguing, I saw a sitcom with scenes and line deliveries which kept me laughing. One of the episodes involved the sister's hidden diary, but I thought better of tonight's episode about Nathan stealing his mother's rants to fuel his own TV segments. It certainly had some real belly laughs. Lately it seems the pacing and use of the supporting cast is improved. No hamming or mugging from anyone, just enough well timed involvement to keep the laughs coming. It is easy to see the cast is loaded with talent and let's hope the scripts are worthy of them.

So sad

[yogi89 · 1/10 · 18 July 2015]

I liked this show when it first came out but now they added Sean Hayes. They must have hit the mandatory "we need a gay character" time frame for the show to be renewed. Hayes is not funny and way over the top. I just watched my last episode and did not make it all the way through that, thankfully. The jokes are pushed and cheap always going for the crude jukes. That is fine from time to time but even the laugh track was dragging from being worn out at the sophomoric jokes. Time to dump this show or revamp the writing. These jokes work fine for a Saturday Night Live 5 minute short skit but not for a half hour comedy that can do much better with the cast assembled.

CBS has Another Sitcom Hit

[hfan77 · 5 October 2013]

After watching TV's top rated sitcom The Big Bang Theory, CBS has another sitcom hit it the new show The Millers. Greg Garcia, the man behind such shows as Yes Dear and My Name is Earl, not only created and produced The Millers, he also wrote the pilot.

The pilot turned out to be a very funny episode, though it resembled Everybody Loves Raymond with the bickering parents premise.

The casting is outstanding. Will Arnett, a sitcom veteran from Arrested Development and Up All Night is great as Nathan, recently divorced from his wife and trying to adjust to singlehood. But then, his mother Carol, played by Margo Martindale, moves in and brings a Doris Roberts with a southern accent touch to the show. It's Martindale's first sitcom and she handles the format well. She is also very funny, especially in the scene where she tries to eat ice cream with a spatula. She could be considered for an Emmy nomination if the show stays on the rest of the season. I hope it does.

Beau Bridges is also hilarious as the dad, who has trouble with the remotes in Nathan's sister's home. He also handles his first sitcom well. Also contributing to the hilarity are JB Smoove and Jayma Mays, who also plays Emma on Glee.

Big Bang Theory fans don't need to change the channel when the episode ends. Stick around for The Millers. It's going to be a hit.

Wretched

[cherold · 3/10 · 15 July 2021]

Can Greg Garcia only write "white trash" television? My Name is Earl was brilliant. Raising Hope was fairly brilliant until a few years in when it lost it. The Millers was so painful, in spite of a first-rate cast, I could only watch half the first episode. Go back to white trash, Greg, there's nothing for you here.

Why is something as bad as this on television?

[paulo-algarve · 3/10 · 17 April 2014]

"Why is something as bad as this on television" is my question. It's so bad, but so bad that I think the word bad isn't quite enough to refer to this TV show.

I only watched the first two episodes. This small review is based only on them. But I just cannot watch anymore of it.

I gave it a 3 out of 10 because of the cast. Otherwise it would have been a 1 because I cannot give a zero. I am a huge Will Arnett fan and usually I watch everything he's in but this is even worst (way worst) then the second season of Up All Night. And the rest of the cast are also good in general in their previous works, so that's the justification of such a 'high rating' like a 3.

The writing for this is probably the worst thing ever. I'm not exaggerating and I don't have anything against any of the writers or anyone involved in this show at all, I really speak it from the heart. The writing is pointless, is empty, is illogical and guess what, it's not funny at all... Not even a little bit, simply you cannot get one single small laugh watching this.

This is really painful to watch. I cannot even imagine what the actors feel like when they have to speak the lines written for their characters. I know that not everyday someone knocks on your door with a Lord of the Rings project and you have to take some low quality projects to make a living, but this is really too much. For them it must be a really painful paycheck.

Give it a try to watch an episodes but I think that at the end of it you'll have an opinion similar to mine. Really, really bad.

Please bring back this show.....

[annschnellu · 10/10 · 3 May 2022]

This is as good as Everybody Loves Raymond. Yes it is about a dysfunctional family. They are out there you know.... If only Carol and Marie could have gotten together..... Im watching but there are only 2 seasons..... I want more....

Very upset about the parrot episode.

[mkensz · 1/10 · 31 October 2013]

If you are going to depict a parrot, at least get the facts correct. There was a line about a cockatoo and the rain forest - they don't come from the rain forest. The blue and gold you showed was totally plucked - obviously not healthy either physical or mentally.

As folks who rescue parrots from situations such as you put this bird in, all I can say is "shame on you". It's really not politically correct to make money off of animals in a bad situation. I repeat, shame on you.

If you need help writing material, I suggest you hire someone who understands the implications of showing helpless creatures in horrendous home situations.

A funny show, but sadly ended quickly

[taylorkingston · 8/10 · 2 November 2015]

This was a really funny show. Sadly, it was only around for a year and a half. What annoys me the most is that it got to Season Two. That means they're supposed to be safe. But that isn't always the case. Just like dozens of other shows, this one says goodbye to the world.

This show is about a family. Parents get divorced, and then go to live with their children. Nathan gets his Mother, which doesn't impress him. And his sister Debbie, gets to have her Father living under the same roof as her again. A lot of ups and downs, this family goes through a lot.

Overall, I give this TV show an 8 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Awesome.

Not cool

[trumanhome · 1/10 · 18 October 2013]

I don't plan on watching this show after seeing the promo, where the mother makes this insensitive, insulting and offensive comment: "I didn't know shewas homeless until she opened her mouth"...or something to that effect. Both my husband & I looked at each other (not laughing) and I said, "that's not funny...its not cool". He agreed. Like, let's make fun of homeless people? Cheap shot.

In addition, this promo is shown over and over on CBS. I do expect better. If you're not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. Seinfeld was funny and people were made fun of...but not a particular subset of people...especially people who can't help being the the place they're in.

The Millers

[ginnie-mae12 · 4 October 2013]

A disappointing waste of a talented cast. Margo Martindale and Beau Bridges are two terrific actors that who have been handed dialog that makes them come off as bad actors. Quick! Get new writers! I could not believe that hateful fight scene between Margo and Beau. Divorce isn't a particularly funny subject but it's going to need special handling when the script is centered around a couple who has been married for more than 40 years. When Debra's parents decided to divorce, on another sitcom with Raymond in the name, after being married a long time the writers didn't stoop to adding venomous conversations between the two partners. The Millers writers obviously thought the mutual attack scene was funny. I found it sad.

Quick! Get new writers - please!

So so at best

[SanteeFats · 4/10 · 11 October 2013]

Man I had such high hopes for this show based on who is in it and the promos. Of course you usually get the best shorts in a promo commercial. Most of this series has mediocre writing and acting. I really like Margo Martindale but her character in this show is not very funny, it is actually just kind of matronly and she is so much better than that. Beau Bridges character I actually find rather funny but not funny enough to keep on watching this program. I don't think Will Arnett is good in his role either. He just doesn't come across right in my eyes. I just don't like this one and personally don't think it will make it for renewal, heck it might not make it through the first season.

Great cast; great show

[mmingo-929-866279 · 10/10 · 21 February 2014]

I love the entire cast. Everyone on the show is perfect for their role. Will Arnett is great in everything he does. I don't know what he viewers with harsh reviews are watching, but this show is hilarious. I love the whole premise. The writing is clever. People of all ages can enjoy the show. I like the fact that it is funny without resorting to sexual humor. There is plenty of that on other shows, and I'm not against it - this is just refreshing. I feel like the whole family can watch this without having to worry about what the kids are listening to. It's my new favorite sit-com - along with Big Bang. Nothing needs to change.

Cute show

[Brianna_Trahern2 · 8/10 · 4 July 2015]

I thought this show was very cute. And I liked how the kids were dealing with older parents who decided to divorce and who hated each other for years. Thought it very relevant.

However, when they brought on Sean Hayes the show went downhill. He just doesn't fit inside the cast. This cast was about a family. Mom, dad, a son and a daughter. And Daughters small family. It worked so well. I have no idea where "Kip" is supposed to fit in. I called it an 8 out of 10 and that was without Sean. With Sean, a 6 out of 10. I think more just need to see it.

How can 2 broke girls with their senseless sarcasm and sexual constant quips be so big and this gem is on the sidelines?

if you're into comedy quips you might want to try this

[adlpph · 10/10 · 19 February 2014]

it is really good maybe the first few episodes might be dry but it gets better going further ...

is you're from the US you might get more laughs than if you're from a foreign country .... some people might not get the jokes Americans have ... that is given ....

some people will say it is awful maybe yes the 1st to the 2nd episodes like any usual sitcom as it builds up character moving forward .... those are usually people that doesn't appreciate or love the genre of comedy ... those are the people that just wanted to say something cause it did not meet their requirements .... if you laughed anytime throughout the show then it serves it purpose ....

The Millers

[dariustabor-58576 · 9/10 · 24 April 2018]

Really good show and it's funny I only watched it because of Lulu Wilson :)

nice. but not enough

[Vincentiu · 5 February 2015]

the best motif to see it is the cast. the best motif to ignore it is the script. so, not a bad series. but one without its clear way. a sitcom, few acid dialogs, part of an old chain of series who presents crazy families. and not problem if the actors are the others. but Margo Martindale, Beau Bridges, Will Arnett are inspired choices for a different story. more credible, less pathetic, more nuanced. sure, it is not a bad job. but not a remarkable one. a series product, few nice jokes, language aggressive and few good actors. far to be enough. a film about family crisis. too childish, far to be convincing, amusing at second view. but the hopes are bigger.