User reviews

"Ben and Kate" may not have a particularly original premise, but, in comedy, that is not necessarily a weakness.

The new Fox series not only provides laughs but a positive mood, something "Parks and Recreation" proved can carry a series for years.

Nat Faxon plays Ben Fox, an unemployed, big-hearted, emotionally-unstable bachelor. Faxon's humor is effortless and infectious. His character is comfortable being the object of mockery, having made the conscious decision to live life to its fullest (or rather, funniest), even though that may mean, in the eyes of some, he has no life at all.

Dakota Johnson plays Kate, a single mother who manages a bar. While she is infinitely more responsible than her brother, she believes in Ben enough to follow him into his path of zaniness.

The supporting cast does a superb job of providing laughs while not trying to steal the spotlight. Lucy Punch in particular stands out with her over-the-top-advice and inability to understand Maddie, Kate's daughter (played by Maggie Elizabeth Jones).

The show, like producer Dana Fox's other endeavor, "New Girl", is fast-paced and provides enough one-liners to deserve a look.

Kate Fox (Dakota Johnson) is a high-strung single mom caring for her daughter Maddie and her fun-loving loser older brother Ben (Nat Faxon). BJ (Lucy Punch) is her best friend and Tommy (Echo Kellum) is his best friend.

Dakota is great at playing the standard cute awkward girl. I love Lucy Punch and she's playing a character named BJ. Nat Faxon is almost always loads of fun. Even Echo and the little girl are cute. Everyone is cute, loving, and seems like a one happy family. I love everybody in this show although the setup is very standard. They seem to enjoy each other and have good chemistry. It lasted 1 season with 16 episodes. I do wish they could have continued. The traditional setup functioned well.

Ben and Kate is a cute little feel-good comedy about a brother and sister coming together. The show follows Kate Fox (Dakota Johnson). Kate is a hard-working, high-strung single mom caring for her daughter Maddie (the girl from We Bought a Zoo). She lives with her older brother Ben (Nat Faxon), who is somewhat of a man child jumping from one get rich scheme to the next. Ben and Kate are accompanied on their adventures by BJ (Lucy Punch), Kate's best friend, and Tommy (Echo Kellum), Ben's best friend. Kate and Tommy are basically a couple, although the show drags it out and dances around the subject by having them date other people. Also, Ben and BJ have great chemistry, and you think they could be a cute couple. Bj also is perhaps the funniest character in the show.

Dakota Johnson is charming as the show's main protagonist. I haven't seen 50 Shades of Gray, but I loved her in How To Be Single and Peanutbutter Falcon, and she plays a similar role in this show. Ben, on the other hand, reminded me a lot of Taco from The League, in that he doesn't really fit in society and kind of beats to the sound of his own drum. The only exception is that Ben is more family Friendly than Taco, and he is actually a god surrogate dad to Maddie. Brittany Snow also guest stars in a few episodes as Lila. Lila isn't her best character as she is rather one-dimensional. This is largely due to the fact that the script never really gave her character much to do or any room to grow. Lila is pretty much just an obstacle for Kate and Tommy to work around. However, with that said, Brittany Snow does an amazing job with what she is given, and she steals every scene she is in.

The main problem with the show was that it seemed like it never really knew what it wanted to be. At times it seemed like it wanted to be a family-friendly show, and at other times, it seemed like it wanted to be an edgy comedy. And like any show that only has one season, there are a handful of storylines that are never finished, which is always annoying. But overall, it's a cute little show that is a quick binge, especially if you just need to escape from the world for a few minutes.

So far, I love this show! I find the humor witty & hilarious! I wish there was more positive buzz about the show. I think the characters have been casted perfectly. I crack up every time that I watch it. I even DVR it since its hard to watch while chasing after my 2 little ones. My husband is also hooked. It's not all that realistic in its portrayal of daily life, but they take simple things and put a spectacular twist on it. For me, personally, it's along the lines of a Seinfeld or Modern Family type of humor. Great writing, great acting... What more can I say?? Looking forward to next week's episode. I love it!!!

Ben and Kate is a fantastic and deeply underrated show. Upbeat and inventive, it features one of the best ensemble casts on broadcast TV. In particular, Nat Faxon and Lucy Punch demonstrate incredible comedic timing and help elevate the show above what could have been an ordinary half hour of television. Additionally, the show's writing distinguishes itself from other sitcoms, since it is genuinely funny, yet also consistently positive and earnest. I would highly recommend this show to fans of Community, 30 Rock, New Girl, or any other similar feel-good, yet original show on television. As of the writing of this review, 13 episodes have been aired and the remaining 6 are in limbo. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend that anyone seek out the episodes already available, since they stand on their own like other comedy show that were cancelled too soon in their time like Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks. You will be genuinely happy that you did so and, hopefully, someday in the near future, we will see the remaining episodes and some closure to this gem of a sitcom.

I just don't know if I am too old for this show or what, but the juvenile attitude of Ben is annoying and Kate is just a wimp. The friends of the two are just not at all interesting, especially BJ YAWN! Unlike the earlier review I did for "The New Normal" where the little girl adds entertainment value, the little girl in this show really doesn't add anything to the plot. If Kate was just a single girl living on her own without a kid the show wouldn't be any different. Some scenes don't even make any sense. I think I snickered once during the first episode, but after three shows I will be taking this off my DVR list. It is just not worth anymore of my time. I do not recommend this show at all.

Check out my blog talesoftelevision on blogspot.com

I don't normally write reviews, but I feel like I need to speak up for this show. It has quickly become one of my all-time favourites and I can't stand to see it get passed by week after week.

Right out of the gate, I knew Ben and Kate was destined for greatness, but I could never have predicted it would be so consistently great. Every episode (there have been 8 so far) has been better than the last.

It has an amazing cast. I'm convinced that Nat Faxon can make any material hilarious (and anyone who makes fun of his teeth can kindly **** off - sorry, but don't be so shallow). Dakota Johnson does nervous and awkward like no other ("Then that is when I'll see you... with my lookin' balls."). The supporting cast is amazing too, particularly Lucy Punch, whose scenes with Kate's daughter (played by the adorable, but professional, Maggie Elizabeth Jones) are always exceptional. In fact, in general, Kate's daughter Maddie is one of the best kids you'll see on a TV show (they treat her like an adult and not a moppet).

The show has such great writing too. It's not just joke after joke, but also has real character growth and development. And the sentimental stuff is embedded in the comedy itself, so it all feels organic. For example, after Kate embarrasses herself at a Halloween party, she and her brother have a very touching and enlightening conversation about sandwiches.

Another thing I love about it is its ability to take sitcom tropes and do something completely new and original. It's refreshing. For example, last night's episode did something sweet with the fake green card marriage trope.

Bottom line: This is an excellent show that consistently makes me laugh and warms my heart at the same time. It has quickly become the highlight of an already crowded night of comedies on Tuesday night, and I hope that more people are able to see that before this becomes another great comedy that comes and goes unnoticed.

Oh, also. If you didn't like the pilot, keep watching. While I liked it, I thought it got way funnier after that.

It's pretty crappy. The characters are terrible. The humor almost non existent. No one is very likable. It's no loss like many other much better series that didn't get enough of a chance. Awful.

An absolutely adorable feel-good series, should have never been cancelled. Very likable characters and small town story, enjoyed every minute of it. Dakota (Kate)and Nat(Ben) are brilliant, Maggie(Maddie), Lucy(B.J) and Echo(Tommy) are equally lovely. Only a short 16 episodes season, go watch it right now. A sibling/family comedy is a nice breath of fresh air nowadays. Nothing forced about the acting and situations, all the humor is very smartly integrated and played out. Great use of guest stars as well, particularly loved Brittany Snow. The little Maddie is very cute, of course very wise for her age as it is most of the time in TV land, BJ is gold in every scene and Tommy is possibly my favourite character. Go watch it. Now. Bravo.

So my friend said she watched the pilot and found it hilarious so I thought I'd give it a try and. . nothing. I snickered a few times but everything seemed so forced. Kate's behavior as if she is this awkward single mother isn't believable AT ALL. Her quirkiness if by far the most scripted thing I have ever seen. Ben is too old to be acting that way and I am so shallow to speak of his teeth but come on, all I could look at was his mouth, it's distracting. His acting is by far the worse of the show next to his friend, the African American guy (whose name I do not know), his character is so forced, so mechanical that I couldn't even laugh at his ridiculous attempt at trying to be funny. I like BJ, she is the only one who is "Acting", the rest of the cast is horrible. The editing is horrible. The script is horrible. I understand why ppl find this funny (and they probably find The Mindy Project funny too) and it's totally okay because not every sense of humor is the same but this show is definitely stupid. For this to be a Pilot episode (I'm sorry I am speaking of it because I just watched the pilot) it was non-informational at all. I felt like I came into a show mid-season and had no idea who anyone was. I think Lucy Punch is great and deserves to be on a show that can better serve her talents. If this show gets picked up for another season, it just goes to show the comedic level of those sitting behind the big chairs. BLAH

I still watch recorded reruns of this show it is great to watch by myself but especially with kids it has an innocent cheesy funny but has some good stuff for adults. Bj is awesome super hilarious.

May take a bit to really like it I was hooked right away.

But you will love it with time.

Not sure how there are such bad reviews.

Love this show so upset it was canceled, I do not regularly write reviews and I know this wont be a big help for getting this back on but I would do it just if it helped just a tiny bit.

Awesome Awesome Awesome!!!

Horrible...have tried 2 episodes and won't bother again. It's simply not a premise that works. These people do not act like brother and sister (if you didn't know that's what they were supposed to be you'd be baffled -- as we were the first episode and DIDN'T know the plot). Everything is overly-contrived and um, isn't this supposed to be a comedy...where are the laughs?. Dakota Johnson looks like she's in pain all the time (probably from having to recite the boring lines in the pointless scripts). Nat Faxon acts like a clueless teenager, but he's obviously not, so this is a hard act to buy. And I'm sorry, it may seem trivial, but his snaggleteeth are beyond distracting. A smile doesn't have to be perfect, but c'mon.