Most critics like it, and the warmth is concentrated on the original run. The reviews from its first years describe a comedy that sets out to mock the sitcom and largely gets away with it: the writing is called sharp and fast, the ensemble is picked out repeatedly, and the hand-held, documentary-style shooting is credited with giving the show its energy. The premise of a rich family stripped of its money and crammed into a model home is found to be a reliable engine, and Jeffrey Tambor is singled out more than once.
The reservations are almost all about the later seasons, so the spread is wide. The AV Club finds the fourth season bloated and hard to love, however ambitious. IndieWire thinks the fifth is worth it for the women and Gob but senses an ending. The Telegraph, the one outright dissenter, calls that season tired and smug and says the show has outstayed its welcome. Even The Guardian, broadly approving, admits it is fun rather than laugh-out-loud funny.