Most critics like it, and the praise clusters in one place: Andre Braugher as Captain Holt. Nearly every review names his deadpan captain as the show’s most reliable source of laughs, and several argue that his pairing with Andy Samberg’s joking detective is the engine of the whole thing. Beyond that, the reviews agree on a strong, well-matched ensemble and an easy, low-stakes workplace tone that sits comfortably alongside heavier cop dramas.
The reservations are about the writing rather than the cast. Paste finds the jokes run-of-the-mill and wants a clearer identity than a workplace comedy in a precinct; Collider sees the shape of The Office in it and hopes it grows the way Parks and Recreation did. The one mixed notice, from Variety, thinks the pilot falls between stools, neither wacky nor droll, and doubts a sketch sensibility can stretch to a series. The spread is otherwise narrow, and most treat the pilot as promise rather than proof.