Tonight, ABC unveils their latest Sunday night drama. Will 666 Park Avenue attract solid ratings or be cancelled like last season’s Pan Am and GCB? Is it even worth watching?
On 666 Park Avenue, a young man and woman move to the Big Apple from the Midwest and end up managing The Drake, a prestigious residential hotel. They feel like they’re living their dream scenario — until they realize that every dream comes with a price. The cast includes the talents of Terry O’Quinn, Vanessa Williams, Dave Annable, Rachael Taylor, Robert Buckley, Mercedes Masöhn, Helena Mattsson, Samantha Logan, and Erik Palladino.
Here’s a taste of what the critics have been saying:
LA Times: “The early revelation that the Dorans are in the soul-buying business is a bit worrisome — is 666 Park Avenue simply going to show them in action, like some Mephistophelean version of Pawn Wars? — but I’m a sucker for O’Quinn, Williams and a ghost story under any guise. The addition of a plucky architect dispensing details about the Beaux-Arts movement, a young clairvoyant kleptomaniac (Samantha Logan) and a mosaic of power only ups the ante — if God is in the details, why shouldn’t his fallen angel lurk there as well?”
NY Daily News: “A stylish ambience and a familiar cast might not be enough to make 666 Park Avenue into another unlikely Sunday night hit for ABC.”
Salt Lake Tribune: “The first episode of 666 Park Avenue is good. Good enough to make me want to see more. But I’m not at all sure how long that feeling will last.”
Miami Herald: “Doran is like an evil Donald Trump (go ahead, insert your own parenthetical punchline here) collecting deeds to the damned in much the same way his corporate raids on distressed properties suck up new buildings. Whatever you think of the metaphor, there’s no way not to love O’Quinn’s performance as the diabolical Doran.”
Newsday: “The glorious O’Quinn and Williams as a husband-wife team who offer the unsuspecting a one-way ticket to hell (unless they agree to their wicked demands)? Where do I sign up for this one? 666 is many things — most of them good: mysterious, Gothic, atmospheric, skillfully directed (Alex Graves does the honors in the pilot) and above all, fun.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “There’s nothing egregiously wrong with 666 Park Avenue but there’s nothing outstanding or all that surprising about it either. It’s just kind of meh and a TV show with a devil at the center should be more fun than that.”
USA Today: “[W]hile you may enjoy some of the flourishes and be fond of some of the performers, 666 is a failure. Perhaps that grade will change in the coming weeks, but in its premiere, the only genuine fright comes from imagining how much it would actually cost to rent an apartment this size on Park Avenue.”
The Star-Ledger: “Color me intrigued. O’Quinn and Williams are eminently watchable, and Taylor shows a little spunk as the new resident manager who starts looking into the Drake’s colorful history. Flashbacks, please! I like the sinister vibe, but because this is network television, the scares — a ghostly woman appearing in the background while Jane is looking elsewhere, an elevator gone berserk on a poor tenant — are simply not very scary.”
San Francisco Chronicle: “The genius of the show is that while bad things happen, the victims aren’t entirely blameless. Perhaps unlike Gavin, they are only human, after all, and have entered into various agreements out of weakness, hubris, lust or self-aggrandizement, among other motives… The production values are first-rate, the performances convincing, and with 60 units in the building, there’s a wealth of potential stories to keep 666 in ABC’s address book for several seasons.”
Boston Globe: “At one point, Doran tells Henry and Jane that desire is an essential truth of who we are. ‘We all want something,’ he says. I want 666 Park Avenue to be scarier and more interesting. The presence of the normally reliable and entertaining O’Quinn and Williams and the pedigree of creator David Wilcox (Fringe, Life on Mars) makes me willing to stick around for a little while to see if the show can become as scary as it wants to be.”
What do you think? Will you be watching 666 Park Avenue or have you already seen it? If the latter, will you watch again?
LOVE THIS SHOW HOPE IT COMES BACK ON SOON. LOVE THE ACTORS IN IT AND MISS PAN AM AND GCB ALOT SO HOPE THIS ONE STAYS ON
Please bring it back, one of the best shows on TV. we want to watch it for a LONG time Thank You Bonnie and all my friend that watch it too
I love this show it is exciting and the visual effects are great It made me want to stay up on Sunday night …it’s been along time since I’ve done that. I am so sorry to hear it has been cancelled..
I love this cast, but this will be another show that proves even a stellar cast can’t overcome a weak or cliched premise (the slow seduction of individual corruption in this case). While the story arc has a few interesting sub-plots like the klepto psychometric, the basement ghost, and the Dragon Cult (perhaps even Jane’s own divine/psychic perception), they aren’t likely to be enough to make the show rise above its episodic corruption-of-the-week/weak premise. The sub-plots are more interesting and will help bring viewers back, but because of the way they are intrinsically linked to the cliched premise, they’ll also… Read more »
At first, I didn’t want to watch it because it had 666 in the title (I went to Catholic school); then I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did, because now I can say I’m not going to watch the show because it’s boring and trite, not because of some religious superstition regarding the title.
I loved 666Park Avenue. I thought it was great. It kept me riveted to my chair wondering who Terry O Quinn was and then when it became apparent . I was intrigued. Looking forward to see what takes place in the weeks to come. The cast is incredible , very best, acting, the characters are so believeable. I think it will definitely be a hit. Thanks so much for something besides a police or medical program to watch. I,m also hooked after just the first showing.
I enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing more. Is it AHS gross/scary? No. It’s not even as gory as Supernatural – yet….but gore does not equal horror, and if it can develop and sustain psychological horror, I far prefer that anyway.
Because of all the ‘hype’ I tuned in. I wasn’t at all impressed and I struggled to stay interested. Having this show on after the smash hit ‘Revenge’ (which always gets my adrenaline pumping) may very well be the problem. People’s expectations are set high and this show absoluely did not deliver. Simply put…I was bored and it’s not likely that I’ll be back….
yes I thought it was good for first showing but, it hould only be judged after a couple of showings that should determin it
Oh noooo it says 666 in the title however will I cope boooohooooooo
won’t watch——stupid title, boring plot
Great cast, good cinematography, suspenseful! love it! Im hooked too! and so are my friends!
I won’t be watching it simply because of the title. Sorry ABC, but like it or not titles do make or break a show.
it’s a tv show! it’s not real!
Just finsihed watching it!
Amazing Cast!
Loved Terry O’Quinn in LOST!
Vanessia Williams was is Desperate Housewives!
Rachael Taylor in Greys Anatomy!
Dave Annable in Brothers and Sisters as Justin Walker.
As for the show, It’s very interesting and I could see this show being a hit, I’m hooked!