--- title: Review: MIchael Douglas Can't Save Netflix's Kominsky Method description: Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin play grumpy, old Hollywood men in The Big Bang Theory co-creator Chuck Lorre's new Netflix dramedy. canonical: https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/ author: Judy Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-12T15:26:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:59:53.777Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'The Kominsky Method' Is a Superficial Attempt at a Sophisticated Sitcom og:description: Stars Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin can't save this lazy, cranky Netflix series og:url: https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068b3cbd8d43447d/69893eb07cdbac5bedd5e650/kominsky_101_unit_02713r.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Kominsky Method' Is a Superficial Attempt at a Sophisticated Sitcom twitter:description: Stars Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin can't save this lazy, cranky Netflix series twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068b3cbd8d43447d/69893eb07cdbac5bedd5e650/kominsky_101_unit_02713r.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Even Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin Can't Save the Lazy, Cranky _Kominsky Method_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Nov 12, 2018 3:26 PM UTC  Susan Sullivan, Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin in The Kominsky Method Susan Sullivan, Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin in The Kominsky MethodMike Yarish/Netflix  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Nov 12, 2018 3:26 PM UTC For more than two decades, Chuck Lorre has been one of the most powerful names in television. Though he didn’t last long in his career-making gig as a _Roseanne_ writer, he survived that show’s chaotic set to create some of the biggest sitcoms of the 1990s: _Grace Under Fire_, _Cybill_, _Dharma & Greg_. A few years later, as reality TV reshaped primetime and original cable programming started to eat into broadcast networks’ audience shares, he stuck to his tried-and-true formula. As Fox and NBC aired high-concept single-camera comedies that critics loved but most viewers ignored, Lorre scored hits for CBS with shows like _Two and a Half Men_ and _The Big Bang Theory_. These multicam sitcoms were built around broad characters, ubiquitous laugh tracks and living-room couches that got as much screen time as the leads. So it was surprising when the mega-producer teamed up with Netflix for last year’s _Disjointed_, which looked like typical Lorre fare but starred Kathy Bates in the edgy role of a marijuana dispensary proprietor. Canceled after a two-part debut season, it was his first failed show since the ’90s. On Nov. 16, Lorre will make another bid for Netflix success with _The Kominsky Method_, an eight-episode series that marks his first attempt at modern prestige TV. The show has all the superficial markers of a sophisticated product: It’s a serialized, single-camera dramedy set within a well-off Hollywood milieu and led by A-list actors Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin. Douglas’ Sandy Kominsky is an acting coach with a thriving studio, an earnest reverence for his craft, three ex-wives, no roles on the horizon and an unacknowledged terror of death that is only exacerbated by his ballooning prostate. (There are _a lot_ of jokes about peeing.) As her terminal illness approaches its end, his friend Eileen (Susan Sullivan)—the wife of Sandy’s cantankerous agent, Norman Newlander (Arkin)—begs him to take care of her husband when she’s gone. The setup is rich with potential for dark comedy about aging, mortality and friendship (even if Henry Winkler has already filled this year’s TV quota for washed-up acting instructors, with his Emmy-winning performance in HBO’s wonderful _Barry_). But Lorre and his co-writers, Al Higgins and David Javerbaum, squander it on stock supporting characters and tired, smarmy humor. Sandy’s acting class is populated by coddled millennial stereotypes. He shuts down an argument over an offensive performance by pointing out that “inside we’re all the same.” Black and gay students exist solely as representatives of their identities. And there’s no sign Lorre wants viewers to be more generous to these characters than Sandy is. Worst of all are Lorre’s underwritten female characters. Sandy’s grown-up daughter Mindy (Sarah Baker), who helps run the studio, evidently lives to care for her dad; if she has her own friends, romances or ambitions, we don’t find out about them. His love interest, Lisa (Nancy Travis), is a long-suffering divorcée defined by the disappointments she’s suffered at the hands of men. Eileen is a “perfect wife” character with no internal life. The only woman with a discernible personality is Norman and Eileen’s middle-aged daughter, Phoebe (Lisa Edelstein), a nastily rendered caricature of a spoiled, pill-addicted brat. The show isn’t a total bust. The stars lend real poignancy to each man’s plight, and to their testy friendship, but their performances can’t compensate for the lazy writing. Even with prestige trappings, _The Kominsky Method_ just feels cheap. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/"},"headline":"Even Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin Can't Save the Lazy, Cranky Kominsky Method","datePublished":"2018-11-12T15:26:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:59:53.777Z","description":"The Big Bang Theory co-creator embraces prestige TV aesthetics—but still reverts to broad characters and lazy jokes—in this Netflix dramedy starring Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin.","url":"https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068b3cbd8d43447d/69893eb07cdbac5bedd5e650/kominsky_101_unit_02713r.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068b3cbd8d43447d/69893eb07cdbac5bedd5e650/kominsky_101_unit_02713r.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1","caption":"1","creditText":"Mike Yarish/Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/","name":"Even Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin Can't Save the Lazy, Cranky Kominsky Method"}}]}] ```