Critical response The Bear has received critical acclaim. On the
review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes, the overall series holds a 93% rating. On
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the overall series has received a score of 83 out of 100.
Season 1 For the first season, the
review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100% based on 82 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Like an expertly confected sandwich,
The Bear assembles a perfect melange of ingredients and stacks them for optimal satisfaction—and thankfully keeps the crust-iness for extra flavor." Metacritic gave it a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 24 critic reviews. The
American Film Institute named it
one of the ten best television programs of the year.
The Guardian named it number one of the best 100 TV shows of 2022 and described it as "the best workplace drama since
Mad Men".
The Bear appeared in the top ten on numerous publications' "Best of 2022" lists, including first for
The A.V. Club,
BBC,
People, and
TVLine, among others.
Season 2 On Rotten Tomatoes, 99% of 113 critic reviews are positive for the second season. The site's critical consensus reads, "Instead of reinventing the menu,
The Bears second season wisely opts to toss its lovable characters into another frying pan of adversity, lets 'em cook, and serves up yet another supremely satisfying dish." Metacritic assigned it a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 based on 43 critic reviews. For the second year in a row, the American Film Institute named
The Bear one of the ten best television programs of the year.
The Bear appeared on many publications' lists of the best TV shows of 2023, including
Rolling Stone,
The New York Times,
The Hollywood Reporter, and
People, among others.
Season 3 On Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 104 critics gave the third season a positive review. The website's critics consensus states, "Having set an exceedingly high standard of excellence for itself,
The Bear spends its third season simmering, stewing, and giving off an aroma that whets the appetite." The website also reported that the season was "as audacious as ever" and it "still seems to continue delivering compelling and often intense television with performances that are so dependably brilliant that they're not even mentioned in most of the reviews. Instead, at this point in a show's life, it's easier to find faults in its sameness or changes, or in its attempts to repeat or outdo itself."
Season 4 On Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 86 critics gave the fourth season a positive review. The website's critics consensus reads, "After simmering for too long,
The Bears fourth season finally turns the heat back up with a renewed sense of urgency, serving a rich meal despite tiresome wait times between courses." Metacritic assigned it a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 40 critic reviews.
Accolades Genre classification The classification of
The Bear as a comedy in certain award ceremonies, specifically the Primetime Emmys, has attracted criticism, given its dramatic style and focus on heavy topics. Proponents of the series' categorization as "comedy" argue that the show unfolds as a dark comedy marked by ridiculous situations and comedic timing, relies on the comedic effect inherent to chaos, and is heavily characterized by back-and-forth
banter However, it went on to lose the award for
Outstanding Comedy Series, which it had been heavily favored to win, to
Hacks, with
The Hollywood Reporter suggesting that there was an insult among voters over its continued classification as a comedy. In June 2025,
Vulture published an article, claiming that "an undercurrent of industry resentment" over the show's lack of comedic content led to its 2024 Comedy Series Emmy loss.
Viewership Season 1 The streaming aggregator Reelgood, which monitors real-time data from 5 million users in the U.S. for original and acquired streaming programs and movies across subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) and ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) services, reported that
The Bear was the second-most-streamed program during the week of July 13. It later rose to become the most-streamed program for the week of July 22, before ranking as the seventh most-streamed during the week of July 27.
JustWatch, a guide to streaming content with access to data from more than 20 million users around the world, estimated that
The Bear was the second most-streamed series in the U.S. during the week ending July 3. It maintained the same position during the week ending July 17. FX announced that the first season of
The Bear was the most-watched comedy series in the network's history.
Season 2 FX reported that the second season of
The Bear was the most-watched season premiere in the network's history. Reelgood calculated that
The Bear was the second most-streamed program in the U.S. during the week of June 22. It later rose to first place during the week of June 29. JustWatch reported that
The Bear was the most-streamed series in the U.S. during the week ending June 25.
Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its
TV Time app, announced that
The Bear was the eighth most-watched streaming original television series of 2023.
Season 3 The season 3 premiere of
The Bear garnered 5.4 million views in its first four days of streaming, marking the best performance for an FX premiere on Hulu and the most-watched season premiere for any scripted series on the platform. This viewership represents a 24% increase over the season 2 premiere and accounts for streaming on Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ in the U.S., and Disney+ in available international territories.
The Bear achieved the third-largest season premiere for Hulu overall and the biggest Hulu on Disney+ premiere since the bundle's launch on March 27.
Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, calculated that
The Bear was watched for 1,233 million minutes from June 24—30. It surpassed its previous peak of 1.01 billion minutes recorded shortly after the premiere of its second season the previous year. JustWatch reported that
The Bear was the third most-streamed show in the United States in 2024, while in Canada, it ranked as the second most-streamed show of the year. == See also ==