The Good American Family, despite its potential, suffers from poor pacing and weaker performances. Had the titular roles of Kristine and Michael Barnett been re-casted, it could have vastly improved the series. The show's exploration of adoption, abuse, and manipulation fails to resonate with viewers, despite Imogen Faith Reid's outstanding performance.

Small Town, Big Story is daft and quirky and when it goes into the harsher humour from the people of Drumbán, it works great. Christina Hendricks and Paddy Considine carry the many elements of the show and the different genres perfectly while having an immense chemistry in their few shared scenes. It’s a fun watch with some crazy turns like alien abduction but has many normal dramas like affairs that ground it in some reality which helps the humour grow. It can get lost in the two plots and they never run cohesively together, making the show weighed down by its own excessiveness but entertaining enough to watch.