Caitlin Moran from "The Times" was one of the most damning. She described the show as: "like a light entertainment Wounded Knee, but with a studio audience", and she also compared it negatively to another comedy that had begun earlier in the week, "Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle", saying: "The BBC amazes me. It takes four years for Stewart Lee - a comedian with 17 years' experience - to get a six-part series; yet in "Genius" wholly inexperienced members of the public are expected to deliver five minutes of broadcast-quality improvised material at the drop of a hat. What, literally, is that all about?"