In a positive review, David Hinckley from "New York Daily News" awarded the pilot four out of five stars and stated, "Happily, "Scream" maintains a sense of humor, reinforced with snappy, self-aware pop culture dialogue." Similarly, Brian Lowry of "Variety" commended the show's ability to maintain suspense "without much actually happening during the rest of the episode," noting its use of music, but expressing skepticism if the series could maintain its originality. Aedan Juvet of "PopWrapped" gave a positive assessment of the series and called it, "a prime example of a game-changing horror series." Conversely, David Wiegand of the "San Francisco Chronicle" panned the series and gave it one out of four stars, criticizing the acting performances as "bland, robotic, and uninteresting" as well as its apparent lack of racial diversity. In a mixed review, Mark Perigard of the "Boston Herald" gave the show a C+, saying, "There are a few scares here, but while the "Scream" films kept audiences jumping, "Scream: The TV series" risks putting viewers to sleep."