Writing in "People" magazine in 1995, Craig Tomashoff said the cancellation of "Brisco" was "one of the tragedies going into 1994–1995 TV season". Tomashoff suggested that the show influenced UPN's "Legend", another Western series with comedy and science fiction elements. Reflecting on the show in the "Orange County Register" in 1996, critic Cary Darling lamented "Brisco"'s cancellation, saying that the show "stood way out from the rest of the broadcast pack". Darling reviewed the show, describing it as "a witty, multiracial Western that tempered its fisticuffs with fantasy, its innocence with irony, and its romantic vision of the Old West with an abiding New World faith in the future's infinite possibilities". Writing in "Entertainment Weekly", Ken Tucker called the show a "one season wonder" that was "ahead of its time".