Critics responded negatively to the character of Denise and Philipps' performance, citing both as annoying and unsympathetic. Heffernan found that Denise lacked the charm and charisma of Cher Horowitz from the 1995 film "Clueless". "USA Today"'s Robert Bianco gave the series a half of a point out of four, and summarized Philipps' performance as "constant motion; her face contorting, body twitching, voice braying" that transformed the show into something "truly unbearable". Citing the series as a "one-joke affair", Matthew Gilbert of "The Boston Globe" wrote that the premise behind Denise had the "same irony that failed to make Alicia Silverstone's "Miss Match" very interesting". The "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"'s Rob Owen favored Doherty's portrayal of the character, which he described as "brimming with self-confidence," and characterized Philipps' Denise as a "dizzyingly neurotic nutcase". Ramlow asserted that the show's female characters were "needy and desperate" and "one-shtick ponies" in comparison to those from "Sex and the City".