During its eight-week run in 1999, "Payne" received widespread negative reviews in the American and Canadian media. Caryn James, of "The New York Times", disliked the series from its outset. In her review dated March 15, she wrote: 'It's enough to say, that this remake of John Cleese's hilarious, farcical "Fawlty Towers" has been given a hackneyed Hollywood treatment', adding that the comedic talents of Larroquette had been 'reduced to delivering hideous lines' from a patently weak script. Tom Shales, television critic for "The Washington Post", was also critical of the sitcom in his review published on the same date, especially about Larroquette's casting as a much less likeable Basil Fawlty. Shales stated: 'Larroquette is all too believable as an obnoxious boor.' After cautioning every potential viewer of the new series to "Spare Yourself "Payne"", Shales recognized the production as 'barely' an improvement over the 1983 sitcom "Amanda's", a previous failed attempt to adapt "Fawlty Towers" to American television.