CBS Comedy DMV Debuts With Disappointing 54% Rotten Tomatoes Score

CBS just premiered a brand-new comedy called DMV this week, but so far, it’s received a chilly reception from critics. Stars Harriet Dyer, Tony Cavalero, Molly Kearney, Alex Tarrant, Gigi Zumbado and Tim Meadows as employees at a Department of Motor Vehicles location in East Hollywood.

DMVa new workplace comedy, debuted to a disappointing 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. The threshold for a show or movie being certified Fresh on the reviews website is 60%, which means DMV is considered a rotten show.

Even though DMV premiered four days ago, it’s nowhere to be found on Paramount+’s Top 10 streaming chart. As of October 17, the shows that have made the Top 10 are South Park, Tulsa King, Yellowstone, NCIS, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Charmed, SpongeBob SquarePants, Lioness, Dexter and SEAL Team.

DMV did appear on the Paramount+ (Amazon Channels) chart on October 15 at No. 8, but it quickly dropped out of the Top 10.

CBS’ other comedies currently on the air are Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, Ghosts and The Neighborhoodwith the latter show being the lead-in to DMV on Monday nights.

Less than four weeks before DMV premiered, CBS gave the comedy a full-season order of 20 episodes after initially ordering the standard 13 episodes. The network was clearly satisfied with the direction and quality of the show.

When it comes to the ratings, the DMV series premiere, which aired on October 13, drew in 3.93 million viewers. By comparison, 3.85 million viewers tuned in to its lead-in, The Neighborhoodwhich means DMV actually had higher ratings.

The Neighborhood is in its final season, whereas DMV is at the beginning of its run, but so far, the new workplace comedy might have a longer shelf life than critics seem to think, depending on how the ratings shake out in the coming weeks and months.

With such a fractured TV landscape nowadays, it’s hard for some shows to break through. There have been several successful workplace comedies on network TV in recent years, including Parks & Rec, 30 Rock, Superstore and Community. The most notable example is The Office (considered one of the best TV comedies of all time).

CBS has gotten in on the trend as well, airing shows like this 2 Broke Girlswhich ran for six seasons.

Not every workplace comedy is a success, of course. The Crazy Oneswhich also aired on CBS, only lasted for one season, despite starring comedy legend Robin Williams.

DMV is off to a bumpy start, so the ratings in the coming weeks will be very important as the network decides whether to renew the series for a second season. The show may defy the critics and win over viewers, but only time will tell if that comes to pass.

DMV airs Mondays at 8:30 pm EDT on CBS.

Release Date

October 13, 2025

Directors

Trent O’Donnell

Writers

Dana Klein