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Here are some of the reviews of the first episode of ‘The Marriage Ref’:

EW:
…there was an undeniable spontaneity not only among the premiere’s guest judges — Alec Baldwin, Kelly Ripa, and Seinfeld — but also during the taped segments featuring the couples who provided the arguments. Granted, my defenses were weakened by the mind-blowing Olympics finale that included William Shatner spouting Dadaist poetry, but I thought The Marriage Ref was silly fun.
Hosted by Tom Papa, an excellent stand-up comic (he killed on a recent David Letterman), The Marriage Ref is just what you’ve seen in the ads. We and the judges watched tape of a couple’s outlandish argument, and Papa referees the dispute by concluding, “I’m ready to make the call!”

NY Times:
A simple search of Twitter Sunday night yielded thousands of comments about the show. Some of the comments were upbeat, calling the show “hilarious,” but many more, it seemed, were savagely critical. Television critics were virtually united in their disapproval. “Divorce papers have been filed. West Coasters, you’ve been warned,” wrote Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly.
But the Twitter buzz during the East Coast preview was so bad that Daniel Fienberg of HitFix said “it wouldn’t surprise me if NBC airs an ‘Office’ repeat at 10:30 PT,” shorthand for Pacific time.

Others joked about bringing Mr. Leno back to prime time.

NY Daily News:
Even without a replay, the consensus call on Jerry Seinfeld’s new “Marriage Ref” so far is, “Yer out.”

That’s not what struggling NBC wants to hear about the long-awaited new Seinfeld project on which it spent its most valuable promotion slot, the half-hour after the Olympics Sunday.

But then, “The Marriage Ref” didn’t give NBC much to hang its hype on. It turned out to be a flimsy “reality” show in which celebrities milk a silly videotaped argument between a civilian couple for way more jokes than it deserves and then pick a “winner.”

Time called it “the most God-awful mishmash of a comedy-variety show.” Long-time Hartford Courant critic Roger Catlin said “absolutely nothing funny happened.” Greg Evans of the Huffington Post said Seinfeld “owes us nothing and delivered in spades.”

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Despite personal sentiments to the contrary, Alec Baldwin has to vote on the side of practicality.

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The strong Olympics performance fueled a great premiere number for “The Marriage Ref.” Sunday’s opener pulled a 4.8 rating with 14.5 million viewers, enough to easily win the 10:30-11PM half hour.

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The Denver Post has an article about the busy actor Alec Baldwin, who will be a judge on The Marriage Ref. Here are some of the highlights of the article:
Baldwin doesn’t wait for gigs. He is busy seven months of the year, bringing General Electric television honcho Jack Donaghy to life on “30 Rock.” He can be seen in promos for the upcoming Jerry Seinfeld- produced show, “The Marriage Ref.” He tag-teams the Turner Classic Movies’ staple “The Essentials.” (“I love Bob,” he said of co-host Robert Osborne.) He’s the voice of the New York Philharmonic. On the big screen this year he could be seen in Nancy Meyers’ romantic comedy “It’s Complicated” completing a triangle with Meryl Streep and Steve Martin; and the weepy “My Sister’s Keeper.” In 2008, he played a philandering dad in the indie family drama “Lymelife” set in Long Island. (Baldwin is a proud son of Massapequa, New York.)
Small wonder, he has been quoted saying he wants to stop acting.
“Well I would like to do other things,” he said. “There’s only so much time in the day. I’m going to be 52 in April.
“I really want to stress that I feel kind of sad when we talk about this subject. I don’t mean it to be a negative. I don’t mean it to be dismissive of the business. It’s not that at all. It’s really more about turning 50.

In 2006, Baldwin signed the contract for “30 Rock.”
“I’ve been playing in the same key basically for four years,” he said. He’s quick with gratitude for the whip- smart sitcom.
“The show is something I’m so in love with, I’m bottomlessly grateful for. All of the goodwill I have in my life emanates from the show. Nancy (Meyers) wouldn’t have cast me in the movie. I wouldn’t be hosting the Oscars. None of those things would have happened if not for Tina (Fey) and Lorne (Michaels). But that’s a lot of time to do one thing.”
School might be a haven, a way, he said, to buy some time to think. “I’d like to re-acquaint myself with some serious thinking.” He definitely intends to continue his role as host of the New York Philharmonic radio broadcast.”

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Alec Baldwin already created a phrase that will stay with us forever in The Marriage Ref.