Reception
Critics generally found the series to be unusual. CBC critic Stephen Cole commented that What It's Like Being Alone has "arguably the most surreal opening sequence in TV history" with a shift in view from a black and white Canadian flag to the orphan characters. He questioned whether the show indicated the CBC had adopted "Addams Family values" and said that it was "the wildest CBC comedy since Twitch City."
One television critic briefly said that What It's Like Being Alone is a "weird show," and simply advised individual viewers to see it for themselves. If they "relate" to it, the critic added, "a 'Yikes!' is in order." Bill Brioux of the Toronto Sun commented that in combining a feel one would usually expect from Tim Burton with elements of Sesame Street, What It's Like Being Alone would probably not appeal fully to any demographic, despite its originality. Additionally, he felt Princess Lucy would be tiresome, and said he had hoped the show were more amusing.
In terms of ratings, the series did not do well. The Toronto Star described it as one of CBC's "prime-time dogs" with an audience of 78,000 people. The executive Richard Stursberg was blamed for cancelling the more popular Da Vinci's City Hall and This is Wonderland to make room for this and other shows, and in general for being a "one-man wrecking ball" for the CBC (the series The One: Making a Music Star had also flopped on CBC in 2006). On 18 September, the series finale had only 163,000 viewers, part of the perceived "shocking" low ratings CBC received that year, along with the low ratings of the documentary series Hockey: A People's History and a mini-series about former-Quebec premier René Lévesque.
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