Credentials: I was a serious prep cook at 14, line cook at 16, cooked full time for more than a decade before law school. I've used nearly every kind of knife there is (never used any of the fancy exotic stuff, but everything else).
Cutco is crap for the money. It's not a terrible knife, but it's stamped stainless thats no better than stuff that cost $12 at a good restaurant supply store. The real problem with cutco knives is that stainless is too hard to sharpen- it'll hold an edge for a while, but then it'll never come back unless it's reground. For the most part, softer steel is better- my favorite knives have been antique carbon steel sabatiers- I can sharpen them to a razor edge in about 20 seconds- with stainless you are fighting a losing battle.
Other than that, they're just a cheap knife. They can't cost more than a few bucks to manufacture, but everyone buys them because it's always some relative or local kid. If you get off on the whole american-made thing, get some lamson-sharps... Great knives, made in massachusetts... If you are terrified of sharpening a knife by hand, buy a couple good cheap knives (globals, henckles, wusthoff, whatever) and blow a couple hundred on a chefmate electric sharpener and you'll still have saved a few hundred bucks over cutco crap- and you'll have some decent cutlery.
Oh, and everyone else is right on about no one needing (or even wanting) a lot of knives. You need a chefs knife, a paring knife, a boner, and maybe a big cheap chefs knife or a heavy cleaver if you handle a lot of big meat jobs.
