Manhattan Love Story suggests some thoughts are better left unsaid.

ABC deserves credit for its diverse casting, but Selfie looks to have the longevity of the average Snapchat pic.

Tambor gives a nuanced, career-defining performance here.

Smart, slick and sexy.

As Pops, the sitcom cliche of grumpy old grandpa, Laurence Fishburne (most recently on “Hannibal” and billed here a special guest star) squeezes every line until it coughs up a laugh.

Forever comes off like a show a couple of drunks scribbled out on a cocktail napkin.

Diplomacy by its nature doesn’t lend itself well to visual storytelling. Perhaps that’s why the show adds a conspiracy element.... Give props to Madam Secretary for the casting.

This little dramedy, an adaptation of a Spanish series, has that USA “Monk” comedy-lite vibe going for it.

A dramedy poised to be the breakout show of fall — if it can only overcome the trying symptoms of treacle.

What emerges is scary, graphic, unnerving and not for those easily vexed by nightmares.

Gore-hounds will find a couple of visual shots fascinating, but there’s little here for anyone to justify the hour investment.

The unscripted series is surprisingly engrossing and probably more valuable than two years of film school for would-be auteurs.

Boardwalk shows no signs of losing its identity. All signs point to a bloody proper finish.

Many of his tricks here are explained, and the means of execution may only increase your appreciation for his genius. Less convincing is the miniseries’ speculation that the British intelligence agency MI-5 recruited him to act as a spy in the run-up to World War I.

The outlook for his head and neck here is much better; Legends, though, is on wobbly legs.

Once the show tones down the voice-overs, Balfe is quite good in the part of a time-tossed lassie.... Heughan swaggers in his kilt about as well as “The Simpsons’” Groundskeeper Willie (that is not a dis), but he and Balfe generate about as much heat as two piles of wet peat.

The story of an intriguing woman who can shoot a gun but can't hit the target is a premise steeped with promise. Let's hope Karen Sisco does not find happiness anytime soon. [1 Oct 2003, p.55]

For fans of quality TV, The Knick will evoke memories of the South Boston-set “St. Elsewhere.” That show needed more than a season to work out its kinks. The Knick is already off to a robust start.

Their escapist capers make for pretty but mindless TV. [5 Oct 2003, p.47]

Depending on your memories of high school, ABC's new drama... is either one of the most honest or most troubling small-screen depictions of teen angst. [7 Oct 2004]

Because this is a Bravo reality show, every hour has to end with a manufactured epiphany.

USA should toss this series into the clinker. [23 Jul 2000]

The show is so far removed from the standard set by "The Sopranos." It just doesn't get off the ground. [4 Apr 2000]

"The Chronicle" seems to want to have as much fun with its stories as its viewers. [12 Jul 2001]

For all its reptilian quirkiness, there is some maximum enjoyment here. [4 Aug 1998, p.34]

Grammer throws himself into the material, but Lawrence seems deflated. Perhaps he recognizes these scripts seem like somebody’s first drafts. Partners doesn’t make much of a case.

The editing is kind to most of the contestants, who come off as earnest, intelligent folks looking to engage their inner heroes.... Alas, The Quest’s elimination challenge is unimaginative and the vote deliberations almost as petty as anything on “Big Brother.”

Sharknado 2 doesn’t need any jokes about jumping the shark. It knows you’re going to make one and it beats you to it, literally.

The first episode spends much of the time establishing the series, and it's not particularly edge-of-the-seat scary. But the paranormal special effects are good and the acting holds up. How the action unfolds is questionable - the constant touching, gasping and seeing visions could get old. [16 June 2002, p.A07]

If The Lottery can keep up the promise of its premiere, it will punch a winning ticket.

It's an appealing premise that quickly bores with bad writing. [28 Nov 2002]

This show is a bit too easy, given that its source material has become a parody of itself. For those who have grown sick of the Bravo formula squabbling, these antics may be a tonic.

Ellis has one great, understated moment, when Sarah (Odette Annable), the love of his life, confronts him about his failings, and you can see Rush realizes the gulf between the man he is and the man he’d like to be is a chasm he’ll never be able to breach. The show needs more of this. But no, it backs away from the edge.

Satisfaction has the most provocative premise--until about halfway through when it doesn’t just go off the rails, it careens into the ocean, swims for England, sits for afternoon tea and then flings itself into the moon.

The show’s humor is more often graceless and crass.

Like Amy’s “Parks and Recreation,” the humor is never mean.

Extant plays with genres, mixing sci-fi, conspiracy thriller and scenes from a struggling marriage. It also asks some daring questions about the collision of machine and humanity.

Carter’s journey is rushed. If the show just pumped the brakes a bit, it might discover a heart worth following.

Who knew the dumbed-down domestic sitcom could be fun again? ... OK. It's not "Seinfeld." But "Eight Simple Rules" does just what it's supposed to - amuse, entertain, disperse a few laughs and warm fuzzies. [17 Sep 2002]

Almost every moment here is staged to scream, “Look at me! I’m arty!” Lindelof, burned mightily by the backlash over “Lost’s” ridiculous finale, has all but told reporters that the mystery central to The Leftovers will never be explained. That leaves you with a show wallowing in smug self-importance, melancholy and drear week after week.

Tyrant is the most engrossing new show of the summer.... Gordon’s razor-sharp timing, a skill honed on “24,” serves Tyrant well.

The Last Ship is a naval recruitment ad for the apocalypse, and these waters look shallow. Careful before sticking your toe in.

The Czech Republic location shoots convincingly suggest medieval France, but the episodes run an unwieldy 75 minutes long. Capaldi is terrific and commands the screen as if he’s on an HBO series while everyone else is in a cartoon.

Watching "Ellie" becomes an ordeal in watching the clock. You see your life ticking away, wasting time watching "Ellie." [26 Feb 2002]

"Watching Ellie" is a mess of cliches and lots of straining for chuckles. Louis-Dreyfus makes it look like a huge effort, which is all the more obvious because her Elaine on "Seinfeld" was seamlessly amusing. [15 Apr 2003]

It's impossible to tell by the uneven debut episode if the tone of the writing will be consistent. ... The dramatic portions of the show flow easily... But the writers seem unsure how they want to portray the violence in "Platinum," of which there is plenty in the first episode. [11 Apr 2003]

Gamble and Hoggart are credited as “per­formers” on the show and are also writers­ for the series, and their ability to ad-lib and play with anyone and every­one they come in contact with is a joy to watch, proof you can say almost anything to anyone, no matter how outrageous, so long as you maintain an air of innocence. Or stu­pidity.

As the Chosen One, Egan is blond and bland. Dale and Head do well playing against type. As the Big Bad of the piece, Gabriel appears for perhaps 40 seconds of the 90-minute premiere and is still the most interesting character here.

Less silly than it sounds, Atlantis accomplishes the basic task of rejuvenating the Stargate action-adventure premise. ... Most importantly, it's Stargate without obnoxious SG-1 star Richard Dean Anderson, which instantly makes it twice as good. [16 July 2004]

"Soul Food" the series differs from the film in that it replaces romance with nudity and sex. The actors were good and the premiere episode was believable, but let's leave something to the imagination. [26 Jun 2000]

The series is an adaptation of popular Mexican tele­novela “Terminales” and doesn’t do enough to shake off its more sensational roots. A plot swerve at the end of the hour will set off more groans than gasps.

There’s nothing wrong with whipping up some comfort food, of course, but Murder might leave you hungry for something more challenging an hour later.

Looks more like a tired old episode of "Wagon Train." [1 Jan 1998]

Hardwick might be the most jacked actor working on TV and has some nice moments with Loren as he tries to reconnect with a love that has only grown fonder over the years. But the dialogue, slathered with f-bombs, seems lazy, and there’s not much ur­gency to the plot.

The sets may at times look fake (is that Afghanistan or Vancouver?) and savvy viewers will spot the traitor in Mike's story line early on, but Traffic deftly puts tiny human faces on global problems. [23 Jan 2004]

There isn’t another show that can go from laugh-out-loud funny to soul-crushing sadness in a beat.

The cast is attractive, but nobody comes off well with material so cringe-worthy. [25 Nov 2011]

Halt and Catch Fire’s operating system is solid, crafty and cunning. Boot it up.

Crossbones rises and falls on Malkovich’s inspired delivery and is under­cut by the show’s joyless, convoluted plotting, especially in next week’s episode.

Right now, the best advice for Nia and her new husband is to move far away from her family. Far, far away. [25 Feb 2003, p.46]

If there were a Match.com for sitcoms, this show would be blocked, banned and forgotten.

The whole enterprise dissolves too quickly into a '90s version of "White Shadow," with teacher Johnson as the angel of mercy sent to rescue her "at-risk" minority students from the forces of evil. [30 Sept 1996, p.34]

The Night Shift gets the X-ray right for a series. Now it just needs to find a way to pump some new blood.

Tremors could go somewhere. It's an appealing setup, with some resonance in Old West-style independence and eco-tourism. [27 Mar 2003, p.61]

Buoyed by A-list star power, The Normal Heart beats erratically for more than two hours, yet delivers a gut punch in its climax.

Nothing feels authentic about this show.

CW’s Labyrinth is quite possibly the worst miniseries ever made for TV.

There were moments when I wanted to give up on Penny Dreadful. Then there is the ending of the second episode--a horrific jolt that changes everything you thought you knew about one character--and, well, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Thursday’s conclusion drags a bit if only because the miniseries requires Rosemary to be so deeply stupid for so long, and it’s not entertaining watching Saldana being practically sucked dry by her infernal fetus.

Not much is different for the fourth season of FX’s most popular comedy, except possibly an uptick in the production budget and guests.

24 is as much a thrill ride as ever.

A delectable documentary. [29 Nov 2001, p.55]

This little sitcom reminds you how rare female friendship is on prime time TV--and just how much fun it can be.

There’s something hilarious and twisted about outcasts running a school and turning out to be as much idiots as the typically popular kids. Faking It is the real deal.

Bad Teacher is like a comedy club on a Sunday morning. No fun.

There’s no way to self-medicate against the relentless drear of this new medical drama.

Barbershop's tarty makeover - surprising, because three of the films' producers, including star Ice Cube, are behind this - does more than just sex it up for premium cable. The good will has been snipped from the franchise. [11 Aug 2005, p.53]

The character Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) might remind you of Leland Gaunt of Stephen King’s “Needful Things”: He knows just what words to drop to create mayhem. Freeman is outstanding as the little guy whose one moment of rage has far-reaching consequences.

A new day is approaching, and Don seems unprepared for what lies ahead.

Bell, who started out as a child actor, has matured into a compelling leading man and he seems capable of conveying Abraham’s troubling journey into the underbelly of the war effort.

Game remains one of the more challenging shows to follow, but one of the most rewarding.

When The L Word is judged on its dramatic merits, the real problem is not the stereotypical plot lines or limited scope, but the fact there's nothing here to make the viewer want to tune in every week. Sure, the series throws around catchphrases such as "nipple confidence" and frank talk of "butt waxing," but strip away the attention-grabbing antics and the show is rather boring. Perhaps The L Word stands for lackluster.

If you like your comedy slathered in crude, this sitcom is catnip. Everyone else will wonder if CBS stopped making shows with recognizable human beings when “Everybody Loves Raymond” went off the air.

The dark tone might be the greatest barrier at first to viewers, but the cast rolls with the wisecracks.

Cusick has done this role before so often, he might even be mixing and matching scripts. Washington looks so bored, he might nod off. The 100? If we’re marking days on a calendar, that’s being optimistic.

Kudrow seems to be aiming for ``The Larry Sanders Show'' or ``Curb Your Enthusiasm'' territory but only gets as far as ``Reba'' with the f-word. [2 June 2005, p.47]

With its frantic pacing, ­vicious masterminds and ­valiant law enforcement agents, Crisis might remind you of Fox’s “24.” Not the best seasons of “24,” but still. There’s a lot to be said for a show that works up a sweat trying to surprise you.

Resurrection does something few dramas do today — it gives its characters breathing room to absorb and react to the fantastic in their lives, rather than forcing them to run from one plot point to another. Some will find this pace too leisurely.

There are two last-minute twists that stretch and nearly break any credulity.

Johnny is easily a Leary/Tommy Gavin stand-in, 
Theresa is Janet (Andrea Roth) with a badge, and Bigley could be Mike Silletti’s (Mike Lombardi) brother. Don’t bother with the alarm. When it comes to 
Sirens, you know this drill.

There’s such a richness of story and character here, and the visual and sound people do some great work cranking up the creep factor.

Troubled spirits: Mixology is drowning in them. Save yourself.

Right now he’s as bland as Carson Daly.

Mind Games is the kind of dramedy that could give you a brain cramp.

Boy is often silly, but this cast is just so likable.

The emo-dialogue only sounds good if you’re just watching your first TV show..... The show’s decade-forward future is intriguing but inconsistent.

What I kept looking for in Queer As Folk was a transcendent story line or sex-neutral message to lift this drama higher than the sum of its body parts. I couldn't find that deep thread of meaning...There are shreds of stories but, basically, it all comes back around to men bumping like bunnies - or wanting to bump like bunnies, or talking about bumping like bunnies.[30 Nov 2000, p.47]

The first four episodes Netflix made available are more intense and unpredictable than the first season.