It’s a dank, depressing series made on too little money that could have been vastly improved by cutting the episode order by at least a third. At 13 hours, you’ll feel as if you’re the one being punished for something.

The TV mom has changed - from out-of-touch authority figure to giggling girlfriend. This WB series attempts to depict a thoroughly modern single parent-child relationship. Yet, there's a sense this type of chumminess could only happen on TV. [5 Oct 2000, p.48]

How you view it will depend on what you consider the proper care of collectibles and the corruption of a minor.

The freak-show rounds, a staple of Idol’s early weeks, have been reduced to a couple of montages and the random weirdo.... Of the three judges, Connick is the harshest, a Simon Cowell without the snark or the malice.

The two have so much loathing for themselves, Alone Together can be downright depressing. Just the quality you don’t want from a sitcom. You might end up hating yourself--for wasting your time.

Return of the Mac looks like a pleasant family project, one they can look back on fondly. For the rest of us, it’s just a step up from watching someone else’s home movies.

Anyone hoping for a “Desperate Housewives” vibe (ABC’s last big Sunday hit) will be disappointed. This story unfolds as if it were told by someone overdosing on Ambien.

Patty is important--but she’s not Insatiable’s main dish. Strangely and crucially, her viewpoint often gets lost, ignored or brushed aside, at least in the early episodes. The focus of this dark comedy is Bob Armstrong (Dallas Roberts).

There are some lovely shots of South Boston. Like everything else here, they've been staged.

Usually “24” descends into silliness in its final third act, and by that time, it has built up a reservoir of goodwill so viewers are determined to finish the day. Not so much with this one.

The men are neanderthals, the women are the sitcom cliche peacemakers.

The Shield gives viewers so much Chiklis, it should be called "The Commish 2." The pilot opens with the unlikely scenario of the portly Chiklis chasing down a teenage drug dealer. It only gets worse...There may be rogue cops out there, but do they really announce to their precinct captains that they can't be controlled? It's hard to watch a show that stars such an unlikable character. [12 Mar 2002, p.41]

Allison is one precious snowflake and is about as interesting as last week’s church bulletin. Lynch, meanwhile, plays her interloper with Sue Sylvester snark peppered with the kind of innuendo you’d hear on “2 Broke Girls.”

It's not a Comedy Central spoof, but it skews ridiculously close to one.

Looking: The Movie is pointless and boring.

The more [Vance (David Walton) is] allowed to cut loose, the closer Perfect edges to real humor.

The show obvi­ously wants you to believe their characters are meant for each other, but given that this show seems to be teasing everyone with everyone else, it’s hard to take that seriously--or even be inter­ested.

Throws off a lot of sparks but it never really ignites. [9 March 2002]

Baker exudes a stoic charm. As his demanding father, Dabney Coleman is a disquieting presence. [25 Sept 2001, p.48]

After three episodes, my head is bumping against my joy ceiling--with Happyish.

Two nights might have worked better for this series, but if noises at night make you jump, "Stephen King's Rose Red" will give you a decent dose of the heebie-jeebies. [27 Jan 2002]

Shahs of Sunset, which plays like a cross between "Jersey Shore" with an older cast and "The Real Housewives of Oblivion."

The story reflects how badly these procedurals have degraded over the years, forced to come up with increasingly more over-the-top motives for murder. If cookie-cutter cruelty is your nightcap, this show will send you well off to sleep.

Controversy aside, Life seems to have no meaning beyond giving the 21-year-old a platform for her parenting views and criticism of Los Angeles.

Despite all of TLC's crafty maneuvering, this is a family that likes to laugh with each other. The rest doesn't seem to matter.

Anderson is charming and sells her sweet character. Sasse’s Xavier comes across as an amalgam of Russell Crowe, Jake Gyllenhaal and the sort I’ve always figured to be an urban­ cannibal.

Of all the dumb shows you can watch on a Monday, here’s one more.

It's a drama. ... The Resident turns out to be hilarious in so many ways, but first you must get through the horror.