Sparkling writing and smart performances - Elfman is a breakout star - make Dharma & Greg one of this season's brightest new half-hours. [24 Sept 1997, p.50]

Nikita is a breakthrough for teen-happy CW, its riskiest show yet--one aimed at adults. It's one they might enjoy.

Giving McGregor two roles seems at first like an oddball casting choice for a show that doesn’t need any more weirdness. Two episodes aren’t enough to say whether it is justified as more than Emmy bait for McGregor. Of the two roles, he seems more convincing as Ray. Thewlis oozes menace and charm as a mobster who has seen the world. ... Pack light. Fargo moves fast.

With that ticking clock in mind, Benioff and Weiss are improvising with confidence and a keen eye on character. You can see stories being streamlined.

There are some genuine scares in here but some heartfelt beats, too, along the way to the bloody climax.

Leaving Neverland is not balanced, not by any standard. It is, however, a devastating testament to how childhood sexual abuse rages like a ferocious cancer through survivors and their families.

Rabe is terrific, balancing drive and a mounting dread, and it’s a pleasure to see the actress commanding a lead role. The first three episodes build the mystery at a respectable clip.

"In this job, there’s no such thing as no such thing," Pete says. Exactly. Warehouse 13 is truly the show where anything can happen.

Esmail is one of the few directors who takes full advantage of the medium, imbuing ordinary objects with menace--a trio of vending machines, fruit being harvested--and distorts sound to pluck your paranoia. There are tracking shots in the first four episodes that play like homages to Alfred Hitchcock. As for Roberts, I’m not about to sit down for a film marathon--but I am down for the rest of Homecoming.

The Girl ensures you'll never watch "The Birds" the same way again.

The Real O’Neals is funny, offbeat and sweet in its depiction of a loving family whose members are sometimes their own worst enemies.

Tambor gives a nuanced, career-defining performance here.

Bright Lights shows both women knew that fame was just a distraction. The only thing that mattered was each other.

Peregrym fits as the quintessential Wolf heroine: Broody, brunette, powering through her angst, which in typical Wolf fashion is considerable and grows exponentially. The drama’s explosions are harrowing, and the score adds an appropriate amount of dread to the grim investigation.

The triangle--quadrangle?--becomes more twisted by episode's end. It leads to shocking violence against outsiders that deepens the tragedy and the mythology at the core of the show. "Game on" just might be the two most chilling words uttered this season.

Season four is definitely a turning point for these characters, as we watch them reach for some semblance of adulthood, but this newfound maturity is shaky at best.

Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous is a clever riff on the fanaticism and cynicism inspired by the network’s own reality slate, including “Teen Mom,” “16 and Pregnant” and “Buckwild.

The Royals wouldn’t be watchable at all except for Queen Helena, played to the hilt by Elizabeth Hurley.

Game of Thrones plays by its own rules--and remains irresistible.

Castle Rock shows a tremendous investment of time and creativity. It’s worth your walk on the dark side.

It’s like attempting to empty the ocean with a bucket. But this season of“American Crime makes the case if you aren’t trying, you’re the problem.

Emmy winner Amy Sherman-Palladino, the series creator, writer and director, has imbued Maisel with more genuine humor and warmth than any of her other previous work. This cast is ready to impress.

Additional time would have made Verite more convincing. At 90 minutes, it runs short, especially as the family copes with its newfound notoriety

While each night delivers some terrifically tense scenes, series creator Neil Cross’ scripts for nights three and four suffer from some flimsy foreshadowing and serve up slight characterizations of Luther’s antagonists.

Cross The Bridge at your own peril. You just might get stranded in the summer’s best mystery.

It’s a dizzying, bewildering, wonderful joy to watch their communal moments.

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

It brims with nice, talented people making impossibly crazy beautiful things. It’s charming and sweet and might just inspire you to make something.