This one isn't bad either. Immediately more accessible and understandable than Fox's new VR.5, the network's Sliders is a meld of Back to the Future, Time Tunnel and Quantum Leap. [20 March 1995, p.1C]

Critics keep saying that this doesn't look like a Fox show, and they mean that as a compliment. Sure, the cast is attractive enough to guest star on Beverly Hills, 90210, but with a subject ripe for overwrought treatment, Party of Five holds back just enough. [11 Sept 1994, p.11C]

Unsettling is understating it. ABC's Wonderland, which happens to be wonderful, could be one of the toughest sells in TV history. Buy into it, though, and you'll experience a truly remarkable look at the ins, outs and intricacies of mental illness and the doctors who treat it. [30 March 2000]

The show is both derivative and distinctive, proving that standup comics can still adapt their acts to the sitcom form if it's the right comic and the right act. [20 March 2000]

This broad, bawdy style of humor usually doesn't work because it's hard to hit a target with silly jokes. In this case, the producers know exactly what they're doing; the jokes may be silly, but they're also sharp. [14 March 2000]

Not everything works, but this is a bright, imaginative show that perhaps God will smile upon. Jerry Garcia, too. [5 March 2000]

It will take an uncommon effort for most viewers to get entirely through even the first episode. Those who return for more will be rewarded in due time. [19 March 2000]

No Direction Home is a soul-stirring Scorsese masterwork. His The Last Waltz, which documented The Band's final concert, is generally considered the big screen's best-ever rock performance film. Now he's outdone himself with a lyrical, magical film rich in both context and subtext. [26 Sep 2005, p.1G]

Easily the best new series coming to TV...With enough rich characters to fill several series, Life could become the latest show to shake up network television. [25 Aug 1994, p.1C]

Fun without being campy, poignant without being syrupy and probably too heavy on interpersonal situations to suit most of today's young male comic readers. [12 Sept 1993, p.10C]

Together, the writing and the sets make The Tick one of the sharpest satires of the superhero genre ever. Part of its appeal is simply that it's different. With so many yuppie comedies and cop dramas dotting the TV landscape, it's nice to see an intelligently silly parody taking a shot. [8 Nov 2001, p.1C]

Wow, a good-guy IRS agent in a land of loop-de-loopholes. Any show that can sell that premise is well worth your time and attention. [17 Sept 2002]

A reasonably inventive slice of sci-fi. ... TekWar's strengths are above-average computerized special effects and touches of winning humor. It lasts at least 15 minutes longer than it should, but no major deal. [19 Jan 1994]

Hidden Hills isn't deep, but at least it's trying to be relevant to modern domestic dilemmas. In the age of sitcom blockheads and their domineering wives, that's a major accomplishment. [24 Sept 2002, p.8C]

The cast is appealing and the freeze-frame camera tricks mostly are inventive instead of intrusive. [7 Oct 2004]

The first episode is as complex, wise, questioning, darkly funny and, yes, entertaining, as television gets. It broaches life's paradoxes with hard-edged melodrama, gallows humor and bravura acting. [10 Oct 2000, p.1C]

It all makes for an intriguing series that's out of the normal without being out-and-out ludicrous. [16 June 2002, p.TV-3]

An inoffensive live- action cartoon for the younger set. [28 Nov 2002]

Ritter is still quite adept at broad, keep-it-simple comedy, and this one plays to his strengths. [17 Sep 2002]

Sucking up to standard sitcom conventions doesn't necessarily hurt, or help, the show. It's still funnier than most of this season's newcomers but not worth running home to - or even telling a friend about. [15 Apr 2003]

Its depiction of rap's gangsta element is laughable, at least in the first episode. And the quick-cut editing often seems more haphazard than cutting edge. Platinum otherwise is distinctive, provocative and possibly even trailblazing. [13 Apr 2003]

Dave's World is a little flat and pretentious at times. But it's comfy enough to earn a long stay on CBS' formidable Monday-night lineup. The first episode's finale is inspired, funny, even touching. No need to spoil it, but Louie, Louie has seldom sounded or looked so good. [19 Sept 1993, p.9C]

A textured drama ... Intelligence takes precedence over "sassiness." [25 Jun 2000]

Your patience will only be rewarded to a point. Although capably acted and edited, Traffic doesn't hit enough green lights. Instead it stops and stalls too often, particularly during a concluding Part 3 in which you'll see a latter day bad guy a mile away, even in Seattle's fog. [26 Jan 2004]

Barbershop is inventively edited, consistently funny and decidedly not for kids. [14 Aug 2005, p.3]

The Comeback is closest in tone to Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO's vehicle for Mr. David, the creator of Seinfeld. Valerie is not quite as grating, but like Larry she perseveres. Ms. Kudrow makes you sympathize with Valerie, despite her blindness to the costs of fame. Not bad for a former sitcom star in her comeback role. [5 June 2005, p.8G]

Yet for all its obviousness, Showtime's Queer as Folk is something rare: a look inside a formerly forbidden place. [3 Dec 2000, p.1C]

None of the fall's 41 other rookies looks capable of playing in the same league...The premiere episode is a knockout. [19 Sept 1995, p.1C]