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

More problematic than the dramatic license taken by creator Gary Scott Thompson (The Fast and the Furious) is the lack of a compelling story. [22 Sept 2003, p.12E]

None of the six main actors is a stand-up comic, but they're appealing nonetheless...If the scripts get a little sharper, Friends may attract enough of the right demographics to become a hit. [22 Sept 1994]

This self-referential approach works only because the premise is so convincing and the characters are so real. When the mumbo-jumbo kicks in, we're willing to overlook holes in the plot as frighteningly big as the langoliers themselves because we can walk in the characters' shoes. [14 May 1995, p.1C]

The Medium pilot isn't as consistently stylish as Mr. Caron's other work, and some of the action strains credibility in scenes that have nothing to do with the supernatural. [3 Jan 2005]

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]

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]

But as visually sleek and occasionally funny as Birds of Prey starts out, the show will have to get out from under its tangled premise if it's to divert easily wandering attentions. So far, it's difficult to tell where the series might be headed, but there are hints in the premiere. [9 Oct 2002, p.12C]

It pulls its punches and takes cheap shots. [19 June 1999, p.1C]

Occasionally hypnotic but too often implausible or incomprehensible. [9 Jan 2005]

If The Apprentice is going to succeed, there has to be more drama. Watching ambitious people do menial tasks isn't entertaining enough. [8 Jan 2004]

Plagued by pedestrian scripts and mostly nondescript characters, it slogs from night to night without nearly enough suspense or consequences. [2 Apr 2000]

Madigan Men has a talented core of actors, and the topic of how men do (or don't) get along has plenty of storytelling potential. But in the premiere, the writing falls flat and, thanks to that laugh track, you can't help but notice how many of the "jokes" aren't funny. [6 Oct 2000, p.4C]

Mr. Baker has charisma to burn. The dialogue and storytelling in The Guardian are sharp without being overly slick. [25 Sept 2001, p.10C]

Mr. D'Onofrio is the best reason to watch Criminal Intent, particularly when he's in full metal insult mode...The show otherwise is weak from a story standpoint. Clues fall into place with remarkable, sometimes unbelievable precision. Wrongdoers are too easily broken down or duped during interrogations. The criminals' minds frankly aren't all that interesting anyway. And unlike its two fellow travelers, there are no palate-cleansing trials in Criminal Intent. Episodes instead end in abrupt arrests. [30 Sept 2001, p.3]

The macho-vigilante ethos of the show quickly grows tiresome. But with scene after scene of the Chief's righteous indignation - uttering lines such as "I don't care how much it costs, people out there are dying" - The District can be silly fun. [7 Oct 2000, p.1C]

The two-part premiere of Popular is inventive, energized and brimming with promise if some of its overwrought moments can be reined in. [29 Sept 1999, p.1C]

The insights, the connections to Jane Austen's Emma are lost in this watered-down version. As if! [19 Sept 1996, p.1C]

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

An unfunny formula sitcom with one so-bad-it's-good production number to its credit. [8 Oct 2000, p.7C]

Mr. Morrow plays the lead character with no discernible flair or charisma, making even by-the-book Joe Friday seem like Willy Wonka or something. [23 Jan 2005]

Both subversively funny and sophomorically silly. [11 Apr 1999]

The overall effect is dispiriting and off-putting. Maybe Mr. Carter knows where he's going with all this. It's doubtful, however, that many viewers will have the will to go with him. [8 Oct 1999, p.1C]

When the series moves away from stereotyping its main female characters into the slutty (Kim Cattrall), the savvy (Cynthia Nixon) and the sweet (Kristin Davis), and dives right into the muck of the boy-girl thing, it's laugh-out-loud funny. [6 June 1998, p.1C]

The Big Easy on TV is the opposite of The Big Easy on film. The series has no texture, no thrills, no darkness. It's a flat canvas drawn on by people with more money but no more imagination than the producers of late-night action series starring Julie Strain or Andrew Stevens. It's Silk Stalkings with accents. The one thing TV's The Big Easy shares with its movie predecessor is a convoluted plot that's tied up too easily at the end of the premiere. But it has none of the edgy mood of the film. [10 Aug 1996, p.1C]

Toto, we're not in I, Claudius, or even Rome, anymore. The problem, though, is that this Spartacus is so over the top that it begs to be considered as total camp.

Boy Meets World isn't as classy as "The Wonder Years" - the opening episode doesn't show much willingness to color outside the lines, which Fred's show often did. But the chances that Boy Meets World will stay around are quite good. [19 Sept 1993, p.9C]

Mr. James, whose dirigible build strains at the seams of a dumb-looking deliveryman's outfit, looks as though he could grow into the lead role. But King will be hard-pressed to find an audience of like-minded men. They'll all be watching Monday Night Football. Ain't that a kick in the head. [21 Sept 1998, p.6C]

There's too much of this jurisdictional stuff and an overload of staring by Gibbs, most of it directed at the coltish Caitlin. The story is fairly involving, though. And Mr. Harmon is an underrated actor who's added some softer touches after playing Gibbs as a humorless taskmaster in a two-part JAG that introduced the character. [23 Sept 2003, p.10E]

Bland at first but better next week, this new spring collection of plainclothes cops has an outside chance to fit in and maybe even wear well. [23 March 2000]

It's not enough to justify a six-hour investment, but the climactic special effects at least are first-rate and fun to watch. "Rose Red" otherwise is just too hilarious at times. Not entirely horrid, it's way short on horror. For shame, Stephen King. Larry King is sometimes scarier than this. [27 Jan 2002]

This low-rent knockoff of the estimable 1960 movie is a sleep--inducing, cliche-choked, rope-a-dopey slowpoke starring a buncha no-names substituting for the likes of Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn. We haven't seen markdowns of this magnitude since Sears fire-saled its entire line of Johnny Miller menswear. [3 Jan 1998]

With its cheap look and gross-out sensibility, Kevin Smith's 1994 movie Clerks wasn't for everyone...A new animated version for ABC isn't for anyone. [31 May 2000]

This behavior might make for a juicy melodrama if the rest of the characters weren't so predictably earnest. In the pilot, the stakes in a one-on-one showdown turn out to be meaningless, making any emotional investment in the outcome worthless. [23 Sept 2003, p.10E]

Such down-to-earth humor distinguishes George Lopez, which takes off from the comedian's act. One of the smoothest comics working today, he's able to bring up uncomfortable stereotypes without reinforcing them. [27 Mar 2002, p.12C]

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]

If you're looking for signs of intelligent life in the new fall season, Freakylinks is one of a few blips of light in the darkness. [6 Oct 2000, p.4C]

Friday's premiere episode is marginally tolerable and includes a cute little scene in which Danny turns a dance class for little girls into a football game. But a second episode sent for preview is a big, broad step backward. [28 Sept 2001, p.3C]

Ms. Garth is even less appealing, forced to carry the weight of the show's many pop-culture references. It calls for a referendum ending all Wang Chung punch lines. [20 Sept 2002, p.6C]

Wedged between Friends and Frasier in Jesse's primo time slot, Daddio has a shot at hit-dom. Its chances would be improved if the producers can find a way to increase the show's chuckles-to-groans ratio. [23 March 2000]

The honeymoon's over. My Big Fat Greek Wedding ended its charmed existence as a word-of-mouth movie and became a noisy, standard-issue CBS sitcom Monday night. [25 Feb 2003, p.21A]

But in an age when the icons are often outwitting the impersonators, Hype will have a hard time not living up to its name. [8 Oct 2000, p.7C]

Judging by the pilot, it seems a safe bet that soon enough everyone will have slept with everyone else on the show. But unless the storytelling evens out, there won't be anyone watching.

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]

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

The six-week series premieres tonight on ABC, a network so desperate it has stooped to ripping off Fox, home of the infamous Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? [25 Mar 2002, p.12C]

The only thing keeping Luis from a flat-out F-grade is its employment of a multi-ethnic cast. That's commendable on the face of it, although under these circumstances all involved might be better off unseen.

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]

This is no Hawaii Five-O. It's Hawaii Zero. [29 Aug 2004, p.3]

The Trouble With Normal is one of those television shows that makes it hard to believe that the networks ever turn down any idea. The premise of this new ABC sitcom is that people suffering from mental illness are funny...OK, that's stating it a little harshly, but only just a little. [6 Oct 2000, p.4C]