It is neither visually nor narratively compelling. Since the story didn't make sense in the first place, filming a literal (not literate) version of The Shining only makes its shortcomings stand out. [27 Apr 1997, p.1C]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

From the Earth to the Moon, your 12-hour, Tom Hanks-piloted paean to NASA, goes boldly where we've gone again and again. And again. It's kinda like Mom and Dad surveying the old two-story after the last of their five kids has flown the nest. "Honey, do we really need all this space?" [5 Apr 1998, p.1C]

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]

While a little more crude and silly than Malcolm, Tucker isn't nearly as imaginative. [2 Oct 2000]

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]

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.

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

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]

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]

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

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]

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]

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

But by the third episode, Maximum Bob turns into minimal entertainment. The plot contrivances become strained beyond repair, and the farcical edge is blunted. [4 Aug 1998, 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]

Yes, this series is as cornball as it sounds. [3 Apr 1994]

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]

[The] pilot ... is cleverly campy enough to rate a revisit. [13 Mar 1994]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

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

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]

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]

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]

Without Mr. Benzali and archvillain Richard Cross (Stanley Tucci), and without last season's meticulously unfolding story, year two of Murder One is not groundbreaking. It's just another solid TV drama. But because the action moves more quickly, it might draw more viewers. [10 Oct 1996, 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]

Amply seasoned with treachery, lechery, debauchery, depravity, nudity and infidelity, HBO's Rome also tends to fall victim to filmmaking's cardinal sin - tedium. [28 Aug 2005, p.3]

Occasionally, Rescue Me hammers the viewer with facile speechifying meant to establish the series' point of view. It more than makes up for these lapses with vivid characters, a slick visual style and pop tunes that cut against the grain of what's happening on screen. [21 July 2004, p.13E]

Had enough? Or want more? Nip/Tuck still can be gripping, gratifying drama when it's not trying so hard to be either salacious or capital Q quirky. But it's not off to the great start of last summer despite the presence of esteemed thespian Vanessa Redgrave in the second season's initial three episodes. [20 June 2004, p.3]

Nip/Tuck delivers its jolts within the context of an intelligent script underscored by first-rate performances. [20 July 2003, p.3]

What is most riveting about Deadwood is the way it blows the dust off the Western to tell a contemporary story. [5 Mar 2005, p.14E]

Deadwood is the equivalent of Roy's Trigger returning as an ill-tempered, bucking bronco that's dead-set against galloping off into the sunset. Saddle up anyway. This is going to be one helluva ride - to points unknown. [21 Mar 2004, p.3]

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]

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

One could build a college sociology course around whether The Corner does more harm than good. Either side could make a strong case...At last check, though, this is still a free country. And HBO is both unbeholden to skittish advertisers and seemingly impervious to pressure groups. On broadcast networks, that combination has spurred the quick demise of provocative series such as Nothing Sacred; The PJs; God, the Devil and Bob; and Wonderland...For better or worse, television has never seen anything quite like it. [16 Apr 2000, p.1C]

A perceptive, powerful, five-star achievement in HBO's continuing championship season...Saluting it is a singular honor and privilege.[9 Sept 2001, p.3]

Mr. Cohen is better served - and better disguised - as the suited, shorthaired Borat. He's reminiscent of Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau, a painfully sincere bumbler who gets smashed on wine with the Mississippians on Sunday night before addressing an Oklahoma city council meeting next week. [18 July 2004, p.3]

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

There's a thrill of discovery here that's missing from the mostly formulaic new series marching into view this fall on broadcast networks. [14 Sep 2003]

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. Kelley otherwise fills too much time with extraneous law cases and Ally's narrative meanderings and fantasies. ... There are sparks, though. Ms. Flockhart is an actress of considerable promise, and some of the dialogue zings home while Mr. Kelley walks his latest high wire. [7 Sep 1997]

It's unlikely anyone will be racing home to watch it. What we have here is a B-minus comedy that you can take or leave. Sort of like Wings. No harm done. No chill-bumps either. [3 Mar 1997]

Like his other work ... Mr. Kelley's new show dares to strain reality in search of simple truths. But before you go running in the other direction, let me hasten to add that he prods and preaches with such panache, passion and emotional punch that you may not even notice that The Practice is good for you. [1 Mar 1997]

Its first cases ... play out cheaply as setups for one-liners, only a few of which land squarely. [3 Oct 2004]

Some of the edge is off and the buzz isn't quite what it was. [4 Mar 2001]

[It] could be the best TV series of our times. Not for everyone, no. But for what it is, The Sopranos is near magical. [16 Jan 2000]

It is ambitious, evocative television with next to no hit potential. [24 Oct 1996]

Farscape is thoroughly first-rate in the special-effects department. As for the writing, it at least shows flashes of promise. [19 Mar 1999]

The Larry Sanders Show is still a first-rate, one-of-a-kind walk through a talk-show looking glass. [2 Jun 1993]

The story proves interesting enough, the visuals are impressive and the acting lands somewhere above average. [10 Sep 1995]

Whether intended or not, this emphasis on serial killers and other antisocial freaks indulges a morbid fascination with sicko behavior at least as much as it celebrates smart and dedicated crime fighters. [22 Sep 2004]

Flexing the foolproof formula and first-rate production values of its predecessor, this spinoff quickly proves to be a turn-on. [23 Sep 2002]

A comedy worth telling your friends about. [20 Mar 1995]

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]

Malcolm is much more than mega-jolts of Fox "attitude." It's both quirky and charming, edgy and reaffirming. [9 Jan 2000]

Amusing in spots. ... Future episodes will have to pick up speed if the series expects to really take off. [28 Mar 1999]

King of the Hill walks a fine line between celebrating its characters and making fun of them, between being populist and reactionary. Only time will tell if it can successfully negotiate that line. [12 Jan 1997]

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

Chicago Hope is an affecting, involving series solidly anchored by Mr. Patinkin. [18 Sep 1994]

Wonderfully textured... ER has hit potential. [18 Sep 1994]

Sometimes he's just too grating. [4 Jan 2004]

Without a Trace ends up delivering enough twists and turns to hold up its end of the basic TV show-viewer contract. It also visits the cliche corral on occasion. [26 Sep 2002]

Sean Hayes, as Jack, is the overriding reason to watch. [21 Sep 1998]

As the episodes have continued, something unexpected happens - the action begins to take a backseat to characters. It's not so much that you begin to care about this collection of cartoonish misfits, but the depth and breadth of their weirdness becomes the show's primary source of entertainment. Reno 911! ends up being more a surreal soap opera than a Cops parody. [25 Aug 2003]

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]

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]

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]

Splendidly cast and appealingly off-center, it's a genuine summertime gem. [7 July 2002, p.3]

It all comes together in impressive fashion, with Mr. Bakula primed and ready to take command and keep the faith. [23 Sep 2001]

As well as The Next Generation and better than Deep Space Nine, the new series' two-hour premiere entertainingly balances action/adventure with sociology. [16 Jan 1995]

A first cabin production with superb special effects, an intelligent script and an intricate plot. [5 Jan 1993]

South Park is either the funniest new show on the air or the next sign of the apocalypse. ... When it's not in gross-out mode, and often even when it is, South Park is weaving a surrealist satire of small-town America. [11 Aug 1997]