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]