Clearly, this is not a cookie-cutter network offering; it's bold, at times difficult, and aiming for greatness. [20 March 2000]

The resulting Scorsese film is just like its subject: often frustrating but always compelling. [25 Sep 2005, p.F1]

The level of comedy is again superlative, with Appleby and Zimmer carrying the cynicism and viciousness to new levels.

The story is as relevant as ever, cinematically more stunning and historically more accurate than the original. The casting is again superlative--Forest Whitaker as “Fiddler,” Jonathan Rhys Meyers as villain Tom Lea, James Purefoy, Anika Noni Rose and Laurence Fishburne are just the start.

Scripture and subtle wit are sprinkled through the outrageous violence and a particularly lovely vocal accompanies a grotesquely violent massacre aboard an airplane. This one will delight a certain narrow audience.

The film brings the crude, demanding LBJ into focus along with the insecure, desperately needy man in one indelible performance. It's a beautifully rounded portrait of a complicated man at a crucial point in history, pushing for an important victory while tiptoeing toward the future that was Vietnam.

It's more than slick. The spy tale is a great character study built on concerns about how superpowers, intelligence communities and organized crime operate and what the quest for revenge can do to decent people.

Confirmation is not nearly as nuanced as the recent O.J. Simpson trial docudrama on FX. It’s also much shorter and more reliant on news footage. But it similarly revives memories of a wild media/cultural/political flashpoint.

The key characters remain compelling although the multiplying coincidences and overlapping relationships are becoming trying.

Luckily the addition of a few big-name guest stars helps the series regain "the big mo," as they say in politics. Judging by the six episodes I've screened, HoC remains an addictive if not credible political potboiler, elevated by new actors.

It's a beautiful interview piece with archival photographs and clips that will inform any viewer's appreciation of the performing arts.

The thrill of rock 'n' roll as it took a turn toward modern punk, discovered disco and made way for hip-hop in 1970s Manhattan is captured in a fresh way in Vinyl, a tough-minded series.

Dreyfuss is sensational as Madoff, a twinkle in his eye as he explains his "magic."

The casting is terrific.... There are numerous surprises, including how riveting the tale is in this telling.

This experimental extended series takes its time before making any sense. Dive in, and marvel at the fact that at least it’s different.

London Spy, premiering Jan. 21 on BBC America, is a complex, sometimes cryptic import that is worth puzzling over.

[John] Ridley, the creator-writer-producer, has delivered a 10-episode series that is provocative not just in terms of clever scriptwriting but in what it asks of the viewer.

Great casting, terrific costumes, even a worthy new original song made it a spirited night.

The hour, directed by Chris Rock, further cements her status as an all-medium power player. By turns coy, insecure, dramatic and challenging, Schumer has the flexibility to make her conversation both intimate and grandstanding.

Season 2 of Manhattan gets off to a slow start and may require catch-up work. But the high-minded story about the creators of the atom bomb soon picks up the pace.

Despite its endlessly flat landscape, FX's Fargo is elevated by the most spellbinding direction of any drama currently on TV. Season 2 achieves new heights, thanks to writer-director Noah Hawley. The music is exaggeratedly dramatic, and the split-screen device is a throwback to early TV and film's bold experimentation.

The CIA office politics are getting old, but the topical references remain gripping.

[Empire is] still addicting and with a number of hot guest stars.

If you like the idea of a murder victim texting endlessly, even ridiculously, for help mid-attack... if you enjoy the fright of horror only when undercut by laughs, Scream Queens may be for you. For many, sampling the pilot will be enough.

For those of us who thrilled to “The Jewel in the Crown,” the latest PBS “Masterpiece” saga, Indian Summers, will scratch the same itch. As the Brits enjoy high tea on the subcontinent, the colors are so vivid, the characters so rich, the period piece so faithfully depicted, you can practically smell the Punjabi spices.

Promising aspects of opening night were the interactions with Jon Batiste and the Stay Human band, the Oreo cookie binge as a metaphor for indulging in Donald Trump jokes, the nods to both Letterman and Jimmy Fallon, and the peek at what Colbert will be without his Comedy Central blowhard conservative mask. The George Clooney “interview,” not so much.

Even if zombies aren’t your cup of TV, there is plenty to appreciate about the construction of Fear the Walking Dead.

Simon offers a challenging six-hour miniseries that contains social and political echoes of "The Wire" but that feels amazingly topical, too, given recent events in Ferguson, Mo.; Baltimore; and Charleston, S.C.