Matthew Lillard, Emily Rios, Thomas M. Wright, Ted Levine and Annabeth Gish are well cast and their characters are fully sketched. Having seen two hours of season 2, I’m not ready to give up yet, but I’m starting to prioritize TV’s darkest hours and wonder if The Bridge will make the cut.

It's telegenic, adrenaline-pumping drama, edited to manipulate as well as inform. (Not for nothing is a fresh-faced young female urologist the first character introduced, talking about a penile surgery.) But it's also real and, for that reason, far better than the "Grey's Anatomy" soap opera.

The cinematography is stunning, the music and atmospherics are immersive. With occasional hiccups the acting is mostly subtle. Suspension of disbelief will be required (how else can Bassam/Barry slip out of his father's palace in the middle of the night to rendez-vous with an old journalist buddy?) But Tyrant is worth the effort.

Sharp, funny and demanding of its lead actor, 'Watching Ellie' is NBC's best sitcom attempt in years. [26 Feb 2002]

Think of it as a def Dallas, an African-American Dynasty for 2003, a blend of MTV and BET that finds itself on UPN. ... Sex, violence, music and some eye-catching casting make this effort worth a look. [13 Apr 2003]

While the plot rests a tad heavily on a couple of wild coincidences, writer David Wolstencroft ("MI-5") has constructed an interesting tangle of smart dialogue and credible characters to put across a rather cynical view of lawyers and law.

If it's action you seek, Rectify is a poor choice. But for fine cinematography, great acting and probing character development, you'll want to tune in.

The debut is cinematically beautiful, the cast is top-notch, the story is compelling, the characters distinct, the music stirring. The question is, why now? [30 Dec 1997]

Judging by the first six episodes, this round is just as addicting as the first, the ensemble rising to the occasion of topping their first outting.

While it's enjoyable enough watching Malkovich sneer and gloat and threaten torture, the overall adventure isn't as enticing as recent frontier/mob/dirty-cop outings.

The pilot only feels like it's three hours long. [17 Sept 1995, p.E01]

Nobody will accuse it of being ponderous or academic. It's expensive-looking and shallow but long.

Both ["Undateable" and The Night Shift] are NBC series serving as spring-summer filler, adequate at what they do but not worth scheduling your life around.

Both [Undateable and "The Night Shift"] are NBC series serving as spring-summer filler, adequate at what they do but not worth scheduling your life around.

Oliver is terrific at mining humor from the most popular topics of the day, that is, the idiocy of the media and politicians. He's funny when he's knocking our intelligence. But he's best when he sticks to a barrage of short bits, enhanced with clips or photographs, as in his first week's efforts.

It may be preposterous. It may lack the political finesse of "The Americans" or "Homeland." But with tight shots of nervous eyes and cinematic displays of Jack's heroics, 24 still excels at high anxiety.

The humor is often obscure. The flavor ranges from silly to heartbreaking, crazy to profound. The Emmy-winning show's unpredictability is part of the charm.

The second hour gets into the wrangling with studio bosses, casting decisions and constraints to come. The minutia of line producing may be fascinating in theory, but watching hour after hour is a dreary prospect. [2 Dec 2001, p.F-01]

The show is fun to watch, but only because Maslany delivers such diverse and precisely defined characters worth watching.

This reprise won’t eclipse memories of the film, but it shouldn’t be automatically discounted. It’s a longer, slower study, suited to a different medium and hitting the same gruesome and all-too-human notes.

Assuming you aren't a programmer and don't plan to invent the next killer app, you may at first find HBO's Silicon Valley more pathetic than amusing.... By the end of the second episode, however, the personalities take off, the humor sharpens and there's no need to reboot.

A worthy new configuration - the side-splittingly sad sitcom. [2 June 2005, p.F-01]

Grand special effects, impressive acting by the young Sequoyah and an enduring interest in all things supernatural may help Believe to catch on.

Think of Doll & Em as a collection of short stories rather than half-hour comedies and it’s quite absorbing.

The direction and writing are subtle but intriguing, like Highmore's innocent grin.

As the new season begins, this series continues to be among the best of the extraordinary number of great TV dramas vying for attention.

Two sweet, funny, even poignant dramedies ["About a Boy" and "Growing up Fisher"] launch on NBC this weekend, both helping midseason feel richer than the meager offerings of the network's fall slate.

Two sweet, funny, even poignant dramedies ["About a Boy" and "Growing up Fisher"] launch on NBC this weekend, both helping midseason feel richer than the meager offerings of the network's fall slate.

So far, it's less funny than intriguing, a way to shake up the sitcom.... The series, the first scripted entry from Ryan Seacrest Productions, seems awfully superficial, at least in the first three episodes available for preview.

This is not just a fun escape, it’s a clever puzzle.

It will leave viewers alternately amazed at being allowed into the private universe of uncommitted male sex and disappointed from a dramatic standpoint. Handsome flesh and cinematography, but is that all there is? [3 Dec 2000, p.I-01]

While the first hour is daunting, the series offers a terrific villainess who also has a knack for humor. [28 Aug 2005, p.F-03]

The cast is stunning, the music enticing. Yet Black Sails lands too quickly on an island (shot in Cape Town) and the best parts of the spectacle--the open sea vistas and the claustrophobic shipboard scenes--run aground.

If you can get past the showy physicality, there's real meat here...Unfortunately, the series is frequently its own worst enemy...Every so often, (it feels like every few scenes), the visuals overwhelm the content, and it's clear the producers are intent on using every bit of license that cable networks allow. Story is overwhelmed by effects. It all becomes "deeply superficial," without the ironic twist. [1 Sept 2006, p.F-01]

The likability of a lying, cheating, essentially egomaniacal criminal defense lawyer is a stretch in the first place. It takes a lot of grinning and tousling from Kinnear to make it work.

The overly gruesome operating room moments are best glimpsed through shielded eyes. The rest of the drama draws viewers in with rich characters, a breathless pace, a refusal to pigeonhole good guys versus bad guys, thoughtful observations about family life and midlife relationships, and intriguing casting. [22 July 2003, p.F-01]

Tremendous footage of mountain treks and river running make the spectacle compelling while the sometimes clunky dialogue gets the message across.

While it's not fun entertainment (lacking the tragicomic notes of, say, "The Sopranos"), it is an amazing dramatic entry. It's only January, and only four episodes were available for review, but True Detective sets the bar for 2014's TV newcomers.

Benedict Cumberbatch is alive and well and in fine form.... Purists may find the fancy graphics distracting but creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss use the high-tech touches sparingly.

Both [Killer Women on ABC, "Intelligence" on CBS] feel like paint-by-numbers hours, unsatisfying offerings that are difficult to recall an hour after you've watched them.

Both ["Killer Women" on ABC, Intelligence on CBS] feel like paint-by-numbers hours, unsatisfying offerings that are difficult to recall an hour after you've watched them.

Clearly, writer-creator Julian Fellowes knows how to keep fans hooked, cleverly playing out credible character traits across time, and knowing the breathless pace of change resonates with our current passage into another modern age.

Not a brilliant effort, but worth a look.

Footage from the actual races is compelling. But race footage accounts for a minimal portion of the otherwise dragged-out show, edited for suspenseful teases, sexual tension, dramatic reaction shots and maximum personality clashes.

Carrie Underwood isn’t an actor and Stephen Moyer isn’t a singer and together they lacked chemistry as Maria and Captain Von Trapp..... The highpoint of the evening was Audra McDonald’s rendition of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and Laura Benanti as the Baroness lit up the screen.

Darabont certainly proves his love of the period, of pulp fiction and of the dark and moody film technique. He's less convincing when it comes to selling a story.

Like most docu- reality TV mashups, the need for drama on-screen trumped detailed explanations. Choppy editing comes standard. Still, the tension between the impulse to search and the need for privacy is clear. Emotions run high and the conflict makes for good television.

[The characters] are sympathetic even when unlovable. The dialogue and physical gross-out moments are equally frank. And hilarious.

What a wonderful, funny, poignant origin tale for fans of “Doctor Who” and newcomers alike: An Adventure in Space and Time, airing Nov. 22, features a terrific performance by David Bradley as William Hartnell, the first Doctor. And a pleasing bit at the very end that will make you gasp.

A funny but not particularly inventive political comedy about four Republican Senators sharing a house in Washington, D.C.

The creepiness is slow and almost elegant. The vision is grand, epic even. The music, by Mogwai, is wonderfully absorbing. The whole creation, by Fabrice Gobert, is first-rate supernatural drama more than a mere horror show.

The camera is discreet, cutting away at the very end, giving privacy when taste requires. The families involved are brave in ways not required of ordinary "reality TV" subjects. Even when they appear to be speaking for the camera, the situations are not manipulated. The impact is quite powerful.

Not funny enough to be campy, not smart enough to be serious, NBC's Dracula is an incomprehensible mishmash in period costumes.

This ambitious undertaking sticks to over-arching themes through the chronology.

While the atmospherics are great and the cast is impressive, the weight of the film is too much for the slender premise.

The tone ranges from fun to scholarly as colorful drawings enliven the film.

The best TV show you’re not watching.

No spoilers here, but there's a twist at the end of tonight's hour of Friday Night Lights that will reverberate through the season. This is cause for concern: The addition of a sustained mystery, not to mention the sight of teens jumping through windows to meet sex partners, could render Friday Night Lights more like every other show. Still, if it makes the story more accessible for those who crave a more literal narrative without altering the basic nature of the series, I'm for it. [5 Oct 2007, p.F-02]

The engrossing, beautifully cast and well acted Masters of Sex is at once the tale of an odd couple and the story of a culture coming of age.

The Corner is a marvel - a powerful testament to the crumbling inner city, the Catch-22 of urban social services, and the strengths and vulnerabilities of the human spirit. [16 Apr 2000, p.K-09]

The documentary, narrated by Benjamin Bratt (son of a Peruvian mother), is rather dry in spite of the rich subject matter. It's particularly slow-going at the start (the pre-Alamo section is a slog), but it picks up steam as the chronology moves toward the modern age with notables contributing first-person accounts.

Cultural commentary mixed with the mystery, along with lavish production values, gives Irving’s tale a clever twist. The hour is trying to cover a lot of bases, but it may find its focus.

Beyond profundities laced with humor, the action drama from J.J. Abrams, created by “Fringe’s” J.H. Wyman and starring Karl Urban and Michael Ealy, is a visual feast.

It’s goofy, but fun.

The talented cast and upbeat pilot work in the series’ favor, but if the half-hour is to be more than a platform for Williams’ improv, the story will have to go deeper. And make us care.

Heavy dysfunction gets a backup laugh track, and it can turn mean. But Lorre knows how to wring dark humor from tragic circumstances.

If you get past the large leap and buy into the premise, Hostages promises surprising switchbacks and character development ranking among the best of the season.

His name is above the title and, depending how you feel about James Spader, NBC’s The Blacklist may become your favorite fall show.

Executive producers Haskins and Emily Halpern are sharp and the lines are funny and maybe, just maybe, there’s a show here.

It has the feel of a quirky cable comedy.

The Michael J. Fox Show is not only an enjoyable TV comedy about a likeable guy in a likeable family, it’s not only a step toward wider recognition of a specific disease and of disabilities in general, it’s the return of a primetime icon after years away battling Parkinson’s.

Whedon’s trademark humor in the midst of action-adventure (per “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) saves the day as often as the very human, yet very gifted heroes. That protects the fantastical from becoming ridiculous.

It’s a next-gen “Barney Miller,” a smart workplace cop comedy.

Last Tango in Halifax is an absorbing, sometimes surprising tale of late-in-life romance marked by stunning performances.

There seems to have been a conscious decision to add a dose of not just violence but horrific suspense and shocking violence. The first hour in particular feels like a disappointing departure. The character remains the same, even if he encounters accentuated gore and mental illness in the criminals. He even grows a bit.

Remarkable on many levels - as an interpretation of history, spotlighting what many consider to be the defining event of the 20th century, and as a tribute to heroism. Emotional and starkly realistic, it's not an easy 10 hours of television...The film also is notable as a collection of superb performances and, pragmatically, as an unimaginably expensive television production: $ 120 million. [6 Sept 2001, p.F-03]

For better and worse, it feels like an extended version of a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode.

The Starz 10-hour miniseries is a beautiful, fun period piece populated by amazing talent.

An engrossing drama about a modern seaside town that comes unraveled with the mysterious death of a young boy.

Supremely satisfying. [21 Oct 2004]

David Brent, brilliantly conceived and played by Gervais, remains among the most wonderfully annoying characters in modern TV comedy. [12 Oct 2003]

Flockhart... is a compelling presence, and the tone of the writing is both fun and thoughtful. [7 Sep 1997]

Problematic. ... The captivating McDermott as a defense attorney needs tougher characters to bump up against if he is to struggle meaningfully with his inner self. [2 Mar 1997]

The series remains smarter and funnier than most anything on television. ... But be forewarned: the 'Sopranos' season starts slowly and a bit unevenly. [4 Mar 2001]

Viewers should expect a bit of exposition before the series shifts into high gear. By the third episode, bada bing, it's off and running. [13 Jan 2000]

Prepare for top-notch dramatic writing, exceptional camera work and complex characters. [27 Oct 1996]

One of the best series anywhere. [8 Jun 2003]

The obsession with appearances and materialism - from cars to houses to Botox to breast implants - makes "Housewives" a case study for everything that is shallow and pathetic about our society. Of course, that's also what makes it so entertaining. [20 Mar 2006]

A good concept in need of nurturing. [20 Mar 1995]

Innovative camera work and occasional sound effects throughout add distinctive elements to the series. [9 Jan 2000]

Funny - barely - in an uncomfortable, theatrical way, some moments feel like performance art or improv exercises, albeit with nice title sequences. [14 Aug 2005]

Fans will enjoy picking out the many sight gags and puns in the dense, multilayered animation. But, on first viewing, and unlike "The Simpsons," the "Futurama" pilot isn't fall-off-the-couch funny. [25 Mar 1999]

The crew-cut and heavy black glasses are more memorable than the series. [13 Sep 1995]

Darker than "Desperate Housewives," and even less nuanced. [11 Aug 2005]

Thanks to Sedgwick, the hour is a distinguished contribution to the cop genre, delving further into a character's personal life than the "Law & Order" procedurals, and avoiding the showy visual effects that are high points of the "CSI" brand. [13 Jun 2005]

Outrageous. ... Thanks to inspired editing, it all hangs together. [14 Jul 2003]

The first three hours leave us thirsting for more.

Trump's narrative skills are as grating as his accent, but the hook is undeniable: With peeks into The Donald's penthouse, boardroom, helicopter, limo and his taste in hiring and firing, this debut has solid entertainment value. [8 Jan 2004]