It's tough work that may help the viewer appreciate the miracle that occurs any time an indie movie actually makes sense, let alone transports audiences.

After a very slow start, Outlander, from the book series by Diana Gabaldon, is a bodice-ripper with a sprinkling of science fiction, a fantasy drama with a bit of action-adventure.

If you like dark action-adventure with a deep mythology, you may enjoy this suspenseful hour, intended to perplex as it entertains. For some viewers, however, the questions will get in the way.

It's all a fairly standard spy-thriller template, but the cast and crew give Legends an edge. Trust Howard Gordon ("Homeland," "24") and company to devise a well-plotted mystery.

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

Gorgeous, high-minded, beautifully acted and sluggish, it may be a stretch for those more accustomed to the Olivia Pope-Doug Stamper-Ray Donovan versions of fixers.

The series has great potential. The question is whether Empire should stick to being a good family drama in a vibrant contemporary setting with a topical issue woven into the story, or whether it can measure up to the pretensions to great literature.

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]

It's a strange amalgam of behind-the-scenes imagining, video simulations, archival footage and patriotic odes to the military regarding a rather recent event.

While uneven and not as immediately seductive as David Chase's 'The Sopranos,' Ball's Six Feet Under is a daring exploration on a theme, funny to creepy to plain weird. [3 June 2001, p.E-01]

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

Frankly, the acting merits more accolades than the storylines so far.

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.

Scott Bakula as Capt. Jonathan Archer is not as commanding a figure as some past captains. But his inexperience suits the prequel's tone. [26 Sep 2001]

Some are going to embrace this new freedom; others are going to be overwhelmed. The very personal reactions make for grand voyeurism.

We'll see if audiences can tolerate the notion of profound interrelatedness as weekly entertainment.

This series won’t change the world, or even the world of TV comedy, but it is an intriguing diversion.

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

Vegas is likely to be successful simply because, at heart, it's a CBS crime procedural with cowboy threads.

Bunheads hasn't quite found its footing, but shows great promise thanks more to the cast and crew than to the initial hour.

Think the Clintons meet "Dallas" in D.C. And that, for six episodes, may be enough.

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

While the characters are slight and the dialog is silly, there's a story there somewhere.

It is formulaic but built to last. Think of this expensive remake as 'Touched by a Kimble.'... The workmanlike hour continues to mine old themes of alienation, injustice and the search for truth. [5 Oct 2000, p.E-03]

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]

Conflicts and tortured characters abound. Unfortunately, the drama goes somewhat soggy when the camera leaves the tight confines of the submarine and the complex plotlines twist into knots.

As the lead character, actor Kevin James has a certain something. We just hope it's not contagious. [21 Sept 1998, p.G-05]

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

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

The extremes of smart and wacky writing styles have never been so much at odds.

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.

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.

Unlike "X-Files" and "VR.5," however, Sliders wants to be humorous while offering an exciting weekly quest. It tries to be cute while the heroes struggle to find a way "home." The cuteness quickly becomes a liability. At times, the comic element turns weak and the characters risk seeming cartoon-like. In the end, "Sliders" may appeal to a younger audience, an audience less concerned with science and fantasy than with comedic adventure. And that will be just fine with Fox. [21 March 1995]

Seeso’s first original scripted comedy, written and directed by BAFTA-nominated Will Sharpe, is a head-scratcher. It does have Olivia Colman going for it.

It would be naughty to call it dry. But the lack of personalities leaves the viewer groping for an angle. The overwhelming nature of the event begins to feel overwhelming on the couch, too.

Much of the insanity that drove viewers to “hate-watch” the show in its first season has been scrubbed. Competence reigns. The results are mixed.

Not a brilliant effort, but worth a look.

The old-school sketch comedy veterans pulled it off. They could help pass the time on a hot summer night. No rush. You could wait and catch a moment or two online.

By trying to make her politically neutral, they threaten to defang the drama.

The film doesn't reinvent the Biblical fiction format but it is interesting enough to move you to read Diamant's take on ancient sisterhood.

Self-indulgent but packed with great cameos and kitschy production numbers, the whole affair could have been a tight 90 minutes. Instead it's flamboyantly self-referential and clocks in at four hours.

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]

Neither [Welcome to Sweden or "Working the Engels"] is awful, neither will make you cancel other plans.... The execution is slick, and sister Amy has cameos, but how many times can they make the sauna jokes?

Neither ["Welcome to Sweden" or Working the Engels] is awful, neither will make you cancel other plans.... A few bright ideas enliven the half-hour. But how many meddling mother jokes can they pile on before we’re weary?

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.

The cast is inviting.... But the too-prominent, overly obvious voice-over narrator is a truly awful innovation.

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]

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.

Unfortunately the storytelling lacks subtlety. The good and evil characters are too starkly one or the other. The camera tends to flag ideas or objects in advance and make points too obviously.

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 subtlety that made [The Good Wife] work is not in evidence here. Nor does this hour demonstrate the sophisticated humor of “Veep,” a better parody that doesn’t need a zombie-like subplot.

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.

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

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.

So far Grey's Anatomy is groping for a balance between over-the-top nuttiness and heartstring plucking drama; it lands awkwardly in the dram-edy category. If it would stop trying to be droll and ironic (this is no "Scrubs"), it just might make the cut. [27 March 2005, p.F01]

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.

Executive producer Melissa Rosenberg has crafted an off-putting start to a series that may have worked better in the Netherlands.

Kind of hilarious. Kind of silly. Mostly a game of spot-the-cameo players and teasing about what moment a certain chainsaw will come in contact with certain bodies.

The cinematography is admirable, and the accounts from historians and academics are sound. But the sight of Burt Reynolds in rose-tinted glasses explaining that George Armstrong Custer “was a hell of a soldier” does little to inform the project.

The series is packed with intriguing characters and great performances in a mostly untapped period. If only we could tolerate watching through covered eyes, cringing and fast-forwarding through the goriest scenes, we'd probably be in for a rich and rough drama.

While it's wonderful to be reacquainted with the various charming characters for the sixth and final season, the series' essential problems remain: A lack of subtlety as plot turns are signaled and then underscored; a tendency to keep certain characters stuck in one emotional state for prolonged periods--how much more angst can Anna and Bates (Joanne Froggatt and Brendan Coyle) telegraph again and again?, and a reliance on our allegiance to certain actors.

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

She [Allison Williams as Peter Pan] pulled it off, but the whole was slick rather than enchanting, well rehearsed rather than goosebump-y.

Depending on your tolerance, it's either a ridiculous presentation best suited to a drinking game (take a gulp every time the screen goes black), or a paranormal adventure that owes everything to "Lost."

The series has some work to do to extricate its characters from the hole it dug in season 3.

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.

The yin and yang of stardom are on display here: The footage from her in concert is breathtaking. The cliches from her interviews are cringe-inducing.

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]

12 Monkeys won't hook those who aren't already fans of the genre. The characters are mostly two-dimensional. The philosophical conundrums are secondary to the action. The dialogue is terribly earnest.

Kelsey Grammer gives his pompous-windbag act another whirl, this time opposite Martin Lawrence on the predictably old-school comedy Partners.

The show will rise or fall on the chemistry of Lennon and Perry. Watching the two of them trade fastidious/sloppy, healthnut/unhealthy barbs is fun for a while. But that's the highlight. The scenes tend to stall when the boys aren't sparring, with the exception of Yvette Nicole Brown who pops as Oscar's put-upon assistant.

Anger Management is a perfectly acceptable, standard-issue sitcom.

When the programming strategy is more compelling than the drama itself, that's a bad sign. [4 Apr 2000]

Byrne is trapped in a mediocre effort he created with Rob Long of "Cheers" that's best forgotten.

Other than the unspooling of the ghost of policework past, Golden Boy is so formulaic as to be instantly forgettable.

Plays to an older crowd with its by-the-numbers approach. [29 Sept 2003, p.F01]

A gross-out cartoon. Fans of "Archer" likely won't sit still for the more juvenile antics of Unsupervised.

The lack of a coherent storyline, even in a piece dedicated to exploring the lack of coherence in the world, makes The Leftovers a frustrating challenge.

The combo platter of drama, crime, family and lots of food porn doesn’t quite gel. Everything feels predictable, the downbeat tone spreads across the plate to infect performances and, ultimately, the audience.

"Grey's" keeps the high-school analogy to itself. Emily Owens M.D. never stops making the too-obvious comparisons out loud.

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

Zero Hour wants to be as brilliant as "Lost" but, sorry to say, feels more akin to the misfire "FlashForward."

Judging by the first two hours, Deception is not as seductive as "Revenge" and contains even more clunky acting and just as much melodramatic music.

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.

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]

Think “Game of Thrones” for broadcast TV, minus dragons, with over-the-top melodrama, as much skin as broadcast TV will allow and bad dialog.

Viewers won't feel entertained so much as dismayed by the oddity. [5 Oct 2000, p.E-03]

The first time I watched the pilot episode of FX’s Married, I found it to be crass, sad and pessimistic, a not-funny comedy about the tribulations of marriage. The second time I watched, just to make sure, I found it less appealing.

Now the novelty is wearing off, and the hour is edging toward vapidity. ... The story is too rooted in convention to be truly outrageous, too melodramatic to make it plausible as anything but goofy comedy. How long do we need to play along? [13 Oct 2005]

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

Sadly, the story is mystifyingly botched, failing as it tries too hard to be an action-packed mystery of secret societies and Dan Brown-esque intrigue with a strange penchant for geek humor.

Insulting, derivative and neither credible nor fanciful.

If the script by Liz Feldman (“Two Broke Girls”) were less tedious, if the acting by Cuthbert were bearable, if the whole enterprise were based on more than one joke... it might’ve worked.

This one is excruciatingly unfunny, despite the good-natured young talent at the center. The show feels thrown together, the story so choppy you’d think scenes were scrambled in the editing room.

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