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

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.

That uncomfortable flash of shame even as we smile at his antics is what makes Life's Too Short so oddly engaging.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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]

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.

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.

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

It's all very creepy, mysterious and loaded with questions.

Better than a haunted house story, 666 Park has the potential to seduce audiences with a mix of grandeur, drama and horror and an underlying message on what's truly valuable in life.

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.

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.

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.

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

The plotting is intricate, the entire acting ensemble is first-rate.

Dramatically gripping and well cast, the film offers a glimpse inside the compound that has made headlines.

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]

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.

If the tone of this miniseries lays it on thick, the subject is universal, the information is solid, the photography brilliant and the whole effort a sumptuous departure for NatGeo.

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.

A little bit screechy, a little bit preachy, NBC's The New Normal is nonetheless the best comedy of the season--a season short on innovative comedies.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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 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]

Duchovny is eminently watchable.... At times the music is more involving than the acting, and appears a useful cover for some lame dialogue. But creator John McNamara ("In Plain Sight") successfully layers sociology, crime story and period music in an involving semi-historical drama.

Of course it's formulaic, but the cast is inviting and the formula works.

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.

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]

Not a brilliant effort, but worth a look.

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

What could be a trite pitch for togetherness is probed for deeper meaning in an hour that has a big heart behind its hip stance.

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.

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.

While the hour is entertaining and moves briskly, it lacks the subtlety (not to mention violence, great opening credits and bad wigs) of The Americans.

The 13 episodes are fun, not groundbreaking, but slickly produced and accented with musical comedy. Like the two stars, the series is endearing, loud and desperate for attention, but ultimately a love letter to comedy and comedy history.

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.

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]

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.

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

The Scotts have held onto enough of the memorable 1978 movie adaptation of Robin Cook's novel to pay tribute, but added enough to make it feel contemporary.

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

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.

Creator-executive producer Mitch Glazer draws a loving and critical portrait of the awesome and awful fantasyland that actually existed in that time and place.

Truthfully, a little bit of this fun farce may go a long way.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

It’s goofy, but fun.

Insulting, derivative and neither credible nor fanciful.

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.

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]

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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.

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]

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.

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

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.

It has the feel of a quirky cable comedy.

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

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.

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

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

We know the body convulsing on the floor of the grand foyer isn't really being electrocuted. And yet we get sucked into the suspense and the gore as the players express fear, anxiety and tearful protests against being the next to die. ABC's amalgam of drama, murder mystery, parlor game and elimination competition for money is a curious mishmash.

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.

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.

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

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.

The adaptation fails spectacularly.

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.