What follows is a rich, funny, touching exploration not just of transgender life, but of family, identity and sexuality in general. Tambor's genius in the role is in creating a very particular female character well beyond makeup and wardrobe, seemingly on the cellular level.

The horrors of war, the danger of shifting alliances and the anguish of intra-family rivalries raise the dramatic stakes, matched by the glorious visuals.

Like the best TV shows, Ed has a profound point beneath its silliness. It seems it's always possible to return to Stuckeyville, the hometown we carry around inside, and see new possibilities. If we let go and embrace a magical dramedy that dares to dream, we may feel somehow ennobled. [5 Oct 2000, p.E-03]

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]

Gritty and grim, The Shield takes the familiar genre to a new level of intensity, graphic violence, nudity and, not least, profanity. The vocabulary may shock some viewers; the casting will surprise others: Michael Chiklis plays the heavy, the corrupt cop at the center of The Shield. It's a riveting star turn. [12 Mar 2002, p.F05]

The season's best new drama introduces a smart ensemble and immerses us in a tangle of conflicting viewpoints. The storytelling device, which occasionally backtracks in time, isn't distracting or forced. [29 Sept 2002, p.F-02]

The season's best new comedy - we're talking laugh-out-loud funny. [2 Nov 2003, p.F-14]

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.

The series returns for season 2 on July 13 on Showtime, still excelling thanks to a confluence of terrific casting, great performances and smart storytelling about America in the repressed 1950s.

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.

Part of what makes his series hilarious is the riotous pace and innovative comedic rhythms that sneak up on viewers. This distinctive style is as different from TV's old "Laverne & Shirley" model as third-wave ska is from Perry Como. [7 Nov 2004, p.F-15]

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

This is high-definition bliss.

A superbly acted and exquisitely rendered gem.

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.

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

The best TV show you’re not watching.

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]

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

Supremely satisfying. [21 Oct 2004]

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]

The new season contains more laugh-out-loud funny moments, the characters are well defined and the male characters get more prominence.

Based on both content and time slot - between "Home Improvement" and "NYPD Blue" - Spin City is potentially the breakout hit of the season. [17 Sept 1996]

These four transporting hours tell a touching, funny, heartbreaking story that underscores how complex life is, how fragile human interactions are.

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 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]

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

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

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.

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

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.

The characters interact, the camera observes. And we marvel--not only at the technique and the acting, but at the fullness of each individual point of view, detailing who these people are and how they got there.

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.

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.

Deeply cynical about human beings as well as politics and almost gleeful in its portrayal of limitless ambition, House of Cards is a wonderfully sour take on power and corruption.

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]

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 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.

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 cast, from Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty to Debra Messing and Angelica Huston, is superb. The subject matter is a carefully blended mix of artistic and accessible.

A beautifully executed 1940s period drama about the men and women involved in the top-secret Manhattan Project is at once transporting and provocative.

A well constructed, masterfully written piece, Hannibal exceeds the "ick" factor of any crime procedural on the air.

Long before Sept. 11, the standout of the fall TV season was an ambitious thriller about a counter-terrorist. ... It's even more captivating now that terrorist threats are a daily fact of life. [4 Nov 2001]

CBS may have the most appealing nonscripted hour of the fall. [4 Sep 2001]

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.

[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.

A beautifully affecting biopic about the tragic and glorious life of blues pioneer Bessie Smith, showcasing a gutsy, soul-and flesh-baring performance by Queen Latifah in the title role.

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

Moody, dark yet at times poetic, this is TV made in the indie-film style, without pretense. Adult, premium-cable caliber without the visual excess.

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

Netflix has previously scored with "Orange is the New Black" and "House of Cards," but this is the first true comedy it has picked up and it looks to be a winner. Unbreakable? Unassailable.

Laurie is a wonder. His drawn face, scraggly beard, hollowed eyes and gaunt body add an offbeat distinction to his dignified performance. His is a sinister quirkiness. [15 Nov 2004, p.F-01]

Judging by the first five hours of the second season, it successfully broadens the storylines of several key characters. The cast is first-rate; only Elizabeth McGovern? occasionally rings a false.

The best comedy you're not watching.... Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne"), Alex Borstein ("Family Guy") and Niecy Nash ("Reno 911") simply kill it as an ensemble, doing justice to the sharp writing of Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer.

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

His sly humor regularly saves his epic battles of good versus evil from being one-dimensional, and "Storm of the Century'' is no exception.

Graphic cruelty, not to mention violence, makes for difficult viewing in this lavishly produced miniseries. But it’s worthwhile, especially as director Clement Virgo has opened a new window on the experience of blacks in Canada.

Rampling brings her primly authoritative presence and a stern look to the task. Her scenes with Hall crackle with tension.

This season's three installments--"Scandal in Bohemia" is followed by a scary "The Hounds of Baskerville" and "The Reichenbach Fall" in which nemesis Moriarty (Andrew Scott) returns--make a pleasingly diverse set.

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

It is exploring new turf in terms of a relationship drama with a bold narrative premise, and vaguely spiritual aspirations.

This is put-your-feet-up, pour-a-brandy television, a tasty import that's good company for a culture undergoing its own sometimes dizzying shifts.

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.

Heather Paige Kent is endearing as Lydia DeLucca, a 32-year-old Italian Catholic from New Jersey, who breaks off her engagement to pursue her dream of going to college. [5 Oct 2000, p.E-03]

HBO tackles some familiar territory--beauty and the perils of aging, crowsfeet to sagging cheeks--but treats the subject from several new angles thanks to the candor of the older, wiser, still stunning former models.

The direction by Susanna White is subtle, except for a too-frequent visual pun of kaleidoscopic, prism-like refractions to help us see that the world at the moment of Parade’s End is splintering into pieces. Cumberbatch pulls off the stoic-to-shell-shocked expressions of Tietjens, Hall is masterful in a demanding role and Clemens is suited to playing the fresh young thing.

A spoofy, sarcastic and hilarious exercise in adult animation.

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

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

Producer Terence Wrong once again delivers fast-paced, narration-free, riveting footage, thanks to video crews who spent four months, unescorted and unhindered, with hospital personnel and patients at crisis points in their lives.

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.

Beneath the craziness and violence are some great character studies, meditations on the nature of humanity, clever social commentary, fun flashbacks to vampire lives in past centuries and, as always, cable-ready hard bodies.

Chronicling Cathy's journey, executive producers Darlene Hunt and Jenny Bicks (a cancer survivor) have so far taken her from denial to rage to bargaining and depression. Onward to acceptance, and to a satisfying conclusion.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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 evolution of the couple's relationship is as engrossing as the strong-arm spy stuff.

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

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.

Dunham succeeds in making viewers uncomfortable while proferring a new (sharp, slightly bitter) flavor of introspective female comedy.

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.

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 all very creepy, mysterious and loaded with questions.

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.

This isn't a procedural with a neat answer at the end of each episode. But it is involving.

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

The second hour is more engrossing than the first, and is easily rich enough to keep us coming back for more.

The thrill of the chase comes through in the film.

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

While Moore's performance is riveting, the most insightful aspects of the tale are the insider reactions.

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

The first three hours leave us thirsting for more.

Suffice it to say creator Matthew Weiner unspools enough story to keep fans hooked, immediately satisfying some curiosities and creating others.

[A] cleverly plotted, visually absorbing tale.

The entire 14-hour, seven-night experience of Burns' latest opus is an engaging and at times surprising marathon.