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.