If handled as carefully as the pilot, Joan of Arcadia promises to be the most intriguing show of the season. [26 Sept 2003, p.1]

Bathroom is an apt description of the humor level and the language. [21 Sept 1998, p.1]

Deliciously written ... this is the most compelling and original television series, and [Marc] Cherry our most gifted auteur, since The West Wing and Aaron Sorkin burst upon the scene five long years ago. [1 Oct 2004]

That stupid daddy thing has got to go before it ruins a good college try. [25 Sept 2001, p.6]

Big Brother is that deadliest of TV sins: It's a Grade D bore. [8 Jul 2000]

Popular is the show to separate the teens from the grown-ups. [29 Sept 1999, p.H-1]

If you're like me, this show will hook you in.

Well, the show is certainly wacky, but I didn't get a good laugh until the third episode I previewed. [9 Jan 1996]

From the creator of "L.A.Law," Picket Fences has all the oddball characters and eccentric behavior that made "L.A. Law" the hit it has been. But in this setting, they ring a false note that's more grating than ingratiating. [18 Sept 1992, p.1]

In trying to service all the characters, the drama is not as compelling as it should be. [2 Jan 2005]

'Medium' is manipulative filmmaking, but it works. [2 Jan 2005]

New plot, new cast, same Kiefer, same excitement. [2 Jan 2005]

If the next 23 hours are half as spellbinding as tonight's - and, of course, providing that the TV audience is ready to find a terrorist attack entertaining - 24 could still be the hit of the season. [6 Nov 2001]

It's fantasy, but it's fun. [6 Oct 1998, p.1]

I'm betting on Bette to get better as everybody settles down and lets the show settle in. [11 Oct 2000, p.1]

Despite its "dj vu" premise, That's Life goes into this TV life with a fair number of promising moments. What's not to like, if the scripts can manage to come up to this solid cast, and Kent's considerable charisma? [29 Sept 2000, p.1]

But before your eyes glaze over, the good news is, it still works. And this slick, big-budgeted, action-packed pilot gives it the high-profile send-off to bring even skeptics around. [6 Oct 2000, p.1]

Once is quite enough to send C.S.I. back to the lab. [6 Oct 2000, p.10]

Don't waste time trying to follow it. This convoluted camcorder e-mess is already freaked out to reboot mode behind the scenes, and the grade drops accordingly. [6 Oct 2000, p.10]

It's mildly amusing for openers, but if chasing women becomes the weekly theme, Madigan Men could become a bore. [6 Oct 2000, p.10]

The opening production numbers are Las Vegas cheesy, Nikki's running battle with Dwight's mother is mean-spirited, and the jokes run from rank to raunch. [7 Oct 2000]

Hype is the WB's unforgiveable offering of the season, a disgustingly smutty sketch non-comedy show. [7 Oct 2000]

The District's success rests strictly on the shoulders of Nelson's Mannion, and in this opener, he comes on like gangbusters. But will bigger-than-life bluster and arrogance wear well? We'll see. [7 Oct 2000]

It's the old Northern Exposure trick again. Quirks and eccentrics abound, but they could grow on you. It's nicely done, with an air of sweet innocence by David Letterman's production company, with former Late Show producers Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman at the helm. [7 Oct 2000]

Gilmore Girls has got something - maybe just what it takes to grow on you. [5 Oct 2000, p.4]

Its makers must be blind to do a hype-the-hip-young-crowd sitcom about instant sex in this age of AIDS. [11 Sep 1992]

NBC's Office is as smart - and the office workers appear as well-cast - as the BBC's "Office", and there is no laugh track - huge pluses. Still, viewers who have not been exposed previously to "The Office" will like this more than those who have. [24 Mar 2005, p.01]

Homicide is a cop show of a different kind, a rare TV combination of writing to die for, brought to life from the pages of a bestseller, by a knockout ensemble cast, and the production smarts of one of Hollywood's hottest Oscar-winning filmmakers. [31 Jan 1993, p.3]

The O.C. may be a lousy title but it's cast, written and directed well. Early indications are that the show is smartly going after two generations of viewers - not just the 20-somethings Fox is famous for, but also their parents. [5 Aug 2003, p.8]

What makes Sports Night such a standout is Aaron Sorkin's crisp and clever script. It's crammed with characters who seem full-fleshed and real after just one encounter. And, trust me, you do NOT have to be sports fan to get it. [22 Sept 1998, p.1]

Their ear for dialogue is exceptional, and there's no doubt they know their characters. HBO is well aware, too, which is why the network left the authors to their work. [1 June 2002, p.9]

This ensemble cast is top-drawer, the pace is lightning-fast, the dialogue crackles, and the halls of the West Wing hustle and bustle. With all that energy, this is not a show to watch with one eye on something else. Attention must be paid. [22 Sept 1999, p.H1]

The dialogue is smart, and the comedy is edgy, and from the six already previewed out of this 13-episode run, the characters may drive you crazy with their constant navel-gazing, but they do grow on you. [3 June 2001, p.2]

It's somehow not as funny or as clever as it's meant to be. It tries very hard to be sophisticated, provocative and kinky. But underneath the big city smugg-and-smirk of these junior would-be movers and shakers are some very lonely people. [6 June 1998, p.11]

The acting is strong. The music is urgent. The on-location shooting - with many exteriors - has a gritty Gotham authenticity. And the directorial style is crisp and energized. [21 Sept 1993, p.H1]

This isn't a laugh riot, but it's got promise. And with that cushy time slot, right after Raymond . [22 Sept 2003, p.6]

Fantasy and cute shtick are on overkill here; Scrubs would be better without those elements. [2 Oct 2001, p.8]

The Shield is the kind of cop show you might find on HBO, a superbly written, inventively directed, sharply acted drama that screams authenticity and excellence, and -- like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Sex and the City -- makes matter-of-fact use of adult language and nudity. But The Shield is not on HBO. [10 Mar 2002, p.2]

TV's best new drama. [27 Sept 2002]

In this disappointing opener, though, the pace is more frantic than fun, and the plot about the token gay is neither clever nor funny...The one cinch about Spin City is that Fox wants a hit just as much as ABC wants one. They'll just have to try harder; you can bet they will. [17 Sept 1996, p.1]

Felicity is a stylishly produced, appealing show, with a likeable ensemble of players. Even though the romantic triangle is and will remain the centerpiece, the best thing about the show is that in the college setting there's plenty of new territory to explore the experience of coming of age. [29 Sept 1998, p.1]

It's a taut, action-filled opener, and Garner's charisma and agility in this demanding role give it a special glow. If America's in the mood at all for spies and terrorists, this show's the semi-Superwoman version. [29 Sept 2001, p.9]

Exceptional producers Paul Attanasio (Homicide: Life on the Street), David Shore (Hack), Katie Jacobs (Gideon's Crossing) and Bryan Singer (X-Men) have cast their lot with Laurie (Peter's Friends, Sense and Sensibility, Stuart Little), and it pays off handsomely. Despite House's peculiarities, he's a fully rounded character, and Laurie appears comfortable in his clothes. [16 Nov 2004, p.8]

There's nothing terribly wrong with the show except that it draws from the same procedural well as CSI, Law & Order and the show from which it's spun, JAG. [23 Sept 2003, p.Hou1]

Friends is the new "Seinfeld" wannabe, but it will never be as funny as "Seinfeld." Even as "Seinfeld" is now, which isn't as funny as it used to be.[22 Sept 1994, p.10]

Freaks and Geeks shows promise of touching the same common chord that The Wonder Years played so well for the classes of the '60s. [25 Sept 1999, p.7]

In a stunning two-part pilot episode, which concludes next week, J.J. Abrams (Alias) has taken a derivative concept - a plane crash on a deserted island - and shaped it into something new and compelling, and possibly prehistoric. [22 Sept 2004, p.1]

The show is told stylishly. A character from today morphs into how he appeared years ago - an excellent way of getting into a story quickly without confusing viewers. The showy all-music ending to Sunday's episode is another nice touch. [27 Sept 2003, p.10]

For now, we have a prologue to set the scene and a large cast to get to know, amid unspectacular special effects, a few punch-and-shoots, and no alien beings at all. [20 Sept 2002, p.1]

And we learn more about the lives of Stabler and Benson than Wolf usually reveals in a whole season with his L&O detectives. [20 Sept 1999, p.1]

It works. It's different. It's fun, offbeat and charming. [31 May 1990, p.5]

That '70s Show does have its amusing moments -- without marijuana. And it does have nostalgia on its side. [23 Aug 1998, p.3]

A bloated disappointment that spends more time on the judges than the inventors and their inventions.

A crude comedy filled with frat-boy humor.

The Boondocks is can't-miss TV, as vicious, funny and relevant as McGruder's comic strip.

When it is clicking, The Colbert Report is Countdown on mescaline -- occasionally brilliant, occasionally loopy, definitely entertaining.

There's a lot to love about Everybody Hates Chris.

Like CSI and its offshoots, Bones will take viewers to dark and sometimes disgusting places. So, in one sense, Fox may have come up with a format that will reach both men, who love unappetizing scenes, and women, because of the female heroine.