It is a stew made from a teen-slasher base with chunks of prime-time CBS crime shows and some daytime spice stirred in. If the first six minutes work for you, you’ll probably want more.

Ignore several adolescent sexual references and you have a sitcom willing to poke fun at the trauma of growing old in a culture that reveres youth. And while Shepherd is not God's gift to TV sitcoms, she holds her own as an island of near-sanity in a sea of hedonism. [30 Dec 1994]

My hope is that True Blood will get all of this tub-thumping out of the way in a few weeks and start its tremendous potential as an ensemble drama with hints of comedy.

There’s nothing especially novel on “The War at Home,” except the way the familiar elements -- punch lines, fantasy sequences, sassy kids, talk-to-the-camera confessionals, bleeped profanity -- come together.

Rocha, combined with the new format of The Face, creates a real threat to the Tyra empire.... [But] The Face, with a focus on posing, strutting and styling in its first few weeks, has room to fall.

Although it was wise not to try to repeat the double interrogation format of the first season, there are clever nods to those closed-room confessionals, and the show eventually eases into rewarding drive-and-talks between Farrell and McAdams.... What keeps this Detective from being quite as compelling as the first is the lack of early focus.

Brothers really is not that bad a show.

I worry about Chuck. I see it moldering before my eyes. And it’s nobody’s fault

While not quite the out-of-the-gate obvious hit that “The West Wing” was, ["Commander In Chief"] has enough going for it that it may soon become America’s favorite soap opera about a president of the United States.

[A h]ighly implausible if smartly written hour. [16 Sept 2002, p.E1]

I was disappointed by the opening episode, which left me with the distinct impression that Taye Diggs (playing a newly divorced doctor in the practice) and Tim Daly (Walsh’s first love interest on the show, but I’m sure not the last) were simply working off their ABC contracts that began on other, now-canceled shows. The portrayals of alternative medicine were unfortunate and too much forced zaniness.

From what I can tell, it’s going to be the same show every show.

This one starts out at a frenetic clip, and even A-list talent is helpless in the face of the formulaic banter that such occasions demand. Only when the show slows down--midway through, does Parenthood suggest that it may have something worth watching.

An uneven but so far entertaining buddy show.

It's all fairly paint-by-numbers with a fair amount of physical comedy, yet I couldn't help laughing out loud at times - watching Bynes give a terrier the Heimlich maneuver, for example. [20 Sept 2002, p.E1]

A serviceable but less-than-stellar spinoff of AMC’s hit series “The Walking Dead.”

I didn't get much of a sense where this show was going from the pilot, though there was nothing to hate about Big Bang Theory, and the writing’s every bit as sharp as "Two and a Half Men" and "Dharma & Greg," comedies overseen by Big Bang producer Chuck Lorre.

I know there are a lot of people out there who can’t get enough of it, all the irritation and the narcissism and the racial tension and the yelling. But I’m not one of those people....Curb Your Enthusiasm leaves me just...well, a little bored.

Less of a punchline parade than a lighthearted look at the foibles of family life, Greetings From Tucson is laced with ethnic jokes about El Caminos, pinatas and family shopping trips. [20 Sept 2002, p.E1]

It’s a fascinating visual ride. But without heroes worth rooting for or a victim worth avenging, the rubble heaps of an imploded metropolis can only do so much heavy lifting.

A mildly amusing sitcom that is promising -- including the sense that it promises to go nowhere fast.

The show teeters at times on incomprehensibility but is brought back each time by its two stars.

Monday’s premiere was one of the most nearly perfect half-hours of television I’ve ever seen.... [But] I can’t imagine tuning in “The Colbert Report” four nights a week just to watch a caricature.

Alongside Roth, Shepard and talented character actor Tim Blake Nelson, Madden pulls off the sometimes treacly dialogue, but the insistent no-duh musings (“the die has been cast”) wear thin quickly.

Queer as Folk obviously has a healthy libido. It'd sure be nice to discover it has a heart, too. [2 Dec 2000, p.E5]

For whatever reason, it’s hard for me to treat Lock ’n Load as mere entertainment. But maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Though the violence is designed to be gorgeous, like a graphic novel, it doesn’t have the pacing of a comic book. The creators of Spartacus: Blood and Sand seem a little too enamored of their ability to sketch a vast Thracian tableau, a fight scene, or a coliseum full of cheering CGI Italians.

Showrunner Julian Fellowes knew he had to spice things up, apparently, so he employed a lazy, “shocking” plot device that will leave fans sickened, indignant and wondering why Fellowes just didn’t give his beloved characters something worthwhile to do instead. That offensive event aside, this season’s repetitive tropes, recycled conflicts and predictable heartbreak are not worth the trouble this time around.

The best that can be said about "Medium" is that it has a little more pep than similar shows and a sense of humor. [3 Jan 2005]

She has a lot of spunk, mugging for the camera and poking fun at her career (no fewer than four Midler films get mentioned in the first episode). Next to her, however, the supporting cast is tired and colorless. And how many Bette Midler jokes can America take? [11 Oct 2000, p.F1]

Goldblum has a commanding presence that may overcome the ho-hum storylines and overdone talking-ghost motif.

What changes there were to the “Tonight” format seemed superficial. Otherwise, it could’ve been “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

As someone who’s on the fence about Silverman — I get what she’s doing, but I’m not sure it’s worth the adoration it often receives — I found myself chuckling more when I went through my notes on the first two shows than when I was watching them.

Holliday Grainger and Emile Hirsch are pretty great as Bonnie and Clyde, despite a just-servicable script to explain how Clyde won Bonnie’s anxiety-ridden, artistic heart.

Behind the Candelabra isn’t a smear job, but it’s not a revelation, either.

Nelson clearly relishes this role, though his rah-rah approach to everything wears thin. And critics are right to note that some of the confrontations between Nelson and his black rivals are needlessly harsh. [7 Oct 2000, p.E1]

It’s like “Men in Trees” ... for men.

When our 32-year-old heroine is back home with her ultra-conservative family, which seems stuck in the 1960s, That's Life drags; when the action shifts to the college campus she's dreamed of attending all her life, the show improves considerably. [7 Oct 2000, p.E1]

The problem with reviving a time-travel show is there needs to be a really distinctive and appealing twist so that critics won’t just write things like, "This reminds me of "Quantum Leap.""

If the film sins against history, it's in the many omissions of intriguing minutiae that made the book worthwhile.

I know this is going to come as a shock, but when the scene is designed around Kate, the show sags. By contrast, when Rick strolls into the room, the show perks up.

How it all goes awry is the question that provides Caprica with its ripe potential. Unfortunately, a serious storytelling mistake in the early going has left me with doubts about whether it has the wherewithal to get there.

It’s a bit of a mess.... Between the issues of race, tribalism, rape and consent, The Red Tent covers more ground than expected.

Every minute of "The Practice" is imbued with urgency, but it is a contrived, almost comical urgency. [2 Mar 1997]

In its favor, Danny has no laugh track, and Stern is endearingly innocent of the perils of single fatherhood. But viewers have moved beyond conventional comedies like this one. [28 Sept 2001, p.E1]

Simmons, who was Juno’s dad and Brenda Leigh Johnson’s boss, is consistently funny and compelling, but the younger cast members haven’t settled into their roles yet, and the show doesn’t know what to do with them, anyway.

I think “Survivors” is going to have a hard time getting noticed, not just because BBC America is way up there on digital cable, but because the hoopla surrounding the end of “Lost” is unrelenting, and “Survivors” just hasn’t done anything to break through.

A perfectly serviceable but utterly forgettable sitcom.

I waited for delicious strands of dialogue to memorize - it's a favorite pastime among "Sopranos" addicts - but none was forthcoming from "Falcone." [3 Apr 2000]

The plot twist at the end (of the first episode) may wind up redeeming future episodes of That Was Then, but for now you may find yourself wishing afterward that you could travel back in time and get that hour back. [27 Sept 2002, p.E1]

Seems like a high-stakes game of Baccarat, with NBC throwing good money after bad. [22 Sept 2003, p.E8]

For its first two hours, every aspect of FX’s new medieval drama is obscene, from the needlessly degrading sex scenes to the gleeful throat-slitting. Its most heinous offense is burying its promising premise in a pile of corpses before a talented cast can find the story’s pulse.

Wayward Pines has moments where it’s a happy hot mess, but it’s mostly a muddy puddle of confusion, and it has executive producer M. Night Shyamalan’s fantastical fingerprints all over it.

I’ve got nothing against Vampire Diaries. Since it lacks broad appeal and hasn’t a clever bone in its body, it will probably be a hit, unlike CW shows I’ve stuck up for (like “Reaper” and “Aliens in America”).

The show could use a return to what made it great in the first place: [Sookie and friends] battling monsters with the help of benevolent, attractive bloodsuckers.

Black Sails is exactly like the 18th-century Caribbean pirates it brings to life: dirty, amoral and worth stomaching only when there are no women around.

The Bachelor gets off to a slow start but maybe that's to be expected. It starts with a marathon mixer; Take "hi, my name is Angelique" and multiply it 25 times and you get the idea. Michel tells the women he is "humbled and honored" by the turnout, perhaps forgetting that ABC flew all the women to Malibu for the party. [25 Mar 2002, p.D5]

Lifetime goes there, then backs away from the issue immediately, making for some scenes that add nothing to the story but brief bouts of nausea.

Some of it works, like a jealous dream Doug (Louis) has in next week's episode about his wife (Marshall) and the hunks working on his water main. [24 Sept 2002, p.E1]

We're supposed to buy that the C.S.I. unit is the next wave of high-tech crimefighting, but their tools don't look very high-tech to me. One gizmo looks suspiciously like a canister vacuum cleaner and the only thing it "finds" is a toenail clipping that could've been spotted with the naked eye. [6 Oct 2000, p.E1]

What's depressing is that Cox is a very gifted comic actress, but she can't seem to land a role that doesn't involve showing off her ample cleavage. [7 Oct 2000, p.E1]

"My Boys" suffers from an unrealistic setup, and too many scenes amount to five people sitting around talking.

"'Til Death" seems a pretty thin concept.

Given the rather sophisticated allegorical treatments that TV audiences have been treated to in recent years courtesy of “Battlestar Galactica,” “The 4400” and the like, I find V’s first episode falling short, other than a fairly obvious allusion to Hitler Youth in the aliens’ outreach to teens.

While it is formulaic and slow-paced, Moonlight is stylish entertainment with a charming star aimed at a specific audience--the folks who stay home Friday night and watch CBS.

Taxi has all kinds of possibilities and tons of potential. All that Brooks, Daniels, Weinberger and David Davis have to do is measure up to their pasts long enough to pull it off. Las night they failed to measure up. [13 Sep 1978, p.18C]

The opening scenes of City of Angels" are so poorly written and in such stunningly poor taste that I was tempted to declare this one D.O.A. after just 10 minutes. And I'm afraid many viewers will do the same, which is unfortunate for City of Angels because eventually the show does find its way. [15 Jan 2000]

With a Capt. Hook who spent most of his time seated and an opaque Peter, my expectations gradually evaporated. The show seemed like a slowly deflating balloon.

Not as terrible as most shows of this genre.

This one has an “Entourage” pedigree (Mark Wahlberg is a producer) and is technically billed as a comedy, though it has neither the witty banter nor satisfying ending of one.

Lopez might just be trying to prove that Latinos have as much right as anyone to bomb on ABC. [27 Mar 2002, p.F1]

So it's come to this - all talk and no action... Some of the lines are funny and several of the stars, particularly Aniston and David Schwimmer, who plays Ross, are appealing. But something is missing here and that something is a story. Where's the beef?[22 Sept 1994, p.F1]

This movie-of-the-week script would be a sorry foundation for a TV series even if it weren't so tone-deaf, failing to convey either the terror of a wolf attack or the quirkiness of small-town life. [10 Sep 2001]

Color me confused on the concept. Are 20-somethings supposed to like this show? Good luck with those archaic pop culture references (Molly Hatchet, Carter/Mondale). Teen-agers? Sure - let them see that high school was just as vicious 20 years ago...Freaks and Geeks recalls a time a lot of viewers would rather forget. [25 Sept 1999, p.E1]

I hate to say it, but if it weren’t for Sanz and Mullally, there would be no reason at all to watch this sitcom.

Like other CBS crime dramas, this one is grim, dark and laden with production gimmicks. ... You would never know it came from two established filmmakers, Tony and Ridley Scott. [21 Jan 2005]

The punchlines fell flat more often than not.

The first hour’s writing, pacing and storylines were too pedestrian for me to recommend Cane.

This comedy is set in a paper-supply sales office where people seem to work hardest at finding ways to kill time. I must say that it was an extremely realistic presentation: While watching the program, I kept looking at the clock and longing for it to be over so I could go home. [24 Mar 2005, p.E6]

A forgettable amalgam of "House", "CSI", and every hospital soap opera ever made.

Whoever wrote the first episode of “Lost” didn’t crowd the screen with dimwits forced to recite grade-B TV drama drivel. By that standard, “Surface” doesn’t get a pass.

A contrived and predictable drama in military dress. [23 Sep 1995]

Depressing, dreary and dull as dishwater-blond hair, "Blonde" - a weird meditation on the life of Marilyn Monroe - confirms that the networks have run out of ideas for programming their big ratings months. [13 May 2001]

Mamet has supplied Phil Spector with his signature rapid-fire dialogue, but nameless attorneys and consultants interrupting one another only set the table for more tiresome time with Pacino.

Tucker is my candidate for the first cancellation of the fall: bad show, bad time period, bad lead-in ("Daddio"). [2 Oct 2000, p.E1]

Workplace comedies just bore me.

["Gary Unmarried"] has lots of laughs. But not as many as tonight’s episode of the new Knight Rider.

I’m having a reverse case of Stockholm Syndrome with “Standoff”: The more time I spend with it, the less I like it.

But if its idea of entertainment is a new domestic terrorist threat every week - as it is in tonight's debut - no thanks. As for the stars, Harmon is Harmon, an acquired taste I never acquired. [23 Sept 2003, p.E1]

[A] sad-sack parody. [18 June 1999, p.F4]

I don’t get a kick out of you, “Happy Hour.”

Unfortunately, neither Bates nor Kelley seems to have any heart in this show. Picking up pretty much where he left off with "Boston Legal," Kelley turns the courtroom into Air America.

I have now watched two episodes of the new A&E series The Beast, and I am filled with questions. How many brain cells did I lose watching two episodes of The Beast?

The one thing “Sleeper Cell” does commendably is to suggest that there is a struggle going on for the soul of Islam, and that al-Qaida does not have the only say in the matter. But that message is swamped by predictable thriller filler and cheap production values.

Unfortunately, the first two hours of “Dirt” give no sense that anyone wants to make an entertaining satire out of all this.

Kings is oddly tedious, thanks to a supporting cast of uninteresting characters and a script loaded with heavy-handed analogies to health-care reform, Halliburton and the Clintons.

The show’s recycled vampire mythology fails to justify this level of bloodletting, which even fans of “The Walking Dead” might find gratuitous.