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.

It all has the potential to add up. Eventually.

Workplace comedies just bore me.

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.

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.

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

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

[It] makes defense work look as sexy as anything on the high-tech "CSI."

The first hour of Scream is an efficient fright-delivery system wrapped inside a teen drama, but it’s meta-commentary that makes it worthwhile. That, and the pilot’s promise to spread out its jump scares more slowly and deliberately.

All those ingredients make for a stew that, initially anyway, needs salt....Having seen two more promising later episodes, I say give Dollhouse time. And in the meantime, enjoy the set, the so-called dollhouse.

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.

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

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

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]

Like young Jaime, it's going to take awhile for this show to find its artificial legs.

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

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]

After a nine-month hiatus, one of the best new shows of last season returns from the undead with a bit more of the deviled edge that made it so great when it first emerged from the crypt in the fall of 2007.

The series hits its stride a few episodes in, when Lowe and Blackbeard finally get on a boat together to fight a common enemy, knowing they’re each just waiting for the right moment to kill the other. Their dynamic evokes the tense partnership between Al Swearengen and Sheriff Bullock in "Deadwood."

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.

Delightful. [6 Oct 2000, p.E1]

Lead writer Daniel Knauf, who created HBO’s “Carnivale,” has tweaked Bram Stoker’s classic tale in delightful, if heavy-handed ways.

Sometimes slasher flick, sometimes courtroom drama, this Lizzie is a cynically dark, shamefully fun account of an all-American crime.

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.

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.

A flimsy little procedural that uses logical and technological leaps of faith to hide its central problem: lack of co-star chemistry.

It's an engaging set-up for what will likely be a hit, since it was obviously designed to complement the social-service minded "Judging Amy." [25 Sept 2001, p.E1]

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]

Brothers really is not that bad a show.

It’s a grim two hours... But it’s not overly explicit, and the script and talent are better than most Lifetime films.

The show is entertaining enough, but the American Hood, played by Rufus Sewell, won't remind anyone of Patrick Stewart.

If "Popular" can do for social stratification what "Party of Five" did for addiction, it may have a chance. [29 Sept 1999, p.F1]

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.

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.

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.

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]

The darker tone of Haven (including a haunting piano soundtrack) and reliance on paranormal, rather than technological, story elements form an ideal counterpoint to the wonkery of "Eureka."

I hate it.

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]

Shockingly unfunny.

The latest re-imagining of Daniel Defoe’s classic tale of a man shipwrecked on an island far from home has already earned its keep.

"X-Files" fans have been talking up this show, sight unseen, for months, based mainly on rumors and snippets from the set. But Harsh Realm may well validate all that hype. [8 Oct 1999, p.F1]

No one will mistake this for cutting-edge comedy but it is well-cast (especially Lithgow) and good-natured enough to please most viewers. [8 Jan 1996]

Deception borrows a lot from that show and others, ending up more fun than challenging.

If I tell you that The League is a reprehensible show, I’m not really telling you that much. The new improvised-comedy series airing at 9:30 tonight on FX wears its reprehensibility with pride.

Thanks to its excellent cast, led by Nat Faxon and Judy Greer as Russ and Lina, Married rises above its cliched setup.

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.

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]

True, Cannavale and Paulson take some getting used to, at least among those of us who remember Piven and Marshall. But the premise still has miles more appeal than a “CSI” knockoff.

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.""

Sharply written, compellingly acted, this is the crime procedural ABC has needed all along, one for the “Grey’s Anatomy” crowd.

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]

Unlike "The Office," Backstrom hasn't yet fleshed out the supporting characters to water down Wilson's well-oiled obnoxiousness generator. Once it stops explaining everyone's backstory--why is he so bitter? why is she so naive? why are the firefighters evil?--Backstrom might turn into a decent chase for the bad guy of the week.

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?

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]

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

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

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 pilot is plodding at times, the result of a few too many heart-to-heart discussions among the characters. Still, Williams, Holliday and Heard create such fresh, memorable characters that it's impossible to get bored. [16 Sept 1995, p.E7]

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]

A truly baffling series about surfing, screwed-up families and miracles.

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.

Once you get beyond the show’s homages, both to 1970s style and “Desperate Housewives,” this proves to be a groovy little summer soap opera.

For all those who are not confirmed “CSI” fans, this is worth a look.

Heche really shines in this role.

A gripping, one-of-a-kind drama.

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

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.

"Related," with its overly contrived premise and tinny dialogue, compares unfavorably even to other woman-relationship shows like "Beautiful People" on ABC Family or "Gilmore Girls."

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]

I like Gary Unmarried. It’s like other sitcoms I’ve seen of late involving newly broken-up households (remember when the sitcom single dad was widowed instead of divorced?).

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

A standard-issue WB teen soap opera about love and basketball that promises to get better because it can't really get much worse...It has no distinguishable stars and worse, for all its dramatic story lines, no real passion. [23 Sept 2003, p.E1]

AMC’s The Prisoner isn’t going to reinvent TV the way McGoohan’s brainchild did. For six hours, however, it’s compelling enough in its own way to make you its captive.

A goofy and likable new comedy.

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.

Sexy and stylish. [4 Oct 2003]

It feels like Haggis and Moresco are picking up right where “EZ Streets” left off.

Mr. Rhodes is the funniest of the new season's comic-playing-a-maverick-teacher-fighting-a-school-bureaucracy sitcoms. [30 Sep 1996]

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

It’s a hoot.

An uneven but so far entertaining buddy show.

All I know is the barrage of jittery camera angles, herky-jerky editing, scary noises, angry lighting and unexplained visitors in the background gets really boring. [6 Oct 2000, p.E1]

Thanks to the fact that Starz is pay cable and can say and show pretty much whatever it wants, this show ramps up the dramatic tension quickly and effectively.

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]

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]

Mostly a hoot. [4 Feb 2005]

Not as terrible as most shows of this genre.

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

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

A stinking pile of unlikely plot twists, brain-dead dialogue and cardboard characters.

[A] surprisingly brain-dead series.

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.

But is it any good? Glad you asked. No! [7 Oct 2000, p.E1]

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.

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

"'Til Death" seems a pretty thin concept.