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]