till fun, frothy, engaging — but there's a missing element.

Screenwriter Peter Filardi ("The Craft") and director Mikael Salomon (HBO's "Band of Brothers") have defied the odds, delivering a four-hour, two-night version of King's vampire-infestation parable that ranks with the best filming of his work. It has genuinely scary parts, which is rare enough in video- King, but it's also perfectly in tune with his mordant sense of humor. Wickedly funny lines are scattered throughout Filardi's script. [20 June 2004, p.11]

"The Underground Railroad" is often difficult to watch, at times impossible to watch, but at least there's beauty, power, and some first-rate performances, as compensation.

Though tension builds to a taut shudder in Monday's Part 2, it all, unfortunately, falls apart in the finale on Thursday. Weber takes so much care in restraining his character from going over the edge too soon, that when he finally reaches that precipice on the rim of madness, he never dives in. It takes courage to go as far over the top as Nicholson did in Kubrick's "The Shining." But that's what's needed to make the crazed ending more than a cartoon. Too bad. Until then, "Stephen King's The Shining" almost got it right. [27 Apr 1997]

Rarely does a TV series premiere as pitch-perfect as "Nightmares & Dreamscapes." But often does a second installment deflate as disappointingly as the subsequent second hour of this summer anthology of mystical imagination adapted from the stories of Stephen King...While the bubble doesn't burst completely, the bravura filmmaking of tonight's first hour sets a standard that's difficult to match on a regular basis, much less in the hour that airs immediately after. It's a "wow!" that's likely to stand as one of TV's most mesmerizing hours of the year. [12 July 2006, p.B21]

Funny and sharp, with some welcome (also inescapable) inflections of "30 Rock."

Imperfect, often entertaining, unrecognizable from book or movie.

There's not a whole lot of pleasure to be had in the waiting. June's ordeal has now started to feel like our ordeal. We need to have it resolved as much as she does. but like her, don't have any choice in the matter because we're invested too.

Genial charmer that quietly makes TV history.

The makers of "Them: Covenant" ask their audience to endure scenes of horrific abuse that are unearned by their broader framework.

The cast is certainly a good one, and Winslet is too much of a pro not to make Mare worth watching, at least most of her time on screen. It's all the time in between that's the problem.

A fossilized sitcom that time-travelled all the way from the 1990s, with one calcified gag after the next, punctuated by the occasional (fortuitously rare) discordant off-color joke. ... With its trusty old-school TV verities, hug-it-out moments, beats as familiar as any from "Father Knows Best," and a laugh track that's probably turned up a notch too loud — plus bonus points for a solid supporting cast — it'll probably be a hit.

"Chad" has something no other show possibly could, and that's Pedrad's unique comic style. ... Easy winner.

Its heart's in the right place, it's the comedy part that's not.

A wild ride (as expected), better still a promising one.

Beautiful production, first-rate performances, notably the one that counts most — Erivo's.

The first two parts of "Tell Me Your Secrets" are certainly engaging in a potboiler sense, but it's not at all clear that its makers can keep it up for 10 episodes.

James fans will love this overstuffed commercial for NASCAR and its many sponsors.

First-rate and must-watch.

100-proof, pure-grade, high-gloss, low-risk formula.

A weightless and occasionally airless trip down memory lane.

As they get caught up in this TV evolution, or devolution, the weirdness grows, and the tropes change — from a "Dick Van Dyke Show"-like world, to a "Bewitched"-like world, to a "Brady Bunch"-like world. They're just along for the ride, trying to adapt with it. But what is "it?" That "it" and their bewilderment is the pleasure of "WandaVision." ... Homage in the best sense.

Wan, worn, predictable, "Mr. Mayor" feels like a misfire in the early episodes.

"Coyote" doesn't talk about the border but goes beyond it, to see people — their lives, dreams, and tragedies — up close. Politics (ours) thus become inverted and it's left to Ben to make sense of this inversion. By proxy, it's up to us as well. Binge-bait, and compelling binge-bait at that.

Grim, sometimes grinding, but Jackson still wows.

Maybe there's a funny idea here, but without edge, bite or (yup) claws, we'll never know. Good heart, no claws (or laughs).

This is a handsome, lavish romance that will appeal to a large audience, but it's also painstakingly insubstantial.

Dumb premise threatens to sink promising series.

Beautifully done, but ultimately overdone. The book is better.

Parents looking to share their "Star Wars" love with their children should add this to the list. It's not essential viewing for anyone else.

Yes, there are two big stories this season, but the one about Thatcher — Anderson, like Corrin, is brilliant, by the way — doesn't stand a chance opposite the other. Charles and Diana: Tragic characters straight out of Shakespeare, one whose blood runs cold, the other whose "passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love," to steal a line from another play. ... Best season yet.

It's maybe easy, too easy, to write off "B Positive" as just another sitcom with a few setup jokes, along with the usual, predictable beats. But there's something else here, something potentially even good. Which would be? Call it comfort food, well-served.

The first few episodes of "Truth Seekers" are somewhat disappointing, but the acting is strong and there's potential for improvement.

Handsome production, excellent Long Island locale, and the first two episodes are best. But after that, "The Undoing" takes its slow, sweet time.

As expected, both sitcoms [black-ish and The Conners] approach the national tragedy in their own unique ways. ... "The Conners" is about as upbeat as late Eugene O'Neill. ... In capable hands, it feels just about right. These hands are capable indeed.

As expected, both sitcoms [black-ish and The Conners] approach the national tragedy in their own unique ways. "Black-ish" is the brighter of the two, the optimist that finds light at the end of the tunnel in the trustiest of sitcom conventions.

"Driving" is cool, methodical and comprehensive, but does leave open that one question: How would you feel? ... Essential viewing.

The first two episodes of "The Right Stuff" offer a lot of promise, but the characters other than John Glenn need to be more fully developed.

It's all very exhausting. This is a terrible show. Avoid it at all costs.

Slattery is fine in this bland AI thriller.

As good as Hawke is here, Johnson just might be better. A winner.

Comey's story in black and white, with not much shading in between.

Props for a diverse cast and first-rate performances, but "4" does sprawl, occasionally sag.

Samuel L. Jackson reveals a hidden side of himself, and that's worth watching for that reason alone.

"Away" should be much better than it is, squandering a fascinating subject on pedestrian family drama.

To call "Lovecraft Country" "wildly original" seems almost a quaint understatement. But it is wild. And original. Little doubt about that.

The rigid adherence to the recurring segments means Animal, Fozzie Bear and many other staples barely show up, while a lot of attention is paid to the rather unsettling "Okey Dokey Kookin," in which the turkey host gobbles excitedly over dishes featuring chicken and pork and the Swedish Chef wraps a Muppet mole (yes, the mammal) in a tortilla.

The series works best as a clinical dissection of how this happened both from a conceptual standpoint in terms of formulating the case and piecing the puzzle together, and from a practical one. ... The documentary feels perilously thin for such a rich subject. "Fear City" would benefit from being longer and more in depth than just three episodes.

The cast is excellent, the writing superior and the direction, too. ... But this "World" does suffer from lack of scale, or at least reduction in scale. This could easily be a Syfy series as well as a Peacock one. It doesn't soar off the screen to wow you, or shock you.

Hall is still doing something extraordinary here. Better yet, something original.

A mostly superficial fast-cut of Schumer's marriage, pregnancy and life on the road that never pauses to ask, why is she subjecting herself to this?

Hardly quaint or entirely redundant, these three are at least good, and the third — written and directed by Oz Perkins — easily the best. But something's still missing and that was the bane of the first season too: Neither sharp-edged nor jagged, they don't stay with you, or haunt you, or vex you in some hard-to-define way.

A dull slog through L.A. noir.

It's rather painful to report that the series itself is just not very good, playing like an infomercial without any sort of deeper engagement with the subjects at hand.

"Grantchester" is back. "Grantchester" is still good. "Grantchester" — even without Sidney — is still "Grantchester." ... Still as gentle as a summer shower.

While a deeply moving tribute to those we have lately come to call "heroes," this proves they've been heroes all along. (It was filmed before the pandemic.) A can't-miss beauty.

Coel's a great talent — no doubt about that — but this can be an aggravating, unfocused sprawl at times. The power and horror of Arabella's ordeal is the unintended casualty.

The opposite of greatness. Specifically, "Space Force" is a five-hour bloat full of temporizing dialogue, a few-too-many gags relating to gastrointestinal malfunctions, and a CGI chimp and dog who deserved better. ... Yeah, bad. Long bad too.

As a viewing experience, "Grant" is often engaging. While the docudrama dialogue can be clunky — the common fault of these things — the battle scenes are much better. ... Salinger's ("Ripper Street") Grant is good too. His eyes capture what Grant must have felt: Unbearable sadness yoked to ironclad resolution. A winner.

"The Great" is an engaging historical satire that resonates thanks to its vision of courtly debauchery and the tremendous acting by Fanning, Hoult and the rest of the cast.

Don't miss this series, with its first-rate performances and impeccable filmmaking. It is rich and rewarding, even if it runs into the occasional plotting issue.

First-rate craftsmanship tethered to a relentlessly gloomily and ultimately unengaging story.

"Upload" is a misfire for the great Greg Daniels, a high-concept series that plays like a bad sitcom.

The 5th improves on the 4th (or at least the four episodes offered for review do).

Craven and corrupt, studios did ruin lives and stoke racism. But a seven-hour Velveeta-smothered corrective, along with a few nice performances and some genuinely awful ones (discretion is indeed the better part of valor on this last point, by the way)? Get me rewrite, kid. STAT. Overindulgent, overwrought, overdone.

Moselle’s camera lingers on them lovingly — but nobody thought to give these characters much in the way of real personalities.

A compelling series in fits and starts that doesn't amount to much more than a trip through an extremely strange world filled with extremely strange people.

Sausage factoryline network sitcoms like this one — most of them, really — are weirdly out of step with the moment, like the obnoxious guest at some party who drinks too much and tells bad jokes before learning that he's not at a "party" but at a wake. ... Lamentable second act.

"Unorthodox" is an achievement of searing power and grace, attuned to big, sweeping emotions and small, observational moments in equal measure. ... This is one of the major achievements in the history of Netflix original productions. You cannot miss it.

A compelling if clunky drama about an important figure.

What works so well on the page becomes inert on the screen. This superb cast, headed by the always fine Spector, fights the inertia but it can't fight the novel.

This necessary reset looks great, but if the 2nd taught us anything, just watch, don't think.

Nice, also determinedly dull.

Aside from a nagging sense that Sam and "Things" are standing in place. Inertia is part of the joke except that we think we already know the punchline. TV shows are about journeys too but through the early episodes, this one seems like it may be stuck in neutral.

Funny, vulgar, for Burd fans only.

Newcomer Gibbs is good, but it's a shame Waithe doesn't appear in her own story — a sharply written, often amusing one.

Good Pacino, skillful pulp, but an impossible balancing act.

The creators of this "High Fidelity" TV series fail to expand on the material to the point where 10 episodes can be sustained.

The best show on TV remains — emphatically — the best.

Rowe simply does not look like Washingtone, and for a miniseries that seeks to render him in fully human form, that is a drawback. A fatal one? Hardly, but a distracting one. ... Meanwhile, Kearns Goodwin is missing entirely. ... Yet get past this and her "Washington '' works well, as levelheaded, cleanly-told history, absent hagiography or unnecessary clutter.

After a bumbling 4th — especially with regards to race — "Outlander" is back on track. A familiar one.

Good performances, thoughtful series, but saddled with a grim inevitability.

Fine, sharp opener to what already feels like a tragic climax.

First-rate actress, compelling idea but neither can escape the clutches of a shopworn formula.

Drescher is back in a bantamweight sitcom from ancient times — the 1990s.

The first three episodes of "McMillion$" unpack the incredible story of the McDonald's Monopoly scam with flair, even if the shape and contours of the series are familiar.

Smart, well-crafted, layered — verging on over-layered.

Millennials will watch, and you will too because this is the best new comedy of the brand-new decade. ... "Nora" is a[n] unbridled joy.

It's a bland allegorical satire built on an obvious point that unfolds in outer space where days (or nights) never end, and the passengers are irritating, and the ship is girdled by stiffs and human excreta. ... Lost in space, and on-screen, too.

Money and cameos and nice locales don't make parodies work (nor does gun violence, which this newcomer jarringly has). ... Pallid, distant reflection of "Childrens Hospital." A whiff.

Lugubrious, also highly watchable.

This "Party" does what the original did well because it knows all of this. Feelings are universal but circumstances are not. ... The rare reboot with a purpose — and a heart.

Stick with "Zoey." Get past the treacle, network cliches, and force-fed emotions, and it does improve. Earworms, too.

[Midge] needs to grow, or at least her stand-up routine does beyond the tame gags about her ex-husband or Jewsih guilt. Those remain the weakest part of "Maisel." ... These early episodes do certainly play to "Maisel's" considerable and well-established strengths. They're a romp through the English language, abetted by actors who remain effortlessly up to the challenge. As always, the writing and those performances are still what resonate, and they're just about flawless

It's pretty stock stuff. [23 March 2000]

It's an attempt to do a 1970s comedy like "Barney Miller" - but without the laughs. [22 March 2000]

SPOOKY stuff happens in The Others. Windows open by themselves, ghosts spring out of walls, eerie sounds wail. Yes, indeed, it's spooky. It's spooky how script writers think this sort of stuff is actually effective after so many years of seeing these cues so many times in so many "horror" movies. [4 Feb 2000]