Gorgeous to look at. [25 Mar 1999]

You must be content with a standard-issue mob turf war TV series, with thick overtones of "The Sopranos," as heavy and as gloppily applied as all that clay weighing down Farrell. This "Penguin" is a proximate real world, and not even a slightly heightened version of one, with no Batman and no fantasy world to escape to — or for it to escape to.

Reliable, durable and comfortable, "ST3" is what you'd expect and certainly what you want, if what you "want" is seasons 1 and 2, with a few big twists along the way.

The show is scattered, slight and abominably self-promotional. But Michaels is so full of abundant - and infectious - good cheer that you tend to overlook these many faults. Fans will eat it up.

Davies’ dialogue feels so organic to the characters it’s written for that it seems almost to bond to them, as naturally as if it was their skin or hair color. Actors in Davies’ production invariably rise to the level of the words placed before them. They certainly do here.

Nicely crafted, and Gambon--as always--is superb, but this “Masterpiece” movie can also be turgid and lugubrious.

Too rushed, too unfunny, with hardly any music. At least Hall promises better times ahead.

This is a fun throwback and a return to form for J.J. Abrams.

From the setup to the incidentals, People of Earth is packed with humor and heart forever revealed in clever ways.

Tonally, this often feels more like a psychological thriller than an action one, which is a very good sign. 24 is thinking, not just doing, and that bodes well for the later hours when our friend has tended to jump the tracks. All in all, a terrific start.

The show is fast-paced, crackling, choreographed like a comedy ballet. [20 Sep 1992]

Looks like a summer winner.

The horror is carefully and strategically placed; one mustn't have too much of a good thing, after all.... So settle in. You will be grossed out.

This teacher can be loquacious--oh yeah--but he's got a big heart, too. Danza, Northeast and A&E deserve credit for this series.

[The episodes are] smarter than you might expect but not quite as clever as they work at being. Like the family unit it portrays, this dark/lighthearted drama tries to have everything at once and struggles under the far-reaching effort.

Fun comedy that takes time to warm up to.

This series has an underdog spirit of its own, even if it's not quite the triumphant crane kick it could be.

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

Layering such unnatural proceedings into the family-drama format only intensifies both story angles when you do it right. And Cassidy has, with strong casting, solid structure and a fine feel for what's most frightening.

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

A thin story spread over a lot of hours, but Ali is excellent and so is his support.

It's all vaguely familiar and spirited enough to look like shiny summer fare. Just don't scratch the surface.

Too much of the carnal Amy, not enough of the smart, cultural critic Amy.

"House of Guinness" is always entertaining, but there's a hollowness to it that's hard to shake.

Whitaker and the rest of the cast are first-rate, but what's most compelling about "Godfather" are its apparent ambitions.

Edge-of-the-seat viewing but seat-of-the-pants storytelling. At least both Redmayne and Lynch shine.

Overall, this was a good start.... The show was rushed, the commercialism troubling, the interviews a mixed bag. But no one looks for perfection the first night--just signs, and they were mostly positive Tuesday.

The intrigue continues and The Borgias remains one of TV's more reliable potboilers.

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.

Calling Rome a crushing disappointment would be accurate but too forgiving of its sordidly cockamamy fixations. Brutality and nudity rise in direct proportion to unpersuasive storytelling. Finding someone, anyone, to care about amid all this shock-value Sturm und Drang swiftly becomes an enervating chore. [26 Aug 2005, p.B33]

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

"Spin City" doesn't have a good joke, other than Michael J. Fox. He has to carry the show himself. He has to be what makes you laugh. In the first three episodes he is not funny, he is cute. [7 Oct 1996]

There's so much to like here. Now, all P&R has to do is become consistently likable.

It's good. Showrunner Tim Doyle, the former executive producer of "Last Man Standing," obviously knows his way around big Irish Catholic American families of the late 20th century.

Great-looking but indistinctive in the early episodes (this review is based only on the first two).

It's evocative, smartly structured, well acted and insists that the strange ride you are about to take will be worth every minute.

It's not a bit hokey, as are many reality show competitions. Unlike "ANTM," the coaches don't judge. Instead, they leave that to industry experts who are authentic: smart, tough and unemotional.

This is a gentle, good-hearted series and Scott was pretty much born to play Precious. But LDA can also be willfully, stubbornly languid.

The pace has slowed, the ride less wild, the story refocused on Ray's "fixer" skills.... McShane and Holmes are welcome additions.

Overly familiar story beats and cardboard character cutouts in Wednesday’s opener blunt the return of Jack Bauer 2.0. A hint of genuine promise, however, remains.

Engrossing at times and well worth watching, though the writing is often graceless and the direction haphazard.

Brownstein and Armisen move so effortlessly between characters, then execute their riffs, tics, styles and voices with such skilled abandon that before long this doesn't seem like satire any longer but a fun house mirror reflection of intensely real people.

Even vintage home movies from unexpected sources-- Oakland’s black community, a Kentucky small-town newspaper--conjure a relatable sense of life being lived, in a continuity that clearly flows through us today.

Just let the romance flow because true love conquers all, or at least it conquers plot holes, continuity errors, pacing issues and funky time travel stones that buzz like angry bumblebees. That's all part of the charm of "Outlander," and potentially "Blood of My Blood," too.

Settled, thoughtful and at times engaging coming-of-age sequel.

The show they're in is amiable enough, but the premise is awfully thin and the pilot doesn't hint at much of anything beyond that.

With her lovely, mobile face and gift for comedy, Lansbury would be an asset to any drama. But this preposterous mystery tale defeats her. [28 Sep 1984, p.52]

The Gotham opener probably makes the most compelling case of any newcomer this fall that at least one promise will be kept.

Still smart, still good, still fun, Human Target remains one of TV's best comic books.

People are dogs, too. We also have complicated emotional lives, further complicated by our professional ones. We also seek food. We also seek love. We obsess. Nan and Martin’s bond works--and consequently this terrific series works--because it abides by these simple, inalienable truths.

Caprica feels torn between soulfully mature ruminations and adolescent "accessibility" for gamers wondering where the space action went. Let's hope the pilot's spellbinding second hour points the way toward greatness.

Filmed in New Orleans, Coven wants to soak up some atmosphere, bowdlerize some local history and otherwise creep out viewers. At least on these three points, this season should easily score.

The Comeback" is strictly for Comeback connoisseurs--those who deeply missed this sad/funny mockumentary on the idiocy of show business.

Raunchy and at times genuinely funny, Apartment 23 is jam-packed with promise--and inconsistencies.

In the beginning, I thought it was well done, marvelously quirky and creepy, beautifully photographed, extraordinarily moody and well acted. But I can't imagine a reason to watch another episode. [27 Oct 1996]

Quirky, uneven oddball that will appeal to a few. Best to wait for all episodes to stream and go ahead and binge.

Vinyl is a compelling idea in search of a compelling story. There simply isn’t much of one, in fact, and--abhorring the ever-present vacuum--a lot of other elements rush in to fill the void. Scenes are padded, lots of flashbacks are even more flaccid, while actors devour the helpless scenery.

"Suburgatory" falls flat--a flatness that will be accentuated by the smart suburban comedies that bookend it.

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]

Smart and compelling, with great performances, "Apple Cider Vinegar" also has a lot to say about human nature.

Finding Carter isn't some teen show. It's a stellar drama.

"Big Love" does more this year than you might expect, and more richly, more provocatively, more dramatically and amusingly, too.

Of the two live episodes, "The Jeffersons" was easily the better, and also made the unexpected case that it was possibly the better series all along. Foxx nailed Sherman Hemsley's George, Wanda Sykes nailed Louise (originally played by Isabel Sanford), Jackée Harry nailed Diane Stockwell (Paulene Myers), Will Ferrell nailed Tom Willis (Franklin Cover) and Kerry Washington nailed Helen Willis (Roxie Roker).

Extremely raunchy, and often quite funny.

A standout Skarsgård, with excellent support, in an entertaining send-up of cyborgs— but strictly for sci-fi fans only.

Vikings quickly settles into a fairly routine sword-and-sandal epic narrative that revolves around a sociopath overlord and the subjects who dare to challenge his authority. But it gets better.

Sit back, don't think, and expect some good performances--especially by Jennifer Carpenter.

Easily one of fall's better new comedies, but don't expect to be blown away yet. The pilot offers just a taste of what's to come, which is plenty good enough.

Huge looks and feels like a show that knows what it's talking about.

Giving us hope are Kapinos' brisk writing and Duchovny's agile performance, conveying smarts, savvy, self-indulgence and sad stupidity in equal amounts.

Is this funny? Often, and at times, very. Is the writing sharp? Razor sharp, and in fact, there's a line later on that's draws blood it's so good, but context is important to see why. Rudd is excellent, both of them.

Still beautiful, still fun and still excellent.

For such a vast and important story, Torchwood: Miracle Day feels strangely confined and artificial. Here's hoping for more by Episode 4.

Good (and good-looking) production, but without contemporary relevance, urgency or edge.

Ritter’s Jessica Jones remains the most compelling, evocative and dynamic character in Netflix’s Marvel canon. A pity poor Jessica doesn’t think so.

Entourage--at least in original episodes--has been off the air for one solid year, but when that title song from Jane's Addiction kicks in, it's like an old friend calling--only this time, the friend seems worthier, and his stories more interesting.

This John Logan creation promises an intriguing summer pastime, for an eight-week run anyway.

Solid opener and Carey's theme song is a winner, too.

Skies needs more horror. Less talk. More dramatic tension. Less (ummm) talk. More crazy, wild shootouts with the despicable aliens, who don't seem particularly bright, by the way. Less (all together now) talk.

The X Factor is a hugely entertaining endeavor full of malarkey, good performances (and bad), and enough momentum to keep you engaged from the first overblown second to the last.

With all this time spent checking off genre boxes, there’s scant space for the narrative to breathe beyond them.

The show has sneaky depth. The leads are pretty without being "pretty," refreshingly down-to-earth likable, and able to flesh out their youthful stereotypes with this weird thing called personality.

With only the first two episodes as guide — admittedly not much, or nearly enough — Odenkirk's post-"Saul '' second act is a perfectly pleasant letdown.

The first five episodes are best, with their show-within-a-show structure, specifically those San-Ti virtual reality headsets that Mark Zuckerberg would give half his kingdom for. They're a portal into a whole other world, with its own set of narrative rules, and even the occasional flash of humor. Mostly they're just fun. “3 Body” noticeably sags when the San-Ti no longer deploy them (although one does reappear in a closing scene of this first season).

This "A League of Their Own" does what any successful remake must: it finds its own voice, standing apart from its predecessor while also honoring its legacy.

Forgive the pun, but this brass needs polishing. The Green/Burgess team is one of TV's best and we hope they'll make this show as sharp and compelling as it should be.

James is good in this; otherwise dumb … and dumber.

24, in other words, is still thankfully 24.

A relentlessly grim and deeply depressing viewing experience.

Even for sitcoms, "Sunny" is often a vile, twisted beast that crosses the line of acceptable taste. But it can also be highly amusing, and the addition of DeVito and Archer does nothing to diminish that. [29 Jun 2006]

At least the opener indicates this remains an intelligent series in search of complex answers to complicated questions.

Being Mary Jane has been formulated for being fascinating. Now comes the follow-through.

Funny, tragic, scary, creepy, wild, insane. Hey, what's not to like?

Like a series of one-act two-handers--stage plays where just a pair of actors face off--this sneaky little gem steadily strips away its therapy patients' emotional defenses and excuses, exposing the raw fears and paralyzing reactions beneath.

At first engaging, then slowly, inexorably, Succession turns into work.

We're talking major-league adult content here - from unblinking strip searches, to human branding, to brutal violence and language that the broadcast networks have never even thought about airing. But that's only an alert, not a warning, because this drama series from tube auteur Tom Fontana ("Homicide," "St. Elsewhere") packs a dramatic wallop as potent as its frankness. [11 July 1997, p.B47]

While the middle episodes slump, "Life & Beth" starts strong, ends strong, and features a lead with genuine dramatic chops.

The Path is a grim unburdening, all right, but also that what-if series in search of deeper moorings, and a deeper meaning.