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.