Future episodes aren't as snappy or scenic. But Shahi & Show deliver win-win, anyway.

One little gripe---Pioneers needed to give a tip of the space helmet to some '50s pioneers, such as "Captain Video" and "Flash Gordon." Otherwise, it's all pleasure.

This show lurches along, all its sitcom puzzle pieces laid out without being assembled into even a Hollywood picture of life.

Skins is a bit clunky and even dated at times. Nor does it feel all that grounded in the real world, where it badly wants to be.

Being Human echoes, move for move, the BBC America fave of the same name. Yet, Syfy simplifies the tone into young-adult novelhood, where there's lots of white space around really big print. Subsequent episodes improve as plots thicken.

The pilot's accumulation of cute - oh, for the straightforward simplicity of bowling alley lawyer "Ed" - feels overbearing long before Kelley's courtroom summation turns societal sermon.

Pilkington's musings are sometimes amusing and always pointless, but the animation almost totally nullifies the first and intensifies the second.

[Rhimes] may still be up to her old tricks, but here they seem fresh and energetic. Best of all, she has a solid young cast that pulls them off well.

A particularly fine new FX drama marred only by a tepid pace in the pilot. But pace and story pick up in subsequent episodes.

Some brief memorable performances, particularly Cusack as a tippling housewife. Otherwise, an inexplicable misfire.

Bob's Burgers might be meatier if it gave us some reason to watch these characters. The title isn't the only thing that feels generic.

Episodes is flawless and hilarious. What a pity it lasts only seven episodes.

While critics like me count quibbles, kids of all ages should share my husband's assessment: "It's a superhero show. Superman flies. Give The Cape a little space."

Coin of the realm - pun intended - for TV games is familiarity, but that hardly confers an urgency to watch this one.

It's silly, ridiculous, fun, outrageous and absurd. Plus, there's Brad.

Jersey Shore is appalling, which is mostly its appeal, but it can also be funny, irreverent and breezily dimwitted--which is the rest of the appeal.

Because this is an all-for-one, one-for-all musical act, these groups are tight and have to be. As a result, the six finalists are very good--which largely makes for good TV.

Maybe this episode really is about repression, erotica and split personalities. Or maybe it's just a good excuse for the show to shake the dust out, ditch the inferno of summertime New York and wander amid the glories of Paris while exploring the discreet bourgeois charms of Blair and Serena. Either way, it's a lot of fun.

You can't help realizing that just by the act of taping a reality show, the Bruces--all nine of them--are already employed in a job, albeit a temporary one.

Though Saget is amiable and likable here, the ratio of good quips to groaners is still only about one-to-four.

Unfortunately, they've settled on far-too-easy and facile answers for the most part.

Nothing particularly interesting or revelatory. For this to work--at least for viewers--The Hoff needs to move past self-parody, or at least take himself seriously. He tries here, but the exercise still seems flimsy and hollow.

Even film school snobs like me can learn a thing or 10 from Moguls & Movie Stars. The breadth and depth of information rushing through each hour is astonishing.

Uniformly excellent - although some additional reporting devoted to the treatment of PTSD would have made this a more complete package.

Who knew beautiful, obscenely expensive cars could be so much fun? These three guys do, and they effortlessly convey their knowledge and nutty passion.

A winner. And for the Hoffmans' sake--plus family and friends along for the ride--let's hope there is gold in that hard, cold ground.

Sarah Palin's Alaska is part-travelogue, part-"Todd and Sarah Plus Eight," part-slick political infomercial, and part Mark Burnett hokum - and oddly fascinating for all those reasons.

So far, so good. No late night talk show has ever been canceled after one edition--not even Chevy's--while first albeit abbreviated impressions of Conan are promising.