This unique series is about life's inscrutable mysteries and the search for answers. The town of Jarden--and the Murphys--appear to be rich with possibilities in that search.

Smart, taut, engaging and propulsive. The fifth looks terrific.

After the first season's packed finale, Sunday's episode settles down, takes a breath, and slowwwwws down. That's absolutely an auspicious and necessary development.

Note the parade of cliche characterizations (the way-too-understanding wife who gazes upon her dim guy with affectionate he's-a-dope-but-he's-my-dope amusement). Also the schlock writing.

Not for the squeamish, but a well-done new medical drama.

Noah's Daily Show at once felt confident but also oddly tentative. Smoothly delivered but uneven.... Not quite a rocky start, but not an emphatically comforting one for fans either.

Stamos' half-hour goes on to indulge such other TV trends as black lesbian confidantes, "BuzzFeed listicle" Web checks and the single camera's incessant progression of "witty" repartee jumping to quick-cut "gags" jumping to "awww" sentiment.

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.

Hap and Carla are certainly a great-looking couple, standing in the shadow of the North Dakota Rockies. What they're not is a heightened version of Blake and Alexis Colby Carrington, the sort of heights I was really hoping for here.

[Chopra's] attractive, all right, and so is the rest of the telegenic crowd surrounding her. What's missing is much of a reason to care about her (or them). That's the fault of a pilot which spins a wild-eyed premise.

Sure, Thursday's pilot is junk, but it's pretty, diligent junk, essentially The Whopper of action TV, heaped high with mayhem condiments.

Rosewood's pilot is stuffed with hackneyed setups, tedious exposition and character quirks galore.

Whatever it was that made Empire the sensation of the 2014-15 season hasn't gone away for the new season.

The writing is sharp, but sharp-edged too. Overwhelmed with venom, Queens tends to be more mean-spirited than free-spirited. The cast is energetic, particularly Roberts and Curtis, who look like they're having a great time. But they can't quite convey that fun to the audience.

You too may begin to see what this newcomer appears to be: a raucous, smart, gentle, imaginative and consistently funny comedy that scores early and often.

The show could go interesting places, too, even explore provocative ideas--although the pilot pokes at those only halfheartedly. Limitless instead sets up as just another buddy cop show, with a superhero component and a sinister subplot. Those potentially interesting ideas are kicked to the curb.

The parsing of detail is effective because by the end of Monday's pilot, I was surprised by an unexpected reaction: I actually wanted to know what happens next week.

Arthur and Agatha flit through the pilot, barely registering. In fact, no one registers. They're all line drawings in service to some very nice special effects and a pilot that's already tangled up in way too many plot tangents.

[Neil Patrick Harris was] hampered here by a format that might work better on daytime TV than at night, and better in the U.K. than here, and by gimmicks that seem more in step with the Velveeta spirit of "America's Got Talent," and by a show that's almost willfully aggravating, he may have met his match with Best Time Ever.

You've probably already heard Executioner is slow to get into. That's true. But (I think) the setup works, and (also think) it promises a satisfying series.

Tired, self-amused, occasionally boorish, entirely dull and much (much) more about Ferrell than baseball, Campaneris, or those charities. The joke is a long one.

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.

This is one crazy-paced show, and one smartly crafted comedy.

Morals is raw, interesting, intelligent, sometimes funny (sometimes not), violent (but not overly violent) and unlike anything on TV at the moment.

Seen "Malcolm in the Middle"? It's good, right? Clever, original and fresh? Now imagine it's a tired retread, a shadow of itself. That's this shameless ripoff, which ratchets up the leer quotient and down the brains. [2 Oct 2000, p.B07]

Fear the Walking Dead is slow and a little bit dull.... Now the good. Fear's opening act is a strong one. There's a nice overall build, too, particularly during the second episode.

Successful series have been built around less interesting fantasies, but the creators of That Was Then are almost as hapless as their hero. They saddled themselves with a casting nightmare. As the supposedly 16-year-old Travis, Bulliard looks closer to 26. And in the fake beard that's intended to make him look 30, he just looks silly. In fact, none of the cast members who have to play two ages is convincing. [27 Sept 2002, p.B39]

Most of Luis so far is underdeveloped and oversold. [19 Sept 2003, p.B48]