Weeds feels like a stoned Desperate Housewives: The pupils are dilated wide, as if able to pick out in sharp relief every detail of this suburban America, yet nothing really seems in focus at all.

This septet just has more highly evolved communication skills. They have a problem? They sit down and talk about it. BOR-ING!!! Or maybe the novelty has just worn off this experiment.

The show is a quietly intriguing, informative study of assimilation, identity and community. [21 Nov 2011, p.40]

The opener mostly succeeds in maintaining a tone that's more racy-adult than naughty-juvenile. The only element that doesn't mesh is the character of Alley's father.

This TLC series has hit a cultural nerve, partly because it offers practical, price-cutting tips in an era in which people are jittery about inflation. Also because it's bonkers. [26 May 2011, p.46]

What hasn't changed and what matters, is Mireille Enos's sodden, unshakable integrity as a detective who could outlast a pack of bloodhounds. [10 Jun 2013, p.48]

The drawback to Catch Fire is that we aren't yet interested enough in the backup characters. For now Pace is reason enough to watch this on whatever TV, laptop or mobile screen you prefer in the digital age. [9 Jun 2014, p.33]

The show may never again attain the sustained comic brilliance of last week's pilot. But this is a rarity for Fox: a sophisticated and clever sitcom.

A revenge farce that takes such perplexingly arbitrary turns that it finally sits down like a confused Labrador and refuses to budge. [12 Aug 2013]

Challenging but engrossing.

This parody of bad vintage miniseries is asinine--it's supposed to be--and from time to time hilarious. [13 Jan 2014, p.49]

The show, despite good stunt work, is clunkily overfamiliar. [1 Feb 2010, p.37]

An odd but involving concept--Raging Birds. [14 Mar 2011, p.42]

A sitcom that veers uncomfortably between charmingly cute and cloyingly sarcastic. [1 Oct 2012, p.38]

This is an epic portrait of a woman who's monumentally single-minded yet uncomprehending, and watching her rise and fall inspires a sick awe. [4 Apr 2011, p.50]

This new Fugitive has a very good Kimble in Tim Daly.

Somehow the premiere hour fills in all this background without getting lost and--more importantly--with sincerity and sensitivity. [10 Jun 2013, p.50]

Shatner has a ball playing a paragon of inappropriate behavior and lends the egocentric character a surprising touch of poignancy in his rare moments of introspection. But it's going to be tricky finding the right balance between Shore and Crane while allowing each to stay in touch with his inner devil.

Shepherd handles the romantic banter quite well. ... But so far, Shepherd isn't particularly adept at the other comic demands of her role: the double takes, the slowly dawning reactions, the ironic deliveries and other tricks of the trade.

[Driver's] tone gets under the skin. As does the show. [19 Mar 2007, p.39]

The tenuousness of the situation, and the underlying hope for emotional growth by all, makes for a touching hour. [25 Jan 2010, p.43]

Soul Food is inconsistent, but it whets the appetite.

If anything, it moves so tentatively through the baffling investigation and trial that Hayden Panettiere seems to play a dozen Amandas: cheerful, furtive, erratic--and at times literally clueless. [28 Feb 2011, p.40]

Taut and stylish.

It's very well-done, but the opener doesn't resolve a viewer's doubts. [9 Apr 2012, p.42]

Peta Wilson, an Australian actress with the harsh blonde hair, snub nose and oversize, depthless blue eyes of your average mass-produced doll, makes a sexy, amusing Nikita.

There's nothing subtle about the physical comedy in the pilot, as Bette visits a cosmetic surgeon and takes a stab at strenuous exercise. But "broad" is a term Midler has always been comfortable with.

If you automatically expect a new HBO series to be edgy or innovative, you'll be disappointed in this one. It's basically just a sitcom—but it has the advantage of being funny.

In the premiere of this likably preposterous new show, [Chloe] learns that these changes are embedded in her DNA and can be traced back millennia. [20 Jun 2011, p.58]

It's a gripper. [25 Sep 2006, p.43]

Feels like a retread.

Paxton's supported by a vast cast of vivid characters waging holy battle while chasing the almighty dollar. [11 Jan 2010, p.41]

[A] sure-footed legal drama. [2 Sep 2013]

The pace sags, but the accumulation of sacrificed lives gives it all a haunting sorrow. [4 Jun 2012, p.44]

Bottom Line: Good beat, weak drama.

In season 2 this fluffy spy caper about gorgeous CIA operative Annie Walker is starting to deliver on the seductive fun promised by Piper Perabo's sly, flirtatious smile in the opening credits. [25 Jul 2011, p.40]

It actually improves upon the successful formula by downplaying any romantic entanglements, which, at times, have weighed down the leads of Rhimes's other shows.

The humor has a light, convivial burble. [26 Mar 2012, p.45]

As in season 1, the acting is rich and lusty, with no costume-drama fustiness. [15 Jan 2007, p.33]

The show is fueled with so much soap-operatic hot air that it takes off. [26 Sep 2011, p.54]

An old-fashioned sitcom.

One of the fall's best new dramas. [26 Nov 2012, p.48]

Girl has a surprisingly casual sense of humor and Anna Silk is physically just right in the lead role. [13 Feb 2012, p.45]

The show promises to be sexy fun. [6 Sep 2010, p.47]

Chef remains the model for cook-off competitions, balancing casual insight into culinary art with psychological snapshots of the aspiring chefs. This recipe can't be improved on.

The animated duo have returned, as dumb--and hilarious--as ever. [31 Oct 2011, p.36]

The show is The Odd Couple redefined by psychosis and whimsy. I'm not wagging my tail. [27 Jun 2011, p.46]

The show is cluttered with cutesy sidekicks, including Gabourey Sidibe as a student and John Benjamin Hickey as Cathy's homeless brother. But Linney's a big deal. [30 Aug 2010, p.37]

The show is likable, in a channel-surfing way: So-So Rosie. [31 Oct 2011, p.36]

It's the best new sitcom of the fall. [16 Oct 2006, p.39]

Top Design will make you not want to leave your TV room--no matter what it looks like. [5 Feb 2007, p.37]

The show works and it's fun. [12 Nov 2012, p.43]

After two flabby seasons, the Fox action series is back in bang-up shape. [25 Jan 2010, p.41]

Johnson is the find of the season: She's the sunbeam that doesn't filter out dust motes. [29 Oct 2012, p.38]

If the show's isn't terribly ambitious to break new ground, it's a nice lull. [11 Jun 2012, p.42]

Nothing in the opener is especially fresh or intriguing except the relationship between Ryan and Seth.

Copper lacks the brains or kick to lift it above being a period piece. [10 Sep 2012, p.41]

If you prize originality, this new series will underwhelm you. ... What's surprising is the goodly number of laughs it does offer.

I look forward to The Payoff. [27 Sep 2010, p.54]

The show's fun, and a little freaky. [2 Oct 2006, p.45]

That premise could make for a crisp and slick adventure hour; it did in the pilot. Already, though, Fahey's character is losing definition because of a string of unfocused scripts.

Cold Case should be money in the bank for CBS. But the... premiere suffers from a predictable murder plo... and an overly arty climactic sequence that belongs in a music video, not a police drama.

Miller is believably blonde, and that's about it. [22 Oct 3012, p.42]

O'Loughlin's an impressively taciturn, tense presence" You get the sense that McGarrett could go to a luau and still experience it as a hurt locker. As McGarrett's sidekick Danno, Scott Caan is the opposite: all quick, bantam energy. He steals scenes as coolly as surfers catch waves. [27 Sep 2010, p.53]

The premiere episode of Madam Secretary, for the time being, suggests that the show is very much the little sister [to The Good Wife].... But Madam Secretary, in which Téa Leoni plays the newly appointed secretary of state, deserves to hang around long enough to formulate and declare itself.

[Perry] effortlessly brings out King's sorrow and even rage--[but] it loses something when thrown in with Go On's overly broad comedy. [13 Aug 3012, p.41]

It's more fun than most hidden-camera shows: Kutcher keeps his in-your-face energy from boiling over into obnoxious-ness.

Spade... can deliver an insult with such grace and precision it's like watching Fred Astaire dance with a prop

The new entry is more action-oriented and less morally ponderous than the recent Star Trek series. But it still suffers from its predecessors' overdeveloped air of gravitas.

With many clichés coming straight from romantic comedy films, A to Z gets slightly cheesy at times, but Feldman and Milioti's easy chemistry makes their banter believable and, well, downright adorable.

The girls' chemistry should keep the show breakdown free. [19 Sep 2011, p.59]

VanCamp goes about her business with a purse-lipped Jodie Foster earnestness that makes her hard to root for. But Stowe coos, scowls, flirts and thunders. She roils Revenge. [26 sep 2011, p.56]

The show is overworked and overthought. [25 Mar 2013, p.43]

This fall sitcom is a hit entirely because of Deschanel's performance as Jess. [7 Nov 2011, p.41]

The cast would do well to have more fun, but the layered storytelling has it charms. [31 Oct 2011, p.35]

[The Newsroom] is much stronger and more solidly entertaining. [29 Jul 2013, p.37]

This could grow into a show of more than ordinary interest. [28 Nov 2011, p.57]

The wives are overwhelmed by the prospect of an addition, but this group ]is as comfortable with the camera as the early-era Gosselins. [4 Oct 2010, p.38]

The ensemble remains perfect, but the show's matter-of-fact crispness has been dulled. [22 Apr 2013, p.46]

To make new fans, show more enterprise.

Oh, what a tangled web Carnivále weaves–maybe too tangled for its own good.

Clever writing and the delightful Melissa Joan Hart... make this unlikely plot a high schooler's witch fulfillment.

If Faris is the little engine that could, Janney is the caboose along for the ride. [4 Nov 2013]

Defenders at least has a sure grip on its tone. [8 Nov 2010, p.40]

With its rugged leads displaying a light comic touch, the series has a fresh appeal. [3 Feb 2014, p.44]

The scares are not as over-the-top as American Horror Story but more chilling because they're applied glancingly. [13 Feb 2012, p.44]

Average.

[Bello's] sour, tough intelligence is right on the money. [3 Oct 2011, p.45]

The cast plays out the adjustment with the right touch of pleased humor. [4 Oct 2010, p.37]

An entertaining big-narrative concept. [5 Sep 2005, p.41]

Sedgwick embraces the character's quirks, including a weakness for sugary snacks, while conveying her keen intelligence.

Jack has an excellent cast.... Maybe the writing will catch up with them. [31 Mar 2014]

The second half builds steadily and surely toward a potential meet-and-greet with the apocalypse. [12 Dec 2005, p.39]

Even though I didn’t approach it with a genre fan’s enthusiasm, I will allow that this remake offers its share of scares.

Cases piddle away as everyone hashes out deals at a conference table. Realistic, perhaps, but quite the buzzkill. [20 Aug 2012, p.41]

A satisfyingly meaty drama. [11 Jun 2007, p.41]

Unlike Daily anchorman Jon Stewart, he's not only ridiculing the headlines but mocking himself. This is closer to acting than comedy, and it may be tougher. But Stephen Colbert is a great American and deserves our support. And suppore. [7 Nov 2005, p.41]

The show's tone [is] vulgar, jolly and winning. [16 Jul 2012, p.39]