A diverting, silly potboiler, a bold cartoon with none of the staffers' anxious beetle scuttling that gives NBC's venerable The West Wing a sense of verisimilitude. [3 Oct 2005, p.39]

Ghost Whisperer can be surprisingly moving. [24 Oct 2005, p.41]

Three Wishes is about sowing seeds of kindness that blossom into a garden of good feeling, but it can feel like a flower show dusted with endless sprayings of industrial fertilizer. [31 Oct 2005, p.39]

Does it deliver excitement? So far, no. [3 Oct 2005, p.39]

It's not clear how seriously Patinkin takes the whole thing--it's the same actorly mystery that makes David Caruso's whispery bitterness such a kick on CSI: Miami. [31 Oct 2005, p.39]

Anyone who saw Team America, the movie send-up of all things Bruckheimerian, will find E-Ring hard to take too seriously. [24 Oct 2005, p.41]

Lee may lack the essential sweetness, or pathos, to make Earl ever seem like more than a cute variation on those lovable, loquacious losers who tumble, beer can spurting, through Coen brothers movies. [3 Oct 2005, p.39]

In the first few episodes, nothing's happening. No pulse. Doctor, what's wrong? [24 Oct 2005, p.41]

The show is flat. [7 Nov 2005, p.41]

The show can be wonderfully mean... but it's too spotty. [24 Oct 2005, p.41]

Emily Deschanel is well cast as Brennan--she has the right sort of drained, remote presence, as if still working off last night's sleeping pill--and she's also well cast against David Boreanaz. [19 Sep 2005, p.45]

The series' grim tone and overall look of a grimy world in perpetual need of dusting or wiping is a long way from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and closer to Japanese movies like The Grudge. [12 Sep 2005, p.45]

The only good thing is Anita Barone. [19 Sep 2005, p.48]

The show could be compelling, especially if the cast pulls off two decades' worth of aging. [12 Sep 2005, p.46]

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