The Sopranos remains a unique combination of brains, wit and raw power.

Parker's irresistible charm keeps us on Carrie's side even as the character's act grows old.

This is probably not a clinically accurate portrayal of an OCD sufferer, but Shalhoub's gentle earnestness keeps it from being gimmicky.

As with all reality shows, the pleasure for viewers is the cruel one of rubbernecking a disaster.

It's very easy to resist a show shaped around a joke so sniggeringly juvenile. ... After a while, though, my inner sniggler shoved its way past my adult superego and started to laugh, sometimes a lot.

Early episodes can seem as static as a stakeout, and the viewer has a ton of information to absorb—much of it conveyed in obscenity-laced slang. But as we gradually get to know the players... The Wire grows electric.

The singles scene must be pretty bleak if women would rather mass for a prime-time cattle call than go out on a blind date.

Is this show in danger of being too nice? Somebody must have thought so, because George has been given a harridan for a mother.

Scratch the gritty surface of this new police drama and you'll find it's not a totally revolutionary contribution to the genre.

Andy aspires to write fiction but basically he's an ordinary guy—a role right for Richter—and the humor springs largely from the contrast between his fertile imagination and his dull, dry job.

This challenging show offers the viewer nary a morsel of TV comfort food. But uncommonly good writing and acting are satisfying too.

Louis-Dreyfus is going for breathless charm here, but this vehicle's in too much of a rush.

What I've come to appreciate in its second season is that CSI delivers the goods—mysteries that keep viewers guessing, scientific crime-detection techniques worthy of the Discovery Channel and a consistently intriguing character in team leader Gil Grissom.

Though the cast members are photogenic, as is the city, one tires of watching them play at self-discovery.

Hard to leg-warm up to.

I'd prefer to argue that creative excellence is the real reason for the six-year-old series' ratings momentum, but it's probably the snappy salutes and cool jargon.

Going into mid-December, this third-year drama series appeared in need of a creative overhaul. The writing wavered between teen angst and tongue-in-cheek, and each plot turn seemed more desperate than the last.

Project Greenlight is a dream come true for a guy named Jones, but it looks like less of a thrill for the average viewer.

It's reliably amusing.

It's just a tad less fabulous than before.

Some of the humor here won't go down well in every home. But if you stick with the show through episode two, you'll see it's about the gap between Bernie's defiantly unsentimental attitude and the reality of his new role as a surrogate parent.

Entertaining, though short of super.

The makers of 24 needn't overuse the split-screen technique to emphasize the onrush of events. Viewers can feel the suspense start to build without seeing the seconds tick off on a digital clock. Give the gimmicks a rest. We're hooked without them.

The first two outings are uneven, but watch for a hilarious future episode in which Arthur meets a support group for disgruntled superhero sidekicks.

Subtlety is not a hallmark of the writing, nor of Christopher Rich's performance as Reba's faithless spouse.

Thanks to the mesmerizing performance of Vincent D'Onofrio as New York City Det. Bobby Goren, this new series enhances the value of the brand.

To make new fans, show more enterprise.

In the end, though, tinkering around the edges won't be enough to ensure The Guardian's future if Baker's performance remains a void at the center of the drama.