The high school stories are tighter-focused, and the Manhattan ones breathe with Broadway romanticism. [5 Nov 2012, p.42]

At its best, the show is outrageous and hilarious at once.

The quickened pulse is a plus: The violence registers as sharp, stinging slaps. [11 Dec 2006, p.41]

Horror isn't my thing, but this is pretty good. [7 Nov 2005, p.41]

[The first episode] is packed with potential. It is fast-paced, funny, touching, romantic and surprising. Please note that we did not add "realistic."

Flawlessly done, but a tough sell. [2 Dec 2013, p.50]

This is Dallas with out all the barbecue sauce, a soap about dynastic Texans that feels closer to Friday Night Lights in its understated leanness. [27 Sep 2010, p.54]

Entourage remains supremely good-natured. [19 Jun 2006, p.37]

It's painful to criticize a show that has intelligence and depth, but there's no getting around the fact that overarching earnestness and a subtle but troubling air of fatalism combine to make this a dolorous hour.

The show must carry on, and of course it does, but rather sluggishly.... Overall the acting from the ensemble remains strong enough to sweep you along from episode to episode. [13 Jan 2014, p.47]

[A] half-decent start.

The comedy here, as with Elaine, comes from watching Louis-Dreyfus's sophisticated, furiously sharp timing applied to a character who has the intelligence of a finch. [30 Apr 2012, p.35]

The series that strains our nerves and our credulity returns with more hour-by-hour suspense, and amazingly it still works.

An entertainingly sinister dip in the cesspool of 19th century criminality. [21 Jan 2013]

This looks like another clever, irreverent, cutting-edge animated comedy from creator Matt Groening.

The series goes overboard on cutesy domestic details but as a Bret Bulletin, it should gratify and reassure his fans. [1 Nov 2010, p.42]

Collar's odd-couple tension tugs the show in entertaining directions. [13 Jun 2011, p.46]

Predictably awesome. [27 May 2013, p.42]

The scope is a little cramped but the writing is wonderfully droll.

This new, fourth season isn't bad but it's a very different beast from the original, and it's not nearly as funny.

The pilot establishes an eerie claustrophobic dread, and well-budgeted special effects add intensity. [1 Jul 2013, p.35]

It is a beguiling romantic adventure.

It's a much more impressive spectacle than ABC's mindlessly entertaining Empire.

Fox... retains his wonderful timing and delivery. ... But the political satire that makes up the rest of the show is toothless, corny, passé.

Each episode tries to shoehorn in bold a history and an ethics lesson with the period dress and picturesque ports of call. The result, though visually rich, is like a fuddy-duddy theme-park ride.

In fact they're all really nice, which is the problem. Except for some minor sexual tension, there's no conflict.

This is all well done, and it's a great-looking production, but the weight of the drama keeps tugging toward a side plot about Braugher's 14-year-old stepdaughter. [10 Apr 2006, p.35]

Got to kick it up a notch, Chuck. [18 Jan 2010, p.41]