The photography is sweepingly gorgeous--this must be the best of all possible planets. [18 Apr 2011, p.46]

Set on the eve of the 1936 abdication crisis, it has melodramatic bustle and tender affection for its characters--of all classes. [18 Apr 2011, p.46]

The hot-potato miniseries dares to be unflattering. [11 Apr 2011, p.45]

It's the usual stupid fun. [11 Apr 2011, p.47]

As lead detective, Mireille Enos is terrific and makes up for the sense that we're revisiting terrain already covered--and reduced to parody--by Twin Peaks. [11 Apr 2011, p.46]

FX's spy parody Archer is funnier, and AMC's short-lived Rubicon was a more sharply realized fantasy of work life in a shadow bureaucracy. This is a botched mission. [4 Apr 2011, p.50]

With the second episode, though, the whole tone improves: Delany's performance seems to have caught some of the coppery warmth of her hair, and we spend more time with a good ensemble. [4 Apr 2011, p.49]

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]

As Merlin, Joseph Fiennes is more like a trainer-dietitian than mentor, but he's lively. Eva Green, as Morgan, is coldly beautiful and magnificent in Camelot couture. She's enchanting. But I don't see Jamie Campbell Bower's Arthur having the resolve of a king. [28 Mar 2011, p.54]

[A] fascinating reality hit. [28 Mar 2011, p.57]

Reubens is getting a bit old for this, but Pee-wee's innocence, infantilism and camp haven't dated--there's a rebel in the ridiculousness. [21 Mar 2011, p.46]

Both shows [NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles] have an old-fashioned but relaxing simplicity, with an upbeat emphasis on the value of being a team. It's family entertainment. [21 Mar 2011, p.43]

Not a bad concept, but the casting is out of whack. [21 Mar 2011, p.46]

What really matters on Apprentice, though, are the celebs: This season's B- and (let's face it) C-listers are a good, volatile mix. [14 Mar 2011, p.42]

In its second season, the spy parody remains my favorite animated series, thanks to its retro visual design--this is a cartoon for the age of Mad Men--and the vicious, dead-aim put-downs that make up most of the dialogue. [14 Mar 2011, p.42]

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

Her own unhappy childhood haunts her, giving the mommy thread a weird poignancy. [7 Mar 2011, p.38]

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]

Here, with no force of personality, the format is just a congress of faux-fabulous. [28 Feb 2011, p.39]

The show, now in cycle 16, moves with a brisker confidence, and that's better. [28 Feb 2011, p.43]

For now, Sunshine is a bit busy and unfocused. [28 Feb 2011, p.43]

I like how the show shifts from sitcom laughs to soap opera tremors. [21 Feb 2011, p.45]

[Forest Whitaker as Sam Cooper is] an arresting, oblique performance, and it works well amid all the procedural muck. [21 Feb 2011, p.42]

Mad Love [is] a relationship sitcom with real chemistry. [21 Feb 2011, p.41]

We'll see how season 10 holds up once the chosen contestants move on to Hollywood, but for now Idol remains firmly on its pedestal. [14 Feb 2011, p.39]

Piers Morgan's first nights filling Larry King's suspenders weren't great....He's better--thorough, thoughtful--with serious figures like Rudolph Giuliani. [14 Feb 2010, p.40]

Traffic Light is better than NBC's Perfect Couples--the jokes are more relaxed, and the cast includes NCIS's Liza Lapira, whose humor has bite. Not a killer ensemble, though. [14 Feb 2011, p.42]

Rivers scarcely pretends any of the setups are real--it's just more material for her. [7 Feb 2011, p.41]