Now, ma'am, no need to bolt like a horse-unless you're scared of cliches. You aren't, are you?

The problem with all this sensitivitiy is that the show has a tougher time delivering on the whimsy. [3 May 2010, p.42]

The comedy never quite lifts into giddiness, but there are lots of solid, unexpected laughs. And isn't that cause for celebration? [26 Apr 2010, p.40]

Tudor history is irresistible, even if the bedroom gymnastics here seem more in keeping with the Playboy Mansion than a royal palace. [19 Apr 2010, p.47]

Co-created by David Simon and Eric Over­myer, the team behind The Wire, this is a lovingly textured, slowly unfolding series set in post-Katrina New Orleans. [26 Apr 2010, p.40]

This Miami trauma-hospital drama is marginally better than "Three Rivers."

Olyphant plays this laconic, loping lawman with a smiling minimalism that makes Givens both iconic and contemporary.

It's the jungle version of Saving Private Ryan's opening battle, over and over across 10 hours. Why, then, is this so excitingly powerful instead of just numbing? Because the stakes are huge: The historical momentum pulls you in and drags you along.

This FOX version of a family sitcom isn't as irreverent or formula-free as it thinks--ABC's "The Middle" is actually edgier--but it scores points for never resorting to mere cuteness and for throwing in a bizarre sight gag about frozen squirrels.

In her enjoyably ridiculous reality show, she's self-consciously restrained, perhaps trying to project old-fashioned noblesse oblige-even while goosing her Google profile with this project in self-exposure. She just ends up neutralizing herself. The show is dominated instead by a supporting group of rich kids who take the reverse tactic of whole-hog shamelessness.

None of these results will rock a viewer's world, but it's unexpectedly satisfying to see stars in a reality project that's more relatable than ballroom dancing or a temporary work detail for Donald Trump.

This adaptation of the hit 1989 movie is emotionally ample, as any decent family drama should be, but the premiere feels like a dowdier cousin of shows already out there.

The scale is wrong. This is an overelaborate piffle, a crate-size bon-bon. The best thinge is Papa.

There isn't much of a story, though. The best thing is the terrific song in the opening credits: Aloe Blacc's "I Need a Dollar." It has the sort of itchy desperation that should have driven the whole show.

It's standard murder-of-the-week type stuff with just a hint of pseudo spirituality. Trouble is, characters who speak in cliches don't deserve to be in your living room.

This go-round, a tired-looking Bobby Brown struggles to act like he's there for anything other than the paycheck, and Britney Spears' ex Kevin Federline (who appears alongside his ex Shar Jackson) comes off like a man defeated. Bummer, dude.

I want to root for a reality series that uplifts, but for this one to work, it either needs to be more fun or more real. [15 Feb 2010, p.43]

The premiere delivers a show that's more winkingly cute than it really needs ro be. [25 Jan 2010, p.42]

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

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

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

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

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

While the show's humor can be raunchy or even cruel, the voice work is pure unruffled deadpan. [18 Jan 2010, p.42]

The declining but not yet flatlining EKG of their relationship is captured very nicely by Williams and Matchett, both giving strong, stoic performances. Everything else is too quiet, though. [25 Jun 2007, p.41]

The show's tone of enigmatic menace is overcooked. [25 Jun 2007, p.41]

[It] remains a nervily ambiguous concept. [18 Jun 2007, p.37]

The tone of the first three episodes is grubby yet also precious. [11 Jun 2007, p.41]