Think of it as a newsmagazine program unbound by considerations of taste or balance.

The conflict often seems manufactured, but Cowell continues to lift this above the Star Search level.

In its second season this gritty frontier drama still boasts the most colorfully eccentric ensemble of any show on TV. But Al Swearengen, the malignly glowering saloon boss, played to the hilt by Golden Globe winner Ian McShane, is first among equals.

There are bright spots here, including Pompeo's skillful performance and the surprisingly touching relationship between Meredith and her mother, a renowned surgeon. But to be worthy of study, Grey's Anatomy needs more of a brain.

Devotees are probably poised to dismiss the adaptation out of hand, but I found enough funny business here to overcome my sales resistance.

I commend Banks for keeping up her interest level, but it gets ever harder to buy into the phony melodrama of redemption and suffering.

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." I never came close to sharing that bloodthirsty sentiment from Shakespeare's Henry VI until I watched the early episodes of the fourth series to carry the Law & Order brand.

Forget the tech background; the cohosts are a natural comedy team. That's why this show is a hoot, even if it's a little like grown-ups playing in a sandbox.

It's slick, stylish and oh-so-sexy, but plausibility is a comparatively low priority for this second-year series about a circle of L.A. lesbians.

How'd They Do That? rehashes a previously aired Home Edition and adds a few details that weren't worth including the first time. Why'd they bother?

The pilot aspires to outrageousness, but the humor needs to get a whole lot smarter.

Everybody here has a festering grudge or a haunting memory, and you wish they could simply sit down someplace and talk things over.

Though Krumholtz captures Charlie's combination of genius and immaturity, Morrow's straight-arrow role sorely needs a few dabs of color.

A well-crafted, surprisingly intelligent update of ABC's late-'70s Star Wars clone.

You may well have misgivings about yet another season for this show, particularly with Haysbert out of the picture. ... But the plot, which involves the abduction of a high government official, will absorb viewers once again.

Though Allison is potentially worth watching as both a medium and a mother of three, someone needs to conjure up a stronger supporting cast if this show is to hold our interest.

Smits and Alda clearly increase the show's charisma quotient, and it's good to see Matheson's character stirring the pot once more. ... But the writers seem almost shameless in their resort to medical crises.

I don't much care which duo ultimately comes in first and collects the $1 million prize, and the personality conflicts aren't dramatically different from those on other reality shows. But at least this series covers a lot of interesting ground.

House stands out on the strength of its misanthropic main character.

Remarkable.

Dialogue like this is an encouraging sign that the people who make The O.C. don't take it much more seriously than I do.

Shatner has a ball playing a paragon of inappropriate behavior and lends the egocentric character a surprising touch of poignancy in his rare moments of introspection. But it's going to be tricky finding the right balance between Shore and Crane while allowing each to stay in touch with his inner devil.

Fortunately CSI: NY has something in common with its predecessors besides a taste for the distasteful: a solid lead performance.

So cheeky, sexy and alive that you can't help enjoying it.

With no reward besides fleeting fame, what rational person would want to go through domestic upheaval merely for viewers' amusement?

Gritty and engrossing as ever.

Bell is an attractive lead, but the show... starts out by taking itself too seriously and working too hard to establish an atmosphere of teen angst mixed with noir mystery. It wouldn't hurt if the student-sleuth lightened up.

Grabs you so forcefully that you won't shake free even when the drama strains credulity.