The movie holds the interest, despite a tendency to sentimentalize.

Tuesday's pilot is not as consistently funny as one might hope and Mindy's flightiness could turn off some viewers, but she and the show are amusing enough to warrant watching.

Public Morals blends somewhat predictable plotting with decent character development and recognizable period, cultural flourishes.

Of the two new cop shows this week, Southland is the more serious and realistic. It also demonstrates the potential for greater depth in its exploration of characters and their stories.

Take away the fun and silliness of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” add more robust production values and dim the lights and you’ve got this self-serious bore.

The miniseries feels a little pokey in its early chapters, although it does an excellent job of establishing the primary characters, and then races too quickly toward its conclusion (wait, who is Mildred married to now?).

Some of it is funny, some is boring, and some is bound to offend the easily offended.

It’s an engaging (and, perhaps to some defenders of Joe Paterno, it will be an enraging) film that explores character, the politics of college athletics and the value of local journalism in a style that’s more process piece thriller than it is anything like a biopic given how “Paterno” concentrates on a short period in the coach’s life.

The pilot episode of The Fosters is pretty entertaining and well-plotted.

There is no mistaking "Boston Legal" for anything other than a Kelley office drama. The show and its characters have all the trademark tics that have become his calling card: Quirky cases, outrageous characters, legal arguments as sermons on the mount. Everything is just a little bit heightened, at least when it's not completely over the top; caricatures too often sub for characters. [1 Oct 2004]

Shepherd plays good-naturedly off her narcissistic image and the writers get off a few good lines. But this is just the kind of show that has to score with the quick zinger because it has nothing more solid to stand on. [01 Jan 1995]

"The Riches" certainly has some rich elements -- there's even a little dark humor, just not enough of it -- but in early episodes, the show remains wobbly as it tries to find its footing.

Whether Empire can sustain these running plots remains to be seen.... But the pilot suggests Empire could become [an] addictive, juicy prime-time soap.

The show is at its slightest when it slides into the “dumb daddy” territory previously mined by “According to Jim” and myriad other sitcoms. But at its best, The Jim Gaffigan Show manages to be cleverer despite a familiar conceit.

The over-long season premiere--it's 63 minutes without commercials, so expect it to run close to 90 minutes on air; set yoru DVR accordingly--feels disjointed and the characters seem underdeveloped.

Showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, veterans of “Under the Dome” and “Smallville,” sprinkle in enough science to balance the crazier elements of “The Hot Zone,” Peak TV’s version of a summer disaster flick.

The characters are all the shades of unlikeable – lazy, thieving, selfish, etc. – but surely there’s an audience for this kind of humor, based on past bad boy successes, so it’s fair that the women get a turn. The humor is often not subtle and the dialogue tends toward the unpleasant with some regularity.

Robertson is a find. She capably plays both Lux's world-weary, snarky attitude and her vulnerability. She's a large part of what makes Life Unexpected a minor delight, even if its charms are entirely expected.

"Soul Food" arrives at full boil. It's a cross between "Sisters" and "Providence" and better written than both.

It’s a serviceable drama that’s well-calibrated to the interests of the Bravo audience but it seems unlikely to appeal beyond that particular subset of viewers.

Cute but not overly cuddly, there's an authenticity to the relationships in "Mother" that makes it a comedy worth meeting.

No Tomorrow is original, quirky and fun, not another remixed superhero story or movie remake.

The concept isn’t overly complicated — no heavy mythology in the pilot — and the cast, including Clancy Brown and Donald Faison, has strong appeal.

It's a little wild and woolly and more serialized; it's also more addictive [than "Alpha House"].

It's a sensitive, one-hour portrait of three teens: one gay, one lesbian, one transgender.

The Detour is pretty consistently funny but the humor tends to be filled with sexual innuendo that some viewers will find offensive. For others, it will be just fine.

By the end of the third episode of the second season there have been multiple hookups and breakups, enough to make your head spin or bore you to tears. Alas, I found myself experiencing more of the latter.

[The Get Down] has its excellent musical moments and winning performances from a young cast of newcomers but too often it’s an indulgent, rambling bore, particularly in its overlong, almost 90-minute pilot.