HBO's most obtuse, impenetrable series.

Every television series launches on a wing and a prayer, perhaps none more than this entertaining, glossy drama.

Fosse/Verdon proves to be a darker, more sorrowful meditation on the personal and professional lives of artists, but the eight-episode series benefits from Broadway tunes and re-created dance numbers from the pair’s many successful productions.

Viewers who crave a nostalgic kick for single-case crime dramas of the late 1990s might find something to like here but for viewers seeking a more contemporary style of storytelling, there are no TV firsts in Murder in the First.

While the show’s first hour doesn’t inspire much confidence in the series, save for a poignant scene between Tyrone and his mother (Gloria Reuben), the second episode gives the characters more depth and allows for a little more light to sneak into the generally dark (tonally and visually) proceedings.

This brand of humor can be an acquired taste, but fans with a tolerance for out-there buffoonery will want to make the trip to "Reno." [20 Jul 2003]

Tonight's episode feels like a reset, a fresh start for the characters but if they just lapse back into their old ways, I'm not sure what the point of another season of this show will be. And yet, if they do not return to selling drugs, some viewers may be disappointed.

It’s an entertaining pilot, full of surprises that should hook viewers and get them engaged for the subsequent 12 episodes. But there’s also the question of whether the show sets about spinning too many mysteries at once.

The relationship between Courtney and Pat forms the spine of the series and it’s a welcome change of pace from the network’s twentysomething heroes. Whether that's enough to justify yet another superhero show remains to be seen.

Meredith Baxter Birney and Michael Gross do a splendid job as modern-day parents with an attractive brood of convincingly "now" youngsters. [19 Oct 1982, p.34]

If Vegas goes the "Good Wife" route and focuses on characters and politics, it could develop into a worthwhile series.

The first two “Runaways” episodes offer an organized introduction to the kids — from jock to religious zealot — and their more intriguing parents in an entertaining enough fashion to make the show recommendable to anyone who hasn’t overdosed on comic book-based series already.

Fans of The Riches can expect even more double-crossing, shady business deals, intimidation and moral compromise in the gated community of Eden Falls. It's the same game, only more of it.

With a witty script by series creator Michelle Lovretta, Lost Girl mixes mystery-of-the-week plots and character stories with an overarching mythology in a way that's palatable for fans of serialized and procedural dramas.

Personally, I found "Arrested" funnier, but "Sons & Daughters" has its moments.

Riverdale shows off a heightened visual look that sometimes calls to mind “Pushing Daisies” in its ambition. Whether it can maintain that high level of production design, we’ll see, but in its early episodes, Riverdale positions itself as one of the more ambitious teen dramas to come along in several years.

Producers of The CW's new series have taken the bones of the Nikita story and grafted on a new recruits sub-plot, sort of ideal for young CW audience, but it also makes for a convoluted series pilot that bounces around from one hollow story line to another.

The 15-minute episodes are an easy binge and the two lead characters — Ryan and work friend Kim (Punam Patel) — are often a hoot even if some of the secondary characters (a witch-on-wheels boss, in particular) and situations undercut the show’s attempts at realism.

Although this comedy-drama's premise sounds like the godawful Fox show "Costello" from a few seasons back, it's mercifully better. [1 Oct 2000, p.TV-5]

“Upload” is more amusing than it is laugh-out-loud funny. But it’s quick-witted, clever (an Arnold Palmer bot appears on a VR golf course in episode four) and twisty with a thread of mystery.

Virtuality is a fascinating, over-stuffed pilot episode, and as intriguing as its concept is, you can see by the end of tonight's two-hour premiere why Fox passed on making it a weekly series.

Alternately goofy and smartly satirical, ["Freak Show"] may be the best companion to "South Park" Comedy Central has come up with yet.

Sticks close to the original in tone, but, oooof, it suffers from a clunky introduction. ... The exposition is heavy-handed, the justifications for some plot twists are dubious and the dialogue often laughable. It’s just so on the nose.

As entertainment, United States of Tara succeeds through humor, vivid characters and a stunning performance by Collette, who disappears into the roles of Tara's alters.

The original French version of The Returned embraced spooky stillness, and the American version attempts to do this, too, but succeeds to a lesser extent. And while there’s at least a language barrier reason for remaking the French version of “The Returned”--unlike Fox’s “Gracepoint,” a remake of BBC America’s English-language “Broadchurch”--that’s still not enough creative justification for this identical, second version of the same show to exist.

Although Collection Intervention is really no different than "Hoarders," putting a sci-fi/fantasy spin on it does make the show more relatable

Writers Dannah Phirman and Danielle Schneider clearly know the source material they’re mocking and do a great job of getting laughs out of the absurdities of the “Real Housewives” shows. But sometimes the humor is dulled by the realization that while mockery can be fun, Hotwives still requires viewers to sit through “Real Housewives”-style inanity.

It seems like the show will basically be a weekly dose of two-steps-forward-one-step-back for Ryan with Wilfred as his teacher/tormentor. Wilfred certainly has moments of high (and low) comedy but it's also hard to imagine the premise won't get stale pretty fast.