There's nothing in ABC's Castle viewers haven't seen a million times before, but the cast elevates the pedestrian material.

[The Mist] resurrects many of the small­town tropes that were in “Under the Dome” but with a cast of largely unknowns and B­-movie effects, writing and performances.

Ridiculous and filled with hospital show cliches.

Among the reality shows, “Marvel’s Hero Project” acquits itself well with a 25-minute running time.

Growing Up Fisher offers earnest, heartwarming stories about "a new kind of family," as ABC Family promos would call the divorced-but-still-friendly Fishers if the show aired on the basic cable network instead of NBC.

Written by I. Marlene King ("Just My Luck"), Tuesday's premiere is a generally predictable introduction that too often plays like a bad "Saturday Night Live" parody of a teen soap.

“Brave New World” begins as mostly serious and dystopian, but by episode four there’s a shift in tone. Whether by showrunner David Weiner’s design or network notes, the show lightens up, allowing for more moments of dark humor but also some weird character turns.

Better than average.

The concept is unique, the performances solid or better, but when so many similar shows are competing for attention from viewers who are only willing to commit so much time to watching ongoing TV series, "Six Degrees" just isn't good enough.

"Just Legal" is just tedious.

Writers Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle are certainly inventive, if inventive can mean willing-to-crib-from-sci-fi-culture-past, but the Tin Man story doesn't hang together well.

The painfully blank Blanchard may look like Silverstone, but she has none of her flair or personality. It's like watching a copy of a copy of a copy. All she does is make you appreciate how good Silverstone was in the original. [20 Sept 1996, p.28]

History purists who loathe artists taking creative license steer clear, but for viewers who enjoy a good soap, gorgeous costumes/locations and a winning soundtrack, The CW’s Reign delivers an entertaining romp in its premiere outing.

It doesn't make for an original TV show, of course, but Young Americans still manages to be guilty summer fun. Mindless and cliche, to be sure, but escapist entertainment nonetheless.

It's a mildly entertaining reality series designed to encourage controversy to draw viewers and goose ratings.

Not flashy, not spectacular, "8 Simple Rules" is a cute show that will appeal to its intended audience.

The first half of Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! takes itself too seriously with return appearances by minor characters from the first two films and the destruction of Washington, D.C., landmarks that viewers have seen before with better special effects.... But halfway through--right about the time a character loses his limbs one by one while trying to take heroic action--the mojo that makes these absurd movies a hoot kicks in and Sharknado 3 becomes the insane event viewers anticipate.

Whenever Mr. Highmore is on screen, “The Good Doctor” compels, but he’s surrounded by standard-issue medical show characters and plots.

While it's fun to see what happens in Total Blackout once, it seems like it will grow old.

The concept of Nikki sounds trite, but the execution is at least amusing in two out of the first three episodes. [8 Oct 2000, p.G-7]

Daytime Divas has its funny moments as it recounts the petty behaviors of daytime chat show stars but too often in its first two episodes the show moves in all the expected directions and feels like a lesser Lifetime entry.

Killjoys tries to build a mythology, but both the low-rent look--a red filter for this scene! a green filter for this scene!--and the emphasis on fights over character development dooms the show to medocrity.

As frustrating as it is fascinating, watching the quarterlife characters is like gazing at animals in a zoo.

Future episodes elevate the Belle and Ben relationship to a more complicated place, which bears some promise and may give Secret Diary the distinction it lacks in early episodes.

The mysteries of Haven do offer some intrigue but coupled with fairly unextraordinary situations and plots, the show may have a tough time convincing viewers to become weekly visitors.

Code Black brings nothing new to the genre, except, perhaps, more chaos than usual for an ER show, and the dialogue is heavy with exposition and barked medical show cliches.... It benefits from a strong cast and a brisk pace, so there’s reason to hope for improvement.

An action-packed adrenaline rush.

Preachers' Daughters is pretty much the show you expect/fear it will be but with just one girl who's really gone down a bad path.