Everything else that's supposed to be a shock is telegraphed well in advance. Everything meant to surprise falls hopelessly flat. [18 June 1999, p.44]

It's a shame that the writing makes Off the Map so unwatchable.

I know "Survivor." I watch "Survivor." You, "Big Brother," are no "Survivor." [7 Jul 2000]

Predictable/preposterous plot elements co-mingle with some terrible dialogue, silly situations (characters enter a room full of dead bodies on hooks but don’t cover their noses in disgust until they see the bodies; wouldn’t the smell be enough for them?) and occasionally poor acting.

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.

Missing is like a bad Lifetime movie blown up into a weekly series.

"Halfway House" is occasionally amusing but the characters are not well-formed.

The screenplay seems more likely to have been transcribed by those guys with the plot dreamed up by an imaginative child or a drunken fanboy. Visually, the film is poorly directed sometimes to a point of such incoherence that it's not always clear what's going on, who's talking, etc. And the ending is laughably awkward.

By the 8:30 episode, the novelty of Pounder as a funny mother is gone, and it becomes abundantly clear the show has nothing to say and the writers are already spinning their wheels.

Manhattan Love Story is simply an unfunny study in tired male/female stereotypes.

The show's concept is kind of interesting: Two women (one in 1209 France, another in the present day) are connected through time but after giving the miniseries about 40 minutes, I gave up in favor of a new episode of FX's "Fargo."

Now it’s just a tired minor media property and product placement tool for Comcast, which gets name-checked multiple times. At this point, Sharknado deserves to sleep with the fishes.

The conclusion is that a great cast and a singular location can't carry a scattershot script that goes in and out of focus.

The Hero is not all that exciting but the production values are top-notch and the location (Panama) somewhat unique.... Rather than three shows, one show would be best: Make The Rock the host, use the settings of "72 Hours" and the casting of "Race to the Scene" and viewers would be much better off than watching any of these individual new programs.

Rather than three shows, one show would be best: Make The Rock the host, use the settings of 72 Hours and the casting of "Race to the Scene" and viewers would be much better off than watching any of these individual new programs.

Past Life begins with a fairly ridiculous premise, and the show's bland leads don't make it anymore watchable.

The show is so manic, particularly Mr. Hayes’ performance, that it’s clearly trying too hard--and painfully obvious set-up dialogue.

It comes across as a low-rent operation making cheesy effects for the likes of "Hallow Pointe," not a big-budget effects house that works on movies you might have actually heard of.

In a way, Unhitched reminds me of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" in its attempts to shock, but this new series feels more manufactured and far less likely to become a cult hit.

This story of two computer I.T. guys and their computer illiterate boss is overly obvious and plays on stereotypes in an over-the-top way that may have been au courant in the '80s but feels woefully dated today.

The miniseries asks a lot of patience on the part of viewers and gives too little in return.

It is indeed sinfully bad.... The plot is predictable and the acting generally hammy.

Backpakers benefits from filming on location in Europe but that can’t make up for the lowest common denominator escapades, which play like an unfunny, made-for-TV “Road Trip.”

Fox executives could have saved substantial production costs and achieved basically the same boring result by filming 14 randy monkeys in a cage containing only 10 bananas.

A soapy, shallow look at how gossip is currency in Hollywood.

"Desire" features better production values than a daytime soap, but just as wooden acting by its no-name cast and terrible dialogue.

Hank is the kind of show Dr. Frasier Crane would sneer at, which makes it particularly sad to see Kelsey Grammer reduced to starring in this ABC sitcom as a Dumb Daddy.

Uninspired, obvious and just not that humorous, there’s little reason to make a plan to watch CBS’s latest in a string of disappointing new sitcoms.