Next week's episode has more taut scenes than tonight's premiere, which has to lay the groundwork for the season. No surprise -- last season, it took several episodes before "24" began to live up to its promise. [29 Oct 2002]

It's mysterious and exciting, a suspenseful and tense action-drama. [6 Nov 2001]

Charmed has none of the wit or intelligence that characterizes The WB's superior supernatural series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but "Charmed" is an OK drama for the post-"Sabrina" crowd. [7 Oct 1998, p.E-4]

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]

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]

Whatever the politics of it, The District is a decent drama. Not great, but certainly interesting, especially if it actually deals with issues of race and politics. [7 Oct 2000, p.B-8]

Tonight's premiere goes from spooky to goofy to intriguing to incomprehensible -- in that order. [6 Oct 2000, p.44]

The investigations are intriguing. The investigators are blah, their relationships a poorly defined muddle. [6 Oct 2000, p.44]

Madigan Men fails creatively for one simple reason. Its rhythms are all wrong for a sitcom filmed in front of a studio audience. This show is screaming to be a single camera comedy shot on film, similar to "Sex and the City." The humor is subtle. It doesn't warrant the guffaws of the studio audience that interrupt its natural flow. [6 Oct 2000, p.44]

Here comes "Trouble," big, bad, ugly ratings trouble. [6 Oct 2000, p.44]

But NBC's comedy-drama Ed boasts sweetness, charm and innocence in equal measure. It's also extremely funny, albeit in an offbeat, low-key way. [8 Oct 2000, p.TV-5]

It's edgier than "7th Heaven," but not so edgy that parents will be turned off. It also expands the definition of a family and realistically shows the complexity of intergenerational relationships. [5 Oct 2000, p.D-6]

King & Maxwell doesn't have much that's new to offer, but it's fine, forgettable, escapist summer fare.

The CGI dinosaur renderings vary in quality, but the plot is fairly predictable from the get-go.

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

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.

In the Flesh offers a fresh, clever take on the zombie story.

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.

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.

The show may not hold the attention of TV fans who crave complex storytelling--there's not much for fans of psychologically intriguing character development to dig into--but for viewers who enjoy a steady USA diet, Graceland may darken the network's Blue Sky programming approach just enough to intrigue.

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

Tawdry but lacking a spirit of fun, Mistresses strives to be a guilty pleasure, but it's more likely to induce guilt than pleasure.

It's too soon to say if the show will again employ a bounty of red herrings, but the show's penchant for plot holes persists.

It gets off to a slow start and then takes a while for the whole enterprise to get up to speed. At about the third episode, enough of a foundation has been set that the jokes start to come more easily and more quickly.

An uncommon comedy. Its rhythm is less jokey and requires a little more effort on the part of viewers, but the comedic payoff is better, too...I begged viewers to watch this series last year, and I'm not averse to doing it again: Please watch. If not for yourself, do it for me; if the ratings are low, Fox might replace it with yet another edition of "The Simple Life," and that's not good for anybody. [5 Nov 2004, p.WE-41]

With its depiction of a warped, absurd family, Arrested Development is worth watching for fans of out-there comedy. [2 Nov 2003, p.TV-5]

Terrific performances make it a movie worth seeing.

It almost feels like a weird, little indie film if indie films were somewhat flat and predictable.