Demons is quite unlike another recent variation on the vampirical theme, the CW's "Vampire Diaries," in which teen-age vampires struggle with their wickedly bloody proclivities toward fanging people in the neck. And it's not like those all-American, Great Northwest vampires of the "Twilight" tales. Demons is also genuinely scary.

A good-humored, good-natured adventure in monsteriana. [28 Mar 2003, p.E-5]

The new "Family Guy" is much like the first, an animated family sitcom that tries too hard to be quirky and is only sporadically funny. [29 Apr 2005]

Most of Rescue Me rings true. One would hope, though, that after an interval of nearly three years, real New York firefighters focus a little less on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, than is depicted here. [21 July 2004, p.F-6]

The drama itself will look and sound familiar to anyone who remembers "Twin Peaks," ABC's short-lived freakazoid hit of the early 1990s. Weird music, weirder lighting, menacing characters, dark forebodings. Perhaps the biggest mystery is the producers' choice of a hero, an IRS agent, not a figure most dramatists would pick for his sympathetic qualities. [17 Sept 2002, p.E-6]

Not that That Was Then is poorly done. The production is polished, and performances are excellent throughout, particularly those of Jeffrey Tambor as the self-absorbed father and Tyler Labine as Pinkus, Travis' manic pal...But the atmosphere is awfully heavy, self-consciously sober. [27 Sept 2002, p.E-7]

It's all a lot of fun, if not terribly consequential, but if you've ever moved into a college dorm with a bunch of strangers, you've been there. [21 May 1992]

The Brits just love Ali G, but they have a considerable appetite for rude, politically incorrect satire. Americans may just find him rather peculiar. [21 Feb 2003, p.E5]

Very early on, "Christy" runs into problems of simple logic. [3 Apr 1994]

In the air, it's a case of "Top Gun" meets "Star Wars," with all the cool, high-tech trappings. Aboard ship, however, it's a low-brow melodrama. [23 Sep 1995]

Dozens of off-the-shelf cowboy cliches ... make this brand-new film seem so, so old. [3 Jan 1998]

The question that needs to be asked of The L Word is this: Absent the novelty of seeing a cast of lesbian characters on TV, would the lives of these people make for fascinating drama?...The answer, I'm afraid, is -- probably not. [18 Jan 2004, p.TV-6]

A pleasant, inoffensive, forgettable way to spend a half-hour. Did I say it's mediocre? Well, maybe so. [20 Sept 1993, p.E-8]

It worked for the Monkees. Maybe it'll work for O-Town. The concept is almost the same. [24 March 2000, p.E-11]

It looks as if "Soul Food" could, after a pallid beginning, develop into a more substantial offering. [27 Jun 2000]

Both stars are capable, the setup a reliable one, but tonight's pilot staggers under an overload of plot. [6 Oct 2000, p.E-1]

It will take more than good intentions and warm feelings to make City of Angels a success. [14 Jan 2000, p.E-1]

viewers need to breathe now and then, they need to smile, they need to break the tension. Wonderland, however, drags the audience into the maelstrom of Bedlam and never lets go. [28 March 2000, p.E-7]

Ambitious and complicated. [4 Sep 2001]

It could turn out to be one of the fall's most enjoyable new series, a nice mix of family drama and light comedy, if the faint air of smug self-righteousness that emanates from tonight's pilot can be extinguished. [16 Sept 2002, p.D-6]

Think "Bewitched" for the '90s and Sabrina can be pleasant enough...But only if you buy the concept. [27 Sept 1996, p.E9]

Shot in an impressively glossy style, and in wide-screen, Wolf Lake at least looks good, in spite of a lack of the visual effects one might expect in a series like this one. [09 Sep 2001]

You get the absorbing pleasure of watching celebrities try a demanding art form that could leave their toes blistered and their egos bruised. It also has the potential to make them look like dorks. [9 Jun 2005]

The Brits just love Ali G, but they have a considerable appetite for rude, politically incorrect satire...Americans may just find him rather peculiar. [21 Feb 2003, p.E-5]

Despite its good cast, "CSI: Miami" is just too familiar and cookie cutter. [22 Sep 2002]

Oddly disappointing. ... Too much of "Futurama" seems soft, flat, somehow less than expected. [26 Mar 1999]

Young fans of, say, the "American Pie" movies may enjoy it. Parents may get a little queasy at the sight of so much beer being guzzled at the freshman dorm party. [25 Sept 2001, p.E-6]

Beavis and Butt-head are dumb, crude, thoughtless, ugly, sexist, self-destructive fools...But for some reason, the little wienerheads make us laugh." Huh, huh, huh. [27 May 1993, p.ND6]

Ferris Bueller, at least, confronts its source up close and personal in the opening scene and gets it out of the way. [22 Aug 1990, p.D-9]

Graham and Pierpoint do a nice job of playing off each other, and Michele Scarabelli and Lauren Woodland as Pierpoint's wife and daughter work well, too. Still, the premise is limiting and the guess is this show is much more likely to become a curiosity than a hit. [18 Sept 1989, p.D-6]

It is beguiling and original, yet awkwardly executed. [28 Jan 1988, p.D-6]

If "Spenser" has a problem, it is that the detective's sensitivity is not treated very sensitively. As in most TV series, "subtlety" seems to be a foreign word. ... But the car chases and gunfights are staged pretty well, and some good stories and continued strong characterizations could help the show's appeal. [20 Sep 1985]

No doubt about it -- "I'll Fly Away" has much to recommend it ... But something is missing, or maybe it's a case of too much being added. "I'll Fly Away" seems to be so concerned with appealing to an audience on many levels, to mix heartwarming moments with social messages, that it bogs down far too often. [7 Oct 1991]

Certain scenes are powerful, even exhilarating. Others don't work at all. [23 Sep 1990]

"Sleepwalkers," a short-lived NBC series from two seasons back, also asked viewers to care about characters who only dreamed that they were in peril. The sleepwalkers only drew a yawn from viewers, and it turned out that NBC programmers who thought the audience might actually care about such a situation were the ones who believed in fantasy. Fox may be repeating the delusion. [8 Oct 1999, p.E-10]

The only thing for sure about Quantum Leap is that it's a difficult show to explain to anybody, and that the more difficult it is to explain a show, the less likely it is to succeed. [25 Mar 1989, p.C-7]

As time-travel stories go, Timecop is strictly by-the-numbers. [22 Sept 1997, p.E1]

So many scenes work so wonderfully well in the first episode of Picket Fences. Trouble is, the show has nearly as many sappy, melodramatic scenes, the kind of cloddy clunkers that ultimately weigh down the entire affair. [13 Sept 1992, p.TV-16]

If you are over 12, you can look at it one of two ways: You can regard it as hopelessly silly or, if you're in a silly mood, just go along and enjoy it. [29 Sep 1985]

The Office has its moments, but it's just too loud and too clumsy...Like the original, the American The Office tries to pull off the most difficult comedy stunt of them all: getting laughs at the expense of a fellow who thinks he's funny but is pathetically, awkwardly, embarrassingly unfunny...The execution is less confident and less successful, more Spike Jones than Mozart. [21 Mar 2005]

The most dominating cast member of this attractive show is Corbin -- the delightfully rigid Maurice Minnifield on "Northern Exposure." But coming down court fast for a slam-dunk is Sheffer, who makes an outstanding impression as the only male role model who gives Lucas the love and support he needs in the tough game of life. Daddy Dan is an expletive deleted. [23 Sept 2003, p.E-6]

Like TV teachers back to the time of "Room 222" and beyond, Mr. Rhodes is depicted as the one teacher in the school who really knows what kids need and want, who will constantly have to buck an unfeeling, insensitive bureaucracy and a staff of stodgy, disapproving older teachers. [23 Sep 1996, p.E1]

Leaving aside the question of whether Burnett, Trump and NBC are just oblivious to the growing gap between the rich and the not-so-rich in America, or whether they're intentionally rubbing it in, "The Apprentice" brings up another issue. With all his billions, why can't Donald Trump find a decent barber? [6 Jan 2004]

In tonight's first episode of the new season, the head lawyer and star of the show is AWOL, so his employes simply invite in a substitute to take the boss' place. The plan defies all logic, but it's blithely and blatantly executed in one of the most clumsily conceived and poorly executed attempts ever made at saving a troubled TV show. [10 Oct 1996, p.E-1]

The script often just doesn't make sense. [3 Jan 2005]

O'Brien and second-half director Carl Schultz both bring some visual dazzle to the episode, but they cannot bring wooden actors to life. And although Flanery does bear some resemblance to how Harrison Ford may have looked as a youth, he is plainly well beyond 16. So far, George Lucas' great idea for a TV series built on Indiana Jones remains just that -- an idea. [3 Mar 1992, p.C-1]

And the evidence is plain: Millions of Americans sense that terrorism is in their midst, and CBS doesn't mind kicking up that fear a notch for the sake of gaining a rating point or two. [23 Sept 2003, p.E-6]

If you watched "The Larry Sanders Show," you'll find that Beggars and Choosers is weak tea. [18 June 1999, p.E-10]

The story told in tonight's pilot is more of the same old TV stuff. [17 Sept 1995, p.TV6]

The project as a whole reeks of self-indulgence and vanity. [13 Oct 2000]

I lost interest in tonight's pilot when attention turned to a card-counter with an outside confederate. OK, they're cheating. [22 Sept 2003, p.D-5]

The situation seems hackneyed from the start, and so do the characters. [23 March 2000, p.E-5]

Simply sweet, silly and innocuous. And where Hanks is one of the more talented comic actors around, Waring seems to be no more than one more journeyman performer...Macy is a capable comedian, but only Jackie Gleason is Jackie Gleason. [2 Apr 1987, p.C-11]

"American Idol" boasts two new wrinkles. First, the performances are so tightly edited that each singer gets barely a minute onstage. ... The second innovation: The contest is rigged. [21 Jun 2002]

It is based on the assumption, so common among show-biz people who meet each other for lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel, that they are not only the cultural center of the Western world, but the envy of everybody who is not part of their glittery ZIP code. The whole production just reeks of L.A. smugness. [4 Oct 1990, p.C-11]

Tonight's new NBC sitcom from the producers of HBO's "Dream On" hands us still one more batch of self-consciously quirky, single, more-or-less charming twentysomething characters and lets them hang for a half-hour reading faux Woody Allen lines. [22 Sept 1994, p.36]

So how come he knows absolutely everything, but some things he doesn't? You're not supposed to ask.

A fluffy, lighthearted little romp that brings to mind "Moonlighting" in its early days. [12 Sept 1993, p.TV Week-17]

When the hour is over, one is left with the distinct impression that the story could have been told just as well, if not better, on the original "Law & Order." And one is reminded yet again that network TV seems to be recycling old ideas just when it desperately needs new ones. [20 Sept 1999, p.E1]

The premise of "Numb3rs" is as gimmicky as its typographically tricky title. [23 Jan 2005]

Previously icy, menacing, aloof and fascinating, [Hawk] is now mostly noise and bluster, a swaggering, gun-toting pontificator, as ready with an aphorism as with a bullet, a "Shaft" rehash. ... Within the context of "Spenser," there was already a cartoonish aspect to the figure of Hawk. Now all restraint has been dropped, and Hawk has become a parody of himself. Brooks has done better work. [27 Jan 1989]

As TV shows go, it may have the most convoluted, tortured premise on record. A new title could resolve its identity crisis: "The Fugitive From Outer Space." It is not so much based on the 1984 film which starred Jeff Bridges as a sequel to it...Even if you saw the movie, you may find the TV show confusing...If you didn't, you may be utterly bewildered.[19 Sept 1986, p.E-1]

Hewett projects the right blend of acid wit and sympathy, but he gets little help from the rest of the project. [15 Mar 1985]

Too gimmicky for my taste. [22 Sept 1986, p.D-1]

In its premiere, Joan of Arcadia comes off fragmented and aimless. [26 Sept 2003, p.E-11]

The cliches just keep on coming, from crooked cops to a mobster's innocent daughter in law school (at UCLA, no less) to those great, great lines: "Come on, Sonny, let's go. [16 Sept 1987, p.F-9]

So far there's little else to recommend Wings. [15 Apr 1990, p.TV-8]

The usually reliable producer Gary David Goldberg ("Spin City," "Brooklyn Bridge," "Family Ties") has imitated the props, plot devices and characters from the original ("Barney Miller"), but duplicating wit, mood and casting chemistry have proven more elusive.[23 March 2000, p.E-5]

"Dad" is even spottier than "Family Guy," a nearly random collection of blackouts in search of a story. [29 Apr 2005]

As for story, Tarzan will remain trapped in monotony unless the writers can get him out of the city sometime (at least to the Catskills or Poconos), or bring in wild and bizarre comic book characters like the Batman series did. [5 Oct 2003, p.TV6]

TV comedy at its most conventional and least interesting. [17 Sep 1991]

Criminal Intent should make the bird's tail-feathers droop with embarrassment. [29 Sept 2001, p.E-6]

A very conventional, old-fashioned cop-private eye caper, the only difference being the gender of the officer in question. [1 Oct 2003, p.F-7]

Ominously dark, loaded with splashy visual special effects and soundtrack whooshes and vrooms, with costumes by the Frederick's of Hollywood Martial Arts Division, Birds of Prey bogs down early in lengthy and tedious exposition, the sort of back-story explanation that scriptwriters call "laying pipe." [8 Oct 2002, p.E-6]

Lame. [2 Oct 2000, p.E-7]

Maybe it'll improve as the weeks go by, but based on tonight's premiere, "NewsRadio" doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as "WKRP." [21 Mar 1995]

Clueless is meant to be a spoof of spoiled and petulant teen-age girls. But even at that, Clueless comes up, like, seriously shallow. [20 Sept 1996, p.E-6]

Often violent and brutal (Sydney packs one mean karate kick and knows how to use a dentist's pliers effectively), Alias is a jumbled, cliche-ladened offering. Not only is it laced with hip, mellow, contemporary songs a la "Felicity," it also has guitar chords reminiscent of the James Bond 007 theme, and a musical segment inspired by the theme to "Shaft." [30 Sept 2001, p.TV-6]

Every situation, every character is a cliché, whether from the Western story shelf or the discount sci-fi stock. Judging from the dusty, rocky scenery, it might have been shot on the planet Borrego.

There's a lot going on with Gilmore Girls, and once the writers can sort it all out, they might find an interesting series in there somewhere. [5 Oct 2000, p.E-9]

Family Matters is a spinoff from "Perfect Strangers," but not nearly as good. [22 Sept 1989, p.C-16]

Miserable excuse for comedy. [19 Sept 2003, p.E-11]

Spielberg appears to be suffering from movie-industry arrogance, the belief that any old piece of tripe will sell on TV. He certainly would not have tried to film a script like this for one of his mega-movies. Where's Jules Verne when we need him? [12 Sept 1993, p.TV16]

"Gung Ho" is the first prime-time series to have a predominantly Asian-American cast, but that doesn't save it from a narrow premise. [11 Dec 1986]

"Dinotopia" still has computer-generated dinosaurs hardly on a par with the creatures in the "Jurassic Park" movies; an annoying continuous faux classical music score; big, absurd sets; bizarre costumes; and an overall washed-out pastel look. [24 Nov 2002]

Baby Talk plays like "Look Who's Talking XII," as if the producers just skipped right over the inevitable decline in quality to be expected in a long series of sequels and dove straight for the dregs at the bottom of the barrel. [8 Mar 1991, p.E-19]

What we've got here is a standard family sitcom, with an extra character thrown in when he's needed to move the plot along, and thrown out when he's not needed. You know, if Rin Tin Tin and Lassie could have their own TV shows, why couldn't Mike? [25 July 1987, p.C-11]

"Brewster Place" is dominated by a feeling of softness. A sweet gentleness pervades the air and issues are avoided, rather than confronted head-on. The characters that gave the original drama its sharpest bite, including the desperate welfare mother and the lesbian couple, have been dropped entirely. [1 May 1990]

Two and a Half Men -- a new run-of-the-mill, heavily laugh-track-ladened comedy series from CBS -- will make a lot of people bitter, especially ordinary, middle-class folk. [22 Sept 2003, p.D-5]

Particularly annoying because of its constant canned laugh track. The rhythm and cadence of the show are as fake as a current coffee commercial that's a satire of "Friends." [6 Oct 2000, p.E-10]

Flimsy. [6 Oct 2000, p.E-10]

A hokey, befuddling science fiction drama series from Fox. [6 Oct 2000, p.E-11]

Overlaying Working Girl is a subtle, cynical atmosphere of class snobbery...The writers' assumption seems to be that their viewers share their elitist values and viewpoint. [15 Apr 1990, p.TV-8]

It's not a laughing matter. [22 Sept 1987, p.E-7]

Thumb-sucking scripts, actors without direction and forgettable emotional clout. [6 Mar 1986, p.E-8]

Or maybe that line just seems funny, because it's one of the few that's about anything but you-know-what. [24 Sept 2002, p.E-6]

Shooting a comedy in real time may be an interesting exercise for the producer, but it doesn't make the story more interesting, or add to the laugh ratio. In fact, that little timer is downright distracting. [26 Feb 2002]

The humor of "3rd Rock" is of I-can't-believe-how-bad-this-is quality. [9 Jan 1996]