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

"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]

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

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

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]

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]

"TekWar" is a blur of techno images, whirring noises and idiotic sci-fi speak. [18 Jan 1994]

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]

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]

One of the most compelling and elegantly produced new series of the season. [10 Oct 2000, p.E-7]

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]

A strong candidate for worst new series of the season. [2 Nov 1988]

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]

Cheeky but likable. [7 Oct 2004]

The opener is a dandy little puzzler, opening with what appears to be a certain suicide in view of a crowd. [30 Nov 1987, p.D-9]

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]

A mature, beautifully realized piece of drama, it shows little evidence of the neutering, sanitizing process that usually compromises television storytelling. ... "China Beach" is "M*A*S*H" seen through a darker, bloodier lens. [26 Apr 1988]

"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]

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

"House of Cards" is a bit of a rough go at first -- the characters, their roles and the British political culture aren't all that clear to Americans. They sort themselves out soon enough, though, and the reward for the persistent is one whopping tale of intrigue. [30 Mar 1991]

"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]

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

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]

"Platinum" may be just the black drama that TV has been waiting for. ... It's considerably more fun, irreverent, ironic and energetic than its predecessors. [14 Apr 2003]

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

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

"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]