Homeland has a chance to be a much tighter--and smarter--endeavor with more nuance than "24" ever had. But if a cougar suddenly appears, and/or if someone comes back from the dead, all bets are off.

It is a relentlessly grim (and rather gruesome) episode with none of the bits of humor that mark the other "CSI" shows. [22 Sep 2004]

The Playboy Club isn't in the same league, or even the same galaxy, as the critically adored "Mad Men." While the latter offers nuance and depth and keen insights into its era, the former settles for stock characters, cliches and superficiality, punctuated by a lot of come-hither looks.

Based on first impressions, it's certainly not fall-down funny, but the cast is appealing and the premise promising.

The show does a decent job of setting up its premise, the pace is brisk enough, and there are plenty of visual flourishes, but somehow. it all feels a bit too mechanical. It doesn't help that, with few exceptions, the new characters are pretty juiceless.

It all makes for a scattered, hit-or-miss proposition. Some gags land. Others fall flat.

While the Daniels drama does have some bounce to its step, at least early on, it isn’t as instantly appealing and distinctive as Empire” was.

It's a scattershot approach that ultimately undermines what is admirable about Luck, including some gorgeous photography.

I found enough mesmerizing moments, bits of character and sharp Milch dialogue in the opening episodes that I'll probably stick around to catch a few more waves.

While these [butt-kicking] scenes contain a certain intensity and exhilaration, you can't help but think that, had the writers of Missing devoted as much time to plot and character as they did to the fighting, they might have wound up with a much more enjoyable show.

The cast around Washington is also quite solid, and the show looks and is refreshingly different from a typical procedural. But it also feels a little too slick and superficial, and those gaps in logic may be a problem for some viewers.

So far, though, it has mostly kept its ambition in check, preferring to follow the playbook of a typical crime procedural, with a little more darkness and a little less energy.

This is a show that has its heart in the right place, but is, ironically, pretty mindless.

You get sort of an odd, been-there-done-that feeling when watching the pilot, which contains, to varying degrees, traces of "The Hunger Games," "The Walking Dead," "FlashForward," "Jericho," "Lost" (Elizabeth Mitchell is in the cast) and other dystopian fare.

Based on two preview episodes, Anger Management is at least more interesting than "Two and a Half Men" (take that, Ashton Kutcher). That's certainly not saying much, though.

More occasional eye-rolling ensues over the oh-so-earnest portrayal of Kelly Ann (Imogen Poots), a roadie who has become disillusioned with the state of the music biz. "I have to be a fan of something, or I'm nothing," she moans. On the plus side, Crowe's series does contain a beating heart, and it clearly is brimming with his undying passion for music.

The good news is that Sunday's two-hour opener answers several key questions in relatively rapid fashion and in ways that don't seem totally unreasonable. The bad news is that it also puts Sarah back at square one, and therein lies the problem.

Although the show features strong performances and is piercing in its emotional honesty, it also get bogged down in its own existential angst.

Certainly, Dominic Purcell creates quite a presence as this man of mystery. [20 Sept 2002, p.1]

Until "Carnivale" fulfills more of its promise, my enthusiasm is restrained. [3 Jan 2005]

"Ranch House" is the most ambitious of the "House" projects.

Wu does what he can, bringing a steely authority and mad kick-butt skills to the role. But the show is hampered by too many overly broad characters, genre cliches and the kind of groan-worthy dialogue that leaves one restless.

What we're left with in The Leftovers is a show that, at least early on, is nothing but chaos and dread and bleakness and chill, as it relentlessly delves into the most troubling aspects of human nature.

If it keeps its balance and cuts back on some of the more implausible moments in the first hour, this series could be a keeper.

At its very best, '24' creates an almost tactile sense of tension that no show can match. From one harrowing moment to the next, your pulse races and your skin prickles with apprehension. On the other hand, the show's gimmicky structure forces its writers to keep the plates perpetually spinning, and they often aren't up to the task. [5 Jan 2005]

[There are] moments of pure brilliance--and moments that had me doubled over in mirth.... Unfortunately, there are stretches in this new batch of episodes that feel more flabby than snappy, and there are some lulls that leave you downright fatigued.

A warm, harmless, family-friendly show that offers a few sweetly amusing moments mixed in with the predictable twists. The kids are quite adorable, too.

While it hardly breaks new TV ground or sends off the kind of sparks you want in a first-rate drama, the series has a certain watchable quality to it.