What's more bothersome about Skins from a critical standpoint is the thin plotting, the aimless narrative, and the generally flat and artificial feel of the production.

The comedy is so darkly cynical that it's off-putting. If you're a glass-half-full kind of guy like me, it's hard to make the show part of your regular TV menu. [13 Sep 2002]

It's an intriguing premise but one that comes off a bit strained in the opening hour and leaves you with the feeling that you have no idea where the show is going.

There's not a lot wrong about "Brian.'' But there's not a lot right about it, either.

Very little of it feels fresh or funny. Nor does Allen's character strike me as someone viewers would want to spend a great deal of time with.

Tonight's opening episode is somewhat better than the pilot, although it's clear there is still work to be done in defining the characters and setting an overall tone.

It could develop (its creator is Bruce McCulloch from "Kids in the Hall"), but right now, it's only so-so.

There are lots of problems with the Special Victims premiere, chief among them being the focus on Olivia Benson, the female detective played by Mariska Hargitay. In a misguided rush to establish the character's background story and motivation as a cop, the episode's key moment is a revelation about an intimate detail of her life. It comes way before we have enough reason to care about her. [20 Sept 1999, p.7C]

This is by no means a lousy show. The performances are solid and the brothers-working-together dynamic is intriguing. But the pilot lacked dramatic oomph, and it did a poor job of actually taking viewers inside the math and explaining how it works. Consequently, "Numb3rs" just doesn't add up. [22 Jan 2005]

The problem is there's nothing here that hasn't been done before, and often done better. Even more disheartening: The cast, which includes Matt Long and Billy Zane, is stocked with forgettable and/or boorish characters.

$#*! My Dad Says feels hopelessly old school. It relies on a stock sitcom character--the crabby dad--that we've seen over and over. It mainly anchors itself to a claustrophobic sitcom-y living room, and it relies too heavily on a tired, rat-a-tat setup/punchline delivery.

Could prove to be a hit without being very good. [20 Sept 2002, p.1]

There's nothing particularly awful... But there's nothing particularly right about it either, and laughs are spotty at best.

All Cane has going for it now is the cast. In tonight's opening episode, the tone is all over the place

The good news is that Crisis eventually gains a bit of traction in its stretch run, but it’s much too late by then.

1) It's not all that funny, which could be a problem considering it's supposed to be a comedy, and 2) It continues a rather arrogant presumption on the part of show-biz types that we're all ceaselessly interested in the inner workings of their industry. [4 June 2005, p.C01]

Side Order has the most problems. While there are enough appealing moments in Sunday's opening episode to leave viewers with an initial warm and fuzzy feeling, the show simply doesn't stand up to much scrutiny.

The upside to the series is that Diggs is good enough and the production slick enough that, for a while, you might be willing to play along the don't-think-too-hard-about-it premise.... [But] Hopper's day becomes pretty boring after a while.

Unfortunately, what hasn't changed is that this comedy about the life of a neurotic nightclub singer simply isn't very funny. [14 Apr 2004]

It's just sort of an underwritten mess.

It has its moments, particularly as it progresses.

There's nothing particularly fresh about the visual approach, the writing is only serviceable and the plotlines -- a pregnancy, a drunken-driving accident, love found and lost -- are straight out of TV Writing 101.

With her winning smile, Southern twang and a tough-but-tender demeanor, Giddish makes for an instantly appealing lead. Unfortunately, she's about the only thing going for Chase, which is hampered by an unimaginative script.

It's a rip-off (and not a particularly well-executed one) of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

When he gets a lot of air time and his worst excesses are not reined in, Morgan is the human equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard.... As a result, what could have been a rather savory dish ends up with a rather unpleasant aftertaste.

A pedestrian, predictable crime procedural.

In desperately straining to be so uncommonly edgy, so explicit and so provocative in its sexual candor, the show all but tramples its dramatic structure in the process. [3 Dec 2000, p.C05]

The stars (Trista Sutter, John O'Hurley and Joey McIntyre, et al.) are strictly marginal. The host (Tom Bergeron) is excruciatingly lame. And the dancing is only sporadically scintillating. [26 Jun 2005]