Fortunately, as the saga unfolds, it delves into fresher territory, and Political Animals becomes an intriguing, even occasionally humorous, family soap opera.

Though "Christy" has predictable turns ... it's always involving and the characters are so appealing that you'll surely want to see them again. [3 Apr 1994]

The best new network sitcom this season.

An underlying warmth and a certain charm to the characters mitigate some of the childish jokes and give the series real appeal. [5 Aug 2005]

The writing is sharp and sophisticated, avoiding the predictable sitcom cliches.

What Up All Night has over other baby-rearing shows is a refreshing irreverence.

A dark but wildly funny comedy. [19 March 2000]

The Michael J. Fox Show tries really hard to be as warm as a cup of cocoa yet hilariously irreverent. Maybe too hard.... On the plus side, Fox still oozes self-deprecating charm, and I love the sweet and playful chemistry he has with Brandt. Also, Pierce is a hoot as the smooth con man of a boss. More of that, please.

The series has a familiar format, but the opening episode suggests it may have some real spark to it.

Grace has a world of promise with thoughtful writing by Nancy Miller ("The Closer," "Any Day Now"), an intriguing take on the nature of faith and a sheer force-of-nature performance by Hunter.

Sunday's explosive two-hour opener boldly delivers on the promise by TNT producers to rev up both the pace and the firepower in Season 2.

"Threshold" seems to have a lot going for it. A good bunch of writers. Classy production. One of the season's quirkiest and most appealing casts,... Whether all these high-quality ingredients result in an intoxicating sci-fi stew remains to be seen.

Generally funny, sharply observant and smart in its use of the star and a good supporting cast.

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.

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.

The humor in the pilot is anything but razor-sharp: The writers too often confuse coarse language for jokes, and a subplot in which Calvin coaches a Nigerian co-worker on the finer points of the booty call sputters badly. Still, there is promise here, thanks mainly to a collection of intriguing characters. [14 Aug 2005, p.F4]

Not everything worked, of course, and anyone expecting Conan to reinvent the wheel or drastically shake up the genre is probably disappointed. But if you were simply glad to see his brand of quirky comedy back in late night--and free of the network guardrails--it was cause for celebration.

There's not a lot of depth to the proceedings, and the series is at its weakest when it tries to make some Important Point. But it's a good deal of fun watching Meyers and the rest of the ensemble smartly bringing to life the deceit and internal politics of this royal chess match. "The Tudors" is a spicy soap opera, decked out in really fancy trappings.

The pilot episode isn't a total knockout, coming off as a tad bland and safe. Although Abrams does enough to hold our interest, it feels like he's let up on the gas pedal.

The dialogue is often sharp, well-observed and very funny. It is sexy and, occasionally, raunchy in both language and love-making. The cast members make the lead characters warm and interesting. [16 Jan 2004, p.7G]

It has enough kooky class warfare, sexual shenanigans and whodunit intrigue to make for some escapist summer fun.

Based on tonight's premiere, this mix of "Star Wars" and "Stagecoach" could prove to be visually ambitious, thematically provocative and full of crackling dialogue. [20 Sept 2002, p.1]

Based on Sunday's pilot episode, Crisis has the potential to be one of the spring season's most addictive network offerings. It's intense and suspenseful.

New Amsterdam is worth keeping an eye on as it develops. It could become consistently engaging television.

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]

[Ricky Jerret, played by John David Washington (Denzel Washington's son) is] the show's secret weapon--a handsome, energetic live-wire who expertly conveys the brash ego and subtle insecurities of a player whose career may be fading into the sunset at the age of 30. But make no mistake, this is Johnson's baby. With that all-glowing smile, he brings his A-game to Ballers while always managing to look good in a suit.

While Mob City does have its weaknesses, including patches of starchy dialogue, it offsets them with some magnetic performances.

Dallas is teeming with the soapy plots, delectable eye candy and bad blood we crave in our TV guilty pleasures. It also maintains the general tone of the original without devolving into camp.