It's a muscular, instantly riveting series that features sensational performances by Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight. Based on the early episodes, we could be looking at television's next great character-based drama.

Clearly rooted in life experience, Transparent continues to be a series that understands both love and pain.

Those who make the investment are richly rewarded. There's enough tension, betrayal, treachery, greed and sex, after all, to fill eight seasons of "Scandal."

Put together, all these elements make Rescue Me one of the television's top dramas, on a par with the likes of "Deadwood" and "The Shield." It is that rare TV series that offers insight, generates heartfelt emotion and challenges the viewer to consider the darker corners of the soul. [21 June 2005, p.2D]

"The Sopranos" has renewed and refreshed its ability to surprise. [4 Mar 2001]

Mad Men can still keep us spellbound.

It manages to be a rousing piece of filmmaking, a fascinating character study and a largely accurate presentation of the time when America was born.

Deadwood may not offer the vision of the Old West Americans have had for years, but it is a stunning, intelligent, almost poetic view of how we came to be a nation. [5 Mar 2005, p.1E]

I'd rather spend time with an edgy show that aims high and sometimes falls short, than one that doesn't.... Welcome back, Mr. Sorkin. It's a pleasure to have you.

The engrossing series is loaded with surprisingly strong stuff, including provocative takes on terrorism and the politics of genocide. The special effects are unexpectedly good. And the acting -- from the likes of Edward James Olmos as Commander Adama, Mary McDonnell as President Roslin and Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck -- is light-years better than in the original. [10 Jan 2005, p.2C]

For five decades, the cop drama -- the good guys vs. the bad guys on the streets of our cities -- has been one of the cornerstones of network television, from the days of "Dragnet" to newer shows such as "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue" that altered TV. But never, ever has there been a cop drama quite like The Shield, and it could have an impact on pop culture that rivals the best of the police shows that came before it. [12 Mar 2002, p.AE 1]

This adaptation of a BBC series differentiates itself in enough ways to keep things fresh and riveting.

Though the show contains laugh-out-loud moments, it occasionally proves to be more melancholy than mirthful. Along the way, it has some sharp things to say about race, gender, the absurdity of celebrity and the nagging fear of failure. Glover's Atlanta, it turns out, has all the right beats.

It's captivating, and also poignant.

The top-notch acting is still intact, as is the attention to aesthetic detail.

Audacious plot lines help to keep Orange Is the New Black so unusual and refreshing. It's the one prison show that you may never want to escape.

It's never easy to say goodbye to a drama as mind-blowingly magnificent as Breaking Bad, but savvy creator Vince Gilligan has picked the right time to put his end game into motion

The show probably wouldn't fly for a minute, though, if it weren't for the ineffably engaging Cavanagh, who looks a lot like sardonic comedian Jon Stewart, yet has the laid-back affability of a young Jimmy Stewart. All bright eyes and dimples, he absolutely sparkles in the role. [7 Oct 2000, p.D01]

Fearless, relatable, goofy and charmingly awkward, she’s just a joy to watch. She has a strong voice, too.

Fortunately, the new Steel Magnolias turns out to be a full 90 minutes of wonderful.

Orange is teeming with humor, heart and poignancy--all the elements needed to qualify it as one of the summer's must-see shows.

The lively script by Geoffrey Ward covers a lot of ground and offers keen insights via interviews, not only with experts but regular folk who lived through the era.

This is a TV drama of quality, masterfully written and lovingly produced, which probably reflects what may be the most important new trend in network television: The increasing willingness of feature film talents to work in the medium. [28 Sept 1998]

One of the best pilots from a new show this season -- a wild, stylish ride through Sydney Bristow's unraveling life. You have to suspend disbelief, but this series promises to be one nifty piece of entertainment. [28 Sept 2001, p.5E]

The overall result is something rare--a film that sucks you in as a riveting thriller would, but also one that will make you pause to ponder issues of race, domestic abuse and our obsession with celebrity.

They could have made for some deadly passages, but thanks to Morgan's writing and a superior cast, these discourses on the nature of evil, and whether the truly evil ever can be restored to humanity, are mesmerizing.

In the end, The Wire is extraordinary television. It has a richness, a depth and an intelligence that transcend the medium and makes it the kind of superb literature that A.O. Scott found lacking in the world of books.

The way these characters interact and relate in the first hour is dazzling and involving without being self-consciously clever.