Unlike most serialized dramas of late... "24" continues to do everything right.

The language, the acting, the themes - everything in "Deadwood" is good as gold. In TV entertainment terms, maybe even better.

Fabulous in every respect.

In theme and execution, in caliber of performance and level of dramatic tension, "Sleeper Cell" is an impressive, relentlessly gripping drama.

One of this season's most tasty and twisted TV treats.

If you loved "The Office" you may have grave doubts that any followup comedy could be as good and as quote-the-dialogue funny. "Extras" is that - another triumph, and a perfect Sunday-night companion piece for "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

As with the Gervais-Merchant "The Office," the more time you spend with the characters in "Extras," the more you feel their pain as well as laugh at their expense.

It's one of the best new shows from any network this year, and is a total, almost giddy delight from start to finish.

Like the best TV comedies - from "Seinfeld" to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and all the way back to "The Jack Benny Program" - "30 Rock" sparkles not just because its central star gets to shine, but because everyone does.

The law-firm arena is one of TV's oldest and most familiar genres, but Damages enlivens it by defying expectations.

"The Nine," starting tomorrow, is the show most people will want to discuss at the office water cooler.

Every hour is impressive, surprising and entertaining.

It's bold, different and exciting, with a central character and performance that take your breath away.

"The State Within" is challengingly cerebral - but at times, it's also almost painfully visceral. Don't miss it.

Pushing Daisies is perfect.

Sameer Asad Gardezi and his writing partners have created something very different in Aliens in America--and something very, very funny.

The team behind this series--creator Tom Kapinos from "Dawson's Creek," executive producer Scott Winant from "My So-Called Life" and "thirtysomething," and Duchovny himself--makes it easier for Duchovny by surrounding him with sparkling female characters and talent.

With strong performances by a cast that includes Alfred Molina, Michael Keaton, Rory Cochrane and Chris O'Donnell, this adaptation of a Robert Ludlum novel reels you right in.

It's not comfortable. Just compelling.

The real skill and appeal of Mad Men remains in its characters.

Archer is the rare show that's in love with its own wordplay and good enough that this love becomes endearing rather than annoying.

Justified doesn't have the bite of "Fire in the Hole," from which the first episode was adapted, but it gets much of the tone--droll, a little weary, frequently tense, sometimes conflicted--never forgetting that at the core, good is challenging evil.

Watching HBO's new Boardwalk Empire is like sitting in your favorite tavern and hearing someone say, "Drinks are on the house." Friends, it doesn't get much better.

The next great "Masterpiece Theater" series has arrived.

Season one set the bar high. Season two clears it.

If Sunday night's two-hour return episode of Mad Men ended after the first four minutes, it would still put the show in contention to win its fifth straight Emmy as the best drama on television.

Whether you've followed the show to this point or not, you can tune in and savor smart TV drama at its best.

With the bar set at Emmy, Homeland has little room to falter. With this return episode, it doesn't.

It might be 16 of the best upcoming hours on television.

[Creator Julian Fellowes] never been afraid to have characters we like do things we don't like. That continues in season three, which finds plenty of new ground even as it inevitably begins treading back over some old.

While many shows that have reached this point in the road have left their creative peak behind, Mad Men shows no such erosion. It still has things it wants to say and it still has the poetry to say them well.

This 10-hour production on World War II in the Pacific is an ambitious, imperfect, intense and often compelling look at combat that gets dirtier and more ragged with each episode.

There's enough classic "Sopranos" action -- some of it involving extreme physical violence -- to remind the average person that where the Sopranos are is not where most of us want to go. Yet at the same time, these episodes repeatedly return to the ways in which the Soprano clan, in its desperate, sometimes twisted and sometimes touching way, seeks to embrace family values.

It just might be the kids, the ones who grow up too soon in the hard world of "The Wire," who steal opening night.

The episodes that kick off this last 10-show run don't feel perfect. But they almost always feel intuitively right.

How fitting, then, that the plastic-surgery drama returns Tuesday for its fifth season by dangerously reinventing itself. Dangerously - and totally successfully.

It boldly goes where no man has gone before.

"Big Love" sounds like a high-concept, comedic, intentionally sensational enterprise. Parts of "Big Love" are sensational, all right. But only in the best sense of the word.

Whichever the case, or whatever combination of the two, watching these 15 aspiring fashion designers compete for their big break is more fun than a new Victoria's Secret catalogue.

"Thief" brims with strong, potent performances.

Powerful.

It has everything you want from such a show: quirky characters, gifted actors, a captivating central story - and questions that leave you not only wanting more, but hungry for it.

Tremendously likable.

It has a sprawling cast, but even before the pilot is over, because of the clever way it's written, directed and acted, you'll know, and like, every single character.

I can't remember the last time I laughed so quickly and loudly at a new TV series.

The show itself, however, does much of its best work in the shadows, where nothing is that clear.

It's as quirky, original and funny a comedy as "Universe."

"Raines" not only deserves an audience - with any luck at all, it deserves a renewal, and a firm spot on NBC's fall schedule.

Elizabeth is mercurial, powerful, unpredictable - qualities made real, and a bit frightening, because of the intensity with which Mirren commits to the role.

Hilarious.

Any fan of Westerns, or of Duvall, will not be disappointed if this "Trail" is followed.

Their dance of love and rejection, of giddiness and bitterness, is a warped waltz, and Kingsley and Bening clearly relish every step.

Though the overall tone is light, there's enough darkness in "The Riches," and enough depth in the performances, to make you care about these people - even when you don't totally buy the premise.

In Treatment feels neither soapy nor formulaic, because of the intensity with which it's presented.

Chuck sounds like a regrettably derivative idea - a remake of "Jake 2.0." But it's not. Chuck is a blast.

If you relish the devious darkness of "Dexter" and the wonderful wackiness of "Weeds," you'll love the macabre moodiness of "Meadowlands."

As You Like It is effortlessly entertaining from start to finish.

As you would expect from a show entering its 19th season, the acting and the pacing are strong and confident. L&O has always been smart enough to stick with what works.

There are a lot of good laughs here, and they are not the result of Larry David changing anything about the show or his character, who is the show. He'd still trip his mother to get the last seat on the bus.

The show's long break seems to have rejuvenated its story lines, in which intense, rapid-fire action plays out against the backdrop of a complex, methodical geopolitical chess game.

That plot crystallizes through a pair of two-hour episodes, Sunday and Monday nights, and at times it crystallizes slowly.

He has always been wrapped a little tight but now he's about to explode, and Chiklis plays it beautifully, making it sound as if he must measure every phrase so that just opening his mouth doesn't release all the frustration in a nuclear blast.

The show pays more attention to relationships we care about, hints at a sensible number of new ones that show some promise, and thus doesn't rely on obscure medical mysteries to carry the whole dramatic burden.

Other complications arise as well, and Laurie is superb in this episode, carrying scenes so strongly that for long stretches the viewer will forget the absence of his regular colleagues entirely.

It remains one of the best.

Now it must find a way to become more than a routine action drama pitting plucky good guys against amoral, robotic bad guys. It's got the characters who can do that, though, and it's also streamlined its story enough so even a new viewer can figure out what's going on from tonight's back-to-back premiere episodes.

Despite soapy moments, it offers a more honest portrayal of contemporary high school life than a "90210."

It's a brand new ballgame. It looks to be a winner.

The show's droll and mostly apolitical humor fits the exaggerated characters well, it's still got a good fast rhythm, and the five major players work well as an ensemble.

Damages is a show that has always required a viewer's full attention, and the rewards are there for those who do.

A relationship with Julie, which has been percolating for some time, might be just a good cover for Dexter. But it feels more complicated than that, which at the very least reflects good writing and acting.

Admit it: You've probably never considered the potential impact of sleep deprivation on a serial killer. Well, the creators of Dexter have, and the results make for highly entertaining television.

Mary doesn't win 'em all, but In Plain Sight is a W for USA.

It's still not a show for everyone, since 99% of the action is conversation. But it's intelligent conversation, and the problems of the patients, including Weston, are multilayered and compelling.

In general, we like his character, and Reese's. They have a new boss named Kevin Tidwell (Donal Logue), who doesn't start off all good or all bad. Neither does the show. But if it can maintain this level of quality, it's got a shot.

It knows exactly what it wants and needs its new hybrid product to be. The hockey fights video of teen romance drama.

Everything isn't perfect on Burn Notice. Some of the subplots have to be wrapped up a little neatly. But the interplay of the core group has enough ambivalence and shadows to keep the show intriguing.

This will be good news to people who enjoy watching train wrecks in which the engineer accelerates as the precipice nears, which is Grace's signature move.

It plays at its own pace, a little more deliberate than other TV dramas, and its strongest moments are often understated.

It's unavoidable that True Blood will fall into some of the same dramas as other vampire shows. It's just got sharper teeth.

Bryan Cranston's Walter remains one of the best-played characters on television, and he's surrounded by a strong cast that, knowingly or unknowingly, plays off his desperation.

The shadows are deep enough over "Breaking Bad" that it's hard to imagine a ray of hope or light shining through anywhere. But the actors and writers are so good that, like Walt, we'll keep looking for it.

What matters is how well it's done, and Disney does a lot of things right. It's multicultural. Parents are portrayed as people. The intrapersonal dramas are small enough so viewers will understand them.

Wright is a diligent reporter, and his material has been whipped into a smooth script under producers David Simon and Ed Burns.

It has good characters and plenty of action. It keeps its science fiction accessible, not abstract. Maybe best of all, it has a great sense of humor.

Fortunately, someone finally grabs hold of the wheel and steers it back to where it belongs, as one of the great character dramas of contemporary television.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency takes some time setting itself up Sunday night, but those who stay with it will be rewarded with the funniest and most charming lady detective series since "Murder, She Wrote."

Sewell radiates the kind of fascination you can't buy off the rack at the TV drama store, and that alone gives Eleventh Hour a strong start.

Harper's Island is an elaborate horror movie, a twentysomething slasher flick with a really good wardrobe, a first-rate cast and 13 weeks worth of twists and subplots.

To say we actually like any of these characters would be stretching it. But we're drawn into their lives, and as it starts its second season, Sons of Anarchy can't be left out of any conversation about the golden age of cable drama.

The likable Pete and Myka are a classic match, bickering until they need to stop and work together, which they do. Artie provides both comic relief and a reminder that their job is difficult and dangerous--point also made by Artie's boss, Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder). Not too much new here. But there's nothing wrong with taking the old and doing it well.

Some of the pirates tonight, perhaps inevitably, take on a little of Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow. But the acting is generally solid and the action is both stirring and, happily, easy to follow.

Mainly, underneath the sitcom setups and witty banter, this show moves to the pulse of the ad game. The mystique and power of raw ideas push this story as surely as they push the characters of "Mad Men."

Crucial, sometimes hopeful and sometimes worrisome as the larger issues of modern medicine are, Hopkins excels on the human side.

It's a fun ride and Wyle has gotten a little better each time. That's why it's a shame there apparently won't be another.

With 19 episodes remaining in this season, there's plenty of time for all this drama to intensify and the characters to sort themselves out as good and not-so-good.

Shirley MacLaine will get most of the attention for playing fashion legend Coco Chanel in this smart-looking and solidly crafted new Lifetime biopic premiering Saturday night.

Add strong performances by a dozen major characters, starting with Claire Foy as Little Dorrit, and you've got the kind of production television is often accused of having abandoned.