The fifth and final season of David Simon's peerlessly acted, stunningly scripted, revolutionary drama of 1,000 moving parts kicks off Jan. 6.

Dark, textured, and lively--this is how Dickens is done. [20 Jan 2006, p.66]

The best worst series on TV. [30 Sep 2005, p.89]

The more leisurely pace allows for some singular moments. [17 Mar 2006, p.101]

[The first episodes are] four of 24's best hours to date. [20 Jan 2006, p.59]

Prison Break has the dark social hierarchies of Oz and the clever inventions of Escape From Alcatraz.

The biggest worry with The Nine is that its mystery will start to crumble after a dozen episodes or so. But for now, it's one smooth, creepy, cool operation.

If Brotherhood isn't as brilliant as The Wire, it's just as believable. The cast is so solid.

The sheer number of plotlines can be overwhelming, but the images--flowers dropped on the side of the road, a dusty van sliding away--are relentlessly riveting. And the series only gets better from here. [5 Oct 2007, p.66]

There are no big sociopolitical statements here, no guerilla-style confrontations, no scenes of squirmy awkwardness, no multilayered pop culture references. It's just a very smart, very funny show.

Wise steals this, show, and his costars aren't easy prey. What's more, the dynamic is quite clever. [28 Sep 2007, p.94]

The premiere jumps the series from 1960 to 1962, but it plays coy with most of last season's cliff-hangers, including the whereabouts of Peggy's son with married exec Pete Campbell (played with oily brilliance by Vincent Kartheiser). It's quite a tease, but the debut proves Mad Men is as smart as ever

The series shows the darker side of Belle's work without getting into that porno-punishing crap so often disguised as morality lessons. The series, like Belle, is far too smart to succumb to such an average attitude.

At one point, before a press conference, Dern morphs her face from that of a human being into Harris' crazy-cuckoo public mask, and the moment is absolutely chilling. Fair? Debatable, but like Recount, it's a gorgeous bit of political theater.

It's a testament to Curb's cleverness that what's now rote--Larry offends, we cringe--can still be so surprising.

Like last season, the plots are thick and quick-flying. (Also like last season, the abstruseness can sometimes feel showy.)

Nip/Tuck has reclaimed its sense of humor.

Big Love has dropped the last vestiges of its ostentatious quirkiness and fashioned itself into a rich and grounded family drama. [22 Jun 2007, p.62]

Braugher [has] never been better... rarely has a character hopped onto the screen feeling so completely real. [31 Mar 2006, p.51]

Andy Barker isn't as complete a comedy as Andy Richter Controls the Universe — the first three episodes feel like a series of very funny bits that have been welded together. But so did 30 Rock when it first started, and that's now the best comedy on TV.

Every so often, when the tension feels DefCon 1 high, there's a temptation to remind Sorkin that the fate of the free world isn't at stake. Then again, with such mesmerizing speed-bag dialogue, Studio 60 is a great case for taking TV seriously.

Even at its yuk-yuk-kiest, the show is elevated by Corddry. [9 Mar 2007, p.96]

The drama's strange coincidences and unlikely twists are boundless. But The Riches is like a skillful shell game: Even when you know you're being played, the dizzying machinations are irresistible.

Stylized, soapy, silly, it's one of the most interesting shows this fall. [12 Oct 2007, p.64]

Tell Me is an incisive drama, but it's not an easy commitment.

While there are a a few too many "awkward-guy moments," there are enough genuinely sweet ones to balance them out. [28 Sep 2007, p.93]

Kalyan and Byrd are two likable, unaffected actors (or at least as unaffected as Aliens' heightened reality allows them to be; this show would be a mess in lesser hands).

Meaty, gorgeous and sometimes soapy. [10 Aug 2007, p.58]