From these visits spin every Soprano tale --- some morose, some wickedly funny, all uncommonly personal --- and its distinctive tone will capture a patient audience looking for an intelligent episodic that isn't sex and shoot-'em-ups. [4 Jan 1999, p.67]

The smartest teen-oriented drama since "Freaks and Geeks." A unique and inspired looked at teen angst shrouded in a P.I. show.

One of the sharpest-looking comedy pilots in recent years.

It could be a "Wonder Years" for a new generation.

This is the jewel Showtime has sought for years.

Has the sharpness of the recent remakes of "Italian Job" and "Ocean's Eleven."

Like plots on "Hustle," "24" and "The Shield," there's a bit of incredulousness that comes with each caper. But with persuasive writing, sharp visuals and editing, as well as a steady directorial hand, "Thief" is always convincing.

Kitchen Nightmares is shockingly good storytelling and hilarious. This may be the most compelling show of the new season

Focusing the program on the shaping of a young artist limits the mainstream potential of the interview show but ramped up the opportunity for two musicians to explore the importance of music and musicians rarely name-checked.

First episode lacks the energy and grit of the first season of "Law & Order," but Anthony Jannelli's camera work reveals the guilty, and director Jean De Segonzac and editor Doug Ibold keep the action taught even when it's apparent exactly where things are headed.

Garner played Felicity's new friend in that series' first two years, and here she replaces character's earnestness with ferocity, confusion and concealed pain. She plays the more human side with aplomb, but gets stuck in fight scenes that are so stagy one can count out the steps.

Boomtown, which has a debt to "Law & Order's" nose-to-the-grindstone subtlety, could represent a bold move in episodic TV.

Has the potential to be a real guilty pleasure.

[It] already feels like it's been on air for three seasons... in a good way.

Consistently compelling.

[The] pilot is cleverly written giving the characters a heady, just-specific-enough mix of mystery, intrigue and charm.

Production values are outstanding, and the producers have captured the appropriate tension and devotion that surrounds this world.

The selections in the first two episodes possess compelling strength, whimsy and ambiguity in both the stories and the characters, providing a solid transformation from radio to TV.

DeMange draws out the helplessness and frustrations of the men who visit Belle, which are complemented by Tat Radcliffe's framing of the action.

Dialogue by Diane Ruggiero is sharply written and realistic, observational and unhurried. It remains to be seen, though, whether 9 p.m. Friday viewers are ready for the debate over Vivian's new Brazilian.

It's so stylishly executed, with Mimi Leder's direction, a crisp script and magnetic lead by Dominic Purcell, that the John Doe indeed has a solid identity.

[It] lacks the flavor of the original and would have worked better under a different title.

It has a few points going for it: Mandy Patinkin's onscreen magnetism; some truly eerie episodes; and a smartness that it wears on its sleeve. On the downside, it draws on too many other recent hits -- "CSI," "Crossing Jordan," "Medium," "House," "Law & Order: SVU""Law & Order: SVU" -- for visual style, character tics, mind games and an ability to find the truth in confounding evidence.

Single and in their 30s, each is a distinct blend of guile, guts and needfulness, traipsing through the dating world with predictable and even trite results, their chatter constantly hitting on sex, relationships and sex. Some good acting and some nicely shot romantic interludes provide some redemption for the series, but scripts need to loosen up and inherit some of the playfulness the actresses bring to their roles. [3 June 1998]

A model of midseason mediocrity, an hourlong that neither excites nor bores, driven by professional if uninspired acting, writing and direction.

Having four women with sufficiently distinct personalities and a pleasant tone should help the show secure some viewership, but it really belongs on a specialized femme-oriented cable net.

ESPN's eight-episode mini-series plays remarkably flat despite a sharp portrayal by John Turturro as the eye at the center of the storm.

It's tough to get an audience to care for any of the players in a show that's just 30 minutes long.