This is 24 at its fast, furious, exaggerated best, filled with well-drawn subsidiary characters and rapid-fire surprises, all held in place by Kiefer Sutherland's great, under-sung performance as Jack.

What's remarkable is that 24 still finds so many ways to surprise us, to take our knowledge of how things are done and turn it against us.

Even when 24 went off the rails, Sutherland somehow kept Jack in balance. And now that his show seems back on track, he's rolling at top form.

This two-part production expands and opens the story without diminishing the charm or appeal of Austen's original or pushing it past her socially constrained boundaries.

Brilliant, scathing, sprawling, The Wire has turned our indifference to urban decay into a TV achievement of the highest order.

There's humanity in its victims and dark humor in the goal-oriented drive of its villains. With or without a strike, this is a show to treasure.

Of a handful of promising new series this season, only one shows the promise of greatness: Boomtown.

Some of House's callousness is an act, and sometimes the show lets the act go too far. But one of the series' primary strengths is the way the writers and the star keep us guessing as to where that act ends and reality begins.

Out of these familiar adventure-story components and a host of pop-culture conventions, Alias' J.J. Abrams has fashioned a totally original, fabulously enjoyable lost-at-sea series. Once again, he has taken an outlandish Saturday-serial setup and imbued it with real characters and honest emotions, without sacrificing any of the old-fashioned fun.

Let Lost remind you of how spectacular scripted network programming can be.

This is an epic big-screen adventure done for the small screen--and done in a way that makes most big-screen versions pale in comparison.

For those who were disappointed in the show's uneven fourth season, the best news is that, at least in the nine episodes previewed, Rescue Me is more consistent, more focused and more fun, with better stories for all of its characters.

Tonight's pilot lays the groundwork for what could be a fabulous series, one that blends supernatural adventure with down-to-earth, complex family dynamics.

Convincingly smart, realistically unsettled and sexy as all get-out, Gugino radiates so much TV star power, it just might be visible from outer space.

It is, in short, a show about real life, as seen through the eyes of one of the funniest men in America.

Teeming with rich characters and terrific actors, brimming with wit, drama and unexpected urgency, Studio 60 brings its workplace to full, immensely entertaining life.

A satisfying, intriguingly complex ABC drama that emerges from the season's serialized pack as the best new show of the year.

Solid gold from top to bottom, the cast is almost an embarrassment of riches.

Heavily narrated and prone at times to the precious, Daisies is a show unlike any other, and not everyone will like it. But even those who don't can embrace it as a sign that creativity, confidence and capability have not fled broadcast for cable just yet. Here, they're alive and thriving.

Mad Men is a joy to watch - the clothes, the clocks, the furniture, it's like a mid-century night's dream. But this is no mere period piece. It's a smart, complex drama that attempts to get through the facades that have always hidden the truth.

Terrifically acted and gorgeously produced, this is a show that's both funny and frightening, that can simultaneously make you miss the '60s and feel blessed that they're gone.

There is always meaning to Mad Men's madness and passion under its control, along with an uncommon level of style, flair and wit. On a TV shelf crowded with cookie-cutter products, Mad Men is an original.

As terrific as the three women are, the movie would not have been made without Combs and would not work as well without him

What Kill has to offer is clarity and clear-eyed empathy. TV's the better for it.

This is as good an adaptation as any Ladies lover could wish, one that overflows with the joys of life and exudes an all-embracing spirit. Be ready to be beguiled.

Indeed, the only real downside of the program is that they've made only six episodes.

An equally spectacular, equally triumphant yet tonally divergent work that stands with "Band of Brothers" as the best war movie ever made for TV.

While the subject matter is heavy, Rescue Me is seldom heavy-going. It still makes times to revel in the boisterous camaraderie of its firefighters, and it still takes great advantage of one of the sexiest, funniest casts on television.

Once you get past the premiere, series are often a crapshoot. But Showtime made all 12 episodes available for preview, and through that run, the energy never flags and the performances get deeper and richer.

Jackie can be a dark show, and it's going to get darker. But there isn't an episode that doesn't leave you yearning to see the next. There also isn't a performance that doesn't work.

Three weeks, three styles, three fine, fun hours.

Treme tells its story incredibly well, but it just may not be a story everyone wants to follow. Some will hear its music and some won't. But if you do, this could be the rare TV show that makes you dance.

The result is a sharp, funny, clever series that remains faithful to the spirit of Doyle's stories while infusing them with a vibrant spirit of modernity.

They've richly re-created a Roaring '20s world on the edge of an ocean and a precipice, and populated it with a riveting rogues gallery.

For two nights and four fabulous hours, this sequel to 1994's Baseball, still PBS' most-watched program, reminds us why baseball retains its hold on our imagination, and why Burns and Novick remain TV's pre-eminent popular historians.

There are worse sins than looking like a Jane Austen movie. In fact, with PBS' latest British hit import, the unfailingly entertaining Downton Abbey, it might even be a blessing.

She's a smart, funny, eccentric elitist who isn't afraid to tell us what she thinks of us or herself. Listen with an open mind, and you should find her sometimes scathing honesty is bracing rather than off-putting.

A riotously, often scathingly funny showbiz satire that proves LeBlanc is smart enough to know self-mockery can be a potent weapon, and talented enough to wield it properly.

Like the show itself, Margo Martindale's performance is smart, chilling, amusing, convincing and unfailingly entertaining. And like the show, you really don't want to miss it.

What sets The Killing apart are its steady sense of dread, its dense atmospherics--that feeling that rain may at any moment pour from our sets--and its beautifully drawn characters.

Every line, every reaction is perfectly pitched, every shift from humor to menace to seduction perfectly played.

There's nothing in Downton you won't recognize, and almost nothing you won't enjoy.

This is TV pleasure at its most intense, without even a shade of guilt.

For anyone seeking edge-of-your-chair tension, Dead delivers. But what separates this fine series from similar shows is the honesty of its human interactions.

Danes and Lewis are near-flawless, keeping you off-balance and absorbed.

This is such a gorgeous show to watch (at least for anyone fond of mid-'60s clothes and design) that it's easy to forget how beautifully these actors play their roles and how true-to-life they and the writers make these characters seem.

As you'd hope from a show based on Elmore Leonard's work, the plots snap, the dialogue crackles and--to press on with the point--the characters pop.

Summer TV at its witty, riveting best.

Dunham's simply writing what she knows, and incredibly well.

Despite its depth and ambition, this is one great drama that never becomes cumbersome--it never feels like a chore imposed upon us by the God of High TV Art.

Bad is too complex a series and too brilliantly distinctive a creation to be reduced to a simple "Crime does not pay" motto.

What lies ahead for Downton fans is a first-rate run of episodes that feels less hectic and more tightly focused on the family core.

No American-made option this weekend can compare.

Top of the Lake is rivetingly odd, almost oppressively atmospheric and thoroughly entrancing.

I'd also like to see the show adopt a somewhat lighter tone -- though I fear the ring of somber self-importance may be perfectly pitched for teens. [29 Sept 1998, p.3D]

In mere minutes and with a few instantly evocative images, Freaks draws its characters more precisely than some shows do in a season. [24 Sept 1999, p.11E]

Hip, bright and done with a great deal of flair, Alias is like some candy-colored -- and very violent -- comic book come to life.

Though the premiere's twists are not as shocking as in years past, better ones are coming, and quickly. Trust me, the show has not lost its ability to surprise--or even to make you gasp.

Firefly offers the same well-balanced blend of humor, action, sharply drawn characters and unexpected twists on genre conventions. And if you have so far resisted the vamp-call of Buffy, this more mainstream sci-fi adventure may be your ticket into Whedon's TV universe.

While there are moments of overly arty chatter, the show's ability to create a believable sense of place is nothing short of astounding (as is its profanity). Much of the credit goes to an incredible cast, led by West, Sohn, Gilliard and Lance Reddick as McNulty's boss.

For all the artificiality of the language, there has seldom been a show that felt more authentic.

Tonight, the surgeons set up shop in Beverly Hills, a move that has inspired the show to rediscover its sense of style and fun.

What Men offers is the pleasure of watching people who know what they're doing do it well. Jones' mixture of bratty spunk and vulnerability keeps Jake from seeming too precocious or too cute. Sheen is so amusingly sardonic and cheerfully self-aware, he makes Charlie's immaturity endearing rather than annoying. And there just aren't many actors who are better at funny-fussbudget than Cryer -- or who have more polished comic skills.

This is one House call worth making.

Luckily for us, UPN has found a terrific young actress to play this terrifically engaging character: Kristen Bell. Whether you buy the idea of teen crime-solvers or not, there's no questioning Bell's credentials as a TV star.

All we need ask of Grey's is that it tell its stories well in its own way, and tonight it does.

Based on the real-life Hollywood adventures of Mark Wahlberg, Entourage is the almost shockingly entertaining story of an incredibly unlikely set of sitcom heroes: an up-and-coming star known for his looks more than his talent and his hanger-on friends. What could have been a recipe for disaster, or at the very least for one of those HBO shows people respect more than enjoy, is instead an unassuming treat.

Entourage... returns for a third season with funnier episodes and higher stakes.

Earl shares the look and heavily narrated sound of Arrested Development, but it has its own scruffy comic tone.

Witty, earnest, intelligent, overdone, overly ambitious, wildly entertaining and superbly cast.

Bones isn't the riskiest or most ambitious series coming your way this season. But it may turn out to be one of the most satisfying and entertaining.

This bright, funny, appealing old-school comedy is an ideal vehicle for Louis-Dreyfus.

The script is humorous, though not hilarious, and the show boasts a fine cast that could, with time, jell into a great one.

There's something terribly real and awfully funny about this engaging little sitcom, which takes the sweetness of Parenthood and adds its own slightly bitter touch.

The British Mars produced only 16 episodes, and when the last of this season's final eight is over, you will have all the answers you need. What's more, they're satisfying and well worth the relatively short amount of time expended.

Juggling such a large ensemble won't be easy, and the producers have to guard against crowding too many stories together at the cost of depth and development.... If they can get the balance right, though, Class should be an ideal fit for CBS' successful Monday lineup.

Granted, this new Andy may not be as inventive or subversive as Universe, but it is just as funny and probably a bit more accessible.

Lights has a rare ability to portray life in small-town America without being condescending or sentimental.

A fast-paced, funny show that has bounced back from last spring's post-strike slump.

Damages is an enjoyably complex thriller.

Yet, as rock-solid as the entire cast may be, Damages still belongs to Close, who makes us embrace a character who in other hands might be repellent or, worse, ridiculous.

There is no new show more likable, but that affection may waver if Betty can't give Ferrera the scripts and support she deserves.

As Elizabeth movies go, this version has neither the sweep of Glenda Jackson's Elizabeth R nor the easily digested entertainment value of Bette Davis' Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. But it has Mirren, and that's reason enough to make it and watch it.

As much as the show recalls the movies, it also recalls some of the best work ever done in the genre for TV: the Buffy universe of Joss Whedon. Most every blast of portent and bombast is lightened by a throwaway joke; scenes of intense action and violence give way to equally well-realized scenes of domestic life that root the fantasy in emotional reality.

In a sense, Monday's promising premiere is the first in a three-part introduction, with each episode building on and improving upon the one before.

Wise has been given a great chance to shine, and he makes the most of it, stealing scenes with such aplomb it may almost be a sin. Still, the show has to be carried by Harrison and Labine, and they seem up to the task.

The show is not designed to appeal to prudes, but the writing and the acting are too good to be wasted on the prurient.

The Tudors comes back enriched and improved.

Part mystery, part fantasy, part comedy, and all wildly imaginative exaggeration, Blood proves that there's still vibrant life--or death--left in the "star-crossed lovers" paradigm.

True Blood is worth the work, particularly since the main plot (Sookie's search for her kidnapped vampire lover Bill) is pretty much a self-starter.

Bad brings new life and depth to an old one: Malcolm in the Middle's Bryan Cranston, riveting and remarkable as a chemistry teacher who finds a more commercial use for his skills.

Happily, this is a carefully adapted, clearly enunciated As You Like It that retains the beauty of the dialogue while making the meanings clear.

You can see where it's going, and assuming Abrams doesn't let it get lost in its conspiracy, it should be fun to ride along.

Not every shift works; a newly added agent seems just as expendable as poor, underused Charlie (Kirk Acevedo). But there's a great final twist that more than compensates, and it solidifies the overall impression that a series that was once too far on the conspiracy fringe has settled into an enjoyable weekly sci-fi adventure.

So far, though, it keeps the techno-babble to a manageable level, and if it seems to owe more to other movies and shows than it does to real life, at least it's paying its debt in an entertaining fashion.

There are big moments, but much of the joy comes from small exchanges and throwaway jokes.

Times have changed, but they haven't weakened the basic strength of Dickens' story or diminished his insights into a society in which the poor are left to their own oppressed devices unless they cross paths with the rich.

Luckily, in Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, HBO has found precisely the right people to convey the peculiar blend of courage and craziness that were the two Edie Beales, daughter and mother.

There are needed bursts of humor that lighten the sometimes oppressive sense of a world on the verge of social collapse. And there's that visually pleasing re-creation of '60s style that both delights on its own and allows the show to comment through skewed reflection on modern times.

It's not perfect, but in a sea of procedural conformity, Glee is its own weird, often enchanting little island escape.

ABC can add to that list of achievements the season's most entertaining new hour, straightforward division: V.

The Middle is precisely the show ABC should be doing: a smart, amusing sitcom that understands the damage cutbacks have done to folks in the middle.

The best of the bunch, and the best new series of the fall, comes first.

It firmly establishes its intriguing main character's brains, skills, and skewed-but-real moral code.

What will remain is the terrific, admirably diverse cast; the tough-but-uncynical attitude; and, perhaps best of all, the out-of-the-TV-norm location. The show isn't just set in Detroit; it's shot there, which gives it an authenticity and a palpable sense of place.

For now, what Better brings you are six well-written, well-played characters (Lacy offers a particularly nice take on his slacker doofus) who say and do enough funny things to keep you amused between Middle and Modern.

Happily, it now seems to have landed on solid ground, with its best ensemble and most engaging stories in years.

Leary is working with a fabulous cast, which is why he and co-creator Peter Tolan can dance so nimbly between realism and surrealism, drama and comedy.

It's all very well told and well acted, but those who insist on comparing it to The Lord of the Rings are setting up expectations Game cannot possibly match.

There are times when the sheer force of Jones' personality undercuts his ability to be convincing as the voice of existential despair. But at the end, when he throws that force behind his final assault, his performance all makes sense. And it makes the final scenes, as Jackson's ebulliently portrayed confidence begins to crack, all the more shattering.

If it plays a bit fast and loose with facts, it's nowhere near as outrageous as its Showtime cousin The Tudors, whose ever-young, ever-fit Henry VIII was an affront to history and to common sense. Irons may not look anything like the real Pope Alexander, but he makes you believe in him - and for The Borgias' purposes, that's what matters.

Girl sets up a viable premise and introduces a strong set of supporting characters, which is just what you want from fall's most promising new series.

For today, enjoy a home-grown version of a great series that's suspenseful, exciting and flat-out fun. That may not count as a miracle, but it's awfully good news nonetheless.

This is a sprawling, exciting, blood-soaked story, filled with great set pieces and wonderful actors.

They may not enchant you, but they and their series, the best new hour this year, are unlikely to bore you. Would that every new show could say the same.

There is much to admire here, from the snap in the dialogue to the show's willingness to tackle issues of race in the workplace--but there might be even more if creator Matthew Carnahan (Dirt) could learn when to stop pushing.

Unless you're allergic to musicals in general and Broadway in particular, you should find that a compelling central story, a strong cast, an out-of-the-procedural-mold premise and some rousing, roof-raising numbers more than compensate for any lingering problems.

As smartly written as it is played, Episodes offers the comic pleasures, not just of clashing cultures, but of contrasting comic styles.

You may appreciate the flair and poignancy Elementary brings to the crowded procedural field, and the energy, wit and sex appeal Miller brings to his role.

It's a sprawling story, held together with music--though unlike Glee or Smash, most of the songs are presented on this night in truncated bursts.... While that could mean trouble, set worries aside for one night, and simply enjoy the season's best, most enjoyable new hour.

What you end up with may not have the makings of a great drama at the Homeland/Breaking Bad level--but it could produce an extremely entertaining, refreshingly hackney-free weekly procedural, with the crimes playing out against a background of interesting characters and flashy time-travel sets.

At its best, it plays like a Woody Allen film, something you may notice most when secondary characters stop and explain themselves to the camera.

Some plot twists seem implausible at best, others are overdone or gratuitous. But some implausibility comes with the horror/suspense genre, and there's no question Williamson has mastered it--just as there's no question that the match of wills between the wounded Bacon and malevolent Purefoy is exceedingly well played.

If you stay, you just may find yourself captivated by a trio of strong performances from Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy and Laurence Fishburne--and entranced by the fevered-dream spell cast by creator Bryan Fuller, the brilliant TV auteur behind Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls.

If you look past the sometimes strained pushing of the basic cable envelope (including a completely gratuitous breast shot), The Shield offers an interesting take on a familiar subject, one that boasts a great supporting turn from CCH Pounder as a smart cop who has seen it all.[12 Mar 2002, p.10D]

At heart, Angel is another Whedon treatise on the need to accept responsibility and to move past atonement to engagement. But Whedon never overemphasizes his deeper meanings, and neither should we. [5 Oct 1999, p.1D]

Charm is not a word you normally associate with the Day-Glo, drug-drenched '70s. Yet charm is the strong suit of That '70s Show. [21 Aug 1998, p.6E]

The Sopranos would have benefited from the editing required by network time and content restraints, which would have made the rambling episodes tighter and cleared them of their worst blood and exposed-breast excesses. [8 Jan 1999, p.8E]

It takes a while to pull you in -- but once it does, you're likely to stay. [20 Sept 1999, p.1D]

That sincere desire to serve is key. In the wrong hands, Scrubs could have been another mean-spirited juvenile comedy about smart-aleck, self-absorbed, barely post-collegiate yuppies -- which is the impression you may have gotten from NBC's inexplicably unpleasant promos. But Lawrence takes pains to show us that these doctors take their jobs seriously, an essential task accomplished without sacrificing any of the humor. In a sense, the show is a flashback to M*A*S*H, both in its look (Scrubs is shot without an audience) and in the way it blends laughs with life-and-death emotion.

Though the entire cast is strong, it's Morris who holds the show together with a winning combination of smarts, looks, steel and warmth. She makes a very good Case for watching. [26 Sept 2003, p.14E]

Dense, dark, a little dreary and yet oddly intriguing, Heroes seems destined to attract an audience that is more loyal than large.

Of all the season's new dark-arts adventures, WB's aptly if generically named Supernatural may be the simplest and the scariest.... It wants nothing more than to frighten you -- and tonight, it does.

It's well cast, well executed and solidly competent across the board. But exciting, it's not.

Tonight's premiere rises and falls with Davis, and she's completely in command. We'll just have to hope the rest of the show falls in line behind her.

There is something extraordinarily appealing about the show's central pair.

Prison Break may not hold up as a weekly series; it's much too soon to tell. But by and large it works as a two-hour premiere special, one that grabs your attention from its first scene to its startling cliffhanger ending.

Triangle boasts an attractive cast and some clever twists, but it often has to stretch to fill time.

Though he's playing a smarter, wittier, more self aware character than he did in The Office, Gervais displays the same gift for the social faux pas, and the same inability to extract himself from increasingly improper conversations.

There are times when the show feels both weightless and way too precious (that title), but those are counterbalanced by the charm and skill of the cast.

As a whole, the show is as cute and easy to like as its star, and that's saying something.

Practice is the kind of show that will probably appeal to those who like their comedy theatrical.

Like Harry, the show has yet to fully master its tricks. There are a few decent jolts, but nothing is truly frightening or even that threatening. And while the show can be amusing, it's never exactly side-splitting.

Even when the guests and plots falter, the regular cast keeps the hour in painless motion.

TV desperately needs a straightforward drama that explores family dynamics without some imposed gimmick, and Brothers & Sisters could just be the show to fill that bill.

This may not be the sitcom breakthrough for which we've all been hoping, but Lorre has produced a first episode that leaves you eager to try the second.

Nothing about this cookie-cutter courtroom drama is really up to Woods' talent, but given his head and a lot of room, he makes it work.

There's no denying that the show looks a little worn, a victim perhaps of budget pressures that may have moved the series from cost-efficient to cheap. But even a reduced Lights is better than most TV series.

Is Lights the show it was when it began? No. But it's still better than most anything else on the TV field.

Intriguing and involving, if sometimes odd for oddness' sake alone, Raines is a novel twist on one of TV's oldest formats: the single, super-intuitive detective.

Yet for all its laughs, 30 Rock does call to mind a kind of sketch show version of The Mary Tyler Moore Show — one in which everyone's playing Ted. That can be fun for a while, but eventually sitcom viewers tend to want to root for someone.

As funny as this scattershot sitcom can be, the problem remains that show business (and in particular, GE's business) is a topic of limited long-haul mass appeal.

The larger problem with Justice it that allows the plot to bury the characters.

It's a smart, speedy melodrama, supported by a terrific cast and driven by a rip-roaring star. Damages is more than Close, but she's so compelling, it would be worth watching for her alone.

Sunday's two-hour premiere does a solid job of introducing an intriguing, if not exactly convincing, story and some appealing actors.

Funnier and unexpectedly sweeter than the current norm.

The show seems faster, brighter and more entertaining than most of the serials that beat it to the punch this fall.

As in many filmed comedies, at times Knights seems content to substitute movement and scenery for comedy, but the brighter moments compensate for those times when the show goes slack.

Granted, the premise is a stretch. But the gimmick allows for some clever comic jibes while creating some useful dramatic tension between Shawn and the cops, Shawn and his father, and Shawn and his best friend.

The series does what it was designed to do: It stays true to its roots while allowing fans to spend more time with Molly and her friends and the actors who play them.

The Riches most often treats this family and their mad attempt to steal a new identity with a delightfully light comic touch bolstered by an underpinning of yearning.... The show stumbles whenever it tries to become dark or serious.

It's hard not to like a show that extends its warmth even to characters you expect to be unsympathetic and that expands its entertainment vocabulary to music, dancing and flights of fancy.

For now, let's leave concerns for the future to Eli. In the present, things are looking good.

Convincing both as the terrible woman she used to be and the nicer woman she's trying to be, Applegate holds the character together even when she's yelping or collapsing in a dither--though in the long run, less of that would be more.

The show maintains a sensible balance between introducing Elizabeth's foibles and telling the story at hand--a well-constructed case that has her battling an ambitious prosecutor (the always interesting Terry Kinney).

This relatively entertaining fantasy has one obvious viewership advantage over many of its strike-bound scripted competitors: new episodes, and not bad ones at that.

Some of the lines are witty, and while parents won't approve of all that goes on, the kids talk about much more than they actually do.

Despite some passing references to Henry's fondness for "humanism" and new, middle-class men, no one is likely to mistake The Tudors for a treatise on the socioeconomic pressures that reshaped England during Henry's reign. Still, the show does a fine job of showing the interplay of passions and politics that shaped so many of his decisions.

Happily, the American version--a second try, after an original pilot was scrapped--makes mostly wise decisions, starting with trusting the show to O'Mara. He's off to an excellent start, particularly in grounding the story by keeping his reactions rooted in reality.

Still, even when Back is faltering, you flash back to the skill of its stars and to moments when the show succeeds in making you laugh out loud.

Obviously bigger and in most ways better than the wildly popular original, High School Musical 2 is as certain a bet to find and please its target audience as you're likely to find.

The show is fun as is, but rise to Collette's level, and it could be great.

Though fun, the opener's skits are too short, and the characters too numerous, for any one joke to register. But give the show a week to settle, and the strengths of Ullman's concept come to the fore.

The Mentalist may be a copy, but it's a well-done copy sparked by an actor who has come into his own as a TV star.

Yet for all that it revels in catastrophe, the most promising aspect of Worst Week is a sweet-tempered empathy that allows you to identify with all four characters.

As much fun as Harper's can be if you're inclined to recline into it, the show was clearly produced with too little talent and, odds are, too little money.

None of the episodes is likely to keep you up at night puzzling out the intricacies of the mystery, but they won't bore you or insult your intelligence. Castle exists to exploit the appeal of its stars and the amusing byplay between their characters, and it does that with admirable efficiency.

In essence, Librarian is a summer movie blockbuster on a winter TV budget, and has all the virtues and flaws you'd expect from that odd pairing--including never taking itself too seriously.

Some of the lessons are laid on a bit thick. But the cast, including April Bowlby as Deb's best friend, Ben Feldman as her guardian angel, and Jackson Hurst as her boyfriend, sells them with a minimum of fuss and a light touch.

All in all, O'Brien got his Tonight off to a decent start, though you still got the sense you were watching an introduction more than a settled production.

The cases he tackles are intriguing, if wildly complicated and too often sustained by that peculiar TV mystery mix of intuitive leaps and bad basic police work....Yet as with all such shows, it's the main character who provides the main reason for watching, as the long-suffering Wallander struggles to solve the crimes and put his life back in order.

Tonight's 90-minute premiere is a tad overextended, but it still provides an effective and entertaining launchpad for the premise.

The show's gimmick does extend beyond reading expressions--they analyze voices and psychoanalyze answers--and the show does have its amusing moments. What it doesn't have is any sense of surprise, and once the novelty factor wears off, you just wonder whether there's enough here to sustain a series.

For all the sex jokes (most of which are amusing), this is at heart a family comedy, with Cox completely winning as a mom trying to make herself happy without making her son miserable. Odds are that other moms can relate.

FlashForward may not keep you hooked for years or even months, but chances are good tonight's episode will bring you back next week. For now, that's as far forward as we need to flash.

The tweaks this new Fox hour brings to the template are a higher degree of special-effects-fueled action, a faster pace and a consistently amusing tongue-in-cheek tone.

Competent as Vampire may be, there's also something rehashed and filtered about it, to the point where it sometimes feels like the kiddie-ride version of "True Blood," and perhaps appropriately so.

It establishes the main character--and reintroduces us to a totally winning TV star--while creating a multilayered world that gives that character room to maneuver and grow.

For all its flights of fancy and its meta-jokes (most of them ably put across by Danny Pudi), the show still allows us to invest in Joel McHale's Jeff and his journey to self-improvement. Yet in its search for a plot, Community often seems to send Jeff back to square one so he can be redeemed all over again.

Ted, like most such single-camera sitcoms, is just too mannered and cold, though warming signs do appear in later episodes. Happily, despite its flaws, it's well-cast and reasonably entertaining.

The script paints the women too broadly while offering a few too many variations on the same youth-obsessed-culture themes. Still, darned if the women don't carry it off, at least well enough to bring you back for a second episode.

While Pillars can seem a bit comic, it isn't camp. The characters and their beliefs are treated seriously and with respect, and no one is without some virtue or some sin.

Still, in keeping with USA's sunnier outlook, this is a far lighter show than Alias: less complicated, less morally complex, less deep and, while fun, just simply "less."

There's little in the setup you haven't seen before or, given TV's proclivities, won't see again. But Passmore does a good job of making his character seem intelligent and a bit maddening without letting him become obnoxious.

There is pleasure to be found in Life. There'd be even more, though, if a few more of us were invited in.

Archer is not for everyone, and certainly not for anyone whose idea of risque is "Get Smart." But do yourself one favor: Don't decide it's not for you until you have watched an entire episode, because you just may find the good outweighs the excessive.

There are small, recognizable crisis and equally life-sized solutions, all laced with dialogue that is funny enough to be entertaining without feeling forced.

No matter how many times the cops mention hot clubs and Hollywood stars, or how many visits they make to the beach, LA is not likely to be counted among TV's more glamorous series. If you want flash, look elsewhere. What you get from LA is a show that's as solid and reliable as a well-built sedan.

It's a well-woven tale, with the different strings hanging together nicely and leading off in a few directions you might not expect. The direction is crisp, the cast is fine, the loopholes are mostly closed and the secret-agency/new-identity world is generally convincing, making this in some sense a version of Dollhouse that works better than the original.

While it will no doubt settle back into its normal pattern, the first two episodes have been a bit busy--and a little light on the courtroom drama side of things.

While many of the weight jokes are very funny, there are a few too many of them. Still, what matters most for the show's future health is that it does not define Mike and Molly as "fat." They're nice, normal, relatable people who eat too much and want to eat less.

The plot is unlikely to interfere with the real draw of Bloods, which is watching a terrific, mature, extremely well-chosen cast interact.

It can't match HBO's upcoming Boardwalk Empire's budget or any network premiere's publicity push. Yet when it comes to scrappy, scruffy charm and sheer entertainment value, Terriers can run with the best of them.

Taken as a fright fest, pure and simple, Dead succeeds admirably well, capturing the terror and confusion of waking up in a world where you've gone from person to endangered-species zombie food overnight.

But the moments it goes too far or feels too slight are countered by the sense you're watching two men who care about their clients and are good at what they do, and by the emotional hook that helps provide. And that may be enough to turn it into a hit.

The Event knows the game it's playing and its risks. You can tell from the wink-at-the-audience last line, delivered by the always-welcome Innes: "I haven't told you everything." Tell us more--and soon would probably be best.

Cougar tends to start out big and a bit nasty, then pull back for a gentler finish. The problem may be that many viewers pull out before it gets there.

Hope, however, has more going for it than a good heart and some good lines. It has a very good cast, with Neff and Dillahunt sure to be welcome weekly presences.

It's a complex story, which may be why Ryan relies in part on an intrusive monologue-narration device to guide us. Still, the intrusions only momentarily interrupt the fast-moving plot, which twists agreeably without losing sight of its moral ambiguities.

What more could you ask? Sharper scripts, for a start, and a better sense that Perry's unhappy central character is strong enough to hold the center of the show. But there's enough promise here, and enough room to grow, that you can't help hoping Sunshine will follow the midterm-correction path set by the show it's replacing, Cougar Town.

Lights Out does turn into a good series. A knockout? No. But sometimes, you have to be content to win on points.

As is often the nature of such programs, Skies does ask you to accept a lot of clunky dialogue and a few too many easily spotted twists. Even so, fans of the genre can embrace it as a summer-viewing diversion--one that's likely to work even better for younger viewers, who haven't seen all the films from which it borrows.

It's a well-constructed piece of popular entertainment from a dependable provider of the same, with an easy-to-like star and an easy-to-grasp premise.

Luckily for Terra Nova, fans of the genre are often at least temporarily willing to overlook bad writing and performances if the battles are exciting and special effects convincing, and they are. That should buy the show time to improve.

It has established genuine emotional bonds between its characters. There is something at stake here beyond the mechanics of the "sting," and that gives the show enough weight to keep it from dissipating in the summer heat.

Simon. He's the gold standard, the judge against whom all others are judged, and his presence is enough to make Factor a factor.

[The premiere is] another well-told story that gives us a bit more insight into the pair while the season's two interconnected running story lines spool out behind them.

Luckily, the last thing many of us need in summer is another show that demands our weekly attention. Entertainment we can dip in and out of will do. And if that's what you want, Wilfred is a good dog indeed.

This is a series where surface is substance, and surfaces don't come much dreamier than in this beautifully realized flight fantasy, from its lovely, terror-free airport to its even lovelier cast.

Max and Caroline's Odd Couple interaction is nothing you haven't seen before. But thanks to the show's two bright young stars, who deliver their shared dialogue with a nice, natural ease, their scenes together have enough charm and humor to make these struggling Girls look like winners.

Two Sarah Michelle Gellars may not be better than one, but they're certainly just as good. And thankfully, that's more than good enough to get the new TV season off to a roaring early start.

There are great performances from Gedrick and Dunn as leaders of a gambling quartet, and good work all around.

The overly blended result may be as much Dickens, Tolkien and J.K. Rowling as it is J.M. Barrie, but it's still an appealing one.

Alcatraz is easy enough to follow tonight, with twists and surprises that are enjoyable and not enervating.

As entertaining as it may be, Apt. 23 does seem like an odd tonal match for the sweeter, more realistic Modern Family. Still, it's nice to see ABC giving a great time slot to a very good show.

A strong cast and that things-that-go-bump-in-the-night shooting style so far keep the show on course.

A star-studded, fast-moving, generally entertaining film about Sarah Palin.

In total, the changes have led to a show that is much better, and is on much more solid footing, than it once was.

What works about the show outweighs what doesn't, but others will read the results differently.

Sorkin has created a funny, free-flowing comedy that more closely reflects the rhythms and look of a feature film. He may still have something to learn about the sitcom form, as witness the abrupt shift to sentimentality that ends the first two episodes. But when he's on his game, he provides moments of unexpected and acute insight that can almost leave you breathless. [22 Sept 1998, p.3D]

Friday's opener is intriguing, but shows such as Doe have a habit of collapsing quickly — usually because the rules governing the hero's behavior bend and stretch to suit the needs of the writers.