Panettiere takes a tricky role and does it, at least, some justice.

You can always count on Gary Busey to bring the crazy, whether he's playing himself on "Entourage" or stumbling through "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew." The man is a treasure. Casting Busey is so easy it's practically cheating.

Film buffs will have a field day analyzing the themes: social climbing, postwar materialism, feminism, lousy parenting, etc. But this is not event TV like "Boardwalk Empire."

Fantasy epics aren't really my thing, but this stylish, intense series should satisfy sci-fi fans for some time.

The pace is so fast that, like a good party, you might forget everything that's happened even before it's over. That's the sign of top-notch disposable entertainment.

Original, it's not. But these friends do have chemistry, and some great moments as a hipster Greek chorus.

The Voice is not that bad.

Despite some cliched dialogue and scenes (she tosses her lecherous husband's designer duds and pricey suitcase out their bedroom window--fresh!), her presence is reason enough to watch--and reason enough to hope this series turns out to be something worth watching week after week.

In the premiere at least, the story unfolds nicely--and to the tune of a good soundtrack. When the episode ended, I wanted to know more about the Circle, both its history and where it's headed.

If you can suspend your disbelief enough to get over the improbable premise (and overlook Nestor Carbonell's abuse of eyeliner as FBI agent Victor Machado), Ringer takes you on an exciting, suspenseful ride full of more twists and turns than Siobhan's hallmark hairdo.

Christina Applegate and Will Arnett have nice chemistry as rookie parents struggling to scale back on their hardworking, hard-partying ways in Up All Night, a largely fresh, irreverent look at child rearing.

New Girl didn't give me as many laugh-out-loud moments as some comedies. But the show delivered something extra that my favorite sitcoms often don't: It made me feel warm and fuzzy.

The first episode unfolds nicely with plenty of suspense and tension. If they can keep it up week after week, they should have no problem holding viewers' interest.

The action is set to the beat of "Mack the Knife" and other swingin' songs that, along with some stunning production design, help the show deliver a hefty dose of '60s nostalgia.

Now that the premise of the show has been established, it would be nice to see more shades of gray and less black and white.

On the whole, Suburgatory delivers more hits than misses, largely thanks to its cast.

At 208 minutes, Scorsese has accomplished the best documentary that is probably possible.

The absurdity of an omniscient sophisticate still in short pants carries plenty of comedic potential.

Co-creators Joe and Tony Gayton have turned out a solid series that got stronger with each of the five episodes I watched.

[A] weekly fix of justice and resolution while the overarching--and more intriguing--story line of McDeere's plight slowly unfolds.

Alcatraz sure is [fun].

The mythology is intriguing and so are the characters, who are as full of witty one-liners as their closets are bursting with black leather.

Overall, the first episode delivers a suspenseful ride around the world, peppered with some tear-jerking moments.

Luck can be maddeningly inscrutable but it becomes less so over time.

The stereotypes slow down in subsequent episodes, which grew more entertaining with each of the four I watched.

Despite this highly unoriginal setup, NBC's midseason rom-com Bent has its charms--most of which come from the laid-back, likable lothario Pete.

The series is highly relatable and, at times, pretty funny.

Soapy melodrama aside, Titanic does a fine job giving viewers a sense of what it was like to be aboard the doomed vessel.

Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 is a deliciously nasty comedy that takes a well-worn formula and whips it to life with clever writing and an engaging cast.

The show chronicles the more humorous than glamorous challenges encountered by Meyer, whose full-time job us self-preservation.

The show is a refreshing alternative to the typical diva docu-series, where overly cosmeticked prima donnas stir up drama in their perfectly appointed mansions.

The well-executed drama is a welcome addition to the programming lineup for a network better known for non-scripted series like "Swamp People" and "Pawn Stars."

While politics come into play later, it is human emotions such as grief, regret and loss that fans can look forward to sinking their teeth into at the start of the season.

While the latest interpretation doesn't live up to the British import, it's still more entertaining than your typical CBS procedural.

This ranks among the best new comedies of the season.

What Vegas lacks in the whodunit department it makes up for with the bigger narrative about a town up for grabs and the two men vying to get their hands on it.

It's another welcome helping of "New Girl" adorkability.

Toss in some sex and Southern-style politics, and you've got plenty to sing about.

This slick action-drama is based on the comic book superhero Green Arrow. Prepare to quiver.

The Dust Bowl is more like eat-your-vegetables television than some of Burns' other endeavors, namely his last PBS documentary, "Prohibition." But it's still a worthwhile examination of an overlooked chapter from our past that holds plenty of lessons for our future.

Despite cable's relaxed standards for nudity and swearing, as well as the addition of new showrunner Ric Swartzlander ("Gary Unmarried"), Cougar Town still feels like the same old show--a very good show at that.

The 13-episode Legit fits right in at the male-skewing cable network known for pushing the envelope with edgier, unconventional fare.

The story isn't brilliant or all that sophisticated, but the scripts are stocked with enough clever twists and turns to keep you guessing.

David Duchovny from "Red Shoe Diaries," "Twin Peaks" and the current film "Kalifornia" combines an off-center earnestness with a weird sense of humor to make Mulder likable and convincing. As Scully, Gillian Anderson provides a cool, logical counterpart for Spooky. It's a perfectly balanced pairing, with only a hint of sexual tension. [10 Sept 1993, p.61]

Like the kids it's about, this show deserves a better fate, however. (Saturday night at 7? Come on, NBC.) It's a dry-eyed but ultimately sweet program, and if you're home alone on a date night, it's for you. [24 Sept 1999, p.48]

The key here is that the emotional payoffs are dead-on. [20 Sept 1999, p.38]

With its stylized violence, pop-culture jokes and self-mocking attitude, Buffy deserves positive comparisons to Wes Craven's "Scream." [10 Mar 1997, p.33]

The mysteries may not be all that mysterious and the music all but clubs you at times, but there's something about Morris' performance that holds the thing together. [26 Sept 2003, p.53]

The clever series, from the creators of HBO's "Dream On", stars an appealing group of actors who are just a bit funnier and better-looking than your average friend. [22 Sept 1994, p.43]

Warning: This is not "Cheers II." With the morose Crane as the central character, the Frasier spinoff reflects the gloomy, occasionally pompous personality of the guilt-burdened shrink and the star who plays him. The humor is moody and cerebral, like the chilly Grammer. But that's not bad - especially in this season of warm and gooey domestic sitcoms. [16 Sept 1993, p.43]

As realistic a series as you're bound to see in which a beautiful, smart, athletic and resourceful young woman moonlights for an ultrasecret wing of the Central Intelligence Agency in between her grad school studies. [28 Sept 2001, p.48]

Sumptuously shot and full of period detail, Mr. Selfridge is stocked with plenty of upstairs/downstairs drama, often with a little too much attention being lavished on the workers’ personal storylines.

Parker projects a saucy style, but her Carrie character comes across as an arrogant skeptic with an I-don't-really-care attitude. She avoids emotional risks. Despite her rampant curiosity and calculated posing, Carrie prefers to keep her distance as a journalist. [4 June 1998, p.43]

All of this starts a bit slowly. It's not certain at first how much you should and can care about any of these people. But the eight-episode series and the characters grow on you with each week, and it turns out they have more depth than they initially let on -- or even know themselves. [16 July 2004, p.47]

One of the better new series this fall despite a habit of turning mawkish in the last five minutes each week. It's helped immensely by its very endearing characters. [22 Sept 1998, p.41]

McKenzie is a revelation and, backed by an able cast, he is what salvages this music-infused, glossy soap from slick filmmakers Doug Liman and McG. [5 Aug 2003, p.39]

It’s an educational, entertaining, warts-and-all look at something that deserves our better understanding.

The new version isn't as painfully, profoundly funny as the original. But that's as it should be. American audiences don't necessarily want to cringe when they sit down for a sitcom. This is why "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is a cult hit, and not a hit hit. [23 Mar 2005, p.59]

"Kitchen Confidential" holds more potential than tonight's decent if imperfect start, given Star's track record and casting.

There's promise here, as long as it gets grittier and funnier, and doesn't descend into bombast.

It's kind of good.

Heavy-handed.

It's skank-errific, if flawed.

The writers and directors do a sometimes routine, sometimes solid job of making something as atypical as an imprisoned innocent seem believable in the world of fictional network television.

"South Beach" isn't the terrible waste of viewing time a cynic might expect. But it is a conventionally drawn, sudsy soap.

Where "Party" goes awry is by trying to be an hour. That's twice as long as it should be. There's more fat in it than a Popeye's biscuit.

Some results are interesting anthropologically. But "Black.White" bogs down in conversation and never fascinates.

Presumably, the actors will settle into their roles and get a better grip on timing and volume. They're over-the-top for material that's already zany.

Dramatically speaking, what douses a bit of the fire of this ensemble show are a few non-compelling characters and/or bad actors.

Irons and the rest of the cast are spot-on. The writing and directing are fairly crisp. Perhaps, though, tracing Elizabeth's life for 20-plus years subtracted from my becoming intently involved in each period of this biopic.

It's a fairly entertaining show right out of the gate, though it's distractingly busy with a gimmick: Poorly edited flashbacks pop up suddenly to show what victims were doing in the moments before they suffered health problems. This could be done well, but it's not now.

There's nothing particularly fresh or appealing about the story lines or symbolisms, no matter how well-directed and -acted "Brotherhood" is.

In better moments, "Weeds" proves small kerflops can be made interesting and fun to watch. In lesser moments, not so.

"Shark" now looks like above-average, workaday TV with promise.

Scenes that work are funny... Scenes that fall flat are merely blah, rather than stupid.

There's nothing wrong with "The Nine." It's just essentially a step above pedestrian.

"Dirt" gets the ingredients right (the tone, acting and pacing are swell), but the dialogue doesn't make it addicting enough to watch, and the editing could be slicker more often.

NBC should consider scrapping Thursday's first episode.... But then come the second and third installments -- inspired, taut and funny.

In fact, "The Tudors" suffers from being merely capable on most fronts, a decent diversion. The direction is effective but artistically flat, and so are several scripts.

NBC's new "Thank God You're Here" doesn't start out as strong as I'd hoped. It has potential, though.

"Army Wives" is better than it has any right to be.

The storylines are not so much entertainingly paced as they are merely interesting, representational or too often plodding.

K-Ville's" heavy tone and sober acting capture enough of that essence to make it interesting.

As far as junk like this goes, it's not heinous and has moments of OK-ness.

Though the characters on this show, premiering Friday on CBS, are relatable and watchable, the slow pace might prove to be too much of a cultural divide for an American audience used to the quick cuts and immediate resolve seen on American cop shows.

Some may take issue with the cynical tone of both series [Saving grace and The Cleaner] or the fact that there is very little divine intervention in either.

I'm on the bubble with Fringe. The characters are all interesting and the acting is top notch, but the plot is essentially an update of "The X-Files" with the addition of terrorism and the office of Homeland Security.

The nostalgic feel Wisteria Lane once held has evaporated, ironically leaving fans nostalgic for the way things once were.

Hood comes across as brilliant but aloof. Young, meanwhile, seems to be angry, but the source of her anger isn't really explored (we can only assume that babysitting a scientist, no matter how brilliant, is not the job people sign up for when they go to work for the FBI).

Nothing is as it seems--too much of the time. Intrigue is good; circular storytelling to the point of viewer exhaustion is bad.

While he could use some better support, Swayze turns in a subtle and strong performance.

The first episode's biggest flaw is that it lacks humor, a hallmark of Whedon's writing. Thankfully, this is rectified in future episodes.

It overflows with a distinctive feel-good vibe. It looks and acts more like a PBS series than something new on HBO.

There are some great lines, but it seems like a predictable formula: Get one couple together per episode, flirt with doctor. Where's the magic in that?

This embarrassment of riches isn't necessarily an embarrassment, but it's not the slam dunk it should be, either.

His light blue eyes are so piercing you may forget that his special skill isn't X-ray vision. But he's supported by writing and characters that may induce eye rolling.

The show's weaknesses, in its first two episodes, rest in some slack dialogue and unevenly edited payoffs of suspense.

It's slicker, more ambitious and has more chuckles than expected.

I’d be lying if I said I thought Lie to Me won’t get old fast.

All in all, it might be worth sticking with Parks and Recreation, because there are lots of funny little moments that could add up to a great series.

For me, this show is a one-night stand, not a relationship.

I give Jay's latest effort a firm pat on the back. Keep the scandal-ridden guests on the schedule and make the Dan Band a permanent fixture, and I'll be back for more.

Most of the characters are about as distinctive as mannequins. You won't mind, though, because they're awfully nice to look at. But the disgraced supermodel is played by Mischa Barton, and this is where the show may achieve inadvertent poignancy.

The actors are good, the writing's fine, and it's pleasant enough to watch. It's just that it all adds up to a series of pale imitations.

The cases are inventive, and the acting is low key. Entertainmentwise, the series is nothing special.

The show is too close to a comedy routine to be successful, although future episodes may feel less practiced. But whether or not the show makes it, one thing is clear: Sherri Shepherd is a star. An original.

The dialogue is entirely composed of trash talk, and as far as that goes, it's pretty creative.

There's nothing original about the series that wasn't already covered in "L.A. Law."

As a series, Treme is a tough slog. I was by turns confused, bored and sad.

The frequent pop-culture references might not age well in syndication--Michelle Obama maybe, but Heidi Montag? Overall, though, there's enough originality and likability in "Are We There Yet?" to make it a pleasant destination.

The series is fun, slick and fast, but cheesier than it needs to be.

Maybe the cast of this sitcom will come together with some "Community"-level chemistry. Right now, it's just awkward and borderline offensive.

The first case they investigate is plenty sensational, but there's nothing special about the show, no connection to any of the characters.

It was all a bit too corny and predictable for my taste, though. Add a mutant strain of irony, and they just might gain another super-fan.

Maybe School Pride doesn't have the drama of a single sob story, but by the end of the pilot you'll feel both ashamed and inspired. This is what it looks like to volunteer, and there's no reason why you can't do something. Go team!

There's potential for Conan, once his ego gets off the couch. [9 Nov 2010, p.8]

It's hard to muster up a sense of urgency about V. Mainly, I admire all the pretty people as I wait for the stunning bursts of violence.

"Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes brings us another soapy doctor drama, set in a lush jungle instead of a hospital.

There's nothing terribly original about the Shedding, although it's a hoot to hear about the couples' theme weddings.

If nothing else, Breakout Kings is a nice travelogue of the country's prisons. Here's hoping there's a juicy episode coming up for Stateville. But the gratuitous violence and creepiness will turn off a lot of viewers.

If the movie had gone all-out camp, it could have been a classic. If it had gone all-out cheesy, we could mock it more mercilessly. As is, William & Kate is as benign as the actual couple.

The problem is that financial idiots (hello!) will still be bewildered by the complicated wranglings and enormous cast, and people familiar with the crisis will be annoyed by the simplistic tone and fictionalized scenes.

The bottom line is this isn't a show you tune into for sophisticated narrative, innovative plot twists and complex characters. It's a sexy, soapy period drama that's as fluffy as the tails on its buxom stars' backsides.

There's plenty of guilty pleasure to be had in watching she-wolves in Chanel and their sugar daddies go down week after week. But be prepared to put up with cheesy dialogue and spotty acting along the way.

Man Up! has potential, especially if it stops belaboring its premise with Will constantly harping about his masculinity feeling threatened.

I don't see this fairy-tale fantasy having broad enough appeal to conjure up the kind of viewer numbers it will need to stick around.

Reality TV has blessed us with so many idiots to laugh at, it's overkill to have a couple of animated jackasses describe what a jackass Snooki is.

Good Vibes delivered some good laughs in between crotch punches and penis punch lines.

At least season five starts better than Italy ended. The brood is back where they belong.

Like the main character herself, the show is crude and rough around the edges, but you can see glimmers of potential.

A lighthearted blend of action, drama and comedy.

Not all of Unsupervised's jokes stick their landing, and the content is on the crude side. But I'm willing to check up on Gary and Joel every so often to see how they're acting out while growing up.

Drew Peterson: Untouchable isn't a terrible movie. But it is the victim of a bad casting decision that put Lowe in the loafers of this puffy, inexplicably cocky and occasionally charismatic cop.

It's a unique concept [public can purchase online that night or the next day], although that's where Fashion Star's originality ends.

The acting is solid, the scenery is appealing and Becca's quest to find her son provides a fair bit of dramatic tension. But what's really missing is credibility.

This female-skewing drama gets points for its actors' performances and its originality.

Television shows about advertising, like most professions, are generally more compelling as fiction, not fact. That's certainly the case here.

This "Ghost"-meets-"A Gifted Man"-meets-"Grey's Anatomy" has some fun, clever and emotion-stirring moments, but they're handicapped by cheesy montages and one too many scenarios designed to remind us of the importance of having hope.

Dallas is full of implausibilities. So are a lot of soaps. But this one offers something the others don't: a nostalgic romp in a dysfunctional ranch that was a Friday night fixture on many a TV set.

The show should focus less on catty hospital politics and more on the inherently compelling conflict of a person who has good reason to do bad things.

The show isn't revolutionary, but it is sweet and relatable.

It's already clear, however, that the writing can be a bit corny, the action sequences a tad ridiculous and the plot prone to nit-picking.

It's not ground-breaking or cutting-edge, and it's by no means the funniest show on TV. But it has the potential to get more lovable with time if viewers vote to give it a chance.

Monday Mornings spends a fair bit of time probing controversial and ethically complex issues like organ donation, informed consent, health insurance and advance directives. But that, coupled with a cast of characters who don't become all that compelling after three episodes, isn't enough to elevate the series above the rest of the pack.

The characters, initially at least, aren't nearly so original and fully imagined, and that's a problem in any show. Fortunately, in space, no one can hear you yawn.[20 Sept 2002, p.46]

Too much of the pilot is spent trying to make us understand what NCIS is, and too much of this NCIS unit's time is devoted to wrestling for jurisdiction within the federal government. Just let these people do their work and we might actually have something beyond a mere potboiler. [23 Sept 2003, p.41]

Syrupy at best, this earnest if too-often improbable drama from Northwestern grad Greg Berlanti is designed to mesh with "7th Heaven," but it isn't as family-friendly as promoted if the language and occasional plot point in the opener is any indication. [16 Sept 2002, p.39]

Phil Spector is just about ideal as an HBO movie; watchable and gossip-worthy but just not that compelling.

It serves up 25 attractive women willing to sacrifice their dignity--and future--to win a possible husband in what amounts to a glorified game show. [22 Mar 2002, p.49]

The half-tense dramatic payoff is a pleasant surprise, but the bluster -- oh, the bluster and machismo are palpable.

The new premiere isn't horrible, and it shows some promise.

This show may convince us the Simmonses are good people. But there's not much catchy drama in following the evolution of a teenager's party planning.

"Four Kings" is a strange thing. The first episode of the new NBC comedy reeks. But there are moments in the next two episodes that make it seem as if it has the potential to be a male version of "Sex and the City," minus the naughty stuff HBO could show that NBC can't.

The cast is a fine one. The chemistry works between Elfman and Randall. The weakness of "Alex's" premiere -- and not future episodes, I hope -- is the overwrought script.

Hopefully, the scriptwriting will improve and make better use of the cast, which is ripe for higher-quality material.

"Old Christine" could morph into a fresh and funny staple, as long as it's tinkered with correctly.

There is one fantastic thing about this show. It's only a half-hour.

[It is] a mess of unconvincing drama, and the acting veers from magnificent to quite poor.

The show's weakness is that not a lot of interesting or funny stuff happens on the bus or in their touring cities.

"Tuesday Night Book Club" has the effect of making viewers wish to live somewhere less petty and self-destructive than America, or at least the Scottsdale of this show.

"Blade" could work as an earnest fantasy. It just doesn't, yet.

The first episode is OK. Predictable. Standard. But Garrett's funny, and he and Fisher work great together.

It's awash in sudsy Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild, plus a bit of Tippi Hedren. But slow tension fails to fill the first episode, and the acting is a tangle of scorns.

Good cast. Nice narrative flow. But I don't quite care about this drama yet -- villains are too smart and heavyhanded, and tension is slack.

The first episode doesn't measure up to the actors' capabilities, but there is a fantastic amount of promise.

At first blush, "Help Me Help You" looks like it will be terrible, but it's not. The actors are talented. The language and pacing are playful.

"1 vs. 100" isn't really bad. Its only serious trouble is the pacing. In an hourlong episode, I count just 14 questions.

The problem with the beginning of "24" isn't the plotting or the rusty acting. It's the pacing, the clunky rhythm of the action-adventure. Thank goodness, the quality of "24" fluctuates, so it has real potential to become great again in future episodes.

"The Winner" quickly metastasizes into a routine sitcom with laugh tracks and Ye Olde Storylines.

"Hidden Palms" isn't totally odious. After the bad acting in the initial daddy suicide, the show calms down and holds mild interest for its bikini hotness, cool blue pools and unapologetic stupidity.

Taylor, being one of Hollywood's underutilized great actresses, makes State of Mind interesting just by appearing in it. Taylor's supporting cast is quite good, too.

Coughlan finds the nice subtle undertones so Jenny seems more real and less cardboard.

The direction is capable. And there are moments of shining in the script, though there aren't yet enough fine scenes.

The dramatic structure is overorganized around the linear detective-ing, and the show's too Dan-centric without a "Quantum Leap"-like partner to spice things up.

What's not fun? At least half of the rest of the show.

At first, this new comedy about four mostly wimpy dudes seems just stupid, but some of it is decent.

Samantha is more of a smiler than a laugher. That's fine. But the comedy straddles straight-up storytelling with clumsy moments of broad comedy (no insulting pun intended).

Breaking could be a good study of acting, since Cranston and Aaron Paul (as his partner, Jesse) get under the grimy skin of their characters. But there's not enough of the good stuff, like writing, directing, mood, cinematography--you get the point.

The tone of this odd show (created by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, and initially directed by Ken Olin) is both sweet and wacky, as if it were made by David E. Kelley, he of "Ally McBeal." But it's missing something.

While Unhitched certainly contains its share of gross-out moments, these moments all feel so hopelessly forced and happen to characters we care so little about that they don't carry the comedic weight they should.

There also is something disturbing about making a game out of charitable acts.

Where the original show used to be a leader, so far the spinoff is a follower.

Worst Week, a new entry in CBS' Monday lineup, is a luke-warm sitcom about a schleprock of a magazine editor named Sam Briggs (Kyle Bornheimer) who becomes nervous and accident-prone when around his fiancee Melanie's conservative parents Dick (Kurtwood Smith, reprising the gruff father figure he played on "That '70s Show") and mother Angela (Nancy Lenehan).

Mohr knows how to deliver a sarcastic one-liner, the pilot has a few laughs and the characters are all likable. But despite modern references to things like "Second Life," the whole show comes across as a bit antiquated.

Though it features dialogue delivered rapid-fire like the best David Mamet plays, the show isn't quite sure what it wants to be.

An attempt to be silly like O’Brien, his Late Night predecessor, instead had a trying-too-hard feel that approached Carson Daly territory (a place you do not want to be).

The language on Kings is similarly stilted but lacks "Deadwood" writer/producer David Milch's passionate and intellectual punch. King Silas may not be as deliciously Machiavellian as Al Swearingen, but McShane does deliver--and he cleans up well.

Harper's Island is at times suspenseful and intriguing, but it's also a tad confusing.

Gallagher's played by Chris Vance ("Prison Break"), who tries to overcome the cheesy script with a British accent and a little dignity. He fails.

If you can get past the patronizing only-a-white-man-can-save-the-needy concept, the series could be an illuminating look at what's going on in the rest of the world. It's too educational and earnest for me to consider it "entertainment," but other viewers might be better people than me.

If you don't think too hard about it--and don't mind seeing every single romantic movie cliche crammed in two hours--then you will find Labor Pains to be less painful than actual birth.

"Love Monkey" does have its endearing moments. A few chuckles, even. But tonight's debut clomps all over predictable territory.

Somehow, the routine isn't as fun on More to Love [than "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette"].

The show is clever in parts, but it's just not that funny.

Since there's no "Twilight" movie in theaters right now, there's no point in resisting The Vampire Diaries, some prefab filler premiering tonight.

This is a story of desperation, not liberation. Cox is too good for this.

Any effective moments are outweighed by thumpingly obvious sentimentality, hospital stereotypes, and undignified "girl talk."

The basic concept isn't bad. It's nice to see a captain of industry humbled, particularly now, but even that is unsatisfying in Hank.

Maybe you can appreciate this series without the fear that you will be expected to write a thesis on it. But I urge you to heed my advice: Opt out while you can.

Is he worth sitting through the entire show? It depends on how desperate you are for companionship.

Pretty Little Liars doesn't have the sense of humor -- or the wardrobe -- of "Gossip Girl." In fact, a surprising number of scenes call for bikinis. But the ongoing mystery (not to mention a secret referred only to "the Jenna thing") may prove irresistible to young people.

The Gates feels like it's been pieced together from so many other shows that it resembles the one monster that's not been included: Frankenstein.

Rookie Blue makes every rookie mistake there is. And the main message going out to the public about new police recruits? "They're so cute!"

Haven succeeds at laying on the whimsy, and the dialogue is cute. But it's impossible to follow the investigation, and each discovery raises more questions--not about the supernatural, but about the holes in the script.

"Doll House" covered this territory with more creativity, but we could always use another female superhero on TV. Especially one who has mastered the technology of the "lipstick bomb."

Prepare yourself for preachiness in the third degree. Mr. Smits went to Washington, and now is sharing his moral righteousness with the rest of us.

The godson of "The Sopranos" heads the cast of this police procedural, which is having trouble finding its tone.

If you don't have a support group of pals to compare notes with, you could do worse than The Talk. Let's hope it stays lively.