Joe Flaherty, the former SCTV standout, chips in as a perfectly apt one-note pop who preaches that all of his former misbehaving classmates are now - "dead!" [25 Sept 1999, p.1C]

This requires some patience at first, although getting a handle on the format is relatively painless. Once that's accomplished, it's thrilling to watch Boomtown navigate twists and turns like a topflight Grand Prix racer. [29 Sept 2002, p.3]

Whether darkly funny, deeply moving or spookily surreal, Six Feet Under is seldom less than bracingly original. It's another landmark series for HBO. [3 June 2001, p.3]

Much of this is likely to go to waste, though. Homicide, possibly the best police series ever, may prove to be the biggest turnoff since Cop Rock. Imagine a series in which a cop walks up to a potential mugger and tells him, "Hey, we're police. Go rob somebody else." [31 Jan 1993, p.5C]

In place of the by-now clichés, House substitutes wit, taut writing and a performance by British actor Hugh Laurie that should put him immediately in the running for a best-actor Emmy. [16 Nov 2004, p.14E]

This might sound same-old, same-old, but isn't. Felicity has the look and feel of a small, bright feature film. Its ensemble cast is attractive and appealing. Most importantly, the acting is strong enough to pull off lines that on paper sound like groaners. [29 Sept 1998, p.1C]

All the president's men and women are deftly drawn and seamlessly woven through a crackerjack opening hour. Whether they'll be able to hold our interest remains to be seen. [22 Sept 1999, p.1C]

Along with the material, Mr. Gandolfini is so good that viewers will sympathize even as they shudder. [9 Jan 1999, p.1C]

It's an inventive, affecting and sometimes amusing hour. [20 Sept 2002, p.6C]

Be forewarned that The Shield easily is the most graphic police series in TV history. That said, it's potentially one of the very best, too. [11 Mar 2002, p.12C]

Think of it as My So-Called Afterlife or Nancy Drew Blood: Despite some lapses into acute self-awareness, Buffy is a biting, stylish high-school drama masquerading as a vampire-movie spinoff and cleverly combining the dark humor of Heathers, the homeroom angst of Beverly Hills, 90210 and the goofy, mystery-solving camaraderie of Scooby Doo, Where Are You? [10 Mar 1997, p.15A]

When the series moves away from stereotyping its main female characters into the slutty (Kim Cattrall), the savvy (Cynthia Nixon) and the sweet (Kristin Davis), and dives right into the muck of the boy-girl thing, it's laugh-out-loud funny. [6 June 1998, p.1C]

Beyond the cursing, nudity and brutish behavior, Mr. Fontana makes the most of his opportunity by pushing TV's visual and storytelling limits.[12 July 1997, p.1C]

The Office, although derivative, is also bracingly fresh and funny. Not that it's likely to be a breakaway hit, or even a modest one, when paired on Tuesdays with the under-appreciated, ratings-impaired "Scrubs." [20 Mar 2005, p.3]

Victims Unit also imports Mr. Belzer's sardonic John Munch character from NBC's canceled Homicide: Life on the Street. His wise-guy asides are a little forced in this first hour, as are some of the recurring sexual references. But the featured case gets more compelling by the minute. [20 Sept 1999, p.1C]

Set in snowy Colorado but filmed in serviceable Utah, it's a stick-to-your-ribs hour with mush and syrup served on the side. This might induce a few groans, but Everwood overall finds the fine line between effective sentiment and overdone melodrama. [16 Sept 2002, p.12C]

It all makes for an easy-to-take sitcom whose best moment finds Jake and Charlie singing the theme song he wrote for Maple Loops cereal. There are some funny lines at a poker game, too, where the kid turns out to be quite a bluffer. [22 Sept 2003, p.12E]

The Wire is by no means a worthless enterprise, and Episode 2 is an improvement over Sunday's comparatively off-putting premiere. It'll be tough to go the distance with this one, though, and far easier to look away. [1 June 2002, p.1C]

None of the six main actors is a stand-up comic, but they're appealing nonetheless...If the scripts get a little sharper, Friends may attract enough of the right demographics to become a hit. [22 Sept 1994]

The show seems sophomoric at first, but gradually graduates to an interesting look at Hollywood's fast-lane ups and downs. [18 July 2004, p.3]

The intermittent blare of pop songs, telegraphing how the audience should feel, also breaks the fourth wall, undermining the power of the action sequences and the few poignant scenes between Sydney and her in-the-dark boyfriend (Edward Atterton). [30 Sept 2001, p.9C]

The O.C. looks as though it will be hard-pressed to build and maintain a loyal base of younger viewers. Sure, it's worth a look. But no, it wouldn't be terribly missed. [4 Aug 2003, p.12E]

If there's hope, it lies in the original version, which after getting off to a slow start did a wonderful job of distinguishing who was who and made you want to know more about them. Hopefully, Fox and Whedon can find a happy compromise, and the cultists can start their keyboards. [20 Sept 2002]

There's too much of this jurisdictional stuff and an overload of staring by Gibbs, most of it directed at the coltish Caitlin. The story is fairly involving, though. And Mr. Harmon is an underrated actor who's added some softer touches after playing Gibbs as a humorless taskmaster in a two-part JAG that introduced the character. [23 Sept 2003, p.10E]

Sometimes you just have to know when to stop. Scrubs is still learning. [2 Oct 2001]

Toto, we're not in I, Claudius, or even Rome, anymore. The problem, though, is that this Spartacus is so over the top that it begs to be considered as total camp.

The hour ends with a ludicrously over-the-top, outside-the-courthouse sequence. A downpour gets musical accompaniment from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" Then a drenched Lilly's hard-driving countenance is framed in a climactic close-up after other key players in the case look somberly upon the scene. Cleansing? Symbolic? No, just way, way overdone.

The corny, almost maudlin conclusions, coupled with the show's we-are-family, us-against-the-network motif, is too sincere to swallow. [22 Sept 1998, p.4C]