"The Wire" is as complex a picaresque as one is likely to find this side of Dickens.

What's most important is that Homeland provides a smart, thrilling hour of entertainment for the next 12 weeks.

None of these twists are for the faint of heart, which is why Breaking Bad is a smart, thought-provoking TV show that elevates the artistic achievements of the medium.

Maintains the quality viewers have come to expect.

"Battlestar Galactica" is one of the most politically relevant and necessarily bleak series on television today.

The series remains smart and thought-provoking but it's also quite funny.

Gritty, tough, no-holds barred television that feels more real than any other police drama on the air. It makes "NYPD Blue" look like a children's show. [10 Mar 2002, p.TV-5]

Viewers who cringe at pathos may miss the occasionally lighter tone of earlier Mad Men seasons. But these are the circumstances the characters find themselves in. Besides, at this point in a series' run, most viewers are tuning in for the character stories, where some grace and positivity still pop up.

As a new year begins, viewers will be hard-pressed to find a more sumptuous, engaging drama than the "Masterpiece Classic" miniseries Downton Abbey.

Viewers hungering for a twisty-turny, who's-right-who's-wrong thriller will find it in Showtime's domestic terrorism drama Homeland.

The season premiere is a little clunky as it cleans up the mess left after the show's first-season finale--the sooner the show moves beyond that, the better.

Most of the time Sherlock's cheeky sense of humor makes this version of the character a delight.

Clearly this show is not for the easily offended. Not everyone will appreciate this kind of humor, but anyone who values smart, provocative comedy that's about truth telling will be intrigued.

HBO shows aside, visceral Boomtown is the new exemplar of quality TV dramas on Sunday night... Boomtown engrosses. It's the season's strongest new drama, not just because it takes a chance on a novel format, but because it manages to tell stand-alone stories even as it develops the characters in its large ensemble. [27 Sept 2002, p.40]

Bad challenges anxious viewers, but it remains one of TV's best hours, thanks to strong performances from the entire cast and the steady, guiding hand of executive producer Vince Gilligan, who proves in tonight's episode that he values realistic, risk-taking storytelling over the more convenient status quo.

It's the most thrilling premiere hour of "24" yet.

As season two begins, creators/executive producers Robert and Michelle King show no signs of standing pat. They're allowing the series and its characters to evolve while reminding viewers of the show's original premise.

For some viewers, even fans of smart, high-quality TV, there may come a point when too many dark, layered television series become just as tiresome as too many look-alike procedurals. We haven't yet reached that point with Boardwalk Empire, but some episodes are more admirable than enjoyable.

Should appeal to fans of Rock and to viewers who long for a family comedy reminiscent of "The Cosby Show" (albeit with a sharper edge).

GOT is easily television's most ambitious drama for expansive storytelling, but it doesn't shirk its duty to tell smaller stories about individual characters. That the series manages to excel at both is rewarding and breathtaking in its achievement.

"Longford" dives head-long into some of the most complex questions of human morality, and it's a pleasure to watch an actor of Broadbent's caliber tackle the notion of forgiveness with dignity and solemnity in what is easily one of the best TV movies you're likely to see this year.

Archer hits the comedy bull's-eye with smart, provocative writing.

Mad Men relies on its talented cast to communicate the unspoken, to get across the emotions and thoughts that roil just beneath the surface. I'll admit, there are times when I know I'm supposed to intuit something but I'm not completely sure what it is. And that's OK.

These are fantastic characters with socio-economic backgrounds we rarely see in TV dramas, and that's one of the many things that makes FNL unique. Whether you can watch the show now or won't have access to it until 2010, FNL continues to be TV worth watching.

Even in its sixth season Mad Men, remains a standout, a better series than 95 percent of what's on television.

The best new show of the season...It's less sentimental than "The Wonder Years" and not as concerned with its period setting. Unlike "My So-Called Life," which was real in a gloomy-doesn't-life-stink way, Freaks and Geeks finds abundant humor in the absurdity of the situations the characters face. [22 Sept 1999, p.C-1]

The combination of music and some humor, particularly from Mr. Goodman's character, make "Treme" easier to digest than a David Simon series might otherwise be.

Girls grew on me. As annoying as the characters can be, they also evince recognizable traits in absurdly realistic situations.