I expected it to be yet another R-rated historical soap with an overqualified cast. It's that. (The series is co-executive produced by ... wait a second ... Michael Hirst? Not him again!) But it's also good. And addictive--not just because of the blood-and-boobs aspects, but because it takes you inside an unfamiliar world and shows you how it works.

CW's Nikita remake isn't nearly as awful as you'd imagine. In fact, it's remarkably good.

I really want to love Linney in this role, because she's a great actress and she does pull off about half of her scenes in The Big C. But there's just something leaden and unnatural about the way her role is written and performed, as if someone is standing on the sidelines yelling "Smiles, everyone! Smiles!" the whole time.

Needless to say, Kevin Spacey and Denis Leary are both lively and funny in their roles as members of Al Gore's team, but it's Laura Dern who really steals the movie with her hysterically self-involved portrait of Katherine Harris.

Hung is much more subtle and charming and odd than its name or its concept imply.

Revenge might sound enjoyably soapy in the abstract, but its execution is problematic.

Despite showing some very gruesome imagery--a real decapitated head, for example--and having a swaggy, “we’re so hip we send our reporters into dangerous places looking like they just rolled out of bed” self-aggrandizement, Vice is fundamentally earnest.

The pilot delivers some hearty laughs, but it also has a couple of painfully tired bits that come close to deflating the entire proceedings.

Not great, but good, and promising.

Although every second of this comedy is far from genius, the disturbed mood and unique mean-spirited flavor of it all points to what the network comedies are so often lacking: bold choices that border on the absurd.

Now and then Shameless sloughs off its mostly self-imposed constraints and fires on all cylinders, observing economic hardship, drunken tomfoolery and sexual shenanigans with a keen eye for class specifics.

Her persona combines Whitney Cummings’ bawdiness and Mindy Kaling’s entitlement with a self-proclaimed slutty streak (“I am sluttier than your average bear,” she proclaims), a familiar combination that feels original only in flashes. Schumer is sharper than her material.

The results are satisfying, and suspenseful, yes, but also a little bit stupid and predictable, too.

Political Animals may be super-fun, but it is also superficial.

The best thing about "Prison Break" is that we've never seen anything like it before.

Not only does Colbert maintain his persona without skipping a beat throughout the entire show, but he's got great comic timing, the show's writers are brilliant, and the whole thing is pure foolish, bizarre, idiotic fun at Bill O'Reilly's expense.

Yes, Bored To Death may be a parody of noir, or maybe it's a dramedy that dips into detective novel tomfoolery, but most of all, it's a story that revels in the realm of those strange overgrown children who use artistic pursuits to justify their weak little whimpering selves.

Who doesn't want to see Vic Mackey catch bullets with his bare hands? [But] You might be longing for Vic Mackey to crush skulls with his bare hands after a few minutes of this happy-go-lucky, discovering-the-importance-of-family romp.

Sadly, the second episode of "Nip/Tuck" has none of the laughs and excitement of the first, but the eerie, uncomfortable, dumb-teenager darkness of the previous five seasons is back.

"The Sarah Silverman Program" has all of the charms of a joke with an audible fart as the punch line.

Unfortunately it's more of a survey or omnibus, so it covers many programs somewhat glancingly.

OK, fine, so maybe the pilot does wrap up with your typical teary-eyed confession. Otherwise, though, Lie to Me is as thoroughly entertaining and charming as its fine-looking cast of characters.

Unfortunately, there's an excess of kooky cuteness here.

May be the most riveting and the most haunting drama to air this fall.

Asylum dives right in on racism, homophobia and sexism, and wrings something emotional out of them.

Although at times Hung unravels and feels as lost as Ray Drecker himself, its individual scenes present as darkly funny and disturbing a parable of the disheartening state of American culture as you'll find on the small screen.

Nothing in this pilot is as compelling as the idea for the show, which begs philosophical and ethical questions that Spielberg and company (for now, at least) aren't interested in addressing.

Saving Grace is my second-favorite cable drama this summer ("Mad Men" being the obvious front-runner), thanks to the excellent cast (Kenny Johnson and Laura San Giacomo, among others), and the fact that Hunter plays Grace with so much authenticity and scratchy sweetness.