Adam Buckman

The focus on excretory subjects makes you wonder if the show's writers aren't overdue for a tuneup at their shrinks.

None of the characters in "Watching Ellie" are particularly likable, especially Ellie herself. [15 Apr 2003]

It doesn’t feel like a comedy - because it’s not funny. [3 June 2005, p.3]

Some of the best performances seen anywhere on TV. They're all so incredible that it seems unfair to single out some and not others, but if you watch Friday Night Lights, pay close attention to Chandler, Britton and Gilford; Taylor Kitsch as beer-swilling lothario Tim Riggins; Scott Porter as the wheelchair-bound former quarterback; Brad Leland as team booster Buddy Garrity (especially him); and Jesse Plemons and Adrianne Palicki as Landry and Tyra, the school's most unlikely couple (especially them too)...Everyone on Friday Night Lights deserves an Emmy. And true to form for this great unsung show, none of them were even nominated. [5 Oct 2007, p.133]

If the makers of The Guardian can get their minds out of the men's room, this series has potential. [25 Sept 2001, p.83]

After watching the 10-hour Band of Brothers, I'm so drained by the intensity of what I have just beheld that I'm ready to declare this World War II miniseries the finest piece of work ever produced for television. [7 Sept 2001, p.117]

No pair of actors on any other show, new or old, on any network is as pleasurable to behold as these two. [1 Oct 2004]

The new "NY" shares with its "CSI" antecedents a predilection for dim laboratories and grim facial expressions. [22 Sep 2004]

About as appetizing as fried roadkill. [5 Feb 2005]

This is the funniest TV show I've ever seen. It might also be the best comedy series ever made, period. [2 Jan 2004]

I tend to watch "Curb Your Enthusiasm" with open-mouthed amazement... The show is a drop-dead accurate, edge-of-your-seat depiction of the minefield through which we all tread everyday in our interactions with spouses, friends, business associates and that most dreaded of all groups, total strangers. [13 Sep 2002]

While its white-collar urban setting would seem to distinguish it from other reality competitions, it has some characteristics in common with them, including: a group habitat that looks just like others seen on MTV's "Real World" and other shows; and contestants who are all jerks. [8 Jan 2004]

In some way or another, this show is trying to be "Everwood," "Dawson's Creek," "Eight Mile" and "Hoosiers" all rolled into one. It would be a whole lot more accessible if it would just try to be One Tree Hill, whatever that is. [23 Sept 2003, p.79]

God only knows where they're going with this. The producers have made Joan's father the police chief of the small city of Arcadia, but I'm praying that CBS won't turn the Almighty into some sort of cosmic crime fighter...Whatever happens, I'm inclined to give Joan of Arcadia the benefit of the doubt. [26 Sept 2003, p.122]

The show seems more oriented to female viewers than ever. [24 Sep 2006]

I am happy to report that this series remains a 100-percent authentic, white-knuckled hair-raiser. [24 Oct 2002]

About as charming as a headache and just as dull. [29 Sept 2000, p.113]

This show is so atrocious it should earn everyone involved in it a lifetime ban from the TV industry. [8 Oct 2000, p.107]

To my amazement, I liked "Nikki." [8 Oct 2000, p.107]

WHO knew Craig T. Nelson had so much charisma? [7 Oct 2000, p.55]

The characters are all so nutty it's like being trapped in a roomful of Kramers for a half-hour. [6 Oct 2000, p.117]

That's basically the plot, folks, and just in case you were wondering, you don't have to laugh. This show too comes with torrents of hysterical laughter already provided. [6 Oct 2000, p.117]

Where most of the new shows I've been forced to sit through lately do just about everything wrong, Gilmore Girls gets most of the fundamentals right, especially the acting and writing. [5 Oct 2000, p.95]

I used to like Arrested Development, and now I don't...So shoot me.

While Carell is sometimes guilty of overselling his character's eccentricities, his exuberance is offset by a laidback cast - including John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and Rainn Wilson (of "Six Feet Under") - whose deadpan reactions to their boss make for some of this show's best moments. [24 Mar 2005, p.130]

The Wire looks and feels like an ordinary show from some other network that snuck on to the air while the HBO execs' backs were turned. [31 May 2002, p.122]

Sheen is so entertaining to watch that the series at least earns a 2 1/2-star rating. It also earns one on the basis of its name, which invites the irresistible parallel.

In the first two episodes provided for preview, the formula gets the plot across with minimal confusion, although you wonder at times if all the time-shifting and multiple storytelling is really necessary...Well, maybe. Because if this show gave it to you straight, it would run the risk of becoming just another violent L.A. cop show.