Ed Siegel

There is much in the next few weeks that is touching, humorous, painful and admirable. But not insightful, or at least not insightful enough to make going back to high school something that seems like must viewing between 8 and 9 on Thursday nights...Still, My So-Called Life is likely to be as good as you're going to get this season as far as new shows are concerned. [24 Aug 1994, p.65]

Tinker isn't Spelling, which means that Baywatch will do as little for the libido as it does for the brain. [22 Sept 1989, p.29]

Despite a reportedly huge budget, the special effects look tacky and the writing has no wit. The Flash is nothing more than the reincarnation of "The Incredible Hulk." [20 Sept 1990, p.81]

All this would be fine if only there were some comedy in the situation. ... The acting isn't bad, particularly Christopher Hewett as Belvedere and Bob Uecker as the loutish father. But even Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton couldn't pull off lines like [these]. [15 Mar 1985]

Segal's nasal, hard-bitten delivery is dreadful here, and his relationship with the beautiful Maggie Han is preposterous. [2 Nov 1988]

The high and witty style of Ian Richardson and the production team headed by Ken Riddington will have you coming back for more, even though there's really much less going on here than meets the eye. [20 Mar 1991]

If you get past the soft-core gore, Freddy's Nightmares can be a welcome respite from the celebration of middle-class morality everywhere on network television. [4 Nov 1988]

Imagine a series that drains every bit of abnormality out of the wonderful spaciness of the feature film about life at a desert cafe. What makes this series unwatchable is that they also drained the humor out. Whoopi Goldberg and Jean Stapleton must be hard up for work these days. Stapleton adds a touch of class and Goldberg adds a good line or two, but this series isn't nearly good enough to be considered the road-company version of Bagdad Cafe. [28 Mar 1990, p.65]

For the most part, Uncle Buck relies on Meaney inhaling mustard while exhaling cigar smoke and turning down the advances of a beautiful woman. As slob humor, Uncle Buck is as tame as it is lame. [10 Sept 1990, p.35]

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey may not have been James Dean and Natalie Wood, but Patrick Cassidy and Melora Hardin look as if they'd be more at home in a TV version of "Revenge of the Nerds." [29 Oct 1988, p.9]

Although flawed in its heavyhanded and unrelenting use of prejudice against alien beings as a metaphor for prejudice against blacks, Alien Nation packs a punch and could be the cult action show of the year - if it survives "Monday Night Football." [18 Sept 1989]

There are plenty of black faces on this show, but there should be red faces at producing a comedy with so few laughs. Family Matters makes "The Cosby Show" still look fresh. Family Matters makes "Father Knows Best" look fresh. The writing is practically nonexistent. [22 Sept 1989, p.29]

The most interesting feature of the program is how it stays specific to Smith's underclass style while fashioning a story that the whitest of white people can easily relate to. That's achieved, in part, by making Smith's relatives unbelievably broad. You've never met Boston Brahmins as preppy as these people. It's the weakest part of the program, but it allows Smith to have a great time playing Groucho Marx to his family's Margaret Dumont. [10 Sept 1990, p.35]

What's most becoming about the program is its eccentric sense of community. [8 Apr 1991, p.38]

The writing is as snappy as it is on "Cheers," but not nearly as seamless. For every good joke there's a dud, often two duds, and that's not good enough. Worse, a formula is beginning to emerge that could become as tiresome as the formulas for less sophisticated comedies. [16 Apr 1990, p.27]

The show needs some sharpening, but "Murphy Brown" looks like a winner. [14 Nov 1988]

The show falls somewhere between Woody Allen's film about the '40s, "Radio Days," and TV's version of the '60s, "The Wonder Years," both in time and sensibility. It doesn't have Allen's visual or verbal wit and it doesn't have the polish of "The Wonder Years." But it does have an honesty that "Wonder Years" lost when it ran away from sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. [20 Sep 1991]

As witty and well-written as comedy series get. ... They used to say it was impossible to satirize something as self-satiric as television. That was before "The Larry Sanders Show." [1 Jun 1993]

"Mad About You" isn't devoid of humor, but it's pretty lackluster after "Seinfeld." [16 Sep 1992]

More than a cartoon, it's TV's most intelligent comedy. [11 Oct 1990]

It's not as dark as Fox's "Married ... with Children." And not as funny. Barr is fine as a monotoned stand-up, but her routine, in both senses of the word, wears thin in the first half-hour. [26 Sep 1988]

An intriguing though uneven mixture of "Miami Vice," "Less than Zero" and, most of all, an extended 501 Jeans ad. [21 May 1992]

It's less surprising that it's so dull...So let's have a round of applause for these kids. And then change the station, because there's absolutely no drama here. [4 Oct 1990, p.68]

Tim Allen proved at the Emmys just how tired his shtick has become. [16 Sep 1992]

Allen displays a personality at turns engaging, enraging and endearing ... The problem is that "Home Improvement" is a one-joke sitcom. [17 Sep 1991]

The sextet wonders why they've all been drawn to the same farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. The answer is obvious: to give us several good laughs with which to end the weekend. [19 Sep 1992]

Picket Fences seems to have no reason for existence other than for a very smart writer to test just how smart he is. In this case, too smart by half. Unfortunately, "Picket Fences" may be just smart enough to divert people from the better dramatic series at 10, "I'll Fly Away." [18 Sept 1992, p.58]