Marvin Kitman

Love Boat strives for "Love American Style"-- and misses. [29 Sep 1977, p.47A]

It's an attempt to do a 1970s comedy like "Barney Miller" - but without the laughs. [22 March 2000]

"From the Earth to the Moon" is a series of one-hour movies about different aspects of the space program ... And they are masterpieces, at least the four I've seen so far. [5 Apr 1998, p.D39]

Hip deep in all the chicken droppings about the movie, you would hardly know that it's a damn good movie. [9 Sept 1993, p.109]

The new show is very violent, in bursts, in between all the poetry and music. I don't know why, but violence bothers me less when its mixed with lyrical scripts like in "A Man Called Hawk." It's like Shakespeare on TV. ... Any script becomes Shakespeare when Brooks gets his vocal cords around it; pearly words float out of the TV. [27 Jan 1989]

Wonderful. ... It is a realistic drama, the sort of thing you might see occasionally on experimental "American Playhouses" on public TV. But nobody does realistic drama on commercial TV today. [1 May 1990]

It's just super, a triumph of programme-making that even Alistair Cooke himself with his famous British overstatement can't exaggerate. [28 Mar 1991]

Freddy, the series, is for the mature mind. Not the 9-year-old mind, but the 11-year-old mind. ... It's not funny, but ghastly, the sickest, most violent, blood-spurting TV imaginable. [6 Oct 1988]

Tonight's first episode is highly recommended for Ed Begley Jr. fans who may have wondered what Dr. Victor Ehrlich has been doing since "St. Elsewhere." [20 Aug 1990, p.9]

Uncle Buck is sometimes funny like a poke in the eye. It's crude and vulgar. The jokes are obvious, the situations cliched, the characters obnoxious. Would you believe a lecherous insurance agent named Doreen Douche? [10 Sept 1990, p.9]

And I like programs which show women as competent, caring, intelligent individuals. Young girls who start watching this program Saturday night are more fortunate than those in the 1970s who grew up with "Charlie's Angels" as role models. [9 Sept 1988, p.13]

The most thought-provoking new series of the year on TV. [6 Oct 1999, p.B39]

My fear is that the show may be too Alaska. TV is not ready yet for Nanook of the North, even if he has a New York accent. [10 July 1990, p.9]

Larry David is obnoxious in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" but very funny. Gervais' David is just obnoxious. ... It's the sort of comedy that only certain people can get, like the way dogs can hear sounds human can't. I'm ashamed to say, I couldn't take it more than one dinner hour. [19 Oct 2003]

"Dr. Katz" is a very funny show. [4 Dec 1995]

Some of the sketches... have a surprising depth and richness. [5 Oct 1992]

Something is missing in "Woops!," besides a second joke. ... It could have been the funniest show in the world, if there was a nuclear war, really, and this was the only one show left. "Woops!" is moronic on so many levels. [5 Oct 1992]

Heretofore, I have never thought of Candice Bergen as a major comedienne like Andrea Martin or Catherine O'Hara. But I like her as Murphy Brown. She has the addictive personality of the character she plays, and can grow on you. [14 Nov 1988]

"Just Shoot Me" is Moliere compared to "Suddenly Susan" and producer Brillstein-Grey's other hit, "The Naked Truth." The writing is sharper, the targets in the worlds of fashion, journalism and TV news are hit more frequently, and it is funnier. [10 Mar 1997]

Watching the first couple of episodes once again I am marveling at how good the show really is. [16 Jan 2000]

It is even better - if that is possible, and it is. Take my word. We are talking true comedic masterpieces here. [20 Jun 1994]

A wildly funny family sitcom. ... I am in love with all of them after the first half hour. [5 Jan 2000]

If he wanted to be a tiresome, name- dropping, motormouth, obnoxious boor, he is more than successful. But why? [20 Jun 2001]

As a law show, "McBeal" is not as good as "The Practice." It has a lot of unrealistic, implausible, even surrealistic law. What it does well is show the compassionate, human side of the law profession, outside the courtroom. [9 Feb 1998]

We know damn well it's not the same show as it was in the old days. ... I will even admit some of the shows are pretty bad this year. But when they hit one out of the ballpark, it's a thing of beauty. [3 Dec 1997]

"Buffy" is the best show of the year about kids in high school, with the most refreshingly original dialogue and pop cultural references. [17 Nov 1997]

It's somewhere between a small and a big bust. [24 Sep 1997]

There is an engaging sleaziness about "The Practice" that makes it special. [7 Apr 1997]