Mike McDaniel

Luis is a four-car pileup on the interstate - metal-on-metal loud and abrasive, and just about as funny. [19 Sept 2003, p.12]

Combine these characters with some clever plotlines, mix in some unusual elements (or lack thereof) - on-location shooting using film, not tape; no laugh track; no audience - and now we're talking something gale-force true, something we haven't quite seen before. [10 Sept 1997, p.1]

Karen Sisco has action, heart, humor and sex appeal - four good reasons Law & Order should be looking over its shoulder this fall. [1 Oct 2003, p.6]

Everything is seriously tongue-in-cheek. The scares satisfy, and the laughs are earned. [8 Jul 2001]

Louis-Dreyfus, the performer, is not the problem here, and neither is the format. The problem is the material. [15 Apr 2003]

The special effects qualify as middlin' in this TV version of the popular movies and videos. What's superior is the sense of family.

Overall, this is a handsome study of a subject so disturbing and so complex that it could command our attention three times over - and three times more. This Traffic, like the two versions that preceded it, relates to each of us. [26 Jan 2004]

I like the idea of The Net as a series, with Angela living week to week in a Fugitive-type existence, trying to reclaim her identity and bring down the bad guys. If future scripts are clever enough, and viewers persevere past the first episode, this show could be a winner. [18 July 1998, p.7]

Don't give us talk about "temporal displacement," "sublimaters" and "space-time continuum," then expect us to buy as lame a story as Timecop throws at us. [22 Sept 1997, p.4]

Folks, it's often not a pretty sight. But as with a jackknifed 18-wheeler, we can't keep our eyes off of it. [1 Dec 2001, p.10]

This isn't a laugh riot, but it's got promise. [22 Sept 2003, p.6]

Kudrow says she isn't a reality-TV fan and the humiliation of its participants, yet she plays her part as victim. So when she gets sucker-punched, we get sucker-punched. What's so funny about that? [4 June 2005, p.10]

With its intelligent, nuance-laced script, credible performances from a group of newcomers, a mouth-dropping star turn by Sharon Gless, and the "no limits" backing of Showtime, Queer as Folk is easily the best TV take on gay life since "Tales of the City." [3 Dec 2000, p.10]

Huff's changing tone - serious one minute, funny the next - keeps you on your toes. This is a series you can chew on. [5 Nov 2004, p.1]

This year, the ethical standards remain low and the ick factor high. [20 June 2004, p.8]

The unheralded Olyphant is the star, and he's excellent. [21 Mar 2004, p.8]

Band of Brothers may be the best film ever made to show the everlasting bond forged in war between ordinary men...It may also be the best film ever made to show the relentlessness and horror of war. Aurally and visually, it's as graphically real as the battle scenes of Saving Private Ryan, only Band is five times longer...Still, there's something stopping me from saying this is the best war movie ever made, and that is because Band of Brothers succeeds as a whole, but fails to be as interesting in its individual installments. [9 Sept 2001, p.2]

Easily one of the funniest shows of the year. [21 Oct 2004]

The freshest new show of this or any recent TV season. [8 Sep 1997]

As unpredictably thrilling as ever. [15 Jan 2000]

Filled with a terrific ensemble cast breathing life into characters that stay just this side of being caricatures, stinging Hollywood putdowns that cut to the funny bone and some of the sauciest true-to-life dialogue imaginable, 'Sanders' is the definition of sophisticated adult humor in the '90s. [16 Jul 1995]

Visually, the show is too dark and blue - a distraction. But the story and the acting trump all. [22 Sep 2004]

The funniest comedy since The Simpsons. [9 Jan 2000]

A deliciously witty comedy with stark dramatic touches. [6 Aug 2005]

It cribs from Family Guy, which has a similar family makeup, and, as with that series, its laughs are hither and yon. [30 Apr 2005]

Family Guy has yuks - and an enfant terrible who could double as the Soup Nazi - but it's nowhere near Seinfeld in wit and sophistication. [30 Apr 2005]

Often hilarious. [23 Jul 2003]

Season 4 of MTV's ""The Real World'' has all the signs of topping the incredibly rich Season 3, which topped Season 2, which topped Season 1. [25 Jun 1995]