Scott D. Pierce

There are some fabulous pyrotechnics in the Sci Fi Channel's miniseries Firestarter: Rekindled, but they could have been put to better use. Like incinerating the dreadful script, for which writer Philip Eisner should be burned at the stake. Or, failing that, simply tossing the film footage into the flames and destroying this abomination before it got out and embarrassed everyone involved. With the possible exception of acting and direction so bad they're unintentionally funny, there's absolutely nothing of redeeming value in "Rekindled" whatsoever. [8 March 2002]

But he has created a creepy tale that anyone who enjoys being scared — without being totally grossed out — will enjoy.

Ultimately, "Storm of the Century" becomes rather predictable. [14 Feb 1999]

If Stephen King had written "The Twilight Zone," it would have looked like this. This eight-part anthology — two hourlong episodes each Wednesday for four weeks — adapts eight King stories for TV with pretty good results.

The Tommyknockers' biggest problem is that it's just too long. This would have been a much better movie if it had been cut by at least a quarter - and perhaps as much as a half.

The cast, on the whole, creates believable characters in an unbelievable situation. (Pinchot is the exception - too much of his comic persona leaks through and undermines the maniac he's trying to create.)

If you sit through it, you're not going to be counting the hours until next week's episode.

It's tough for anything to succeed on Saturday night, and this show may be too uneven to hold up for long. But it has possibilities, so let's hope ABC sticks with it for a while.

But this outstanding drama...takes the most horrible of situations and turns it into an intelligent, entertaining, strongly pro-family series.

Falcone, while not perfect, is an engaging series that CBS is running as a miniseries

The Beat is certainly a leap up from most of what UPN airs. [20 March 2000]

Nearly unwatchable -- a dreadful rehash of old sitcom jokes that are, at best, lame and, at worst, offensive.

Quite frankly, it's just about the most unpleasant half hour as NBC has cooked up in quite some time. It's not just that it's not funny -- which it's not -- but Perkins' character in particular and the show in general are just plain unpleasant.

Whether The Others turns out to be a great series remains to be seen. It is, at least, an intriguing one with possibilities.

The best thing to hit TV this season. [1 Apr 1998, p.C1]

This is a show about a town filled with people who have supernatural powers, and yet its greatest power is to bore its viewers into TV-induced comas.

Not only does it feel unoriginal and tired, but it comes across as a vanity project for star/executive producer Jason Bateman, who also directs some episodes.

It's not a great show, but it's decent summer viewing. There are some laughs, and I liked it more as it went along.

The only explosion in Friends from College is that the entire eight-episode series is a stink bomb. It's crude, predictable and stupid.

This is pure escapism, shot on location in London, South Afrida, Russia and Cambodia. It's funny. It's fun.

Once you get over what might be the initial shock of Andrea's dirty mouth and incredibly frank talk, she's a very appealing character. And I'm Sorry is amusing. Sometimes even laugh-out-loud funny.

A summer series that begins pretty much just as you'd expect, but it seems to be relatively well done. The first couple of hours are OK, at least.

It's chaotic, sometimes almost incoherent. Wildly inconsistent, it veers from dark drama to lighthearted fun.

It's told with multiple storylines populated by myriad characters, and it's sort of slow going.

It seems harmless, if you're interested in this sort of thing.

This show is supposed to be big, dumb fun. It's definitely dumb. It's occasionally fun. And it's actually too big. The original "Gong Show" was 30 minutes; at an hour, it's a bit much to sit through.

I've only seen the first episode, but I'm intrigued. And there are only 10 episodes (unless there's a second season), so it might be worth the time investment.

Trite, shallow and completely unbelievable.