One of the best-written and crafted pilots of the season, Now and Again comes close to being truly great. [11 Sep 1999]

What a pleasant surprise - a new series boasting a star who actually shines and a script that really sparkles. Indeed, if the quality of the pilot episode manages to hold up, Murder, She Wrote (CBS and CBC) could be the televised find of the season. [01 Oct 1984]

It certainly delivered its share of scares. [19 Nov 1979]

WATCHING The Stand, the four-night mini-series is like falling face-first into a yard-wide triple-cheese pizza: it is large and is messy, and even if you find the experience repulsive, you cannot easily disengage yourself.

For ABC, Kingdom Hospital is a high-stakes experiment. It is meant to run for 13 episodes, just like an HBO series. It won't be back next season. You're meant to watch it now and admire its daring and imagination. There is much to admire but a lot of padding, too.

It's essentially a drama about political negotiation, alliances, compromises and principles. It is very odd to see a political drama about a principled politician, but it never overreaches into Aaron Sorkin-level prissiness, preachiness and obviousness... It's magnificently different.

Not a slick medical soap but a noisy, hard-edged, unpredictable drama that isn't afraid to seem as unbalanced as its sickest subjects. [30 March 2000, p.R6]

Son of the Beach is a loose, louche parody of Baywatch, and it's actually very funny sometimes. Stern didn't create it but he clearly has a lot of input into the scripts.

A fabulous, fawning biography by Martin Scorsese ... It's a stunningly beautiful, powerful presentation of Bob Dylan as the one, true American Idol. [26 Sep 2005, p.R2]

It is simply astonishing to find the police procedural as cleverly reinvented as it is in River, and with such wry, poignant force. It is brilliantly done, a little masterpiece of entertainment raised to the level of grave, heartbreaking storytelling.

This is as slick as prime-time gets, a clever amalgam of TV drama and Broadway musical. ... Still, it seems a shame that so much writing, acting and musical talent is being devoted to such tired and simplistic polemics. [26 Sep 1990]

Easily the best show about the teen experience TV has yet produced.[25 Aug 1994]

If the networks keep up this pattern of releasing dreck before the usual start of the TV season, it will have a record number of cancellations by Canadian Thanksgiving. [1 Sept 2004, p.R2]

The two most prominent Dukes are Tom Wopat and John Schneider, two musclebound amateurs who probably won their new jobs because they look like John Travolta and Andy Gibb without brains. The sex interest is Catherine Bach, who is built along the lines of Dolly Parton, apparently the only necessary qualification. [5 Feb 1979]

A better-than-average mob saga that plays out as an epic of family longings, murder and corruption. ... Falcone is no Sopranos, but it's a so-so alternative. [1 Apr 2000]

Although it doesn't stint on action... the emphasis is more on character and plot. Add some urbane dialogue, solid performances and Boston as the novel setting, and Spenser may find its audience. [7 Sep 1985]

The results are decidedly mixed in tonight's two-hour pilot, but this is a fairly serious effort that succeeds in stimulating interest because it tries to look at the war from a feminine (feminist?) perspective. [26 Apr 1988]

It is not necessary ... to be a student of British politics to appreciate the script, acting and direction of this intricate and addictive series. [30 Mar 1991]

Dinotopia sucked as a sweeping miniseries; it works much better as an hourly adventure. [23 Nov 2002]

Ritter, in his Three's Company days, played a career womanizer and there are a few laughs watching him on the other side of the door. A few laughs as in three, but not company enough. [14 Sep 2002]

Without the aid of a fast-forward button, I simply wouldn't have been able to watch it from beginning to end. But I think my 4-year-old would like it. [11 Mar 1994]

[Bullock]'s not even remotely believable as a blue-collar kid. [16 Apr 1990]

It is as distasteful and morally offensive as anything we've seen in the new season's roster of so-called comedy and entertainment. [10 Sept 1990]

It is enthralling if your thing is dizzying visuals, rapid-fire dialogue and overblown acting. It's the sort of show that makes people wonder about American network TV. It's empty-headed and flashy, and there's not much going on. It's terrific piffle, fascinating to watch as an example of the state of TV storytelling, even as it only feigns sizzle and sass. [22 Sept 2003, p.R2]

It's a likeable enough show, handsomely produced and acted and shot through with intelligence, humor and sentimentality. If it is as true to the times as it promises to be, the show could be a big hit with audiences in their mid-30s. [17 March 1998]

I've seen only the first hour and I'm hooked...Murder One looks vastly entertaining. [19 Sept 1995]

It demands your attention to keep the many plot threads from tangling, and at times requires a strong stomach, but you never know what to expect next, and that beats the ridiculous reality series seen on every other channel. Give me gore over gonzo any day. [27 Aug 2005, p.8]

The Guardian is a chilling, state-of-America show, pointedly devoted to the question, "What is a meaningful life?" Simon Baker is galvanizing as the hero, intense and hard to read. This is what he's meant to be, but as to whether The Guardian and this tortured angel of a corporate lawyer will be a hit with viewers, it is impossible to say in these days of war and retribution. [25 Sept 2001, p.R2]