Recent TV Reviews

Miracles

By Cynthia Fuchs

Skeet Ulrich brings to Miracles a combination of weary intensity and ethereal pretty-boy beauty.

Mister Sterling

By Cynthia Fuchs

Presiding over this commotion is the series' preternaturally cool hero, the highly principled and motorcycle-riding Bill Sterling (Josh Brolin).

Joe Millionaire

By Robert Rue

Joe Millionaire is intent on satisfying the backlash lust of women-hating men.

Abby

By Bernadette Adams Davis

Abby's writers have an opportunity to develop more fully one character, and give a black woman a star turn.

24

By Cynthia Fuchs

'Fiction' and 'reality' aren't so much opposites as they are of a piece.

Australians Unite

By Nikki Tranter

We discovered, in the most painful and tragic way, that we're not so safe, after all.

Robbery Homicide Division

By Cynthia Fuchs

You have to hand it to 'Robbery Homicide Division'. It knows just where it comes from.

MDs

By Elena Razlogova

While the two MDs modeled on Pierce and McIntyre lovingly call their hospital 'the Mish' and claim to help those exploited by HMOs, the show mostly focuses on wealthy white doctors and administrators.

The Caroline Rhea Show

By Cary O'Dell

Rhea may not have come on with the same bombast that O'Donnell did, but, in a way, that's what makes her a winner.

Boomtown

By Lesley Smith

By playing safe, they might just as easily be playing dead.

Birds of Prey

By Todd R. Ramlow

Follows neither the super-crip model of disability perception, where an individual's 'triumph' over disability is celebrated through public tokenism, nor the common perception of disability merely as an object of pity.

What I Like About You

By Bernadette Adams Davis

Perhaps What I Like About You will be a little cultural barometer, mirroring X and Y tastes and giving both generations one more home in primetime.

John Doe

By Tobias Peterson

In John Doe, suspense takes a backseat to certainty.

Hidden Hills

By Stephen Tropiano

Even more problematic is the moment when it's time for the episode's moral message, delivered with the subtlety of a bumper sticker.

American Dreams

By Norma Coates

American Dreams recognizes an important point: rock and roll was deeply dependent on television in its early days. And that hasn't really changed.

Without a Trace

By Elena Razlogova

Insofar as it depicts agents who think and verify before acting, Without a Trace unexpectedly provides an antidote to the current media crime-fighting frenzy.

The Twilight Zone

By Bernadette Adams Davis

The most recent tales from the Zone suggest it can again become a venue for investigating contemporary cultural and moral dilemmas.

Survivor: Thailand

By Benedetta Gennaro

Ever helpful, Jeff Probst reminded everyone that, on Survivor, assumptions are always wrong.

Presidio Med

By Tobias Peterson

Diverges from ER in that it is, oddly, more conservative.

Hack

By Lesley Smith

It's life-changing redemption all the way, at the hands of a flawed saint who can instruct us all.

Half and Half

By Bernadette Adams Davis

Dealing with complicated familial history, rather than relying on man-chasing for every plot, will set Half and Half apart.

Good Morning, Miami

By Michael Abernethy

Focuses on an irresistibly cute couple whose lives are complicated by their hormones and their over-the-top coworkers.

8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter

By Leah Hochbaum

What makes the show slightly twisted is the knowledge that only a few years ago, John Ritter would have been playing one of his daughters' sex-obsessed suitors.

C.S.I.: Miami

By Cynthia Fuchs

PULL

The Sopranos

By Lesley Smith

While reality hounds might say that this is exactly how banal contemporary mob life is, they might also remember that a stamped certificate of authenticity doesn't inoculate drama against tedium.

Push, Nevada

By Kirsten Markson

In Push, Nevada, producers Ben Affleck and Sean Bailey have come up with a show that is, oddly, both original and formulaic.

Life With Bonnie

By John Dougan

You would be hard pressed to find a sitcom debuting this season with more people rooting for it than Life With Bonnie.

Greetings from Tucson

By Tracy McLoone

Greetings can't decide if it's comedy because of being Mexican American or in spite of Mexican American -- and that's one thing working in its favor.

Firefly

By Todd R. Ramlow

Firefly is more complicated in its framing story and moral dimensions than the usual sci-fi or Western fare.

Fastlane

By Cynthia Fuchs

The shots are close (is that her hand in his pants?), the cutting is speedy, the soundtrack is kicking: just above the din of the engine, the Vines wail.

Everwood

By Elena Razlogova

As I watched Everwood, packed with numerous poignant moments, my own strongest feeling was a longing for South Park's biting critique of 'quiet little mountain towns.'

Cedric the Entertainer Presents

By Bernadette Adams Davis

Instead of being safe, Cedric the Entertainer Presents needs to keep it real -- real sharp, real topical and real controversial.

Monday Night Football

By Tobias Peterson

John Madden is a master narrator of a football game. Amid the grunting and groaning of the linemen, the staccato rhymes of the cheerleaders, and the screaming of thousands of fans, his commentary comes through with a clarity that gives shape and meaning to the sound and fury that plays out on our television sets.

ICU

By Simon Orchard

The series repackages recorded crises and dramas into four one-hour episodes, compressing daily life and death into a glossy, strangely unreal product.

EastEnders

By John Dougan

For the conflicted soap fan longing for a simulacrum of realism, EastEnders is an addictive slice of heaven.

The Anna Nicole Show

By Cary O'Dell

The Anna Nicole Show asks us to laugh at, not with, its pitiable subject.

30 Seconds to Fame

By Amy Sidwar

PULL

She Spies

By Tracy McLoone

Big Brother 3

By Cary O'Dell

[There's] little for the inhabitants to do, other than chill in the hot tub, smoke too much, and plot, scheme, and worry themselves to the point of paranoia.

Sex and the City

By Jennifer Bendery and Alison Wong

We discover new aspects about sex and female pleasure in nearly every episode of Sex and the City.

Meet the Marks

By Michael Abernethy

The label 'sitcom' is a misrepresentation. 'Meet the Marks' lacks comedy.

Monk

By Valerie Franch

If the energy and originality of the storylines catch up with Monk and Sharon's dynamic, the series can only improve.

Donahue

By Tobias Peterson

Donahue was visibly overwhelmed by the venom and ferocity of the guests' attacks against one another.

The Real World XI: Chicago

By Chris Fitzpatrick

MTV's 'The Real World' has become a mainline for cultural propagation. The archetype of the 'reality tv' genre, this weekly, pretend-documentary consolidates, edits, and cannibalizes culture.

Married in America

By Lesley Smith

Documentarian Michael Apted doesn't allow any sequence to run long enough for good manners to disappear and feelings (rather than public rationalizations of feelings) to emerge.

Lift

By Cynthia Fuchs

Examines our consumer culture in a way that is less venal and less macho than the usual heist movie.

The Dead Zone

By Michael Abernethy

It is easy to assume that Johnny will end up using his powers to make the world a better place, a sort of psychic version of 'Touched by an Angel', minus the sermons.

Trading Spaces

By Michael Abernethy

The dynamic concept intrigued me from the start, but if the participants and crew weren't enjoying themselves, well, it would be like watching Martha Stewart.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

By Todd R. Ramlow

As to the rejection of my understanding of the connection between lesbianism and witchcraft on 'Buffy', I have never said that BVS's creator or writers made a conscious (and consciously homophobic) decision to directly cast lesbianism as social pathology and physical addiction.