Greg Dawson

Unlike the last King novel-turned-miniseries, It, which made clowns the stuff of nightmares, Tommyknockers won't frighten small children or household pets...Tommyknockers is more sci-fi than horror show - a close encounter of a second-rate kind. What a shame. [9 May 1993, p.D1]

The Commish is a conventional cop series that will rise or fall on the strength of its main character, so it may have a shot. Chiklis, a stumpy dynamo who played John Belushi in Wired, is instantly likable as Scali, an "unorthodox" police commissioner in suburban New York.

This is the longest leap of imagination TV viewers have ever been asked to make, and at first the chasm may look wider than the Grand Canyon. It's a magnificent optical illusion. Your chances of bridging the gap are actually quite good, but it may take more than one try. [26 Sep 1990, p.E1]

Both an engrossing medical whatdunit and a modern American tragedy...It hurtles forward with the urgency of a murder mystery and ends with the suddenness of a nightmare.

The Flash has a wry, self-mocking sense of humor, too. "I think you've been reading too many comic books," Barry says at one point. [20 Sept 1990, p.E1]

Segal has a certain bombastic charm as he quaffs and quips his way through the part of Daedelus, the phoniest Irishman to hit the small screen since the last Irish Spring commercial. Han, who made her TV debut in the miniseries Space, is a good foil for Segal. She can act a little, which is all that's called for. [2 Nov 1988]

Look, I'm all for more wholesome family fare in prime time, but sitting through the first two episodes of Christy was like being hooked up to an intravenous drip of Karo syrup. ... My principal objection to the TV series is that despite a good cast, picturesque locale and laudable intentions, it feels totally bogus, from the accents to the grime on the children's faces.

The title of this feel-good drama is an unintended irony. Against the Grain is anything but. It goes with the grain, gently stroking the viewer with predictable storytelling and heartland homilies.

It all falls a bit flat. But not because Anderson lacks support...So why aren't we laughing more? It could be that Barry's trademark, his knucklehead hyperbole prose, doesn't translate easily to the spoken word and screen. [20 Sept 1993, p.D1]

The cast is first-rate. Towering Kevin Peter Hall reprises his role as Harry from the movie; Bruce Davison (Longtime Companion) portrays George Henderson; and his wife is played by Molly Cheek, Garry's girlfriend on the Shandling show. [10 Jan 1991, p.E1]