Those here who dislike NETWORK tend to present themselves as limited in their critical thinking. The movie is being labeled "pretentious", "boring", "dated", "awful" yet those hurling such words are seemingly incapable of elaborating on their micro-summations.
It's called trolling, and you're responding to it exactly how you're supposed to.
http://www.imdb.com/board/10074958/

I'll read it in the next few days. Karl struck me as being a narrow-minded blowhard whose tastes were often in direct contrast with mine, so I'm expecting the worst. However, she does deserve credit for admitting that she didn't understand Bergman's PERSONA; a lot of critics praised it while not comprehending anything about it (Ebert's review is particularly embarrassing).

I'm interested in how you'd refute Kael's review.

Yeah, one of the most critically praised. Do some research and you'll see that every major critic sang it's praises upon release. Additionally, it was nominated for numerous Oscars.
Once you see how acclaimed the film was (and is) you'll see why I don't feel the need to defend it. Still, I don't mind saying that I hold the film's writing, acting and directing in the highest regard. It's insightful, compelling, rich with characterization and even contains a good amount of biting social satire, much of which is so darkly comical that I chuckle about elements of the movie days after watching it. To my way of thinking, this is one of the most dramatically, comedically, thematically and cinematically sound films of all time, which also remains poignant with each passing year and it's astonishingly (and terrifying) how it's satirical elements seem increasingly realistic as time rolls on. It's a prophetic work by remarkably talented craftsmen (Chayefsky, Lumet, the cast, etc.) at the peak of their capabilities.
There. Happy?

have an argument of worth to back up your claims.
You might do the same thing yourself and explain why you think Network is so fabulous.
one of the most critically praised films of the '70s
Oh?

I must admit I didn't enjoy it the first time around. I found a lot of the dialogue to be overly esoteric and unrealistic. The general tone felt preachy I finished the movie feeling alienated and browbeaten.
However, I gave it another chance and I realised that here was a truly great, unique piece of cinema.

Amen!! Here Here! Bravo.