Documentary Now! is so good, you’ll be forced to reassess Meyers, whose comedy writing is so crisp and correct, he should give up his late-night NBC show because nothing he does there will ever be as good or as funny.

While there are elements that might remind you of Armisen’s beloved--and so missed--“Portlandia,” “Forever” isn’t a sketch show. It takes some fanciful risks, but it remains grounded in Oscar and June’s journey, together and apart.

Homeland now stumbles through familiar territory, and the view the second time around isn’t half as compelling.

She’s Gotta Have It proves a charismatic cast can make a shaky premise watchable.

King, Cudlitz and McKenzie carry this drama, in note-perfect peformances. They make Southland a worthy part of your Tuesday night stakeout.

This Boardwalk is rife with treasure.

Some things do [change]. Homeland deepens its story for its fifth season, and this journey might be Carrie’s most treacherous.

This Is Us brims with some mighty acting. ... Creator Dan Fogelman’s script, however, takes the sting out of some major moments with some minor humor. There’s a huge twist in the final moments tonight that might have you rethinking everything you’ve watched, or might have you feeling like you’ve been played.

The series gets off to a strong start as a black satire of not only D.C. but how politicians and journalists can leech off one another.

Harris is especially terrific as a man growing into his own heroism even as forces mortal and not so mortal conspire against him. But as the 10 episodes unspool and the body count mounts, the only dread you may experience watching The Terror is that feeling you are wasting your time.

While each night delivers some terrifically tense scenes, series creator Neil Cross’ scripts for nights three and four suffer from some flimsy foreshadowing and serve up slight characterizations of Luther’s antagonists.

Simm is very much the thinking man here, an academic thriving on his wits. Leung is affecting as a young woman whose quest rocks the core of her identity and her own chance for love. ... The miniseries almost sticks its landing. Its final scene can’t resist a bit of mawkish sentimentality to wrap the story. It’s not earned or needed.

At a time when substance abuse of all sorts is roiling the nation, Loudermik, forgive the pun, is a sobering comedy, in every sense.

This is a packed episode that sets up the dynamic for a season long rivalry that New Directions will be hard-pressed to overcome.

It's never a good sign when the main character is the least interesting player on the block. Fortunately, Empire's cast is rich enough for you to overlook that flaw.

On its last call, Rescue Me has saved a few treats in its fire truck.

Of the two series [Web Therapy and Episodes], Episodes is the most consistent and polished. It's also the one show that finds a groove and is happy to patter around its middling course.

There’s much intrigue and backbiting going on in the small domestic household of the Dowager Countess, but that, too, ultimately goes nowhere. Fellowes hints at drama and pulls his punches.

New Edition paved the way for New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men and *NSYNC. At the very least, this miniseries will get a new generation of fans grooving to their timeless music.

The show toggles primarily from 2014 to the present, but some of the twists seem right out of Bad Thriller Handbook, especially the climax of the second night. ... Yet as these players elevate every turn and twist of this dark drama.

Alias is one of those rare action dramas where all the elements - plot, characters, production design, costumes, soundtrack and performances - come together to form one perfect hour of television. [30 Sept 2001, p.56]

With the Under­woods at war, House of Cards opens the doors on its most diabolical season yet.

Chenoweth works her campy magic, but the energy from the show is different. A running gag involving the town’s attitude toward female drivers is hilarious and the kind of off-kilter humor Trial & Error excelled at in its first season. There’s not enough of that.

Moura’s performance anchors this show.

There's pleasure in seeing such talented actresses bounce off each other. Woodard could probably recite Google search links and would still turn in an Emmy-caliber performance. But these flowers never fully bloom.

There are some genuine scares in here but some heartfelt beats, too, along the way to the bloody climax.

Maniac’s backstories are fascinating, with Owen’s family coming off especially twisted. ... With so many film stars turning to TV to star in TV shows, they can start to feel like vanity projects. That’s not the case with Maniac.

How far can Frank accommodate her when his own power base is splintering? That will be the most tantalizing plot to follow this season.

Preacher is a black comedy, a horror funhouse, a mild meditation on belief and a wicked good time. There’s nothing left to say but: Amen.

This hourlong drama is peopled with actors who have long deserved a rich showcase for their talents, and each rises spectacularly to the occasion. [4 Nov 2004, p.77]

Series creator and writer Chris Lunt’s plots are more comfort food than cutting-edge, but not since Helen Mirren’s epic run in “Prime Suspect” has there been such a flawed, compelling female detective.

Season four is definitely a turning point for these characters, as we watch them reach for some semblance of adulthood, but this newfound maturity is shaky at best.

Possibly the best comic-book-to-TV-series ever made. It is a show that respects its source material without exaggerating the visceral bombast. It's a show that will entertain you in a single bound. [16 Oct 2001, p.44]

Every character has a voice-over, info dumps for back story that are either irksome or unnecessary.

A serial killer, a state execution, slapstick involving a baby--Fox's new Raising Hope is deliciously demented and easily the funniest new show of fall.

While Boss has delusions of Shakespeare, it's not even in the same league as the TNT revival of "Dallas."

For fans of quality TV, The Knick will evoke memories of the South Boston-set “St. Elsewhere.” That show needed more than a season to work out its kinks. The Knick is already off to a robust start.

The premise is nonsensical, the characters little more substantial than fog and the central season long mystery is less a whodunit and more a why-bother.

Godless might remind you of HBO’s still lamented “Deadwood” in its expert plotting.

The documentary, filmed over several years, takes a nonlinear approach to White’s career and skips over things like her first two marriages. Just go with it--it’s worth the ride and ultimately leaves you wanting a week’s worth of clips.

Fresh Off the Boat is the funniest, most charming show of the season.

With Milch holding the reins, Luck seems a lock for the winner's circle.

A series with substance and heart that doesn’t insult the city or pander to stereotypes.

The background music works muscularly to pump up interest, but the story's pacing is ponderous.

The three-hour production got off to a shaky start with camera work in the 1959-set Rydell High seemingly ready to trigger mass vertigo. But by the time the cast got to “Greased Lightnin’,” a frenetic dance number that kept building and growing so much, it threatened to spill out onto your floor, the show was rocking.

Biderman’s work here is inexplicably lazy: South Boston natives are haunted or broken; L.A. natives are narcissistic airheads. Voight doesn’t so much chew the scenery as gnaw it.

Bishop is just so authentic as a widow finding her way that she deserves an Emmy. Some things, of course, will never change, and fans wouldn’t have it any other way. Sherman-Palladino’s dialogue still races, stuffed with pop culture references.

The show's concept is clever, and the pilot displays a blend of humor and drama with a bit of melancholy hanging over it. Shalhoub is excellent as the twitchy, mild-mannered Monk. But Monk can be an annoying character, and at times you may find yourself wanting to yell, "Snap out of it!" at the television screen. [12 July 2002, p.S36]

For all its reptilian quirkiness, there is some maximum enjoyment here. [4 Aug 1998, p.34]

HBO made the first six episodes available for review, and they’re all entertaining.

It’s a treat being able to enjoy their black comedies back-to-back Monday nights, but “Nurse” shows symptoms of a serious malady: serial recidivism. We’ve seen all this before. It’s time for Jackie’s world to come crashing down, the sooner, the bigger the laughs.

Benoist is just so winning in this role.... As he did with CW’s “Arrow” and “Flash,” executive producer Greg Berlanti has managed to take a familiar superhero story and spin it into a TV show readers and new­comers can love.

NBC's newest drama Awake adds a drop of fantasy to its crime procedural formula and then practically buries it in musings about the mysteries of the subconscious.

Alan Ball, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "American Beauty," has done something wonderfully unusual. He has written a tremendously life-affirming drama about death. [3 June 2001, p.43]

With scenes of brutality inflicted on slaves and the casual use of the “n” word, Underground can be difficult to watch. But there’s nothing gratuitous about this story. The series is enhanced by contemporary music from the likes of Legend, Kanye West and The Weeknd.

Blessed with Kelley's rich writing talent, "The Practice" zips along at a lively, "ER"-like pace. [4 Mar 1997]

iZombie is superbly cast and displays wit and surprises you don’t often find in the comics-to-TV genre.

This collection of characters - with all their quirks, quarks and nose jobs - is a winner. The women are strong. The men are sensitive. The life forms are testy. [5 Jan 1993]

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. looks to be the most fun you’ll find in an hour of prime time this fall.

Awkward is adept in some quick cutaways, as in a classroom scene that echoes "Ferris Bueller." Rickards works so hard to emulate "Easy A" star Emma Stone, she just might end up in a full body cast by the end of the season. But with the tide going out on such reality drivel as "Jersey Shore," Awkward is a cagey move for MTV.

Blacklist doesn’t have the pulse, say, of a '24,' but it races in the right direction.

The insanely intense action drama opens its final season tonight. Scenes of quiet only serve to bridge action sequences.

It's a shame--but not a surprise, perhaps--that directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato don't delve deeper.

The sets may at times look fake (is that Afghanistan or Vancouver?) and savvy viewers will spot the traitor in Mike's story line early on, but Traffic deftly puts tiny human faces on global problems. [23 Jan 2004]

To be fair, Last Resort does not insult ideology--it merely knocks your intelligence.

Twin Peaks: The Return was creepy, surreal, bizarre, and often unintelligible. Just like its predecessor.

Ramirez does an outstanding job capturing a gentle man and his passion for his work. Penelope Cruz (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) co-stars as his doting sister Donatella, who has absolutely no use for Antonio. (That animosity is well documented.) Criss’ portrayal is brittle and needy (and not such a far stretch from the character he played on Murphy’s “Glee”).

There were moments during the first two episodes in which I wondered if the series was doddering along like a blindfolded Miss Marple. Have faith. Each episode swings in unexpected directions.

If their melodrama isn't always gripping, Nip/Tuck rushes in an array of guest stars as distractions. [5 Sept 2006, p.36]

HBO's True Blood rises from the grave of last year's uneven season, smarter, spookier and sexier than before.

Once you get deep into the premiere, which with its incessant voiceovers plays more like a talking Viewmaster reel than an hour of television, you may find yourself hooked--and recognize some wry observations about human behavior at the root of this thriller.

Finally there’s something fun to binge and share with friends.

Forgive the salacious hook for a show that is not so much titillating as it is gripping, surprising, at times humorous and even a bit thought-provoking when it comes to exploring how sex is just as valuable as money or power.

Nip/Tuck is unabashed in its portrayal of the flawed ways people conduct the private sides of their lives and how the professional bleeds over in unexpected ways. [21 June 2004, p.43]

Bunheads has the potential to have that cross-generational appeal. To thrive, the series must find its own tune to dance to.

Episodes has funny moments, [but] like "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the satire is an acquired taste and seems to be too inside showbiz to find a mass audience.

You want to see the robots turn on their masters. Canny series creators Jonathan Nolan (co-writer of “The Dark Knight”) and Lisa Joy know it, and they cleverly string you along with some disturbing questions about human nature.

Additional time would have made Verite more convincing. At 90 minutes, it runs short, especially as the family copes with its newfound notoriety

Moore's impersonation of Sarah Palin is the hook to reel you into HBO'S latest truelife political thriller.

The Big C doesn’t traffic in miracles, but it does deliver small pleasures worth pondering and savoring.

Elementary turns the myth into CBS' answer to "Castle," with a shade more intelligence.

At a half-hour, Song of Parkland is too darn short. And some perspective from the parents of the teens here would have been welcome.

Comer’s performance--as a 26-year-old stunted as a 13-year-old--is beautiful. She can be endearing, mystifying and aggravating, sometimes in the same moment. She’ll keep you coming back to a mystery that grows darker with every revelation.

The Beat resonates with a quirky, dark pulse. [21 March 2000]

You don’t have to be a comic book fan to enjoy The Flash, but if you are one, there are so many Easter eggs in the pilot--especially the one at the closing moment--that you just might go into nerdgasms. The Flash isn’t stopping for anyone.

Photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders accessorizes his picture with some vintage clips, but his Face could do with fewer mouths.

Looking might be the most provocative series of 2014. It’s just not original or memorable.

This admittedly over-produced series has one of the toughest elimination rituals to watch: Each of the three finalists walks to check out a callback list to discover if they are still wanted.

Arrow has so much going for it, it doesn't need to linger on the past.

The settings never seem authentic for the Big Apple, and accents veer like partygoers after last call.... Still, Maslany shows skill in her many alternate guises, and the show has a dark sense of humor.

Mozart in the Jungle, which was adapted from Blair Tindall’s memoir of the same name, is surprisingly good, whether you’re into classical music or not. In fact, it’s almost as good as something you might find on HBO, which is what Amazon needs if it wants to succeed in the online television business.

Showtime’s The Chi floats like a worthy successor to “The Wire” and then descends into the sort of bathos of a Tyler Perry production.

You've seen this game before, but not played with this level of desperation. There are moments when the boardroom feeding frenzies might cause you to step away from the table. There's something to be said for escapist TV after all.

[The] premiere serves as a rocky reboot to the once robust hit.

It’s a dizzying, bewildering, wonderful joy to watch their communal moments.

Once the show tones down the voice-overs, Balfe is quite good in the part of a time-tossed lassie.... Heughan swaggers in his kilt about as well as “The Simpsons’” Groundskeeper Willie (that is not a dis), but he and Balfe generate about as much heat as two piles of wet peat.

More a cotton candy bouquet than a documentary, It’s Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise introduces you to a man who has made millions of people happy--and would like nothing more than a chance to do it again.