The Sci Fi Channel's brilliantly reinvented Battlestar Galactica - a terrific miniseries in 2003 - is now the full series it deserves to be. If it's given the room to grow that the 1978 original never got, it could end up being one of the best sci-fi television outings ever...An intelligent, attention-demanding, character-driven show, it marks a maturing of the sci-fi series genre. This series is to ``Star Trek'' what ``Hill Street Blues'' was to ``Dragnet.''

The only show with kinky father-daughter conversations. And no, that's not a good thing. [24 Sep 2001]

Just when you thought the teen melodrama was completely played out, along comes another trite "Dawson's Creek" clone to cause cringes of annoyance and pangs of distress. [12 Jul 2000]

Wolf Lake attempts to revel within the originality of its otherworldly concept but never does anything remotely original or otherworldly. [12 Sep 2001]

Cybill is bawdy, rowdy and fun. Indeed, it's a comedy for the over-the-hill gang to look at - and laugh ruefully along with all the wrinkle, cellulite, bad date, bad sex, bad marriage jokes. [11 Jan 1995]

If the concept is captivating, the execution, at least in the pilot, leaves something to be desired. [12 July 2004, p.e37]

Throws off a lot of sparks but it never really ignites. [9 March 2002]

Two nights might have worked better for this series, but if noises at night make you jump, "Stephen King's Rose Red" will give you a decent dose of the heebie-jeebies. [27 Jan 2002]

The production values are exceedingly high, and you could find worse excuses to stay up past your bedtime. [12 July 2006, p.038]

Oh, if only television critics could be like Simon Cowell on "American Idol." I could declare Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital positively dreadful, and viewers would never have to see it again. [29 Feb 2004]

Kevin Smith's animated "Clerks" is pure looniness with a crunchy layer of sweetness at its heart. The stars of the original 1994 indie film are all here, including Smith as Silent Bob. The animation is crisp and the facial expressions alone can be hysterical. [31 May 2000]

Although the heart of this drama - the tenuous nature of mental health, as embodied in the character of Dr. Banger - is a universal issue, it might not be something most want to examine on a weekly basis. [30 March 2000]

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

You have to wonder if Morgan and Wong learned anything from Chris Carter. With no semblance of an ongoing secondary story line, such as the government conspiracy of "The X-Files, The Others" boils down to a gaggle of flaky mystics who flit about applying their brand of drippy New Age closure. [5 Feb 2000]

This part of Dylan's story is, of course, well known. In understated style Scorsese makes it fresh, unearthing a wealth of rare performance footage of the impossibly young and magnetic singer and mixing it with incisive talking head interviews. [26 Sep 2005, p.41]

This eight-episode installment available Thursday just might be my favorite of the series. It has more heart and far more willingness to address the messiness that comes with adolescence. It also features several genuinely creepy moments that have everything to do with something not of this world.

The number of betrayals and reversals in the next two episodes are enough to twist any sane viewer into a pretzel.

It all seems so ridiculous until you remember we lived through it. At times, “Loudest Voice” plays like a white collar version of “The Sopranos,” as when Ailes orders his PR guy and fixer Brian Smith (Seth MacFarlane, “The Orville”) to take care of a leaker. Crowe, covered in mostly great prosthetics and looking as if he is wearing a fat suit that ate another fat suit, wheezes with every waddle and authentically underplays a human volcano.

The results are nothing short of breathtaking. Without relying on the fancy special effects of a film like "Apollo 13," the 12 episodes tell their fascinating real-life sagas patiently, clearly and with reverence for the courage of the astronauts and their support teams. [3 Apr 1998, p.52]

The six-part “Years and Years,” an often funny, often bleak, deeply unsettling look at our near future, follows the fortunes of the Lyons, a Manchester, England, family as they are rocked by the political and technological changes shaping the world. Imagine “This Is Us” crossed with “Black Mirror,” only with a slightly lower body count than the NBC sobfest.

ABC’s “Reef Break” is everything that CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” should be — breezy, bright, a wee bit sassy, a whole lot silly, the ideal summer show to catch as a nightcap before bed.

Your appreciation will rise and fall on your enjoyment of seeing Boston and its people portrayed as profoundly racist and corrupt.

As with every good soap, there’s a bit of cathartic pleasure in seeing rich, gorgeous people suffer like the rest of us mere mortals. Whatever word you choose to describe “Big Little Lies,” the new season looks to be just as addictive as the first.

Unfortunately, it’s the law of diminishing returns.

Whatever pacing issues the miniseries has fade away in the final, 90-minute installment as DuVernay proves to be a canny storyteller, saving the most harrowing, horrific, heartbreaking chapter for last.

Newcomers can enjoy the film on its own — it features a few flashbacks to catch viewers up to speed — but it’s best savored after a series-binge. This film can stand as a series finale and, just as strongly, as a springboard for more episodes.

Turturro, who is credited not only as an executive producer but one of the miniseries’ four writers, gives one of the most restrained performances of his career. His cleric is soft-spoken, always watchful of every detail in a room. His efforts seem to give other performers license to overact.

The pilot shot extensively in Italy and takes great advantage of the gorgeous, historic locations, including the Roman Forum and Appian Way. The dialogue, however, is often distracting and grating.

When “Catch-22” takes to the skies, it soars. The aerial sequences are some of the best visuals seen in any TV production, beautiful and terrifying.

To the credit of creator Christopher Keyser (“Party of Five”), the series plays with expectations. Relationships bloom and wither in surprising combinations. Unfortunately, the show lacks a pulse.

In this true-life horror tale of a government refusing to acknowledge scientific fact and its ruthless demand for obedience, “Chernobyl” feels especially timely.

I’m pretty sure there was a Lifetime version of this story and the best part was it was over in two hours. Cardellini does the best she can, but the writing for her character and her motivations make no sense.

The drama ultimately arrives at the destination you knew it would right from the opening moments. By trying to tell everyone’s story, “The Red Line” forgets to tell one good one.

While much of the teen supporting cast, including Kyanna Simone Simpson as best pal Yvonne and Sarah Mezzanotte as mean girl Marnie, are just right, Rose is flat through most of her scenes. The scares, at least in the opening episodes, rise from jump cuts or dreams. Ten episodes just seems too long for any heart to suffer this story.

Williams is magnificent. ... It’s a small miracle that “Fosse/Verdon” never loses sight of its goal — capturing the love and frustrations of two talented people who could never let each other go. “Fosse/Verdon” is “Scenes from a Marriage” — with none of that jazz.

The dramedy digs deeper, tightening the connections between these seemingly random residents.

Despite the often tense, even grisly moments, the show remains furiously funny — as when Oh as Eve reacts to a robocall from a roofing company or craves a hamburger during a visit to a makeshift morgue. As the object of a growing manhunt, Comer manages to constantly keep viewers off-balance with a performance that is perpetually off-kilter.

Mattfeld delivers a nuanced performance as a woman who has chosen to meet the world with hostility as a calculated defense. No matter how middling the story, she’s always worth watching.

In its best moments, this reimagined “Zone” features some of today’s most intriguing actors and swerves from fun to disturbing and back and is just as provocative as the original.

The #MeToo movement would seem impossible to riff on, yet Veep’s gloriously inappropriate writers have found a way.

Tacoma FD needs more than a spark to get going. It needs a tanker full of gasoline and a convenient bolt of lightning.

The Fix looks like something you’ve seen before.

In true Bluth fashion, what you think you know about the Bluths you don’t know at all.

Idris Elba is a star. The least his TV show can do is reflect that.

After watching the first five episodes, I don’t recommend watching “Now Apocalypse” every week. I do suggest waiting to the end of the season and downloading the series in one sitting. Now Apocalypse plays like the kind of show that can only benefit from a decadent binge.

After Life plays like an odd vanity project.

Leaving Neverland is not balanced, not by any standard. It is, however, a devastating testament to how childhood sexual abuse rages like a ferocious cancer through survivors and their families.

If its characters continue to be dumb about someone in their midst (hey, see how that title comes into play), it could diminish them and the show. ... [Unlike ABC's Whiskey Cavalier,] this show goes beyond the standard cloak and dagger to ask some serious ethical questions about methods and how even the most seemingly benign operation can lead to civilian collateral damage. For treating us like grown-ups, you might be willing to make friends with “Enemy.”

A spy show mixed with an awkward romantic-comedy. Imagine if “Grey’s Anatomy’s” Shonda Rhimes decided to remake “Get Smart” as a drama and you get a sense of the tones at war here.

Documentary Now! is smart TV.

In broadcast TV terms, this is more “Night Gallery” than “Twilight Zone.” ... Weird City is built on one twisted foundation.

So many flashbacks for a murder mystery that is not remotely compelling.

The story is a little too Dark Phoenix, and the series’ pacing can be maddening. But you have to love an action-packed finale that rips from a kid’s birthday party at a bowling alley (little Kenny is never getting over that one) to a concert hall on the cusp of the apocalypse. The climax is an ending and a beginning. Umbrella Academy is just getting started.

This adaptation from executive producers Geoff Johns and Greg Berlanti (behind all the CW superhero shows) is just as wonderful and weird as the comic.

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.

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.

Just at the moment when you’re getting tired of the “Groundhog Day” antics and thinking Nadia’s rerun rumpus is a trip to anywhere, Russian Doll drops a twist in its third episode that changes everything.

Malkovich’s detective lacks his spirit. ... This detective is subdued, almost meek. He is an imposter.

The dress rehearsal was rough in many spots. The camera work at times was manic, punctuated by the stray stagehand ducking for cover. It also suffered from a huge distraction--the audience. ... Hudgens brought mad energy to her part. Valentina as the doomed Angel was affecting and downright kicky on “Today 4 U.” Brandon Victor Dixon, the scene-stealer from last year’s “Jesus Christ Superstar,” didn’t find his footing until late in the show. Others in the cast seemed drawn from a community theater production.

Night’s pacing can be frustrating — this mini would be a lot more effective if it were cut to four hours--but the surprises and twists in the final two episodes make it more than worthy of your investment.

Judging from the first five episodes the cable network provided, the sophomore season looks to be an upgrade from the first, but Shaw proves to be the least interesting person here. That’s not the slam it sounds like. The Brookline native gives her cast juicy material, and they steal the show from her.

The Passage teases a disaster on an even grander scale yet backtracks several times over in its first three episodes and still manages to rush its most crucial relationship.

This season is more season one True Detective than season two True Detective, with Ali giving a tour de force performance as the show toggles between three time periods. The bad news? The central mystery is more fitting for a CBS crime procedural, and over eight episodes is stretched to its limit.

Fam is exhausting.

Schooled at its goofiest recognizes the value of teachers.

Too often “Project Blue Book’s” approach makes “Dora the Explorer” look like a work of subtlety. Government coverup? Check. Conspiracy? Sure. Shadowy men wearing fedoras? Why not? The truth may be out there, but is it here? With a series like this, it’s best to indulge your own inner Scully.

There are moments when Innocent Man plays like one of those popular true crime podcasts. Its storytelling can be pokey and features a dizzying array of supporting characters--the pistol-packing preacher is a highlight--and a few, granted, become stunningly significant as the narrative continues.

Tethered by Gonzalez’s authentic performance, Icebox doesn’t ask for sympathy, nor does it demonize the people Oscar comes in contact with as he tries to remain in the U.S.

Emmy winner Amy Sherman-Palladino, the series creator, writer and director, has imbued Maisel with more genuine humor and warmth than any of her other previous work. This cast is ready to impress.

Nightflyers, like YouTube Premium’s “Origin,” features a wholly impractical spaceship design, one that is expansive and minimalist, with long corridors and plenty of convenient places for something to hide. What starts intriguingly turns sillier the deeper you go.

Despite the schlocky space adventure, the series just might hook you because of its flawed protagonists.

Killer feels lurid, thanks to creepy music and editing. That betrays and trivializes some serious issues. The narration could be more lifelike. Then again, it’s from a robot.

Britton plays Debra as if some Botox seeped into her brain. Bana charms while simultaneously simmering.

My Brilliant Friend is presented in Italian with subtitles. Don’t let that scare you off. Take the journey. Amid the brutality, an intimacy and honesty unlike any other flourishes.

In the first three episodes at least, the series features some surprisingly tense adult moments and some language that was bleeped out. Along the way, there are some cutting observations about the pageant scene.

Ben Stiller, best known for his comedic turns in such films as “Meet the Fockers” and “Zoolander,” directs all seven episodes and he’s competent and maybe too thorough. The series could have easily been trimmed by a third.

You can see all the jokes coming because they crawl down the road and wave their little hands before arriving. ... But in the hands of such masters, especially Arkin, who proves to be a thoroughly grumpy treasure, familiarity can be delightful.

There’s a method to this madness, and it cribs from Gillian Flynn’s (“Gone Girl”) stylebook in that you can’t trust anyone’s narrative. The accumulation of details leads to startling, horrific realizations.

The pacing shouldn’t work, yet it does. The private stories pull you in. This is a great cast playing.

Esmail is one of the few directors who takes full advantage of the medium, imbuing ordinary objects with menace--a trio of vending machines, fruit being harvested--and distorts sound to pluck your paranoia. There are tracking shots in the first four episodes that play like homages to Alfred Hitchcock. As for Roberts, I’m not about to sit down for a film marathon--but I am down for the rest of Homecoming.

In this truncated season (only eight episodes as opposed to the usual 13), Wright remains outstanding. But “House” suffers from the same problem as HBO’s “Veep.” Both started as daring satires of the highest office in our land and both have been surpassed by our current reality in which every day brings a new tweet storm of chaos.

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

Legacies establishes its world fast. This is a supernatural “Riverdale” — which might be redundant, given the direction of that show this season. But after two series, the magic is thin and your interest may wane like the moonlight.

The performances are solid and ingratiating. ... The miniseries’ resolution is particularly satisfying and even surprising for a story that originated in the 19th century. In Seres’ confident telling, The Woman in White is as relevant as the Time’s Up movement.

The film is mostly a dance between Dinklage (also an executive producer here) and Dornan, who rises to the occasion and gives the best performance of his career as a man struggling to hang on to his sobriety even as he’s dragged through a hell of Los Angeles.

Collette, as always, elevates the material, but there’s no escaping the sad realization that these are profoundly selfish people who deserve each other. Wanderlust is a show that would be markedly improved by cutting each episode by half. There’s entirely too much thrusting and groaning, yes, we get the point, and a lot of people have sex with their clothes on.

The cast, it must be noted, is fine; it’s the scripts that seem to be have been drenched in Bug Juice and left to rot in the sun.

The original show balanced horror with comedy and supernatural threats. The update feels like sociology homework.

All gathers a charismatic cast, even if some look like they belong in high school about as much as I do. Logan is especially strong as a young woman searching for her own redemption. But having established some prickly relationships in its first two outings, All fumbles some story continuity in its third episode (airing Oct. 24) with a seeming revision in the fractured friendship between Olivia and Leila.

Mullally is this show’s greatest asset, and unlike her colleagues, knows how to finesse every joke for maximum effect without mugging to the back row.

Netflix might be the dominant streaming service player when it comes to original series, but quantity never trumps quality, as Man proves. The detail in imagining New York City as a Nazi stronghold remains extraordinary, from the skyscrapers bearing the flag of the Third Reich down to the swastika ice sculpture dripping at a fancy party.

It’s sweet, loaded with a talented cast (Morton is particularly authentic), but it could use a bit more of the devil to it, if you know what I mean.

Bergen still rattles off her lines as if she’s in a hurry to get to lunch, but the cast has chemistry to spare.

Peregrym fits as the quintessential Wolf heroine: Broody, brunette, powering through her angst, which in typical Wolf fashion is considerable and grows exponentially. The drama’s explosions are harrowing, and the score adds an appropriate amount of dread to the grim investigation.

Manifest moves fast, but it plays like a ticket to nowhere.

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.

The two episodes tonight give you a chance to see how a series can change post-pilot. One of the nerds disappears from the core work group, and Emet’s oldest son is dramatically recast. ... Bad’s supporting cast excels at tormenting Emet in the most loving ways.

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.