A last-minute reveal in tonight’s episode is dropped for shock value and is all but retracted next week. The twisting in the story is a betrayal of viewer trust.... With a story like The Family, everyone needs to be paying attention to the fine details. But at least we get to enjoy Allen in our homes every week, for a time, anyway.

If GCB wants to soar to heavenly numbers, it better let the devil out to play.

There’s so much [music] here, Vinyl runs the risk of turning into “Treme,” which seemed to be a music show with a touch of plot. Vinyl spins back years with copious flashbacks, and they do Cannavale and the show no favors. No matter the year, no matter how his hair is parted, he looks the same, a middle-aged guy. Some things can’t be finessed.

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.

This supernatural thriller is much more attuned to the times than PBS’ costume period piece “Downton Abbey,” which filters such hot topics as women’s rights and homosexuality through a modern lens.... Mina’s aspirations to become a surgeon are publicly disparaged by the person closest to her next week in a moment that hits harder than the onscreen horror. Dracula’s visit to an under­ground gay club next week is well, bizarre, but it captures how homosexuals dwelled in the shadows, terrified of exposure. Those moments are far more biting than any of the so-called scares.

Those who love the books will probably geek out on the series. The rest of us may have a harder time sitting through Game of Thrones.

The glimpses of 1930s Hollywood come off like cotton candy dipped in bourbon. ... Of the cast, Grammer manages to keep his head above the material. His studio mogul can be gruff, but Grammer is canny enough to play against the dialogue.

The series’ greatest pleasure is seeing Lewis and Giamatti spar with each other, but there just aren’t enough of those moments to make Billions a bargain.

This remake of a tart British sitcom of the same name starts with the moment that has killed many a show: its two main characters in bed, post-booty call. It's anything but romantic.

The show’s formula--particularly the ease in which the villains track down Chuck--is getting creaky.

It’s not a good fit [with Lifetime], and there’s not a lot of drama in this biopic about the first U.S. Olympic gymnast and African-­American to triumph in both the all-around and the team competition.

Suvari and Bartels are competent, but don’t have a lot to do in the early episodes. The scripts hit every beat you might expect. “American Woman” makes “Sex and the City” look timeless.

The scatological jokes run high, while some of the action sequences are worthy of a C-level thriller.

The first three episodes are essentially capers involving spy chasing spy as angst-ridden Russians try to defect, the CIA tries to get to them and the SVR sics the O’Connors on everyone.

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.

Right now, Up All Night is the TV equivalent of a glass of warm milk.

Rookie Blue is set in a nondescript big city, which also serves to make the series generic. The cast, however, is spunky and promising.

Burns’ direction is choppy, except for his closing­ scenes, which are un­expectedly strong. He does know how to end an episode. If only he knew how to begin one.

The Salahis are the attraction here. Judging from the season teaser, the show will spend the entire season building up to the infamous dinner-crashing scene, to which the Bravo cameras appear to had access. Remember, a fame whore needs your attention to survive. Look away now.

Defenders rises and falls on what its cast can bring to the mix. The less Finn Jones is onscreen, the better. He might be the most miscast actor in any series ever. Colter brings Luke’s look and nothing else. Now Ritter and Cox, on the other hand, I could binge on a Jones/Murdock spinoff all weekend long.

Feed the Beast manages to be both overheated and undercooked. Stock up on antacid.

There’s a real disconnect in this telling. With the exception of Sara and two junior detectives, fraternal twins ostracized on the force because they are Jewish, the story seems as dry as a box of Wheat Thins. The scenery is set. The people are dressed for their parts. But The Alienist rarely gets moving.

This show details the death of a marriage by a thousand cuts, a few hundred insults and a bag of clothes thrown in the trash. Maybe that’s your appointment TV. I’d rather binge watch root canal videos on YouTube.

The Thundermans doesn’t do much heavy lifting, but it waves its cape proudly.

Call me bored. Encore's adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, the cable network's first original miniseries, is about as thrilling as a three-hour tour of Boston Harbor while blindfolded on a sweltering summer day.

The show’s pacing, particularly in the first hour, could trigger a nap.

Pacing issues undercut Adams, who presents a finely wrought picture of a woman who turns her anxiety in on herself with a ferociousness that leaves her scarred. ... Ultimately, the source material is not Flynn’s best work and shares little of the shocks and twists of her superior “Gone Girl.” Sharp Objects should leave more of a mark.

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.