Boston Herald's Scores

  • TV
For 1,146 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 43% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average TV Show review score: 64
Highest review score: 100 My Brilliant Friend: Season 1
Lowest review score: 0 One Tree Hill: Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Mixed: 0 out of 628
  2. Negative: 0 out of 628
628 tv reviews
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Bergen still rattles off her lines as if she’s in a hurry to get to lunch, but the cast has chemistry to spare.
  5. 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.
  6. Manifest moves fast, but it plays like a ticket to nowhere.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. Those tuning in for one of Carrey’s trademark manic performances will be disappointed. This is a much more mannered, subtle performance, and while you can admire the commitment to the role, you can find yourself perplexed by the execution. In the supporting cast, Langella is stand-out, a maestro at delivering deadpan snark.
  12. Jack Ryan excels at pyrotechnics. Walls, trucks and people explode in spectacular arrays of destruction. Its fight choreography gets muddy, especially when Jack is tussling with some terrorist. ... The most charitable thing that can be said about Krasinski’s performance here is that he looks deeply, deeply tired.
  13. Just about all the choices are bad in this season of Ozark, making this season your best Labor Day weekend binge.
  14. The eight-episode season (streaming tomorrow on Netflix) doesn’t always make sense and yet it does enough things right--especially in the depiction of naive, impetuous adolescents--that it casts a convincing spell.
  15. 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.
  16. Disenchantment casts a demented spell.
  17. The important thing to know about this season: Issa is pushing forward. Insecure shows life never stops being a work in progress.
  18. Patty is important--but she’s not Insatiable’s main dish. Strangely and crucially, her viewpoint often gets lost, ignored or brushed aside, at least in the early episodes. The focus of this dark comedy is Bob Armstrong (Dallas Roberts).
  19. Lodge 49 is different. That alone isn’t enough reason to book a visit.
  20. The humans in Animals are idiots. But the critters often have funny things to share about how we all need our packs to survive and thrive.
  21. It brims with nice, talented people making impossibly crazy beautiful things. It’s charming and sweet and might just inspire you to make something.
  22. You may think you know the story, but the accumulation of detail, in new interviews and video and audio clips in this six-part documentary from producer Shawn Carter (also known to the world as musician and mogul Jay-Z), begins like a light snow fall and turns into a bracing nor’easter.
  23. Castle Rock shows a tremendous investment of time and creativity. It’s worth your walk on the dark side.
  24. The subtleties in [Kristin Kreuk's] performance help fill in the gaps in scripts that at times range from flat to merely functional. Burden of Truth, which has already been renewed in Canada, is a show by and for adults looking for something a little challenging.
  25. 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.
  26. The two-hour documentary Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind captures the magic and the mania that was the iconic comic. Bursting with hilarious clips and bloopers, it’s almost as good as having Williams back.
  27. It’s funny, sad, invasive and unhinged.
  28. Outpost might remind you of the heyday--or low point--of syndicated shows in the late ’80s or ’90s. It’s not “Xena: Warrior Princess”--it’s more on par with the dreck of “Beastmaster.”
  29. 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.
  30. [A Very English Scandal] never settles on a tone. One moment, it’s delivering sly, savage moments worthy of Ricky Gervais’ “The Office.” Then it becomes earthquake serious as one heterosexual politician reveals why he wants to decriminalize homosexuality.

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