When it's up and running at full power, Childhood's End is as intriguing, provocative and unnerving as any visit to the "fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man." And there are many such stretches in these six hours. Yet there also are slow, padded, uninvolving stretches when the direction and dialogue wander off course. Ragged in structure and pacing, the miniseries is a slick-looking vehicle that occasionally stalls and sputters toward an uncertain future.

Although some liberties have been taken with the characters and plot, it is an immediately intriguing, wonderfully textured realization of Dick's challenging book.

Sure, it's all very derivative. It's purposely so. That's not the problem with these scripts. The problem is that, despite all the blood, too many anemic characters fail to register on the flesh-and-blood scale.

Much of this sounds grim, but Breakthrough is anything but depressing in its overall tone. After putting towering problems into chilling perspective, the series humanizes the issues, keeping the focus on individual stories.

The pilot episode for CBS' Supergirl does manage to get off the ground, yet it never really soars to the heights of the supercharged "Gotham" and "The Flash." Nor is it as immediately intriguing as those two DC-inspired shows.

The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend premiere also was full of surprises, taking oddball twists and turns with, not only Rebecca, but the supporting characters as well. All in all, an impressive prime-time debut for Bloom as star, co-creator and executive producer of the slyly crafted show. That's the good news. The great news is that, from what the CW has revealed of future episodes, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend appears to be staying on the wild and unpredictable track.

The two-tiered, supersized season premiere tells its compelling story with flashbacks intercut with what's happening in the present.

The jokes weren't marginally different in tone and quality than those delivered so expertly for so many years by his predecessor, Jon Stewart. It was all about his delivery, which seemed breathless, slightly rushed and a little uncertain.... New correspondent Roy Wood Jr., reporting on the discovery of running water on Mars, made a stronger impression Monday night than Noah.

The first hour of FX's The Bastard Executioner is a bit of a slog.... Just when you're thinking the battle is lost, Sutter goes all medieval on us and pulls everything together in a fiercely compelling manner. Patience is rewarded, and The Bastard Executioner suddenly becomes every bit as addictive as it is intriguing.

In some ways, the show recalls the early days of "Beverly Hills, 90210." With its exceptional writing and sensitivity, however, it resembles nothing so much as a "teensomething" version of "thirtysomething." [25 Aug 1994, p.1F]

The odious Tucker is a crude and blatant rip-off of Fox's brilliant January starter, "Malcolm in the Middle." The producers have gone to the absurd extreme of citing "My So-Called Life" as their inspiration, a pathetic ploy to avoid the obvious charge of "Malcolm" marauding. [2 Oct 2000, p.9D]

Much of this takes a by-the-numbers approach, but the cast is strong, and you get the feeling that the second episode is more indicative of where the show is heading.

What's missing from Blunt Talk is any degree of wit, any genuine character development, any sense of comic structure that delights, rather than depresses, the viewer. What should be winning leaves you wincing.

The closer The Bomb gets to the present, the more frenetic and less effective it becomes. You can't expect a two-hour study to be in any way comprehensive, but some surprisingly big swaths of the historical territory get little or no mention.

Sharknado 3 has the look and feel of any satirical concept worn a trifle ragged through repetition. But, again, it's not as if that's going to hurt its Emmy chances. There's still enough bite left in the concept.

The Strain continues to rely too much on action and not enough on compelling character development. The uneven results are entertaining but hardly infectious.

And yet, given how derivative it is, (say it with me now), Humans turns out far better than you'd think possible. The performances, pacing and direction are that compellingly good, at least in the first two episodes made available to critics.

Whatever the reason, or the combination of reasons, the second season of True Detective drags disappointingly along as wearisome second-tier stuff. That doesn't mean it's without merit. It doesn't mean there aren't dazzlingly surprising stretches.

Emphasizing action more than character, Babylon 5 is a show that's simply grittier, more exuberantly freewheeling and more fun [than "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"]. [25 Jan 1994, p.9D]

It's an ambitious and engrossing combination of mystery story and medical drama - and a powerful reminder that docudramas can be more than true-crime sleaze. [11 Sept 1993, p.1E]

Memorable performances are delivered by Dominique McElligott as Louise Shepard, Azure Parsons as Annie Glenn and Odette Annable as Trudy Cooper.... Lacking any semblance of compelling structure, the series is a jumble of scenes artlessly arranged in a by-the-numbers chronological order.

Loco is the right word for this amiably goofy and endearingly dumb comedy. [8 Nov 2001, p.E11]

In its present ragged state, Harsh Realm is a jumble of great promise and great weaknesses - every bit as annoying as it is amazing. At its best, the series is stylish and clever. At its worst, well, things have a tendency to get pretty heavy-handed and obvious. [7 Oct 1999, p.1E]

The tone of the second season is slightly different from the first, yet he remains remarkably true to his stated metaphoric mission. Have no fear, it's the same Penny Dreadful, but Logan is shaking things up in all kinds imaginative ways.... No if about it. Penny Dreadful works.

We have fifth-season banquet of delights spread before us.... With each season, that load is spread out more and more, with young players coming into their own and crafty veterans added to the cast. The storytelling also gets stronger and more assured, pushing Game of Thrones to greater and grander heights.

This show manages to give us the hilarious, horrific and heroic... and it has brains.

Aspects of Battle Creek seem familiar, to be sure, yet it registers high on the giddy scale thanks to energetic direction, clever writing and the comic chemistry generated by Duhamel and Winters.

While the political dynamics have changed greatly, House of Cards remains an addictive mixture of over-the-top soap opera, wicked dark comedy and sly melodrama.