Michelle Buteau is fantastic in Survival Of The Thickest, and we’re looking forward to seeing how her character Mavis inhabits her world on her own for the first time in years.

The Reagans is obviously a partisan production, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. By re-contextualizing Ronald Reagan’s presidency, the series makes a clear case for how we got to this point as a country. It didn’t just start with Donald Trump.

It’s Ortega’s star power alone that helps drive this series from the very beginning into something that could have been mediocre into a totally watchable and exciting twist on a familiar franchise. ... While this adaptation makes some strange decisions, it ends up working in a weird way, which will interest both old and new viewers.

While the first episode of The Stolen Girl is a bit too predictable, there does seem to be a really twisty story underneath the predictable premiere.

It just feels like a whole series full of toxic, near-narcissistic characters that aren’t murdering each other. We don’t want to spend our precious time on earth with people like that in real life, much less filling the cast of a young adult drama.

The main reasons to watch DI Ray are Parminda Nagra’s lead performance and the theme of her fighting against bias in her department. We just wish the case being investigated, and some of the characters surrounding Ray, were more compelling.

Friends: The Reunion completely redefines how we should view sitcom reunions moving forward, and it sets the bar so high that I truly don’t know if any other get together can ever top it.

While 4400 may need to smooth down some of its more noticeable tone hiccups, it has set up a very interesting mystery with undertones of issues that are very relevant to 2021.

While this new version of Kung Fu has been CW-ified to its detriment, there’s more than enough to like about it to recommend it, hoping that the stupids that infiltrated the pilot get smoothed over in subsequent episodes.

Hijack makes sure the tension stays high while not taking leaps in logic. Combine the tight writing with the compelling lead performance from Idris Elba and you have a show that gets us leaning forward in our chairs, and that says a lot.

Despite our reservations, Dead Boy Detectives is mostly fun to watch, and the flaws we saw in the first episode might be smoothed over as the season goes along.

With its global backdrop, imaginative designs, and two of the friendliest faces you’ve ever seen reunited on TV, Making the Cut is exactly the show we need right now.

While The Consultant isn’t that funny or scary, and many of the supporting characters are one-dimensional. But if you just like watching Christoph Waltz being weird, this show will have lots and lots of that.

Colman Domingo brings a veracity and intensity to his character in The Madness that elevates what is potentially a run-of-the-mill thriller. But so far, the show isn’t giving us any reason to think it’s getting ridiculous, which is a good thing.

Adults definitely starts out a bit frantic, and the characters a bit cartoonish, but there is more than enough that’s funny about this group of friends that makes us want to spend more time with them.

We grant you that the first couple of episodes of The Investigation will be frustrating to watch, given what you know about the Wall case. But seeing these cops and prosecutors make their way through Madsen’s lies to get to the truth will be interesting to watch.

It gives me no pleasure to share that the show is now fixated on its characters complaining problems of the characters’ own making. In one episode, Midge literally thinks her biggest problem is not getting free milk. Worse, the once guillotine-sharp dialogue that made the Sherman-Palladinos favorites amongst TV snobs has been replaced with nonsensical dialogue that constantly loops back on itself.

It’s an uneven, uninspiring season of television that fails to live up to the high standard of past seasons. ... It’s not all disastrous, though; there are some excellent things about this season, too. Namely, Lesley Manville’s Princess Margaret. ... Key members of the new ensemble cast feel like downgrades from the Emmy-winning stars of seasons past.

Things take a little while to develop in the first episode of Hijack‘s second season. But once we learned exactly what was going on, we were locked back into what we expect to be a fast-paced season, with the usual excellent performance from Idris Elba.

We are hoping against hope that most of The Morning Show‘s third season will be more like the first episode’s first 45 minutes and less like the last 15. But given the evidence we’ve seen to this point, we don’t have a lot of faith that it will be that way.

The storytelling chaos that Loki sews can cause headaches. But this series remains worthwhile and entertaining because its cast is so great. Tom Hiddleston, Wunmi Mosaku, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Owen Wilson, and Sophia Di Martino keep us in this thing even as the premise sometimes skids along the edge of a deep, unknowable chasm.

As good as Weisz and the cast of Vladimir is, they’re trapped in a story that’s smothered in gimmickry instead of character development.

The Most Dangerous Animal Of All is intriguing enough to spend three-and-a-half hours on, but you may find yourself wondering why this story couldn’t have been told in half the time.

'Barkskins' is well-acted and looks fantastic, but it's too confusing at the start

Bridgerton Season 4 Part 1 retains the charm of past seasons, but it often feels like two clashing shows, competing for ultimate attention. .... My only hope is that that drama can be a bit more streamlined, a bit more sexy, and bit more focused on our wonderful season leads when Part 2 rolls out on February 26.

It’s Florida, Man. is quirky, fun and sometimes scary, which pretty much reflects the state where its stories take place.

The fact that this group has such good chemistry with each other despite not being in the same room, and the fact that Gero and Gall are able to craft story arcs as we go through the pandemic is almost miraculous. We genuinely laughed many times through the three episodes NBC sent for review.

We’re giving The Decameron a lukewarm recommendation because there are characters that we do want to follow in this dark comedy, and we have confidence that the storytelling will help deepen the characters we don’t love. But the comedic elements don’t hit most of the time, and we wonder how much effort it will take viewers to really buy into the goings on at this Tuscan villa.

We wish Harlan Coben’s Shelter gave us a bit more of a cohesive story in its early going instead of what feels like taking all of its mysteries and putting them in a storytelling blender. But the charm of the leads and the fact that the mystery has multiple layers give us hope that as things are revealed, the storytelling will become a bit less frenzied.

It may be a low bar, but if we’re watching a network series where we don’t roll our eyes or throw up our hands at what we’re seeing on the screen, there’s a good chance that we’ll want to see more of it. And Alaska Daily had enough to like to make us want to see more.

Shining Girls takes its time to reveal the entire picture of what its story is about. But with a fine lead performance by Moss and expert direction, it’s still got enough tension to make us OK with getting only little bits of info.

The second episode of Tulsa King gave us hope that the series can be an enjoyable series with a bit of a sense of a humor about its fish-out-of-water conceit and that Stallone can turn down the Sly schtick. But there were still a lot of issues that make us think that the show could end up being as nuanced as a plate of spaghetti topped with ketchup.

La Fortuna’s distinctive story, combined with the standout performances from Tucci and Peters, make the show one we want to stick with.

Murderville isn’t a show you watch for any sort of story; you watch it to see how the guest stars react to what’s going on around them. And you watch it to laugh. And you’ll laugh a lot.

Between the CGI blood, the disjointed dramatic scenes, and the somewhat stilted expert interviews, it feels like anyone who wants to get the history of the Colosseum in Rome would be better served reading its Wikipedia entry than slogging through 8 hours of Colosseum.

If you’re interested in jumping into Neighbours, you may want to read some online wikis and other articles first. But even if you don’t, you’ll still feel like you’re somewhere warm and familiar, just by virtue of actors and characters that have been around for decades.

Season three proves that the show is still as reliably funny and original as ever thanks the array of funny supporting characters and an intriguing plot refresh.

While America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders isn’t going to get too dark or delve too deeply into real issues, it’s still a good behind the scenes look at how one of the most famous cheerleading squads in the world gets ready for being in the spotlight.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft has action, mystery, and a sincere emotional core that combine to form a fleshed-out world and story that will pique your interest. With plenty of compelling plotlines, questions, and characters set up in the first episode, we look forward to continuing on with them to see where this exciting adventure will lead.

The jury’s out on how many episodes Paris Has Fallen can sustain the relative juice imported from the Has Fallen movies. If there is a core HFU fanbase rising up for this small screen continuance, that contingent should be happy. But as action-thriller stuff goes, Paris Has Fallen in general feels kinda basic.

We’re willing to give Protection a pass because of Siobhan Finneran’s lead performance, but the show feels like it’s weighed down by a lot of British cop show cliches.

There’s real quality writing in this series, and we get glimpses into the lives of Marvyn, Holly and the girls on the team from the start. The pilot gives viewers more than enough to immediately sign on and follow how Marvyn and the Sirens (that’s the school mascot) get better together.

WeCrashed isn’t perfect, but Hathaway’s performance (and Leto’s, to a lesser extent) and the fact that Adam Neumann’s at times shown to be the hustler he is sold us on wanting to watch more.

Camila Morrone’s compelling performance in Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen isn’t enough for us to get past the cartoonish supporting characters, the foreboding with little payoff, and a plot that just seems to consist of little more than tense moments.

While Young Sherlock is certainly stylish, it doesn’t forsake substance for that style, setting up Sherlock Holmes’ first big case in a way that digs into the characters of Sherlock, Moriarty and others that are familiar to Holmes fans.

If you’re as fascinated with Wood’s life and career as we are, Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind will be a font of information you may not have already known about. But it certainly isn’t a place to get the definitive account of her death, because even those most intimately involved with her have no idea what happened.

Loot is a very watchable, and funny-enough show. But we just want a Maya Rudolph series to really make its star a tour de force.

Chad works mainly because Pedrad doesn’t treat her role as a gimmick, and has built a world around Chad that will be fodder for stories this season and (hopefully) however many other seasons the show gets.

McConaughey’s smooth Southern drawl is the perfect fit for Presley, the animation is fluid and attractive, and the laughs come at you quickly. It’s a raucous good time, and deserves a good, old-fashioned try – even by suspicious minds.

It doesn’t look like it’s going to follow the traditional path that other Superman series have, and that’s just fine with us. Just as we like seeing Clark and Lois as harried parents, we’re also happy to see Superman battle some different enemies for a change.

Bad Mistakes works mostly because we like watching Levy and Ortega’s chemistry as siblings, and we’ll always be there to see Laurie Metcalf do her thing. We’re just wondering how silly things are going to get during this show’s first season.

STREAM IT, but we’re definitely giving you the head’s up that the gag-heavy first few episodes of Praise Petey may turn you off as you also realize that you haven’t laughed much during a particular episode.

[Bayer's] comedy chops here easily remind you of how she shined behind the Weekend Update desk with in-over-their-head characters such as Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy or flailing meteorologist Dawn Lazarus. ... The pilot, directed by Michael Showalter, has an even slower burn than say, Search Party, which he co-created.

A bittersweet, magical trip down memory lane, Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts offers everything you could possibly want out of a reunion special.

There is enough that’s interesting about Irreverent to keep watching for a few episodes. We hope we see more town and Paulo’s nemesis Mack than the tired stuff about Paulo trying to keep from getting killed by the mob.

Nautilus is a visually fun, family-friendly new chapter in the story of Captain Nemo, which keeps the action moving throughout its first episode.

The jokes are more quippy asides than things that are borne out of character. Some of them hit, but most miss. In fact, almost the entire first episode felt like a lame attempt at replicating the HIMYM formula, save any memorable characters.

Breeders’ stark reality of what it’s like to parent young kids these days hits us right in our exhausted funny bones.

We don’t think even Dexter loyalists will get why Dexter: Resurrection exists, and the first episode doesn’t give us any indication that the season’s story will be at all interesting.

Calls is wholly immersive and totally chilling, a unique storytelling experience able to send shivers down your spine without the help of on-camera actors.

Kevin Can F**k Himself quickly moves past its high concept to show the picture of a woman in crisis, and we’re excited to see how she tries to improve things through the first season.

Q: Into The Storm may make you shake your head for six hours, but it’ll also give you a better understanding of the QAnon phenomenon and just how so many people could buy into theories that seem to not make a lot of sense.

It’s not a new classic, but it’s nice that Star Wars fans finally have something watchable to put on during the holiday season.

Manhunt winds up being a mixed bag of thrilling revelation and tortuous tedium. The Apple TV+ show often loses its all its juice by trying to squeeze in as much historical embellishment as possible.

There’s something about Coyote, created by David Graziano, Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert that feels a little bit off. It’s not the performance by Chiklis, which is his usual combination of tough but with seeds of doubt.

The Midnight Club continues Mike Flanagan’s ability to creep and scare the pants off viewers while building stories with great characters. The varied tones of the club’s stories should bring an interesting wrinkle to Flanagan’s usual dark and tense style.

Sometimes it’s nice to just let a show cook, and The Witcher continues to make weird meals with its oodles of diabolical double crosses and inevitable “there’s a spell for that” moments that bang the story off in another new direction. (Seriously, there are portals everywhere.) There’s a bit of uncertainty creeping in, given the backstage drama of Cavill’s departure. But everybody else in this series is fully invested and really, really good.

We would have really liked Conversations With Friends if it were a movie or maybe even a four-part limited series. But there just doesn’t seem to be enough narrative energy to sustain the story for 12 episodes.

Trigger Point has lots of tension, and a fair amount of action. What it doesn’t really have is much character development or an intriguing central plot. But you try to look away as Lana tries to defuse bomb after bomb after bomb.

Bodies takes what could be a confusing premise and crafts four distinctive stories that will eventually be linked together.

For the most part, Ten Pound Poms is a watchable drama about the difficulties Brits had in Australia during the post-WWII immigration movement. But its sudden dark turn in the first episode, plus a couple of underdeveloped stories, make us wonder just where the show is going.

With a few small exceptions, Emily in Paris Season 2 is basically just more of the same, and who could ask for anything more? ... Emily in Paris remains an undeniably watchable delight, short on substance but long on satisfaction.

Standout performances by Spencer, Ejogo and more make Self Made a pleasurable watch. It’s just too bad that the story of Madam C.J. Walker isn’t given time to slow down and breathe.

I just can’t stop loving And Just Like That… and I also could not stop binging the first six episodes that were sent to critics recently. It might not be good TV, but I firmly believe it is top tier entertainment.

We’re sure that the storytelling of Season 3 of Yellowjackets will even out as the season goes on, but it really feels like we need to see more of the teens than the adults at this point, and that imbalance is pretty evident in the first episode.

We hope the muddled first episode of Ragdoll isn’t an indication of where the series is going. The Ragdoll Killer presents an interesting case, but there’s so much thrown into the mix that we get the feeling the mystery is going to suffer under a pile of quips and contrivances.

Thanks to a fine performance from Stanfield as well as a story that’s just starting to get spooky by the end of the first episode, The Changeling hooks in the viewer and gets them ready to follow Apollo on a journey that promises to be full of scares and surprises.

There seems to be a disparity between the warm relationship between these siblings and the funny lines that are supposed to come out of this relationship. But the relationship is so well-established so early, we’re rooting for it to get funnier.

While there are parts of Griselda that feels like a generic cartel drama, Sofia Vergara’s fierce performance in the title role demands our attention, as well as helping the show move along at a confident pace.

Has the feel of a high-quality procedural to us instead of a super-serialized prestige show.

Skip the first episode, go to episode two and stream it instead before you make your decision to commit to the rest of the season. The sketches in the season premiere don’t really heighten effectively past their premises, while at least the second episode, also available now, goes a bit harder.

Little Demon makes sure to root most of its humor in character and situation instead of gags. Sure, there are plenty of gags, but we just love the idea of a seemingly relatable story being layered over by ridiculous circumstances.

The Golden Bachelor has all the stuff Bachelor fans love. We just wish all of these sixty- and seventy-somethings acted with a touch more maturity and dignity.

As long as the episodes of Trigger Point‘s second season continue to show Lana and the rest of the expo squad escape one tense situation after the other — and occasionally fail — the show will continue to be entertaining, even if the overall terrorist plot is just meh.

Led by strong work from Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, and Aaron Paul, the sleek visual aesthetic Westworld works with allows it to coast on its own cool weirdness whenever the plotting starts to chase its own tail.

Home Before Dark is a solid show that features a character inspired by a real-life kid investigative reporter.

Dune: Prophecy has more than enough, between all the scheming between houses and the performances of Watson and Williams, to recommend it, but we just wish it had taken a different tack on the story of Bene Gesserit than the one it chose.

Zachary Quinto is a big reason why Brilliant Minds works in its first episode. But for it to continue to work, the rest of the characters need to be developed, and Quinto’s character needs to have his flaws explored in more depth.

Whether as a companion piece to Winning Time or a standalone experience, They Call Me Magic is a worthwhile look back at one of the NBA’s greatest all-time players and personalities.

Duncanville is a show where normal things happen to a regular kid. Maybe the fact that it’s not trying too hard is what makes it so funny.

Has Criminal Minds: Evolution changed the tried and true formula that carried its original show to over 320 episodes? Not really. But with an extended storyline and most of the cast back, it’ll feel like a refresh to the show’s longtime fans, while feeling familiar enough to keep them very happy.

Despite a fine performance from Perez, we fear we’re not going to see enough of her to make suffering through the generic main characters of Now And Then tolerable.

Kate Hudson is the best part of Running Point, but Kaling, Ko, Barinholtz and Stassen have built a winning ensemble around her, with a story that’s not only a workplace comedy, but one about family, as well.

Tracker works mainly because Justin Hartley doesn’t try to reinvent his acting style to play Colton Shaw. And the show has just enough of a backstory, and quirky side characters, to give viewers reasons to tune in beyond the case-of-the-week stories.

Halo feels more streamlined in its second season. While still based on a video game franchise with nearly 25 daunting years of established lore, it’s leaning into the autonomy within himself that John-117 has unlocked, which could very well emerge as Master Chief and his team’s biggest asset against the Covenant and threats closer to home.

We like Interior Chinatown enough to look past the “stuck in a cop show” conceit, but we just hope it doesn’t weigh the show down as the season continues.

While the beginning of The Sandman‘s final season is a bit of a exposition-crammed slog, it does show Dream entering a story that feels like it’ll have a lot of possibilities.

The first episode of Boston Blue twists itself into storytelling knots to get Donnie Wahlberg’s Blue Bloods character working with the Boston PD, and the way the Silver family is constructed feels equally as contrived. That being said, it might still be a hit among viewers who miss Blue Bloods.