Nightsleeper has the potential to be a tense six-episode thrill ride or it could be a predictable bore. The first episode makes us think it might be the latter, but there are enough good elements in the first episode to keep us watching.

There’s enough that we like about The Copenhagen Test to recommend it. It feels mostly like a solid conspiracy drama with a little bit of sci fi mixed in, but we hope the muddled first episode isn’t a bad sign of what the rest of the season will be like.

If you’re a Chappelle fan, nothing I say will change your mind. But if you want just the heart of the comedy matter without all of the unnecessary cruelty or trolling, then SKIP ahead to the 33-minute mark, where you can then STREAM IT for his closing story.

Adult Swim’s The Elephant is a fun experiment that turns out to be an entertaining 23 minutes of TV (48 if you extend it to the accompanying documentary) from some very talented creators.

Emily in Paris isn’t going to make your Top 10 Best Shows of 2025 list. But it’s still a high-quality comfort watch with good vibes and a charming cast that can give you a much-needed rest from reality.

While the prizes up for grabs on What’s In The Box? are exciting and NPH is an affable host, the game play drags and the reality elements are too irritating to keep us watching.

The world of Fallout expands in Season 2, but all of it still feels focused on the overall story of a post-apocalyptic world created by greed and avarice trying to survive.

As long as you know what you’re getting yourself into, STREAM IT to see what Sherman is like outside of the constraints of NBC and 30 Rock. Just note it might not be a great idea to eat or think about eating while watching this!

Taylor Swift: The End of an Era is a nice illumination into the singer-songwriter’s hugely-scaled professional operation and her personal, sometimes emotional world.

Little Disasters has some annoying “perfect family with secrets” tropes, and uses some irritating narrative devices like foruth-wall-breaking snippets and narration. However, we liked the exploration of this unlikely friendship between a medical skeptic and a doctor, and how their differences end up threatening one of their families.

Simon Cowell: The Next Act combines the homelife version of the host’s caddish personality with the process of finding, founding and making a boy band flourish. We’re just intrigued enough to see if Cowell really can go from zero to One Direction in the space of six episodes.

Man Vs. Baby is the kind of show that you can put on and just laugh without thinking too hard, which is likely the exact reaction Atkinson and Davies wanted the audience to have.

The second season of Percy Jackson And The Olympians starts off with a raucous episode and promises to send its heroes on a new quest immediately, which is exactly what an adventure series where we already know everyone should do.

The scenery, Morgan’s charm, and the good casting will keep you watching Destination X, even though the gameplay is too complicated and frustrating.

STREAM IT, if you’re a fan of the Spartacus franchise. If you’re not, you’re going to be too confused and confounded by Spartacus: House Of Asher to want to continue past the first couple of episodes, so SKIP IT

Fiona Nolan and her family are the more interesting of the two, if only because how they came together. .... When Anderson and Headey are in scenes together, it’s hard to look away.

The New Years keeps its storytelling relatively simple, focusing on the main characters as we peek in on their evolving relationship over a decade.

We’ve only seen one episode, so it’s hard to say whether this new cast will actually resonate with the audience. But from what’s been shown so far, they certainly seem to have potential.

While it’s not an investigation per se, we appreciate the strong journalistic approach Reckoning takes, using direct quotes and personal experience, wherever it can, to establish historic, scary patterns in Combs’ behavior. At the same time, director Alexandria Stapleton is an artful builder of tension, which makes Reckoning eminently watchable.

STREAM IT, obviously, if you’re a Beatles fanatic and are looking for something to nap to after Thanksgiving dinner. Anthology has lived a few lives by now, but this updated streaming version feels clean and presentable, just like the young and scrubbed Beatles in 1964.

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age is not only great to look at, but is well-paced and provides some scientific context to the era known as the “Ice Age”.

With its TV-G rating, Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol is great, kid-friendly holiday entertainment. While it’s likely not going to enter the pantheon of annual holiday re-watches, it’s the ideal show for the under-10 crowd.

While the subject matter of Heated Rivalry is somewhat daring, the first episode plays out like something that used to be shown late nights on Cinemax instead of story with well-drawn characters and romantic chemistry between its leads.

Stranger Thing Season 5 Part 1— streaming now — is full of gaudy special effects, nonsensical lore, and insane plot devices, and yet you will still somehow fall under the show’s spell. That’s because it was never the spectacle or super-sized episode run times that won audiences over. No, the best part of Stranger Things is still, as it’s always been, the sheer humanity of its characters and the incandescent talent of its young cast.

A big component of his celebrity is his general niceness, and as the singer ambles around midtown, it’s all as amiable as his style of performance typically is. What mild pressure One Shot exerts on the viewer is through its technical maneuvering, but neither Sheeran nor his crew seem to care about “proving it.” It’s just a mechanism to move the singer’s nice guy energy into multiple spaces, and sure, maybe sell a few records along the way.

We want the show to be compelling and relatively self-contained so “civilians” like us don’t have to do extensive research to crack the show’s code. The Mighty Nein succeeds in that regard, for the most part, though there were times during the first episode where we were scratching our heads about who was who and what was what.

The second season of A Man On The Inside may or may not have as much of the sentiment and emotion as the first season, but it should be just as funny, thanks to Schur, Danson, and a great cast.

The first episode of Had I Not Seen The Sun sets up an interesting dual story about a serial killer’s high school years and how a filmmaker connects with one of his victims years later.

The second season of Landman is stronger than the first, mainly because the women on the show are in a stronger position than they were last season, giving Thornton’s Tommy all he can handle.

The American Revolution is yet another example of how Ken Burns and his collaborators take what we already know about a historic event and, through meticulous research and extensive interviews with historians, goes really deep into the topic in an entertaining way.

The Seduction is a good looking series with fine performances and enough kinkiness to satisfy fans of boddice-ripping period dramas.

While we liked the performances of Whitehall, Duchovny and van Houten, Malice really doesn’t give the viewers much in the way of dramatic momentum in the first episode, and the show doesn’t know whether it wants to be funny or scary.

With furious fight action and a noble hero to follow through its pitched battle tension, Last Samurai Standing feels like a limited series well worth your time.

Tiffany Haddish Goes Off shines because the comedian goes on a trip of a lifetime with her actual friends, and decades of memories and history together inform everything they do on this trip.

The Beast In Me benefits from a focused story that puts its Emmy-winning leads in a good position to do their best work, especially when they’re on screen together.

I once said Season 2 was better than Season 1. But now, Season 3 might have them both beat.

We still appreciate Wiig’s performance as Maxine, as well as the performances of Janney, Duffy and more. But Palm Royale is so in love with its own sense of late-’60s, early-’70s kitsch and piling on characters and plotlines, that those performances often get lost under a blizzard of words.

It’s definitely a shadow of what it once was, but the characters are still classic, and the lessons they teach are given in a way that will stick in the minds of the kids they’re trying to teach.

Bat-Fam is a watchable show that isn’t as funny as it wants to be, but a dad version of Batman trying to manage a crazy household has a lot of potential.

The show doesn’t try to go for cheap gags but instead roots all of its comedy in the characters and the found family that populates Happy’s Place (the bar as well as the series). That continues in the second season, with a couple of twists that will make the season a little more interesting.

Stumble is not only funny, but it has a surprising amount of heart and character-based humor, and our hope is that it’ll improve on both factors after a strong start.

Maxton Hall: The World Between Us enters its second season with a bang, having its main characters immediately go off the rails in the first episode. We can’t wait to see where the action takes us from here.

It’s another series by Vince Gilligan that’s both visually and dramatically compelling to watch, especially with Rhea Seehorn being featured throughout.

There’s nothing actually wrong with All Her Fault. But we’re just so tired of these kinds of thrillers that we just don’t have the energy to spare watching rich people in nice kitchens trying to keep their secrets from getting out.

Death By Lightning is a lively drama about a little-explored facet of American history, punctuated by spot-on performances by its excellent cast.

While Orozco is a charming lead, Just Alice has a highly annoying premise that we know is going to have to make a lot of written somersaults to keep it going for the entire first season.

St. Denis Medical is entering its second season as a workplace comedy who knows who its characters are and how to craft stories and humor around that, which is always what shows like this should aspire to do.

There were a bunch of lines in the first episode of All’s Fair that we rolled our eyes at, but there were some that made us laugh out loud. Much of that has to do with who’s delivering those lines, but some of that also has to do with the general outlandishness of the show in general. .... The cases themselves are entertaining, and haven’t entered the realm of 9-1-1-level ridiculousness yet.

We see Crutch‘s potential as a fun family sitcom, but we hope the writers realize that Morgan needs to be unleashed a little more in order for it to succeed.

While there are still aspects of Squid Game: The Challenge we don’t love, like how the eliminated contestants are “killed,” we liked how the producers made the early stages of the competition more intimate and personal, despite the hundreds of contestants.

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.

You’re going to need some patience with I Love LA in order to enjoy it. Like most comedies about found family, there’s too much jokey chatter and not enough actual character depth to help viewers latch onto the situations of Maia or anyone else. But the friendship between Maia and Tallulah tells us that there may be more underneath the vocal fry.

We feel like Liam Hemsworth fills the boots of Geralt of Rivia just fine, and are quite enjoying the action sequences and touches of humor as The Witcher returns for Season 4.

Season 2 looks to be another successful season of original, entertaining, thought-provoking animation and toe-tapping tunes from the brilliant brain of Vivienne Medrano.

Thompson is definitely the main draw on Down Cemetery Road, but good performances all around and a sense of humor that makes us snicker makes up for a mystery that might be frustratingly slow to develop.

While we continue to enjoy the interplay between these characters, we’re pretty sure nobody on this show has ever even seen a good mood – and that does not change with this immediately grim new season.

Talamasca: The New Order is entertaining enough for fans of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe to get their fill, but we’re not sure if the story hangs together well enough for newbies.

In every conceivable way, Season 2 put this series on track to be one of the best rom-coms in television history. It’s exactly what the world needs right now.

The Monster Of Florence is a depressing slog of a show that feels exploitative at times and disjointed at others.

The supernatural aspect of Harlan Coben’s Lazarus makes the series a bit different than most Coben mysteries. But at its heart it’s still a solid Coben murder mystery, with undertones about family history and relationships.

Mob War: Philadelphia Vs. The Mafia presents its story without a lot of narrative trickery, and just lets the many-layered drama of mob business do the talking.

Welcome to Derry excels in juggling its numerous storylines (so far) and offers great showcases for actors Chris Chalk and Jovan Adepo, as well as its countless scene-stealing child stars. It’s unclear if the HBO show will be able stick its scary landing, but the first batch of episodes prove to be spine-chilling fun this spooky season.

Tracker has streamlined its storytelling once again in Season 3, and the show is better for it. What we hope is that Colter gets more complex cases like the one that involved The Process, while he tries to figure out how to confront his mother about his father’s death.

The chemistry between its cast is what makes Hal & Harper both a comedic and dramatic success, equally tugging at our heartstrings and making us chuckle.

For new viewers or those who have lost interest in the series over the years, this season may not be enough to reel you in if the first episode is any indication. But hey, we still are charmed enough by the series to hope that One-Punch Man: Season 3 ultimately proves us wrong and ends up being a total knockout.

Sheriff Country has already set up some good stories and rivalries in its first episode, and Baccarin strikes the right tone as a person who wants to keep her hometown safe.

We run the risk of praising Marty and not how entertaining Mr. Scorsese is, with its murderer’s row of talking heads, reiterations of bits familiar to cinephiles and smart analytical revelations – and inevitably will be in future installments. .... Probably should be 10 hours. At least.

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.

Ghosts is still fun, but we’re just not sure how many good stories this Sam, Jay and the ghostly gang have left in them.

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is a warm, amiable sitcom with characters that are very familiar to viewers. We just wish it was funnier.

John Wayne Gacy is certainly more empathetic of Gacy’s victims and their families than many other serial killer dramatic series have been. The approach is enhanced by Michael Chernus’ excellent portrayal of Gacy.

Whitford’s casting speaks not only to the care and consideration that goes into each role, but the time and effort put into every aspect of one of the best shows on television. The Diplomat remains on top, even if its primary protagonist lives in a constant state of crisis.

We don’t think Murdaugh: Murder In The Family will add anything new to the copious amount of material already out there about the Alex Murdaugh case, despite the fine performances and uncluttered storytelling.

Deathwatch definitely feels dialed into its video game and book franchise source material. But it also has a lot of style on its own, and a growly lead voice acting performance from Liev Schreiber, two factors that feed its freestanding quality.

Watson feels like a show that just isn’t confident enough in its version of Dr. Watson and his team to let them stand on their own.

While there doesn’t seem to be anything new about DMV, the cast has potential and the first episode had enough funny moments to give the show a chance.

Whether The Last Frontier can maintain this pace for the next nine hours is unlikely. But it’s a good start more than a rocky one (and note, future episodes reportedly stray from some of the core drama as Frank and co. track down loose escapees). Give it another ep or two before you move on.

This season, while it seems that there will be some continuing arcs, the mysteries themselves have room to breathe and become more than just a vehicle for Carrie Preston to do her Elsbeth thing.

While the cases of the week are a necessary evil on a show like Matlock, we wish there was more room to play out the complexities of Matty and Olympia’[s] relationship and the Wellbrexa case.

The Chair Company is a funny parody of conspiracy thrillers that works on a number of levels, thanks to the clever writing of Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin, and their writing team.

The 9-1-1 franchise wears its ridiculousness like a badge of honor, and that gives them the freedom to put their first responders into pretty much any situation, which is why 9-1-1: Nashville might be silly, but at least it’s entertainingly silly.

Abbott Elementary is starting to show some small signs of age as it starts its fifth season. But it also still generates big laughs and warm feelings about the group of teachers and administrators at Abbott, even if some of the smaller plots need some work.

Yes, Boots is in many ways similar to many “misfits in the military” comedies that have been a staple of TV for decades. But entertaining characters will always be the key to making a show in this genre work, and this show has plenty of them.

Victoria is a woman to be respected, and her story is interesting enough, but only her most devoted fans and fashionistas will probably care about watching the whole thing through. Try out episode one for some good retro gossip, and then SKIP IT.

Red Alert tries its best to show the harrowing experience of October 7 in southern Israel while concentrating on the heroic acts that happened that day. It’s a balance that’s at times hard to maintain but it is also worth watching.

While the storytelling on One Day In October can be a bit uneven, the true stories of October 7 survivors, combined with real audio and video, kept us riveted to the relatively-short episodes.

The Ed Gein Story does an effective job of introducing audiences to a serial killer many people may not know about, but one that has had a ton of influence on horror films from Psycho to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Karen Pirie continues to be a refreshing detective series because of its enthusiastic main character and format that really lets the show’s writers dig into the characters both past and present.

We’re not 100 percent sold on Chad Powers yet, but if it concentrates on the redemption arcs and steps away from the goofiness, it should be a satisfying show to watch.

Murder Before Evensong is an engaging mystery that builds a world around Canon Daniel Clement as he becomes the sleuthing vicar that will likely solve murders in future series.

The murder mystery stuff is satisfactory, and could lead to unexpected reveals. But in Nine Bodies, it’s the suspicion and what’s left unsaid among its plane crash survivors that has us hanging with them in their jungle clearing.

English Teacher is still a funny workplace comedy, despite the fact that the Alvarez’ character is becoming more self-righteous as the series goes along.

The series still makes wonderful use of clean, empty spaces by giving them a foreboding air. Combine this with the evocative music of Yutaka Yamada, pulsing and urgent all at once, and we felt re-immersed in the world the series imagines before we even re-entered the world it imagines.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is pretty much what you expect from any entry in the L&O franchise, which is a good thing.

The first episode of House Of Guinness shows more than tells, and that’s because of Steven Knight’s expert skills in making his characters vibrant right out of the gate.

Wayward has two very compelling lead performances from Martin and Collette, and a good balance between the dark and the darkly funny.

If you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or if you are super into the zombie apocalypse genre, then you’ll want to STREAM IT, because this show was made specifically for you. Otherwise, despite the vivid animation and high-octane action sequences, Marvel Zombies isn’t the most accessible title, so if you’re not the target audience, you may be better off SKIPPING IT

Hotel Costiera is a fun and visually-stunning series with Jesse Williams in his element as the half-Italian, half-American fixer.