Russell Hornby is a powerful presence as Charles Flenory; we’re interested to see how he continues to influence his sons as their empire grows.

The unexpected guest spots, like Duchovny as the depressed ice cream truck driver, are also hilarious. But what Dildarian has done a good job of is building the community around Tom, where characters voiced by people like John Malkovich fit in well.

It’s Dave Chappelle. This special really is geared toward people who have been paying attention to his previous performances. ... Chappelle clearly wants to go out with a bang. If he meant his YouTube special (8:46) as his own rallying cry that Black Lives Matter, and his IG videos as a way to show other entertainers how to fight for their own rights, then he intends for The Closer to blaze a path for other stand-up comedians to survive and thrive in this moment when anyone and everyone feels they can try to “cancel” you over your words.

Only because of Osment’s lead performance and the hope that the characters in Pretty Smart will have their extreme quirks edged off a bit as the group and Chelsea start to bond.

If you were a fan of the original Legends Of The Hidden Temple, this reboot will bring back fond memories. But even if you weren’t (we were adults when the show came out), it’s still a light, fun watch that leans completely into its goofiness.

Romero’s zombie movies were as much about societal ills as they were about the undead. This new version of Day Of The Dead tries to mimic that formula, but doesn’t follow through with good enough storylines or characters that we care about.

The series does a bang-up job of easing you back into the world and organically weaving the info you need to know into the character dialogue and motivations. ... By exploding the plot, the sophomore season does what the best go-for-broke storytelling does: it will leave you craving more.

Home Sweet Home is not a reality show where you watch for the “gotcha” moments. But there’s more than enough interesting scenes in each episode to give the viewer a nice, heartwarming family watch on a Friday night.

The Next Thing You Eat is equal parts foodie show and quirky investigative documentary, emphasizing the vital nature of the human side of the industry while also examining what the future might hold.

If the first episode is any indication, the cases are still the same brand of Jerry Springer-esque crazy that they’ve always been. ... For them [fans], Judy Justice should be more of what they love, even if it doesn’t really break new ground for Sheindlin or the judge-show genre.

While Tampa Baes certainly gifts us with a few memorable reality characters, the show’s drama feels forced and the cast does not feel representative of Tampa’s diverse LGBTQ population.

Even if you’re not a gamer, or a fan of League of Legends, Arcane will be more than entertaining enough to hold your interest, with an interesting story backed by amazing animation.

Animal held our interest because of its amazing photography, but the energetic narration and family-centric narratives help move things along.

Always Jane shows the life of a 2020s teenager who just happens to be trans, with all the struggles that come with being at that stage of life. What makes it interesting to watch is that her life isn’t being treated as some sort of anomaly, either by the filmmakers or her family.

With the crew established and the characters beloved, the series is now taking the time to lead boldly not with surprises, but with tremendous amounts of heart.

The Curse Of Von Dutch is one of those docuseries that feels like it would have been better off as a 90-minute documentary film instead of a three-hour series. Even in the first episode, Renzi stretches the story to the point where it’s almost transparent.

Sort Of has a laid back, funny vibe, which is mostly driven by Bilal Baig’s performance. Yes, the actor and character are both nonbinary, but that’s only part of the story, which is what makes the show so entertaining.

Glória takes the standard Cold War spy drama and places it in a unique setting, which sets up some intriguing scenarios for missions to be executed and/or thwarted.

One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga is both a fitting public farewell for a musical legend and a fun throwback to the golden age of live entertainment.

That comedic vibe is really what makes Baking It distinctive from TGBBS. ... If you want a gentle, family-friendly baking show that’s pretty funny, then Baking It is a good choice to watch over the holidays. Rudolph and Samberg are on their A-game here, but the opinionated grannies are the show’s secret weapon.

In a lot of ways, the show is a workplace comedy with a lot of gender politics mixed in. If you look at it like that, and appreciate Silverman’s performance as Candy for the low-key seethe it is, Santa Inc. becomes enjoyable.

Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: The Facts Of Life/Diff’rent Strokes succeeded because it doesn’t even try to come close to the way the original episodes were staged. Everyone had fun with embodying the iconic roles they were given, and it showed.

We’re recommending Saturday Morning All-Star Hits! mainly because Kyle Mooney and Ben Jones do a good job of recreating the cheesy cartoons and teen-oriented shows we used to watch in the ’80s and ’90s, and we appreciate that the satire goes super dark at times. But we so wanted it to be a whole lot funnier than it turned out to be.

The entertainment value of the show comes down to the personalities of the cast. For now, the cast members haven’t distinguished themselves from each other for the most part, but there are definitely beefs there.

We’re giving a cautious recommendation to The Journalist because we think writer Michihito Fujii has established the bones of a good story. But it needs to avoid getting bogged down in the details of the corruption and just get down to the business of examining everyone’s motivations in the scandal.

The presentation of The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman is pretty basic, but the story is so compelling — and compellingly told — you’ll look past the production’s cheesiness.

March is a bit of a frustrating show, because in one respect, producers Cheryl Horner McDonough, Jamail Shelton, Shari Scorca and Marcel Fuentes have shown viewers a world that has been largely unexamined until now. But in other respects, it doesn’t seem like it goes deep enough in its first episode.

You might not learn much that’s new while watching Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness, but you’ll spend an entertaining half hour watching the ever-funny JVN get his questions answered.

On From The Cold is one of the worst Netflix original series we’ve seen in some time. ... We would be OK with the clunky dialogue and wooden acting in In From The Cold if the show wasn’t so ridiculous. But it’s absolutely ridiculous, and not in a good way.

Love Is Blind Season 2 reveals what the show really is, what the producers want to focus on and what kind of applicants they want to cast. The result is a show that is a bit more structured but infinitely more chaotic — and yet somehow still uncomfortably genuine.

If you’ve seen Ms. Pat’s previous Netflix performance or her BET+ series, you know what you’re gonna get. And if you haven’t, then this hour may serve to tease and tempt you to explore more of her work.

Ali Wong cuts right to the chase. She wants the chase. She misses the chase. Wong demands your attention from her opening line.

Even if you’ve never seen a single episode of Disenchantment, now’s a great time to start.

Abraham Lincoln is a bit more ambitious and bigger in scope than recent Lincoln-centric docuseries, but it treats its audience with respect, both via well-done reenactments and fantastic interviews.

Snowfall is full of great acting from top to bottom, with family politics, big money crime, violent disputes, and power shifting intrigue to spare.

Anger toward the financial industry that just keeps churning, and how it broke so many regular folks in the wake of the 2008 crash and resulting twenty-nine-trillion-dollar mistake, gives some solid ground to Gaming Wall Street. It gives root to the narrative, a narrative that can occasionally feel like a printout of a particularly hyperactive online comment field.

In its riot of visuals and breathless narrative, the 29-minute premiere of Guardians of Justice packs quite a punch.

There’s nothing that distinguishes The Courtship from the Bachelor/Bachelorette series or any other reality dating series, for that matter. But you may want to watch it for the charming Remy or the costumes.

Power Book IV: Force is the Power sequel that’s got the loosest connection to the parent show’s universe. In fact, it sets itself up as a pure spin-off. But It does a good job of showing who the power players are in its story, and how Tommy Egan is ready to shake up the status quo.

With a fresh premise and a delightful cast, Is It Cake? quickly charms and earns its place among some of Netflix’s most entertaining baking shows.

Superfans of a specific film or director who seek a nugget or two of insight they haven’t already uncovered might find something of value in individual episodes. But beyond that, One Perfect Shot isn’t the compelling submersion into the art of film you’d likely prefer it to be.

Lizzo, in her first stab at reality programming, is a complete natural at hosting duties. And Watch Out for the Big Grrls promises to promote exuberance and empowerment over manufactured drama and assorted reality world tackiness.

Colors pop, details come out, and if you’ve got a big screen, some of the visuals are immersive. So, how is Obama as a narrator? He’s OK. His tone is more Policy Wonk Obama than Surprisingly Funny Obama or Soaring Orator Obama, but there are moments where his wryness comes through.

Despite the cumbersome cast and retrograde gags, The Garcias has the same warmth as The Brothers Garcia series, and should be a fun nostalgic watch for fans of the original show.

Not So Pretty presents some pretty harrowing information in a tone that’s less hectoring and more sympathetic. By playing the, “hey, we didn’t know, either, buddy” card, its message is even more effective.

Instead of a rehash of an event that could be easily researched, Meltdown: Three Mile Island takes a familiar event from the past half-century and fills in people’s gaps in information and debunks commonly held beliefs about the event.

While Clark may dabble a bit too much in making Clark Olofsson into a hero, it’s still an entertaining look at how Olofsson saw his life, whether the stories are true or not.

The Big Conn is one of those docuseries that moves along at a good pace while not leaving out much pertinent information. It’s as intriguing as a good scripted drama, and that should be the goal of any true crime docuseries.

With some funny moments, well-researched information, and an entertainingly fast pace, The G Word With Adam Conover entertainingly tells people about how various government agencies help Americans, but isn’t afraid to call them out if they work against our interests.

Zany, sharp, and entertaining as ever, Made for Love remains one of HBO Max’s best original series.

Only if you’re a Letterkenny fan and love watching Shoresy curse between tobacco spits. Otherwise, SKIP IT, because the show isn’t that funny.

Tom Swift gets too stuck in its leaden dialogue and attempts at being edgy to tell a conspiracy story that makes any sense.

There’s nothing about Dubai that distinguishes it from other editions of the franchise, and no one from the cast stands out after the first episode.

The Orville: New Horizons is back for a third season with a new home, some light, effective tweaking, and more seasoning for its core cast.

Hollywood Houselift isn’t a particularly interesting show if you’re not already a Flipping Out fan, and it definitely pales in comparison to that show. But if you’ve been missing Jeff Lewis’ particular sense of style and, uh, work ethic over the past three years, this should give you the fix you need.

Why would we want to sit around and watch something to make us feel sad about Saget when we could watch him do what he did best: Make us laugh. ... Skip this and instead search for actual comedy from Saget.

The Lake is a coming-of-age show that isn’t trying to be for kids, but is also trying to tell a multi-layered story with smart, character-driven jokes, which it succeeds to do most of the time.

The refreshing thing about this series is that the members of Menudo who were interviewed appreciated the wild ride they went on, even if looking back they realize that Díaz wouldn’t be able to operate the band the same way today.

They prove time and again that as singular as they may be individually as scene-stealers, they’re a powerhouse duo together. Even if plenty of their sketches find themselves feeling a pinch of imposter syndrome. No, they belong here. They certainly belong here.

You are absolutely not going to come away from Who Is Ghislaine Maxwell? with any sympathy for the woman, who was just sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking circle. In fact, you may come away from the show with a little bit of pity for her, inasmuch you can pity her for the conditions that led her to this point in her life, not for the actions for which she’s about to be locked away. ... One thing we don’t really get an insight on, at least in the first episode, is Maxwell’s inner life.

It’s about time we were reminded that comedians aren’t just observers or philosophers, but sometimes more importantly the voices we need to hear to remind us of the plights of those among us who don’t enjoy the same rights as the rest of us.

The tone of the show can be a bit too cheeky at times, but it does have a light touch, and Melanie’s almost-giddy sex-positive personality certainly helps the shy couples open up.

Claim To Fame isn’t high art, but it’s fun to guess along with the housemates, even if you can Google your guesses and find out who the housemates are before they’re revealed on the show.

Despite the Goop-ish feeling we get seeing a man of privilege getting to go on psychedelic trips while counting Netflix’s money, there is still information that he imparts in How To Change Your Mind that will, well, change your mind about psychedelics.

D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! is a stylish docuseries that fills in a lot of blanks about a legend that has made a permanent home in our pop culture firmament, and the investigation that’s no closer to being solved now than it was in 1971.

Farzar could be a good show, but unless you’re a big fan of dick jokes — and we know you’re out there! — you’re not going to find a lot to laugh at with this show.

Amber Brown is a delightful family sitcom, highlighted by Bonnie Hunt’s witty, easygoing writing style and Carsyn Rose’s revelatory lead performance.

The Hillside Strangler: Devil In Disguise is a straightforward retelling of the famous serial killer case. But it definitely gives information and perspectives that people who paid attention to the case four decades ago might not have either gotten or remembered.

Season 3 is not just the most thrilling and emotionally charged installment yet… Locke & Key Season 3 is a fitting ending to Locke & Key, and easily one of the best seasons of a fantasy series released this year.

Despite the slow pace, easy clues and overreliance on guffaws, we still found ourselves playing along as if we were watching the older versions on BUZZR. And the modernized version of the ’60s theme song is pretty fun. If the show gets a second season, we hope Fallon and Quinn tighten things up to make the show move a bit faster.

Any worry that Baby Groot would wear out his welcome was unwarranted. Each short zips along at a perfect pace, deploying sight gags that hit their mark every time.

In Chad & JT Go Deep, their characters are as earnest as they are detached, like stoners who make no little plans but falter on the perception and follow-through. And that earnestness can mostly make up for wherever the humor becomes so indirect as to be scattershot.

So watchable right off the bat. ... Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners is a fantastic addition to the Cyberpunk universe. Its narrative is even more engaging than the original game in certain respects, with a protagonist it’s easy to get behind and root for.

Despite one of the main plotlines being a bit wonky, Heartbreak High is a funny show with well-drawn characters. They just happen to hook up a lot.

Like its parent show, The Rookie: Feds is watchable because of its star and very little else. But Nash-Betts is just so damn watchable that you’ll enjoy the series despite any reservations you may have.

The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist feels like it glorifies the Bling Ring participants — at least the ones who agreed to be interviewed — and victim-blames the celebrities that got burglarized, which makes the series’ perspective really tough to swallow.

Shadowland is fascinating, upsetting, sometimes depressing, sometimes revelatory journalism.

Jungle has an arresting visual style, and its rap and drill soundtrack layers in more interesting elements. We’ll see how well those layers play together as the stories get more complicated.

The ensemble on Family Law is appealing enough that we get the feeling that, once Nielsen and her writers tweak Saite’s character a bit, the show will be a funny, light law drama that’s entertainingly quirky.

Minhaj has always been more of an engaging storyteller than a joke craftsman. In this special, he remains in full control of the audience, masterfully pulling “awwwws” and applause breaks out of them with the greatest of ease.

If you want to get into the mind of Jeffrey Dahmer, there’s no better way than hearing from the killer himself, and Conversations With A Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes gives viewers more than enough opportunity to hear from Dahmer about the impulses that led him to kill.

Sure, it’s great to see Brendan Fraser and Tom Welling on our screens, running around defeating bad guys together. But Professionals is such a slapdash show that it doesn’t really tap into the potential of two fan-favorite stars playing off each other.

While The Playlist doesn’t give audiences the satisfying dose of schadenfreude that other tech bioseries have provided, it does effectively show just how many perspectives there are to the start of a massive success like Spotify.

The show is as addictive as ever, once the show gets out of the pods and into the real world, and it will definitely spark plenty of conversations (and, more importantly, memes). But honestly, the most surprising thing about Love Is Blind Season 3 is that somehow this show figured out a way to weave complex relationship studies through all the drunken shenanigans we expect from Netflix reality shows.

It would have been interesting for Unsolved Mysteries to get the authorities on record. But according to a postscript, those agencies denied a request to speak.

Even if Kroll doesn’t spill the tea on what happened on set here, he’s still more than willing to open his big mouth with embarrassing details from his own life. As he says: “Guys, we are all just doing our best.” His best is better than OK.

Big Mouth is still as raunchy, funny, and surprisingly sweet as ever.

The series features insightful conversations with fascinating public figures, and is genuinely educational.

Warrior Nun feels revived and reenergized as it begins the second season nobody was originally sure it would receive. There’s a lot to sort out, like Adriel’s true lineage and who will survive the continued bloodshed. But as Ava, Alba Baptista is ready to lead the charge.

Mythic Quest remains not only one of the smartest workplace comedies around but one of the funniest shows on TV.

Limitless With Chris Hemsworth puts the star in some extreme situations, but the insights into his life and thinking are what’s going to keep us watching.

Leopard Skin is too twisted and tangled to devote mental energy too. Add to that some uneven performances, and you’ve got the formula for an ambitious show that just misses the mark.

If you’re deeply invested in this soap opera and love sexy Spanish murder teens, watch it. However, the hedonistic joy of past seasons has been replaced by an icky feeling of dread. That — plus the fact that we don’t have a long history with any of the characters left — makes it a wee bit harder to root for new couples, old rivalries, and friendship to conquer all.

As much as it feels like it’s two docuseries combined into a big unwieldy mess, Our Universe‘s graphics, photography and narration still make it a compelling watch.

Either be the fictionalized show with the hip-hop music cues and the 21st century dialogue, or the docuseries that gives Anne the “You’re Wrong About” treatment, or the more accurate but less sexy knockoff of The Tudors, but don’t try to be all of them. ... This series needed to pick a lane and stick with it.

Short of Michael Jordan, there’s no figure in basketball history quite as compelling as Shaquille O’Neal, and SHAQ is a worthy documentary treatment of the man, myth and legend.

Avenue 5 packs its half-hour episodes with laughs and a kind of manic absurdity that’s well-positioned to carry this comedy in whatever direction its hapless luxury space liner is pushed in next.

Firefly Lane can be soapy and sappy, but it’s a fun ride full of humor and high stakes relationship drama. Heigl and Chalke are invested in their characters and they sell the friendship at the heart of the story.