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.

With its strong ear for sound and heaps of visual style, the compelling personal journey of its main character, and a healthy bit of romantic yearning, there’s plenty to be a fan of here.

Acapulco is definitely not a high-key comedy by any means. But the character-driven story will lure yo

What sets Chimp Empire apart from other nature documentaries is how it concentrates on how the chimps’ society is structured. That and the access the filmmakers were able to get makes the series very compelling.

The Secrets She Keeps certainly has a bit of a Lifetime movie feel to it, but the leads bring more than enough credibility to their roles to make the series worth watching.

The first episode of Little Bird progresses a bit slowly, but sets up a powerful story about an Indigenous woman who wants to find the family she was forcibly taken from when she was a child.

While James May: Our Man In Japan gets as goofy as any other travel series, May’s sincere desire to get a feel for Japanese life is worth watching.

If the only reason why you watch The Responder is to see Martin Freeman barely hold it together, then it’s a pretty good reason to watch the show. The rest of the plot is incidental to a performance by Freeman that utilizes all of his copious ability to be the aggrieved everyman who’s ready to crack at any moment.

Slow Horses continues to be fun to watch because of Oldman’s crusty performance and the agents at Slough House working together so well despite not exactly being friends. It’s a chemistry that works for this show, and can sustain it for a number of seasons beyond this one.

They seem to be eager to share too much and show their fractured relationships as they strive for that “perfection is attainable” life. It’s an awareness previous Housewives spent multiple seasons learning, but these ladies are already savvy. This all adds up to one of the most confident starts to a Bravo series we’ve perhaps ever seen, and one that is boldly ready to bring Bravo into a new era.

Come for the celebrity jokes and encounters, stay for the kinder, gentler message, and use the Notes app to write a note to self to look into a flip phone.

Stellar characters, great performances, killer action, and — once again — some of the best costuming work on television can go a long way in covering up structural flaws. This year, I was promised a badass fantasy show, and I got one. It just wasn’t the one I expecting.

Break Point is not a serious examination of the state of tennis going into 2023, but it is a pulpy binge-watch that will introduce you to the next generation of tennis stars. To put it bluntly, Break Point gives pro tennis the Kardashian treatment.

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.

Pacific Rim: The Black certainly has a few missteps here and there, with some wonky animation, but it’s a great, world-expanding look at concepts and monsters that audiences who loved the original film can easily fall in love with. Opting for anime storytelling is the cherry on top, as it offers a medium that feels just right for the franchise’s lore.

Boys In Blue isn’t an easy watch by any means, but it’s an important story worth telling, and the filmmakers walk a careful tightrope in telling it right.

Brooker and his writing staff seem to be able to expertly balance the idea that, in the broad sense, what Cunk is saying as a presenter is correct, but her notions and opinions on those facts are completely bonkers. It’s that tension that makes Cunk On Earth work. ... Cunk On Earth is funny without straining for laughs.

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

Exploding Kittens has a surprising amount of heart for a show about a cat who thinks he’s God because, well, he is God.

Whether you’re a seasoned golf fan or someone who only has a vague awareness of the sport’s existence, Full Swing is a great way to latch onto the inherent drama behind the competition.

Bosch: Legacy is pulpy, procedural fun in the tradition of both Bosch and the storied, sometimes sordid history of fictional Los Angeles gumshoes that dates all the way back to Phillip Marlowe.

It demystifies our view of the competition, with all its ceremonial grandiosity, sweeping music and heart-tugging TV profiles. It takes our perception of these impenetrable sports heroes and turns it upside-down.

Knuckles is a fun, light show that has just enough edge to keep parents engaged, but is completely suitable for the whole family.

The Responder continues to be a compelling watch, mainly because Martin Freeman is so good at barely containing Chris Carson’s rage.

A well-organized script and some fantastic performances makes the expansive story of Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist an engaging, fun show to watch.

Alan Cumming’s Paradise Homes benefits from the cheeky presence of the Scottish actor, transforming a dry topic into a show that’s warm and funny.

Mike Judge’s Beavis And Butt-Head is more or less the same show that was such a hit in the ’90s. And because it’s about idiots doing dumb things, the funny stuff will always be funny, no matter what decade it is.

This show honors them and their hard work and you can’t help but feel it in your heart.

Frayed tells a funny and hopefully heartwarming story about a woman who has to re-adapt to the place she fled decades ago, and how her pasty and awkward kids might flourish there. It’s not a new concept, but it works here.

Iwájú is a visually fascinating look at a futuristic Nigerian city, with lots of clever character moments and an Afrobeat soundtrack that ties it all together.

St. Denis Medical arrives incredibly sure of itself, having learned all the best lessons from its predecessors. The cast has chemistry, the scripts are sharp and smart, and the guest star potential is huge.

Doctor Who: Fury From The Deep is a fun way to relive a serial from the show’s 1960’s run that was thought to be lost. The animation is old-school but contemporary, and it enhances what was a good old-fashioned sci-fi serial.

It’s plenty strange and generates big laughs as well as tiny snorts of funniness along the way.

While we didn’t see a lot in The Synanon Fix that we didn’t see in previous Synanon-centric docuseries, the whole phenomenon of Synanon is just so fascinating to watch that we didn’t mind exploring it again, with some new voices to describe their experiences.

If you’re a pre-existing fan of this series, then you’re likely to enjoy this latest installment that continues to faithfully adapt the overall hilarity, tone, and excitement of Hirohiko Araki’s beloved manga series. But even first-time viewers are likely to get swept away by the colorful characters, fast-moving plot, and absurd humor.

The Greatest Show Never Made is a fun docuseries about a scam that could only have seemed to happen in 2002, at the start of the reality TV frenzy.

If you go into The Barking Murders with the right frame of mind, it’s a tense and emotional drama about Stephen Port’s victims and their families.

Lockerbie: A Search For The Truth is carried by Colin Firth, but its concentration on one man’s quest for the truth also keeps the show’s writers and producers from drifting into melodrama around a real-life terrorist act.

We were so intrigued by how the individual challenges and the team challenges would work, that we played both episodes back to back, and was invested in both. ... Even though there is more at stake with the individual challenges, the team challenges are the more intriguing part of each episode, because this is where the interpersonal relationships come into play.

Nöthin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of ’80s Hair Metal will bring back tons of memories of the music viewers might have listened to in middle or high school back in the 1980s, but the backstage stories will be what hold the interest of people who didn’t grow up with the music.

We were pleasantly surprised by how mature of a show School Spirits was, not just because of List’s steady lead performance, but because it doesn’t delve in the current cliches that drag down most high-school dramas. In other words, no house parties and no sex scenes (yet); it’s just a fun, ghostly mystery to watch.

Slip is certainly a tour de force for Zoe Lister-Jones, but it’s also funny and touching, and it may have a more positive message about marriage and long-term relationships than it seems to have at first blush.

With fine performances and spectacular cinematography, the new version of All Creatures Great And Small will definitely make fans of Herriot’s books want to go back and revisit them, and it will also bring new fans into the fold.

There’s an inherent charm to bowling. Born to Bowl capably channels that charm, and it’s a fun watch.

This version is updated with interesting plots, clever dialogue, and lots of pop culture references. While some pre-teens will enjoy it, it feels like the target audience skews a touch older thanks to some genuine creepiness throughout.

High On The Hog is not only informative, but makes a real emotional connection between food and the history behind it, and a lot of that is thanks to the “relaxed intensity” of Satterfield.

Turning Point: The Vietnam War is a thoughtful, meticulous and considered examination of the U.S.’s involvement in Vietnam and how it changed how we saw our government.

The Chair is funny as heck with some earned moments of real emotion, and a killer cast. Six episodes flew by, and we hope to see more of Pembroke’s English department soon.

While the reenactments in Equal were distracting, we were enlightened by this examination of a piece of history we knew little about, and enjoyed what Porter brought to the project via a narration style only Porter could pull off.

Elite is already stirring up its component parts for a satisfyingly spicy, gossipy, and bloody series conclusion.

Excuse Me, I Love You is admirably performance-heavy. While the snippets of crosstalk and behind-the-scenes chatter are fun, and will certainly be revealing for fans (the choreography rehearsals are particularly interesting), it’s a thrill to see and hear all of the singer’s most giant singles come to life onstage, complete with that elaborate choreo to go with each one.

Steeped in blood, sopped in whiskey, and lit in brooding pools of yellow and gray, Peaky Blinders is mood TV escapism with a satisfying historical bent.

Once again, Time does a good job of showing inmates as humans, and how their lives suffer on the inside as they deal with real-life problems happening on the outside.

If you’re a basketball fan, you’re surely familiar with the broad strokes of Bill Russell’s greatness, but if you want the whole story, Bill Russell: Legend is a worthwhile telling of it.

It’s like a nice light dessert after all the heavy fare the network offers. We love seeing and hearing from the intensely uncomfortable Wilson, and marvel at how his filmmaking instincts take him in very strange and interesting directions.

Hip Hop Uncovered has found a great angle to make the history of hip hop fresh again. It doesn’t hurt that the filmmakers get perspectives from so many big names about the history of the genre and the power brokers who made it work behind the scenes.

There was nothing quite like American Gladiators in its prime, and The American Gladiators Documentary captures the magic, weirdness and spectacle of it all in an entertaining and nostalgic package.

After watching the first three episodes of Euphoria Season 3, it’s unclear whether there’s hope for Rue and her friends, but there’s definitely a chance this polarizing HBO show might end its run on an incandescent high note.

Wanted: The Escape Of Carlos Ghosn is slightly padded, with a couple of interludes about Ghosn’s family history that don’t connect by the end of the series. But it’s mostly riveting, showing just how Ghosn managed to get the better of the Japanese justice system, for better or for worse.

Lessons In Chemistry contains layers of ingredients that build on and play off of each other: romance, drama, history, the second wave of feminism, all snuggled neatly into a 13 x 9 pan. When combined, they’re all greater than the sum of their parts.

The fact that they [the Stidhams] did sit down to talk to the filmmakers makes the docuseries 200% better. And that’s mostly due to the magnetic and somewhat unhinged personality of DeAnn Stidham.

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.

In its first hour, The Outlaws manages to have a bunch of funny moments, one or two thrills, and tells more than enough about its ensemble to keep us watching.

Bad Surgeon: Love Under The Knife is going to detail this two part fraud on the part of Macchiarini, and it’s a compelling watch.

Kaiju No. 8: Season 2 appears to have the vibrant visuals, exciting characters, and twisting plot to keep viewers hooked from start to finish. At the very least, it certainly knows how to pull you in and keep you wanting more. This genre might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you liked Kaiju No. 8: Season 1 or similar anime series, then you should enjoy this too.

Finding Alice strikes the right balance between drama and comedy, sadness and laughter, with a fine performance by Keeley Hawes at its center.

All of this suspicion and continuous threat of violence makes Snowfall an unsettling, utterly compelling watch, since it’s removed its own set of guarantees.

Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution emphasizes the beats and songs that built a classic sound, and the communities, often marginalized or under-represented, who did the hard work – and all of the dancing! – to bring it to life by the light of a turning glitterball, before the music ever went slick and mainstream.

Believe it or not, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2 might be even better than Season 1.

The mystery of Blood & Water is interesting enough to keep us watching, but the performances of Qamata and Ngema just make the show that much better.

Does Boarders say anything new? That’s yet to be seen. But even if it treads well-worn ground, it does so in a way that’s witty and funny, with just enough drama to let the audience know that the stakes for these five teens are pretty high.

The first episode of Buried draws viewers in by getting them on Eileen Franklin’s side, which will have even more impact once the other three episodes, detailing the trial’s aftermath, start to chip away at their initial confidence.

UnPrisoned is a funny show that deals with some pretty heavy generational issues, and while it still rides on the fantastic chemistry between Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo, the rest of the cast is getting some meaty material, as well.

There are multiple reasons why Wedding Season works so well. The first are the two leads. ... It feels like an adventure that’ll be fun to watch. Lyttelton has also done a good job sketching out the supporting characters.

This season of Sweet Magnolias spends a bit of time establishing new relationships and professional roles for most of its characters, giving these established, well-loved characters a chance to branch out and explore things they haven’t done before, while still being the reliable, cozy comfort-fest we love.

Elizabeth Is Missing is a film that will leave you depressed, especially after the final scene, but happy you were able to watch the great Glenda Jackson put in a great late-in-life performance.

Cooked With Cannabis shows that there are other ways to use the flavorful nature of pot than just baking it into brownies or making it into gummy bears.

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

The drama has everything to keep viewers invested, turned on, and watching, potentially even in one sitting. It’s a fun, steamy escape and who would dare pass up one of those?

Mood is one of those shows that takes you on a ride with its main character. It’s a ride we think is worth taking, but it all depends on how much you relate with Sasha and the decisions she’s making for herself.

Not only is the true story of The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe remarkable, but Marsan and Dolan make the Darwin’s scheme seem all the more believable, as well as funny and painful all at once.

Fantasmas is a good example of a show where viewers just need to buckle in and enjoy the visual and auditory ride, instead of trying to figure out exactly what is going on. The less you try to compare it to any other show you’ve seen, the more you’ll enjoy this journey through Julio Torres’ head.

High Fidelity uses its brilliant cast, sharp writing, and hypnotically cool set design to examine how relationships have and haven’t changed in the modern era.

Going with animation not only allows us to visualize Notaro’s funny trips down her own Memory Lane, but also enjoy a lighter take on her interaction with the crowd at Largo (dubbed La Venue in Drawn). ... Notaro may be a notoriously dry comedian, perhaps too dry for some tastes? So this also may be your best chance to see her in a completely new light. Or 11 new lights.

I was skeptical going in, but Running With the Wolves cares enough about the actual sport to make you care, too.

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.

Little Ellen is a vibrant, funny show for the PreK set that gives fun lessons in being adaptable and resilient, and viewers should be able to enjoy it, whether they’re fans of DeGeneres or not.

Cannon is a successful moderator because he’s so open about his own struggles with things like anxiety and the loss of his young son, and doesn’t attempt to lighten the mood with many jokes. .... The show is most effective when it tries to make it clear that these vulnerable feelings people have are pretty universal, and when the experts on the show articulate how and why people feel the way they do.

Yo Gabba GabbaLand brings back everything kids loved about the original series, plus expands the gang’s universe, giving them more to explore.

Sirens works because it leans into the absurdity of the story and the awfulness of most of the characters, making the show a dark comedy that’s truly comedic.

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

Queenie has some equally funny and dramatic moments in its first episode, and Dionne Brown handles both sides of her character well.

While the first episode of Mrs. Davis took a bit of effort to wrap our minds around, we were hooked on it by the end, thanks in no small part to Betty Gilpin’s lead performance.

Queen Sono is a fun spy thriller that isn’t trying to answer too many questions about the meaning of life, which is sometimes exactly what you need.

Hit & Run boasts a fine international cast, an interesting premise, and opens up a lot of story avenues without confusing the viewer.

It’s hard to create a new story for 230-year-old characters and make it seem like it was part of those characters’ stories the whole time. But Harriet Warner and her staff have been able to do that with Dangerous Liaisons.

Both sides of this story are interesting enough to sustain episodes where we go back and forth, waiting for the two of them to come together.

In season 3, The Outlaws remains as charming a crime-forward comedy as it ever was, with a new set of raised and dangerous stakes for its delightful core ensemble to tackle. Plus, at five steadily-paced episodes, a one-sitting binge watch is a total breeze.