Harlem may feel like a show that you’ve seen before, but the four stars are more than charming enough, and the writing is clever enough, to make the show stand on its own.

The beats of the season are rote, the characters verge on cringe-worthy cliche, and The White Lotus seems to be lazily conforming to a formula that’s already inspired countless pale imitations since its 2021 series launch. .... The biggest thing the The White Lotus Season 3 has going for it, though, is its phenomenal cast. The actors that Mike White has assembled give each character a pathos that maybe wasn’t originally there on the page. .... Ultimately, The White Lotus Season 3 is still the best at what the show sets out to do.

The Great North has some work to do to get to the level of its cousin shows, Bob’s Burgers and Central Park. But with a great voice cast and Bouchard overseeing things, it should get there eventually.

Like On My Block, Freeridge is a fun show about a tight group of friends dealing with some strange goings-on in their neighborhood. Strong character development and confident lead performances make the show a very easy watch.

We’re not sure the second season of Beef is going to be as satisfying as the first season was, but the story has a lot of places it can go, so we’re hopeful we can connect to it as the season goes along.

The Comedy Store is looking like a pretty comprehensive history of stand-up comedy over the last 50 years, especially comedians who made their name on the west coast. The fact that it’s directed by someone who went through the grind himself makes it all the more intimate and surprising.

Invincible continues to give viewers one of the more nuanced superhero stories we’ve ever seen, and while the show finds itself in a dark place in Season 4, it’s still a compelling show to watch.

Love Fraud gets off to an interesting start, and only promises to get weirder and more interesting from there.

Guadagnino concentrates so much on the teenagers that the adults might get the short end of the character stick. ... The first episode of We Are Who We Are takes its time to get to where it wants to go, but the ride is pleasant because we’re so intrigued by Fraser and his various relationships.

While Yellowjackets has its storytelling issues, it does seem that, with everyone settled into the story, that the stakes will be ramped up in Season 2. That should help keep our minds off the show’s glaring flaws.

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.

The first eight (of ten) episodes of Only Murders in the Building Season 3 left me feeling decidedly “meh.” Sure, you can’t really snub your nose at Meryl Streep bantering with Martin Short — even I have to admit that watching the show’s stars collide is worth the price of admission — but the storytelling kept letting me down.

The improvised scenes are where the show crackles with energy, even if old farts like us can’t understand 100% of the skaters’ lingo. ... Also, the energy among the five stars is palpable, given the history that they’ve had in the past few years. When the group splits up, things get more stilted.

Elon Musk’s Crash Course is yet another example of how The New York Times Presents concisely presents complicated news stories in a fast-moving, compelling package that gives viewers more than enough depth to understand the issue and who the players are.

Castlevania: Nocturne is an exemplary way to take a popular game series and turn it into one of the most exciting animated adaptations yet. It remains to be seen the heights that animated Richter Belmont will reach, but we’re confident we’ll be left impressed.

This show isn’t perfect, but I keep finding myself willing to forgive Task its trespasses thanks to all of the other miracles it pulls off.

This is a winning portrait of two guys in South Central L.A. with opposing life philosophies who find they each have something to learn from the other.

From hip hop’s inception and its emergence and growth, Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World offers a powerful message that connects influence, innovation, and a unifying beat to how we continue to think and speak about the artform today.

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.

Here in season three the very real challenges faced by Diddly Squat give him true pause, and that creates an effective balance against the usual gripes and galavanting. We’re invested in how Clarkson’s going to solve his farm’s host of problems, and particularly enjoy it when the solution as he sees it meets real world whammies.

The Change is a funny show with a simple premise, which works mostly because of Bridget Christie’s winning performance.

While we wish there was a bit more of Ruth Ellis’ backstory at the beginning of A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, it’s still an intriguing story about the last woman executed in Great Britain, with a fine lead performance by Lucy Boynton.

[Reacher] doesn’t live in anything resembling a rules-based society, either. It’s more like a closed loop existence. And if you’re inside, he’s either helping you or killing you. Everything else gets sorted out in between, which makes for a refreshingly simple, satisfyingly trashy viewing experience.

Lebowitz is hilarious, and Scorsese captures her humor, as well as her love of New York City, very well. You may not want to binge Pretend It’s A City, because one can only take so much “New York humor,” even those of us who know the city well. But it’s certainly worth taking in an episode or two at a time.

The docuseries is entertaining despite its structural machinations, because it takes the phenomenon of Chippendales as seriously as it should be taken.

A howling satire of our real world and the superhero fictions we create, The Boys also features a ripping mean streak all its own. It’s brash. It’s bloody. And if the boys wanna fight, you better let ‘em.

Kid Cudi and Barris do a fine job of making Entergalactic feel like much more than a vehicle for Cudi’s latest music; it’s a hip hop take on a familiar story, but is a satisfying watch despite knowing how it’s going to turn out.

Julie is full of great performances, peppy pop songs, and a solid storyline we’re excited to dig into.