Kevin works because it’s not just leaning on gags. It really tries to put its characters and stories in a position to be funny without leaning on gags, which makes the gags funny instead of fatiguing to watch.

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.

We’re lucky that we get to watch this woman on the court, but this interesting, insightful, and inspiring documentary also shows how lucky we are to get to know her in this way.

Percy Jackson And The Olympians tells a straightforward quest story with good writing and well-defined characters, but takes its time to set up Percy’s story without dragging the show to a halt.

Despite its occasional tonal inconsistency, Japan Sinks: 2020 is a frequent visual wonder.

It has a little bit of everything for a variety of viewers, and serious drama that’ll undoubtedly keep us on the edge of our seats. If you’re ready for something a little different, you should absolutely give Unicorn a try.

There’s no magic bullet in this hour to change your mind about Minhaj. As he even jokes in reference to his foibles: “breaking news: comedians aren’t wizards.” But his thoughts about class and race and how our relationships to boundaries have deep meanings both inside the family home as well as on the global map, those are illusions worth shattering.

The frothiness of the first season is replaced by real grief and adult emotions, but it’s a welcome change in Belly’s journey to adulthood.

Star Trek: Prodigy gives Trekkers a real adventure with canonical implications to wrap their minds around while providing action and characters kids can relate to. It’s a combination that we rarely see in kids’ extensions to existing franchises.

Fanning and Hoult are as winning as ever, and the series wastes no time diving back into its playful retelling of one of Russia’s most famous monarch couples.

There’s plenty to enjoy about the series, which is warm and inviting and fun. Belly proves herself to be a great protagonist.

Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels tells a compelling story filled with fine performances.

If you liked Quarterback, then Receiver is a perfect follow-up–and if you didn’t, it’s got a roster far more interesting than the quarterbacks offered. For an avid NFL fan, it’s a great way to kill some time until the fall.

Kathryn Hahn makes Tiny Beautiful Things a compelling watch, mainly because she’s so good at playing someone barely holding things together. But the rest of the series, especially the flashback sequences, give us a pretty full picture of why her character continues to spiral.

One of the things we appreciated about the first episode of The Lazarus Project is that writer Joe Barton (Giri/Haji, The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself) doesn’t torture George with dozens of time jumps before being introduced to The Lazarus Project. But what we also appreciate is that the first episode does just enough time jumping to set up what’s really going to happen in the series.

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.

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”.

One Hundred Years Of Solitude manages to do justice to the ambitious and sprawling novel it is based on, with good performances and expert writing and directing.

It may seem like black-ish with f-bombs, but #blackAF is still a funny, meta introduction to what Barris will be able to do with the creative freedoms Netflix brings.

Under the Banner of Heaven turns Krakauer’s sprawling look at the roots and evolution of Fundamentalist Mormonism into a well-made detective drama. It’s not as transcendent as its source material, but it is a gripping watch, full of fantastic performances and horrifying reveals.

There’s so much detail here that even “Piano Man” – which is easily one of the most overexposed, wrung-dry songs on the planet – sounds new again. That’s a real feat for a doc, and proof that the giant-sized run-time of So It Goes is more than warranted.

The Swamp‘s biggest strength, its nuance, is potentially its weakness. Viewers are so accustomed to super biased storytelling when it comes from contemporary political docs that The Swamp‘s extremely sensitive portrayals of three controversial Republican politicians as people might actually upset some viewers.

For all of the seriousness of his revelations, Carmichael does manage to keep things from getting too dark.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is smart without being overly precious, but is just weird enough to keep kids’ attention. It helps that the writing and acting help keep things from flying off into Tweeland.

As with the first season, Survival Of The Thickest rides on the effervescent confidence of Michelle Buteau, with Mavis now knowing that she took the big swing she never did before.

Five Bedrooms won’t make you laugh out loud, but as you get to know the people who have bought into this massive mess of a house, you’ll likely start rooting for their ersatz family to function like a real one.

Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story takes a pretty familiar story and makes it compelling by shifting the narrative slightly and through some excellent performances.

The second season of Deadloch continues to be a darkly funny series with a fun pair of mismatched detectives who strangely work very well together.