It’s Bon Jovi’s own decision-making that figures into the biggest dramatic hook in Thank You, which is the whys and hows of Sambora’s departure, and that will certainly keep us watching.

NCIS: Origins is a solid NCIS prequel that promises some backstory for Gibbs while introducing us to how the agency operated when even other government agencies had no idea it existed.

Dirty Pop smartly ties its year-by-year timestamps to songs, like Backstreet’s “I Want It That Way” and “We’ve Got It Goin’ On,” or NSYNC with “It’s Gonna be Me,” which allows us to follow how huge the 90s boy band phenomenon really got, and wonder how those groups allowed themselves to be swindled for so long. .... The AI thing is a weird outlier in contrast to how any of the other footage in Dirty Pop is used. The docuseries readily admits the footage was manipulated. But it gives off a reek of also manipulating the viewing audience.

It’s not that The Watch is a complete mess; some elements of the first episode gave us hope that the show will settle down. But the first episode was so jumbled and so proud of how witty it was, it forgot to establish anything about most of the characters we’ll be seeing for the entire season.

Despite some plot contrivances in the first episode, we’re still recommending Who Is Erin Carter? because Evin Ahmad does a good job making Erin a bit more credible.

We’re recommending B Positive mostly on the strength of the cast and the ability of Lorre and his showrunners to make the adjustments they need to find the show’s sweet spot. ... But this is one of the shakiest premises we’ve seen yet in a Lorre sitcom.

Taken on its own merits, there are definitely interesting story prospects for the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale. .... While it might be cathartic to watch June, Moira and others try to bring the government down, the show now might be too close to reality for our comfort.

Foundation is a plodding, confusing tale of a civilization’s triumph over its almost certain doom. We’d love to see the parts that show the story’s humanity and hope, but the first episode was just too boring to draw us in.

We trust Neil Cross knows how to tease out the truth of the story without annoying viewers. But the first episode just doesn’t give us a whole lot of confidence that we won’t get more annoyed the more the truth is teased out.

While Daisy Jones & The Six successfully brings the book’s characters and music to life, pacing-wise, it suffers from a similar problem as Peter Jackson’s Hobbit Trilogy.

The show’s not really going to change your mind about whether or not love truly is blind, but it is going to make you scream at your TV a lot (in the good way).

It’s entertaining in a flimsy, forgettable way, giving us everything we’d anticipate expect from a period drama, and not much more.

Billions pushes into its seventh and final season with as much quippy verve as ever, a fleet of existing grudges, new and interesting allyships, and the welcome return of Damian Lewis as Bobby “Axe” Axelrod. Let the demons run free.

Brand New Cherry Flavor has its high points, but its story isn’t unique enough and its weirdness seems like the free-floating kind that makes most viewers scratch their heads at what they’re seeing.

Treason has more than enough tension and intrigue to span its 5-episode season. As long as it doesn’t get too bogged down with unnecessary side stories, the show should be very entertaining.

If you approach Echo like the five-episode movie that it is, you’ll be a lot more satisfied with the pace of the limited series’ storytelling. It’s certainly darker than much of the MCU fare we’ve been seeing, but it’s also one of the MCU series that’s most grounded in reality and family, which is refreshing to see.

High Score might not tell hardcore gamers anything they don’t know. But they, along with those of us who might’ve stopped at Spy Hunter or the Sega Genesis — and are susceptible to this type of colorful nostalgia — will binge all six episodes compulsively. Netflix knows a little something about flow, too.

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.

The kind of show you might turn on as a distraction instead of a show that requires close watching. But it’s an entertaining distraction, with just enough story to keep things moving.

There are many shows that sympathize with killers and vilify their victims, but Love & Death never earns privilege. That’s because outside of Elizabeth Olsen’s devastatingly layered performance, Love & Death is a disaster.

Warrior Nun is the rare pulpy fantasy show that knows when to lean into its silly side and when to slow down and get serious. That makes it incredibly addictive for a specific kind of action fan.

Hostage is a solid political thriller made better by the performances of Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy, especially when they’re on screen together.

Two engaging leads and a witty script make Cherish The Day a show that immediately draws you in.

Ultimately, the opening foray into Monsterland isn’t quite exemplary, although it has its share of strong moments. Here’s hoping its thematic ambition, not its narrative sloppiness, is an indicator of episodes to come.

Despite our objections, On Pointe is still an interesting look at something we usually only see on scripted TV shows, exaggerated to dramatic effect. It shows that the life of a ballet student isn’t nearly as dramatic as what you see on shows like Tiny Pretty Things.

[Tom Hanks] manages to take what are pretty standard nature documentary scenes, like baby animals being unsure about leaving the nest or predators stalking their prey, and gives them a simi[l]ar air of importance that the best known narrator in this genre, Sir David Attenborough, gives the docs he works on. If there is anything innovative about The Americas is that it makes things that were previously unseen into interesting drama.

A documentary that’s little more than pointing cameras at an overflowing toilet and asking people to comment on it.

As with most anthologies, your mileage may vary with Tales Of The Walking Dead, depending on which episode you watch. But the performances are entertaining enough to make up for some fractured storytelling and weird, overly positive vibe.