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.

We complain about how impenetrable the world of Shadow And Bone is, but we also know that the story is an enjoyable adventure. We just wish things were a hair easier to follow.

It feels that Trying is going to try (pun intended) to get the emotional wringer of the adoption process right instead of falling back on TV cliches about it. It also helps that Smith and Spall play a couple that are great together and you want to see get what they’ve been hoping for.

We don’t recommend watching every episode of Marvel’s 616, but there should be enough material in the eight-episode first season to keep you occupied for a few entertaining hours.

You can’t help but feel relaxed while watching The Great Pottery Throw Down, and it’ll be interesting to see how the ante gets upped not only during the first season, but across all of the show’s three seasons.

Overcompensating‘s first episode has a few funny moments, but tries to[o] hard in other spots. But the friendship between Benny and Carmen is worth following, as long as Benny starts making his way out of the closet quickly.

The Harper House has plenty of curb appeal: Goofy characters, real-life sentiment, a mildly acidic tone. It probably won’t be the best house on the block, but it’s funny enough to warrant taking in a few more episodes.

While we don’t love the storytelling in the first episode of Women In Blue, the performances by the four lead actresses are very watchable and the serial killer mystery that will be a big part of the first season is going to be a good driver of action.

While Oh My God…Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances isn’t quite as funny as it should be, we like Williams’ vision of a near-future South Central and the really crazy friendship that the main trio has forged.

Fun series so far if you need your Asterix fix.

The Program: Cons, Cults And Kidnapping does a good job of showing the harrowing conditions at the Academy at Ivy Ridge and other disciplinary schools, while also showing the resiliency of the people who were sent there and endured those conditions.

The first episode of I Hate Suzie was an effective exercise in seeing a person’s life fall apart around them in short order. But we’re really intrigued with seeing Piper’s interpretation of how Suzie tries to put the pieces back together.

All American: Homecoming has some generic elements that we hope get straightened out over time, but its compelling cast and some of the potential stories set up by the first episode have us intrigued.

The Sercrets Of Hillsong is an effective picture of a megachurch that tried to modernize the old-fashioned Pentecostal service, despite being not only just as ultra-conservative as other evangelical ministries, but in possession of lots and lots of secrets.

Luke Grimes is up to the challenge of leading a Yellowstone spin-off as Kayce Dutton, as Marshals inserts his character and all that family lore into an action-procedural, very familiar CBS-type series.

Dept. Q spends a lot of its first episode in misdirection mode, but by the end it has set up an intriguing case that’s being followed by an interesting-to-watch group of cops.

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.

As nascent true crime sensations go, a fan of the genre could do worse than Jack Murphy and the chronicle of Murf the Surf.

While The Snoopy Show isn’t the Peanuts comeback some diehard fans might want, it’s still fun to watch Snoopy, Woodstock and the gang hang out together, even if the episodes are more kid oriented than usual.

Death Valley is a funny mystery series with a good pairing at its center. Let’s hope the mysteries improve as the season goes along.

Dinner With The Parents is one of those shows that is elevated by the cast. Nothing about the show is particularly fresh or inventive, and some of the writing is maddeningly inconsistent. But the cast manages to take the material and make it funny.

A warm, inviting atmosphere and a group of characters that we enjoy spending time with. The mysteries themselves are hit and miss, but that tends to be the SOP for cozy mysteries like these.

The show doesn’t try to go for cheap gags but instead roots all of its comedy in the characters and the found family that populates Happy’s Place (the bar as well as the series). That continues in the second season, with a couple of twists that will make the season a little more interesting.

Emergency: NYC shows compelling cases and healthcare providers who understand the gravity of their jobs. We just wish it took more of a critical look at the healthcare system.

Little Fires Everywhere has issues, but it’s a very watchable show that should be buoyed by Witherspoon’s and Washington’s performances.

Crime Scene Kitchen is enjoyable because of Joel McHale, full stop. Everything else on the show is fungible, except for the guessing game you will have once you see the evidence left in that crime scene. Either way, it’ll make you hungry, which is always a good sign of a cooking show.

As with most docuseries of this type, your enjoyment of Trial By Media will vary from episode to episode, but will also vary with how much you know and remember about a particular episode’s case. But what Toobin and Brill are trying to accomplish is noble.

Bad Mistakes works mostly because we like watching Levy and Ortega’s chemistry as siblings, and we’ll always be there to see Laurie Metcalf do her thing. We’re just wondering how silly things are going to get during this show’s first season.