The Curse Of Von Dutch is one of those docuseries that feels like it would have been better off as a 90-minute documentary film instead of a three-hour series. Even in the first episode, Renzi stretches the story to the point where it’s almost transparent.

Mindy Kaling’s knack for creating three-dimensional characters makes The Sex Lives Of College Girls a funny and addictive show, despite the fact that there’s really no new ground being broken by its premise or characters.

With the crew established and the characters beloved, the series is now taking the time to lead boldly not with surprises, but with tremendous amounts of heart.

We’re just not sure where the show is going to land on the tonal line. Takei and Munn’s characters could go either way. And, given that we don’t know a ton about Bryce, we may learn things about him that bring out Sudeikis’ considerable dramatic acting ability. We don’t need Hit-Monkey to be all serious or all funny. But it’s really hard to get a handle on what it wants to be, much less where it’s headed.

We’re just not sure that this is anything but a money grab by them and Netflix. ... We still recommend it to anyone who watched the first season and wants to find out more. But, it certainly isn’t essential watching to anyone, whether they liked the first season or were repulsed by it.

While Martin’s gritty, skeptical, and brutal look at the genre appealed to an HBO audience, I’m not sure Jordan’s romantic, mystical, and hopeful version will be as ubiquitously embraced. The Wheel of Time can’t be the next Game of Thrones. It’s just not in the source material’s DNA. But Prime Video’s series has the chance to be the first true Wheel of Time, and that excites this all-too-earnest nerd to bits.

One Night Only finds Adele personally refreshed and professionally primed, a place her legions of adoring fans will certainly enjoy hearing about in both performance and interview.

While Mayor Of Kingstown boasts fine performances, it’s confusing at times and incredibly depressing at others. If we wanted to watch a show that’s relentlessly grim, there are much better choices out there.

Yellowjackets does a good job at tackling three genres at once. It’s a thriller, a coming of age story and a survival story, and all of it is presented in a way that makes us want to see more.

All of the good things about Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop are betrayed by poor writing, uninspired action scenes, and a truly baffling obsession with the most annoying characters in the series.

Always Jane shows the life of a 2020s teenager who just happens to be trans, with all the struggles that come with being at that stage of life. What makes it interesting to watch is that her life isn’t being treated as some sort of anomaly, either by the filmmakers or her family.

Animal held our interest because of its amazing photography, but the energetic narration and family-centric narratives help move things along.

Mixing tragedy, comedy, and drama is an extremely difficult balance to achieve, something that, for example, fellow Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso managed to do deftly in its first season. Unfortunately, despite tremendous theatrical performances from all involved, it’s an equilibrium The Shrink Next Door fails to reach.

Even if you’re not a gamer, or a fan of League of Legends, Arcane will be more than entertaining enough to hold your interest, with an interesting story backed by amazing animation.

While Tampa Baes certainly gifts us with a few memorable reality characters, the show’s drama feels forced and the cast does not feel representative of Tampa’s diverse LGBTQ population.

We’re recommending it on the strength of Gomez’s lead performance and Lawrence’s ability to guide his showrunners to better episodes as his shows first seasons go along. But it’s too generic at this point to be considered a decent family sitcom, much less a successor to such a well-loved ’80s series.

Dr. Brain is a well-written exploration of science that perhaps goes too far, especially in the hands of someone so curious. We just hope it keeps that interesting premise and doesn’t become another run-of-the-mill thriller.

If you like straightforward British procedurals based on classic characters, than Dalgliesh won’t disappoint. But there seems to be a lost opportunity to dive more into Dalgliesh’s interesting character, especially given who is playing the detective this time around.

If the first episode is any indication, the cases are still the same brand of Jerry Springer-esque crazy that they’ve always been. ... For them [fans], Judy Justice should be more of what they love, even if it doesn’t really break new ground for Sheindlin or the judge-show genre.

Season 3 of Dickinson is an emotionally powerful and fulfilling journey through the final seconds of the final episode that found this reviewer’s eyes wet multiple times. ... What Smith has done is use Dickinson’s work as inspiration to create a new, artistic feat of her own (along with the hundreds of other people who work on the series), one that redefines what television can be.

The best thing about Dexter: New Blood is that it is unapologetically fun. The episodes sent to critics are full of dark — borderline campy — humor and some truly compelling human drama.

Swagger is a realistic look at how a talented kid becomes a superstar in the youth basketball world, but at least learns how to be a fully-realized person if basketball (more than likely) doesn’t make him rich.

Colin In Black & White is a biographical story with a social message to tell, but it’s also a genuinely entertaining series, and it’s worth your time.

Love Life‘s second season surpasses the first just by shifting the focus away from a subject we’ve seen so many times to one that has a messier, and more interesting, story.

Star Trek: Prodigy sets up a fun story that’s only somewhat connected to the greater canon of the Trek franchise, but with the addition of Mulgrew, makes the show accessible to newcomers and Trek fans alike.

While 4400 may need to smooth down some of its more noticeable tone hiccups, it has set up a very interesting mystery with undertones of issues that are very relevant to 2021.

While the last few seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm can’t match the consistency of its earlier ones, there are always funny moments when Larry complains about something and/or he gets his comeuppance for his grouchiness. In the first episode of Season 11, there’s both, plus a promising new season-long arc. That’s more than enough for us.

The Next Thing You Eat is equal parts foodie show and quirky investigative documentary, emphasizing the vital nature of the human side of the industry while also examining what the future might hold.