What anchors Better Things is the warmth Sam feels for her family. What makes it works are the tiny human moments.

Notaro’s great at deadpan one-liners, which is where most of the humor in the series is generated. Much of the rest of the time, it’s lightly situational.

The series has the sophistication of PBS’s “Downton Abbey,” only with more laughs. There is something quite modern about the Durrells without it feeling false.

What benefits the series most is its strong cast to take on these intricate roles, which might fall flat otherwise. Paul, Monaghan and Dancy are outstanding as very flawed people, whose fate you can care about; they aren’t evil but at times susceptible to their own demons and blinded by their faith.

Judging by the first episode, The Exorcist works as both a tribute to the original as well as on its own terms. There is something of a family drama inside the scares, which gives the idea of making a series out of it more staying power.

Walley-Beckett doesn’t pander nor play down the darker elements in the character’s life. ... James and Thompson are great choices as the Cuthberts, neither of whom display much emotion, yet the veteran actors are quite skilled at revealing the characters’ inner feelings. The real find is McNulty. The young Irish-Canadian actress seems perfect for Anne with honesty in her performance.

It has a lovely lyrical wandering quality about it. This year, there are probably more smiles than laughs. The humor is less jokey and more organic (keeping with the food motif). The episodes are more themed than plotted, mostly a series of interconnected vignettes. Characters drop in and out.

Halt and Catch Fire has always been an acquired taste. The mixture of personal dramas and the tech world doesn’t always go down easily. Some of that continues in the new season, but the new world of the Internet kicks some life into the story.

While all of this may seem out of the past, there is something naggingly familiar, eerily fascinating and even contemporary about much of The Knick.

The thing that The End of the F***ing World smartly does is never let you forget that Jim and Alyssa are like wild animals you think you have tamed, at any moment they might turn on you and bite. Also, kudos to the series for its offbeat selections of songs.

It’s a fine superhero adventure even if you don’t know all the characters. Just go with it. It may not be super, but it gets in its hits.

In Future Man, it bounces amusingly along for a while and suddenly becomes weirdly sci-fi serious. In the third episode, “A Riphole in Time,” there’s a plot twist that makes you wonder what you signed up for. Still, Future Man is intriguing enough to keep you going, but I wouldn’t call it one to binge.

While an occasionally revealing portrait, Nothing Left Unsaid doesn’t strive for anything concrete. There is a nostalgic wistfulness to it. Had it been done about someone with a less-storied life, it might have fallen apart, but Vanderbilt has become something of a character herself.

You’re the Worst has always been in danger of growing too hip or too stale. So far the series has kept changing enough to avoid that. The early episodes of season four show promise. It seems some reckoning is on the way, but it could also signal the beginning of the end.

The Amazon series can play like an old Hollywood movie one minute, self-consciously gabby and filled with witticisms. The next, it’s a smart glitzy contemporary soap opera or sly but telling commentary on the entertainment business. Sometimes it bounces a bit too much between the different aspects. Sometimes things mesh nicely, and the series is never boring.

The show is competent for what it is. (Phelan and Rater know the territory.) And the series manages to address some real issues in evenhanded ways. So while it’s not my cup of tea, I wouldn’t write Doubt off.

The series can be pretty dark, but it’s worth investigating.

Season 2 definitely has more action and digs deeper into the mystery, at least in the five episodes made available.

While it struts and frets and boasts some top-notch actors, I’m not sure it has anything in mind other than being weirdly entertaining.

The series needed someone with the glamor of Stone to be the centerpiece of the mystery, even if she isn’t the largest piece of Mosaic. The series is not the smoothest of fits, but it has enough shiny parts to keep it interesting.

Clunes and Edwards have a nice rapport, and the rest of the cast is quite solid.... The mystery itself is compelling enough.

There may be a little more unpacking to do, but Dirk Gently has its own charming weirdness that you either go with or don’t. What’s fun about the story is that every character is obsessed with their own failings and problems while the cosmos keeps playing tricks on them.

Not exactly a new premise, but the new Fox action-drama has enough of a twist to make it make it worth checking out.

It is never as compelling nor as dark as that series [Mr. Robot], but after three episodes Colony zigs and zags often and has enough action to keep your interest.

Although the dialogue is occasionally a bit cute, the rest of the cast comes across as mostly solid and believable.

After watching that first episode, we can tell you that it’s a solid return, and definitely stronger than its last few seasons. A good part of that is the chemistry of the new judges--pop star Katy Perry, country singer Luke Bryan and Mr. “All Night Long” himself, Lionel Richie--with the contestants who walk into the room to audition and with each other.

It’s difficult to get much of a clear sense of the characters. Still, it’s an excellent cast who bring their own strengths to the roles.

Its cleverness may be a little too nuanced and low-key for mainstream audiences - the show probably belongs on a cable network, where it would be a programming highlight - instead of a broadcaster like NBC. But it's good fun to see our deity and demon bicker over minutiae while Bob looks on without comprehension. [9 March 2000]