The original movie worked because Wells was played as a man out of time and Steenburgen’s character longed for a gentleman while still wanting to be a modern woman. The new series doesn’t let that relationship ripen enough; so it ends up diving too quickly into violence and sci-fi fantasy to get its grounding.

Making History may get a D in real history but is passably funny in a hit-or-miss cartoonish way.

Not bad if it’s your thing.

The story of David has always fascinated because it contains so many universal dramatic and psychological elements. This is not the worst version of the tale, just a pedestrian one.

Shaw is likable and undoubtedly a selling point for the series, but unless the show finds its focus, it’s not going to be enough.

The first episode is very uneven, busily attempting to check all the boxes so it can get back to being a procedural. If that is the case, there aren’t enough tattoos on Jane’s body to make it compelling.

While often a sumptuous watch, it too often strays into the gaudy.

For what it is--something serviceable to fit in CBS’s Saturday lineup--Ransom will do, but pretty much is a square peg fitting in a square hole.

Much of this is pretty standard stuff, part legal drama, part soap. Atwell, though, is always so lively and interesting to watch. But the material may sink her at the end.

So far, The Mist hasn’t given viewers much to care about. It’s all pretty standard plot thickeners. On the other hand, it’s not badly done--atmospheric, so to speak, if unseen horrors are your thing.

While the likable cast--which includes D.L. Hughley, Jamie Kennedy and Maya Erskine--is easy to root for, there is little else to distinguish Heartbeat from numerous other medical shows.

Not one of the performers looks like anything beyond a pretty young performer biding his or her time until a better break comes along. [23 March 2000]

Salem's Lot is hardly bad. It's just that certain unpersuasive special effects, unruly performances and subplots undermine the best of intentions, a fate with which fans of King's oeuvre are no doubt familiar. [19 June 2004]

Viewers have seen this all before so many times before that The Gifted feels just ordinary.

The Beat, Fontana's UPN cop show, won't be mistaken for a good series, but it's better than a lot of the junk polluting UPN's airwaves. Of course, its sophisticated flourishes may just be enough to sail the show over the heads of the netlet's pubescent target audience, and its pandering touches will be enough to alienate more discerning viewers. [21 March 2000]

After the characters try to explain the timeline once too often, it gets confusing and you just stop caring about what's going on. So even if the cast is pretty good, which it is, and even if the show has some excitement at times, Legends--so far--comes off as something of a mishmash of a mash-up.

Once called “The Second Fattest Housewife in Westport,” the series hits the usual notes but doesn’t sing.

The humor is more throwaway and often falls flat while a lot of the drama can become stiffly serious. It’s not that the series is badly made. The action and effects are decent. The cast is fine, though the characters are still mostly unformed. ... Viewers may find the tone of series perplexing.

The film is a bit too long. Wizard of Lies has some worthwhile moments, but it never seems sure at what it’s trying to be.

The amount you’ll laugh at Tour de Pharmacy may depend on your tolerance for mockumentaries. This one, like most, is a string of gags. If you’re looking for something undemanding, it qualifies.

Ingesting Disjointed is pretty harmless. You might get a buzz, though. There are a few laughs, but I can pretty much assure you that you won’t get addicted.

The show suffers when it’s away from Johnson, lacking any real focus. Individual moments can be fine, but they seem strung together rather than part of a cohesive vision.

The humor is mushy, mostly based on the characters’ being neurotic. Unlike “Silicon Valley,” there is little at stake in many of the situations in Loaded, which undercuts it further. The series is kind of like a cat-game app. It might amuse you for a while, but it’s still a cat-game app.

Truth Be Told is probably not worth your time. While it tries to be edgy, most of its humor is fairly tame.

Midnight, Texas is kind of like the Saturday matinee version of horror. It keeps the action moving along without much bite.

Simply baffling. ... Hit the Road is like “The Partridge Family” in the upside down. While Alexander is still masterful at getting laughs, there is a cynical quality to the series that takes the fun out.

There are a lot of ambient and random sounds in the episodes, which makes things seem more ominous than any tension generated by the story. Apart from that musical wrinkle, Hunters is overly familiar, essentially a generic crime show in a sci-fi case.

Although Olson and the cast give it their all, “The Mick” is no fun.