Newsday's Scores

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For 2,207 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 61% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 35% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.7 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average TV Show review score: 69
Highest review score: 100 The Crown: Season 4
Lowest review score: 0 Commander in Chief: Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,506 out of 1506
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1506
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1506
1506 tv reviews
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  1. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
    Holmes commands the screen as if it belongs to her. She surely must have known all along that it would. Much of the footage here is of the dog-and-pony variety, once commissioned by Theranos and designed to sell the con. But it's so high-gloss--so weirdly hypnotic--that neither Gibney nor "The Inventor" can get to the real human behind the image. A shortcoming of the film? Sure, but the only one. Must watch.
  2. Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
    The behind-the-scenes access to “Homecoming” is important. ... However, those scenes interrupt the momentum building in the powerful concert.
  3. In Treatment: Season 3
    In Treatment deftly picks up where it left off--midpoint in the journey of Paul Weston's soul--and reminds us why we took this trip with him in the first place. The new cast is superlative, Bryne is intoxicating, and Ryan is an especially excellent addition. Bon voyage.
  4. Becoming Chaz: Season 1
    As real as real gets, invaluably adding human understanding to a hot-button topic.
  5. The Hunt: Season 1
    As always, magnificent with a moving subtext.
  6. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 1
    As with "The Avengers," Whedon's ear and sensibilities match the material perfectly.
  7. Wolf Hall: Season 2
    TV's best of the year, so far.
  8. Friday Night Lights: Season 4
    Quirky, funny, smart, wonderful acting, surprise cameos by cherished actors (Steve Harris, "The Practice"), and a one-two punch by Chandler and Britton that is unbeatable. What's not to love?
  9. Extant: Season 1
    The opener is absolutely superlative--a thing of real beauty, even elegance.... Berry delivers a performance that's surprisingly layered and nuanced.
  10. Leonardo da Vinci
    Magnificent.
  11. Planet Earth: Blue Planet II
    A worthy successor to the original, Blue Planet II also brings an urgent environmental warning that the first lacked: It demonstrates that the seas are in trouble and that the world must act.
  12. Treme: Season 1
    This is a spectacular new series, with some stunning performances--Pierce, Peters, Zahn, in particular--and gorgeous music.
  13. Marvel's Jessica Jones: Season 1
    Marvel’s Jessica Jones succeeds in all sorts of ways, especially the one that counts most: Ritter just might be the shrewdest casting move of the season, maybe several seasons, because she so fully inhabits the multidimensional Jones.
  14. Better Call Saul: Season 3
    Based on the first two episodes, Saul is making a case that it could be even better than “Breaking Bad” (and do brush up on your Bible stories).
  15. Breaking Bad: Season 5
    Taut, efficient and directed with a scalpel, Breaking Bad remains a marvel.
  16. Owner's Manual: Season 1
    Owner's Manual looks as sharp as you'd expect from cinematic-minded AMC -- whip-pans, slo-mo, montage, animations, infographics. Sounds great, too, with heart-pumping action music and industrial power sounds. Best of all, homework-doer Marcus (aka Sweet Cheeks) and scoffer Ed (or is that English Muffin?) are natural bicker-buds throughout, adding life and laughs to each half-hour that flies (or rolls) by.
  17. Flying Blind: Season 1
    'Flying Blind' is the one gem that stands out in the Fox lineup. The first show takes off like a jet. And the second show is even better. If it's against your religion to watch Fox, this one is worth straying for. [10 Sep 1992]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jun 10, 2013
  18. Max Headroom: Season 2
    The most brilliant and wild network program of the 1980s. [28 Apr 1988]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 12, 2013
  19. Justified: Season 4
    Character--as the old saying goes--is a long-standing habit, and their habits remain very much intact. The same could be could be said of Justified.
  20. Africa: Season 1
    Africa convincingly, emphatically, establishes that you ain't seen nothing yet.
  21. Community: Season 6
    All very much and happily remains the same--and unless you are an absolute die-hard insane fan who will find something to complain about here ... there really isn't all that much to complain about whatsoever.
  22. Welcome to Sweden: Season 1
    All charm and smarts, the best new NBC comedy in a long time. A winner.
  23. Olive Kitteridge: Season 1
    McDormand will win an Emmy for this. Already, there's no contest.... Cholodenko's direction is masterful, and so is the bleakly funny script by Jane Anderson, but they clearly have a vision that is both part of--and separate from--the source material.
  24. American Crime: Season 1
    This is often a stirring and deeply felt portrait of people in an extended state of crisis.
  25. Sherlock: Season 1
    Cumberbatch and star British producers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss ("Doctor Who") have performed quite a remarkable feat here--they've created something unique and pleasurable where so many have trod before.
  26. Girls: Season 2
    Sharper, smarter, more richly layered, detailed (and acted), Girls has improved upon its first season.
  27. Mad Men: Season 5
    Mad Men is back and back in all the right ways--the humor, the writing, the period details, and best of all, the flawless attention to these characters and their cluttered interior worlds.
  28. Wiseguy: Season 1
    Had something special about it from the start: the mood, the writing, the acting. All the great series establish a mis-en-scene, a special environment that you can cut with a knife. I felt I was in a different place watching "Wiseguy." [30 May 1988]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 12, 2013
  29. The Crown: Season 4
    Yes, there are two big stories this season, but the one about Thatcher — Anderson, like Corrin, is brilliant, by the way — doesn't stand a chance opposite the other. Charles and Diana: Tragic characters straight out of Shakespeare, one whose blood runs cold, the other whose "passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love," to steal a line from another play. ... Best season yet.
  30. Mad Men: Season 4
    True-blue fans will swoon. Everything they - you - love about this classic is laid out, banquet-like, Sunday night - the fashions, style, elegance, writing, characters, precision, beauty and most of all, the humor.
  31. UnReal: Season 2
    Whip-smart and skintight, Season 2 clicks like clockwork. You’re appalled, you’re LOL, you can’t wait to see next week.
  32. Weeds: Season 3
    Every character bursts with life here, in what may be the most fully realized show on TV. [13 Aug 2007]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 11, 2013
  33. Better Things: Season 3
    With just eight episodes as evidence, this third season appears to be flawless.
  34. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 4
    Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has still got it. Kimmy mixes it up with #MeToo, with stellar results.
  35. FEUD: Season 1
    Full of joy, humor, brilliant writing and performances, and a deep unabiding love for what really makes Hollywood great--the women.
  36. Transparent: Season 1
    This indisputably is Amazon Prime's “Orange Is the New Black.” That--believe me--is praise enough.
  37. The Dust Bowl: Season 1
    This beautiful and often moving film resonates even more powerfully with Sandy in our rearview mirror, while Burns' favorite theme--the American character--is drawn here with great clarity.
    • Newsday
      • Posted Nov 19, 2012
  38. Wolf Hall: Season 1
    Wolf Hall really is one of the great pleasures of the small screen this year, even if it doesn't initially make much of an effort (like Cromwell) to curry your favor. But stick with this one. The rewards are considerable.
  39. thirtysomething: Season 2
    "Thirtysomething" was the best new drama last season, and it gets better with every episode. [13 Dec 1988]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 12, 2013
  40. The Wonder Years: Season 2
    The most wonderful show this year. ... The writing is only one of the miracles taking place in "The Wonder Years." What is so great about the show, and so different, is the conception of the kid and the acting by Fred Savage. [25 Dec 1988]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 12, 2013
  41. The Long Road Home: Season 1
    The Long Road can be tough to watch--I saw the first three episodes--but it does seem like it’s essential to. Excellent and unflinching.
  42. Damages: Season 2
    This is TV's best and brightest at the moment, and a wonderful tribute to New York's resurgent TV production industry.
  43. Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
    Concise, thorough and lavishly if grimly illustrated, "Tulsa Burning" is really all about questions [What of those victims and their descendants? Will justice ever be served for them?].
  44. Murphy Brown: Season 2
    This second season has been marvelous. Now it's absolutely brilliant. [27 Nov 1989]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 12, 2013
  45. Better Call Saul: Season 5
    The best show on TV remains — emphatically — the best.
  46. Felicity: Season 1
    Felicity is the best drama of the year, a quality show of substance and intelligence, something worth watching. [28 Sept 1998, p.B23]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Mar 15, 2013
  47. Twin Peaks: Season 1
    It's stunning for a TV mystery. It's actually mysterious. The mood, the characters, the surreal quality of how the story is told, are something different. It has a slow hypnotic movement, a style like a boxer in slo-mo. It hit me with tremendous energy and made me abandon despair at the state of TV mysteries. [5 Apr 1990]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 12, 2013
  48. Vietnam in HD: Season 1
    Even at six hours, this tends to be more impressionistic, and less bound to a strict historic timeline.
  49. FlashForward: Season 1
    It's evocative, smartly structured, well acted and insists that the strange ride you are about to take will be worth every minute.
  50. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: Season 12
    At least the first episode of this final season appears to be like all the others--gorgeous and life-affirming.
  51. Mad Men: Season 7.5
    Bleak and desperate? Possibly (the song [Peggy Lee's haunting cover of the classic Leiber-Stoller song "Is That All There Is?"] is just a sad song). But here's the surprise: Severance makes the opposite case.
  52. Mad About You: Season 1
    The show is fast-paced, crackling, choreographed like a comedy ballet. [20 Sep 1992]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 11, 2013
  53. Men of a Certain Age: Season 1
    At turns it's sad, poignant, bitter and funny (yes, more than enough turns in that direction).
  54. My Own Worst Enemy: Season 1
    Far, far, far and away NBC's best new pilot of the season and one of the best new shows of the season, on any network -- commercial or cable.
  55. 24: Season 7
    Tonally, this often feels more like a psychological thriller than an action one, which is a very good sign. 24 is thinking, not just doing, and that bodes well for the later hours when our friend has tended to jump the tracks. All in all, a terrific start.
  56. Grey Gardens
    The Beales' story--predictably, sadly--descends into mutual recrimination, then near madness. It's all rescued by two stunning performances.
  57. Friday Night Lights: Season 2
    This show captures a distinct culture, and the people jockeying for places in it, trying to prove, mostly to themselves, that their lives have value. And so Friday Night Lights has more than almost any network show today. [5 Oct 2007, p.B33]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Oct 6, 2013
  58. Succession: Season 4
    "Succession" is going out with a bang, but — at least in the early episodes — a resigned one.
  59. The Larry Sanders Show: Season 3
    It is even better - if that is possible, and it is. Take my word. We are talking true comedic masterpieces here. [20 Jun 1994]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 17, 2013
  60. Breaking Bad: Season 2
    Breaking Bad is extraordinary, and if the rest of the season matches Sunday, an Emmy nomination for best drama seems certain.
  61. Succession: Season 3
    Cox's performance is staggering but then so is the performance of everyone else. Prepare to be staggered. Triumphant return of TV's best.
  62. Margo's Got Money Troubles: Season 1
    It's the best new series we've seen in a while.
  63. The Americans: Season 6
    As always, excellent.
  64. Master of None: Season 1
    As you would expect, very (very) funny.
  65. Veep: Season 6
    In TV terms, we call this a re-set, but in Veep terms, it’s genius. HBO offered three episodes for review, which seen together play like a movie--the funniest movie you will have seen all year, maybe next year, too.
  66. Veep: Season 7
    A joyful, wild, hilarious, insane — and darker — romp through the debasement of running for political office, as only "Veep" could imagine.
  67. Gold Rush: Alaska: Season 1
    A winner. And for the Hoffmans' sake--plus family and friends along for the ride--let's hope there is gold in that hard, cold ground.
  68. Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 8
    As twisted, and twistedly funny, as ever.
  69. The Knick: Season 1
    Soderbergh has created a vibrant, dark and above all alluring Gotham. Owen's Thackery is its bracing human counterpart.
  70. Boardwalk Empire: Season 1
    The most entertaining--and beautiful--new series on TV this fall.
  71. Long Story Short: Season 1
    It's a wonderful show. Don't miss it.
  72. Entourage: Season 5
    Entourage--at least in original episodes--has been off the air for one solid year, but when that title song from Jane's Addiction kicks in, it's like an old friend calling--only this time, the friend seems worthier, and his stories more interesting.
  73. The Italian Americans: Season 1
    [Producer John] Maggio has discovered the unfamiliar in something some of us thought was already familiar, and by doing so, does help dispel embedded stereotypes while enriching an already rich heritage.
  74. Better Call Saul: Season 2
    The second season of Saul establishes what should have been obvious all along--this is basically just a continuation of “Breaking Bad.” Same themes. Same setting. Same preoccupations. Even same humor. But best of all, same deep, abiding intelligence.
  75. Chernobyl: Season 1
    A powerful testament, and TV's best miniseries since last fall's “Escape at Dannemora.”
  76. Top Gear (US): Season 1
    Who knew beautiful, obscenely expensive cars could be so much fun? These three guys do, and they effortlessly convey their knowledge and nutty passion.
    • Newsday
      • Posted Dec 9, 2010
  77. NY Med: Season 1
    Beautiful and often moving.
  78. Game of Thrones: Season 3
    Sunday and the next three episodes are superb while the rhythms and beats of the story are very nearly hypnotic. Nothing here feels wasteful or cheap.
  79. Downton Abbey: Season 6
    Beautiful, elegant final ride, full of love and nostalgia and joy.
  80. Masters of the Air
    Magnificent achievement.
  81. Homeland: Season 4
    Homeland's fourth season feels as fresh, important and relevant as yesterday's news--or tomorrow's news. A bracing, intelligent start.
  82. House of Cards (2013): Season 4
    A fast and furious romp through the first six episodes that should keep bingers--and fans--happy.
    • 99 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Larry Sanders Show: Season 4
    Probably the best comedy series on television. ... "The Larry Sanders Show" offers the sharpest of television's multitudinous media jokes while always remaining grounded as a comedy rooted in character. [16 Jul 1995]
    • Newsday
      • Posted Jul 17, 2013
  84. The Pitt: Season 2
    The best show of 2025 also happens to be the best show of 2026.
  85. Wartorn: 1861-2010
    Uniformly excellent - although some additional reporting devoted to the treatment of PTSD would have made this a more complete package.
  86. Master of None: Season 2
    Great start to the much-anticipated second season.
  87. Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America
    "Driving" is cool, methodical and comprehensive, but does leave open that one question: How would you feel? ... Essential viewing.
  88. American Crime: Season 2
    Like the first season, there’s a “Crash”-like flavor to the storytelling, but it feels more organic this time around.... Excellent, all around.
  89. The Wire: Season 4
    A critic for this paper once declared "The Wire" "the greatest dramatic series ever produced for television" and as the fourth season gets under way Sunday night, there's no reason to quibble with that assessment.
  90. The Crown: Season 3
    It's what we do with our character that matters. This season— magnificently—reveals what Elizabeth has done with her's. You will be blown away. At least I was.
  91. 24: Season 8
    Four immensely enjoyable hours. Alas, I can't speak to what happens during the remaining 20.
  92. Veep: Season 2
    Veep is the single most improved series on television.
  93. The Walking Dead: Season 2
    Six million zombiephiles watched the finale of the first season and those 6 million will not want to miss Sunday's opener, which is excellent and appropriately disgusting.
  94. TIME: The Kalief Browder Story: Season 1
    Remarkable film.... Based on a look at the first two episodes, this particularly well-produced film insists that even in death, Kalief Browder can still change a broken system--and must.
  95. Boston Med: Season 1
    As with his earlier shows, "Hopkins 24/7" (2000) and "Hopkins" (2008), Wrong has structured these stories masterfully. Nothing seems wasted, nothing is superfluous. As a result, the hugely important work these people do is honored in every shot.
  96. Castle: Season 1
    Lotsa fast banter and stylish direction will make some viewers dimly recall--as they are doubtlessly meant to--William Powell and Myrna Loy's late, great "Thin Man" movie series.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Real Housewives of Washington D.C.: Season 1
    The Housewives evolve. Yes, watch what happens, if only for the richer plot lines, smarter dialogue and more pressing matters of the day.
  98. Treme: Season 2
    It was last year, and remains so this year--one of TV's very best.
  99. The Alzheimer's Project: Season 1
    What's here is pitch-perfect - the fear, loss, emotional devastation and, peculiar to this disease, silence.
  100. The Walking Dead: Season 3
    Sunday is a blast. Heads will roll, and roll well. The gore quotient is through the roof. And finally this guarantee--there is one, maybe even two, spots where you will yell out at the screen, "Oh, my God, that just didn't happen." Yes, the new season is that good.
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