The Red Road demands patience, but from what I've seen, it strongly suggests that will be rewarded.

Fear the Walking Dead is slow and a little bit dull.... Now the good. Fear's opening act is a strong one. There's a nice overall build, too, particularly during the second episode.

The acting is solid all around--just not entirely convincing.

As good as Weaver and her Nuri are, the best scenes belong to Victor and her Angela Brown. ... Never bet against a show created by Mara Brock Akil, but feel-good "Love Is __" could use a little more edge and a lot more dramatic tension.

A big, beautiful bore.

What Canterbury has powerfully going for it, besides the magnetic/vulnerable Margulies, is a cast surrounding her with equal strength, from principled second Ben Shenkman to Terry Kinney as their sneaky prosecutorial adversary, plus an array of effective guest stars from the rich East Coast acting pool.

Good, smart, propulsive spy thriller.

If you love Zooey Deschanel, this one's for you. If not, a pass.

"Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" is essentially a dystopian Disney Channel movie, or perhaps some "Very Special" episode of "Hannah Montana." ... "Striking Vipers" is better. ... The standout of the three, however, is "Smithereens." Like the most effective "Black Mirror" episodes, you're left on your own, following a story that offers no bearings, fewer clues. A gifted actor, Scott sells the episode in every scene, raging against an unseen enemy

What's new here? Nothing, really. Jane is likable, Adams is, too, and so--believe it or not--is Hung. That's another problem. Hung needed to be scabrously funny. Instead, it's just middlebrow amusing.

What's best about Time is its ambition; it glows with a near-theatrical shine, challenging viewers to think about TV drama as something other than boilerplate.

This is almost too clever, funny and ironic for MTV.

Edgier, more sharply drawn, while that Sorkian chatter remains at a very high boil.

Thin, flavorless high school gruel, but the lead bad boy is intriguing.

A gritty, almost plausible winner, and distant reflection of Stephen Spielberg's "Minority Report."

Its tone can be inconsistent. With a couple of actors’ actors--Leigh and Rapaport--and Gilchrist at the helm, Atypical still manages to mostly stay on track. It’s a good newcomer with the potential to get better.

The horror is what counts in any American Horror Story, and judging from the opening three episodes, it’s more than adequate in Cult. It’s also relentless, grisly and deeply warped.

Platt is mostly excellent, but he's not a comic actor, which is fine because "The Politician" is not exactly a comedy either. Never one to be bound by labels or genres anyway, Murphy has created a dramedy, satire, tragedy, romance, coming-of-age story and political parody, all of which contribute to viewer whiplash if not exactly ennui.

Good thing is, this ABC hour lives up (down?) to its name, arriving as a wacky/kinky escapist saga of screwed-up rich folks and the down-to-earth family attorney/fixer hired to sort out their shenanigans.

It doesn't always want viewers to like what they're seeing and doesn't seem to care whether they do or not. But it does want them to at least think about what they're seeing. ... Hard to watch, but well-worth watching.

We've just seen this stuff too many times. Merely changing script specifics to Olympic references doesn't make it fresh.

It could easily be mean and cynical, but manages to avoid both fatal pitfalls because the finalists are so genuinely enthusiastic and so blissfully uncomprehending of their shortcomings.

Enjoy the atmospherics. They're good. Just don't expect them to lead to a satisfying payoff. It might never come.

Falco--as always--remains one of TV's bright shining lights, but her Nurse Jackie suddenly feels like a work in progress.

The Bomb is a headlong-rush past the milestones and guideposts of this history, rarely pausing to explore their deeper consequences or meaning, while offering just a nod now and then to enduring controversies, or acknowledging--though barely exploring--the huge personalities that shaped this history, such as Robert Oppenheimer. The actual science is almost completely ignored.

Don't miss this series, with its first-rate performances and impeccable filmmaking. It is rich and rewarding, even if it runs into the occasional plotting issue.

Rick Berman and Brannon Braga have assembled an attractive cast and found a tone -colloquial, humorous, slyly sexy -that probably will make questions about the science in this fiction moot. [26 Sep 2001]

Tonight's preview/pilot can get so intoxicated with hip-hop scratching - jump-cuts, slo-mo, video backtracking - that it forgets to remember style best serves substance. [14 Apr 2003]

It's a cut above boilerplate, with good production values and decent performances.

That "The Red Line" often does as well as it does is a tribute to the cast and the overall production. But apple polish is still apple polish. ... There's a real world out there with real-world shootings of unarmed black men by the police, with horrific consequences, and a vast gulf of mistrust that separates whole communities from law enforcement. No CBS miniseries, however worthy the intentions, could probably get its head around that reality. "The Red Line" certainly tries, but falls short.

Expanse is so expansive, it’s hard to pin down--well, anything.

Even if we are being taken for a ride, there's so much to savor on this trip. [12 Sep 2003]

By the end of the first season, the show had improved significantly, if not quite dramatically, and based on a viewing of the first two episodes, that trend continues.

The most interesting character, or certainly most compelling, is Barkin’s Smurf. She’s a Ma Barker with cleavage, a brownie-baking Gemma Teller (“Sons of Anarchy”). Ultimately, she may be the one to seal the pact here.

The pilot's envelope-pushing is caustic and obvious, two things Mom seems better than. Faris is both gutsy and touching as the adult trying to get her act together, while Janney's crafty adolescence extends to a third generation around Faris' two kids.

The show is an old-fashioned courtroom procedural, but the pilot has enough sharp writing and well-greased plot twists to suggest future promise.

Another "Friends" (or "Girls"?) knockoff with a likable cast and some sharp writing.

Well-crafted sitcom, but Goggins takes some getting used to.

Good newcomer that gets even better in the weeks ahead.

The River still has a quirkily eccentric charm. It's just so deliciously odd.

The parsing of detail is effective because by the end of Monday's pilot, I was surprised by an unexpected reaction: I actually wanted to know what happens next week.

The Last O.G. can’t help being a little sad because Morgan is a little sad, and it can’t help being a little funny because Morgan is Morgan. He so much as breathes and you laugh.

The same strut and swagger is here, except Ballers feels smarter and more clear-eyed about the dangers of this culture, in ways "Entourage" never did.

Compulsively watchable, as usual, but also on the reverential side. This "Crown" has no teeth.

Underwhelming open that feels underfunded too.

The formula--must find murderer of beautiful woman before last commercial break--predates the dinosaurs, but also incorporates some satisfying twists.

Good Girls gets the journalism part almost laughably wrong, but as an ensemble drama with a good cast, high production values, and much else, even a crusty editor might observe that, “This story has legs.”

Fake news, real soap — and still watchable.

You're the Worst exudes some charm (Cash is rich indeed) but can't keep from overstepping, either. It's saved by relationship detail and human vulnerability that "Married" utterly misses.

There's texture galore in this city-shot cop hour, eyed by handheld lenses echoing "Homicide's" edge (and director Peter Berg's "Friday Night Lights" intimacy).

Sure, it’s understandable that CMT wants to make the mini series interesting to non-music fans, but a little more music is what would take Sun Records from good to great.

The weirdness is welcome, the concept has merit, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

A true rarity — a sharply drawn portrait of local journalism.

Stallone desperately needs collaborators who understand how to get the most out of him. He finds that here.

As well as New Yorkers know these three characters, it's amazing how quickly the real faces fade and the three actors here become their own "strong-willed people."

Proceed with caution into this foul but funny cauldron of catastrophe.

Nothing much new here (based on the first hour), but Remini appears resolute, tough-talking and potentially formidable.

Family is a trifle--part comic book, part kids' show--that is perfectly pleasant but without edge, bite or dramatic heft. With Chiklis aboard, it's like witnessing a concert pianist execute an elaborate version of "Chopsticks."

Who is he? Who-who, who-who? I really want to know. But I don't think I want to sit through four or five episodes, let alone a season or two, to find out. [20 Sept 2002]

It's one tasty piece of lunacy.

It's all a bit much in Monday's opener, and yet I suspect that, like the $400 shirts and luxury ride of Dennis Farina's "Law & Order" character, which initially came across as contrast run amok, Deputy Chief Johnson's contrived personality excesses will fade with time. And what will be left is a compelling character in a solid show - not a tradition-buster like FX's "The Shield" but probably a broader-based hit. [12 Jun 2005]

What's missing is passion, joy and (ultimately) interest.

What's wrong here are some of the same elements that have made the 2013-14 network comedy crop one of the weakest in memory--not enough laughs, not enough of a show that feels like it has something interesting to say (and wants to say it).

As genre satire, Spoils is amusing. As film study, it's informative. As a viewing experience? Uneven: Sometimes funny, a little more often not.

Hall lacks Walken's natural aura of strangeness, and he looks a little too well-fed for a guy who has been vegetating for half a decade. But he does manage to make Smith credible and sympathetic. [14 June 2002, p.B51]

"Chad" has something no other show possibly could, and that's Pedrad's unique comic style. ... Easy winner.

A rich character drama and riveting suspenser that makes Fox's "24" seem lackluster.

Screenwriter Peter Filardi ("The Craft") and director Mikael Salomon (HBO's "Band of Brothers") have defied the odds, delivering a four-hour, two-night version of King's vampire-infestation parable that ranks with the best filming of his work. It has genuinely scary parts, which is rare enough in video- King, but it's also perfectly in tune with his mordant sense of humor. Wickedly funny lines are scattered throughout Filardi's script. [20 June 2004, p.11]

The feel is more documentary than "reality" show, which some viewers will appreciate and others won't.

As the light of democracy dims, Carrie has become more manic (understandable), and Saul more resolute. The world has turned upside down, and only they can set it right. We know they’ll eventually save the presidency, hopefully the president, too. We know real news will eventually prevail over O’Keefe’s incendiary fake variety. We know all this, but we also suspect the ride would be a lot more fun if Peter was along for it.

A baffling, beautiful, maddening, provocative puzzle.

It is merely OK--not quite tricky enough to satisfy the hard-core geeks, not quite mindless enough to satisfy someone who just wants to watch the tube and forget a long day. But it is tricky, with at least one interesting twist.

A sharply written, acted and directed start that will hook fans immediately.

The show moves more like a ready-for-prime-time comedy than a kiddie toon. Think "The Simpsons" with soul.

Just about everything worked, and worked well, from the opening credits to the final ones. The energy and beauty of New York City was incorporated in a way that exceeded even my expectations--happily exceeded them. Meanwhile, The host: A bit nervous, understandably, he nonetheless reminded fans and people who have never heard of him why he's here.

Fascinating documentary--and extremely effective commercial.

The intimate moments have a gutsy realness, and the central characterizations are bedrock enough to sell us through the stereotypes.

A lethargic procedural is brightened by a good cast.

it's a clanking, clattering collection of collagenous clinkers--of dialogue so inept, of acting performances so preposterous, of plot points so cliched that the only question worth posing is why someone of Weaver's stature would be caught anywhere near a turkey like this.

A fun show, but where, oh where is all this heading?

Asylum has some good special effects, just not much of a story to hang them on.

One little gripe---Pioneers needed to give a tip of the space helmet to some '50s pioneers, such as "Captain Video" and "Flash Gordon." Otherwise, it's all pleasure.

The pair has recast the concept and their chemistry into a suburban setting that feels fresher and friendlier, truly finding its footing at 10:30 with Sloane (and those gnomes).

The pilot hour delivers with blood-soaked gusto. The second hour gets more amusing. And wit can be the saving grace for casual viewers of the grindhouse genre.

A watchable, engaging oddball.

The good Lord created sitcoms like The Soul Man as relaxing, relatable humor with heart, and Cedric's new creation isn't about to mess with His template.

Parents looking to share their "Star Wars" love with their children should add this to the list. It's not essential viewing for anyone else.

Cerebral, engrossing.

"Coyote" doesn't talk about the border but goes beyond it, to see people — their lives, dreams, and tragedies — up close. Politics (ours) thus become inverted and it's left to Ben to make sense of this inversion. By proxy, it's up to us as well. Binge-bait, and compelling binge-bait at that.

First impression of the third season is a good one.

Bible Challenge tries to cover all bases in America's complicated Christian field.

It's not insulting to the intelligence. The first episode is promising and mildly, if not wildly, amusing. What it has going for it more than the laugh track is good writing and performances. [21 Sep 1995]

What may bring even jaded viewers back to "Christy" is Tyne Daly's striking characterization of Alice Henderson, the kind but formidable Quaker who serves as the heroine's mentor. [3 Apr 1994]

It's hilarious, and sad, and ironic, and rich.

It's OK, but not great. [20 Sep 1993]

A compelling if clunky drama about an important figure.

Too much canvas with wild splashes of paint deployed to fill it. Compared with the first, the second is a disappointment, but far from a failure. Best experienced in small bites instead of huge indigestible chunks.

This necessary reset looks great, but if the 2nd taught us anything, just watch, don't think.