Strange Angel refuses to yield its secrets readily, or quickly, but instead methodically. Given the science (difficult) and the cult (abstruse) that's a reasonable approach to the story, just not a gripping one. And over the first three episodes, "Angel" often loses its grip.

Some very funny stuff, ultimately overwhelmed by the very indulgent stuff.

Beautifully done, but ultimately overdone. The book is better.

If all this sounds hopelessly hokey — and there are stretches in "The Madison" where it irredeemably is — then you'll want to do something else with your Saturday night. Otherwise, there's beauty here, some nice performances and a welcome pivot away from the mayhem of "Yellowstone."

Uneven start, then improves and coasts. Appealing cast, zero calories.

The cast is good, the fight scenes prolific, the overall lifting not heavy. Grailies among you could do worse. With lots of blood, some hooey, and even some history, this appears to be a decent--and watchable--period drama.

Warm, genial portrait of a great editor, but not much else.

It's a mildly enjoyable sports comedy that could have been more.

Handsome production, excellent Long Island locale, and the first two episodes are best. But after that, "The Undoing" takes its slow, sweet time.

Sometimes you have to take what you get in a series, and what you get in this one is a Capote you may not want all that much of. .... A beautifully acted, directed and written bummer.

If anyone but Fillion tossed out a line so smothered in schmaltz, you'd either laugh or groan. But Mr. Likable nails it and largely nails this comfy, corny and (yup) likable pilot, too.

The series works best as a clinical dissection of how this happened both from a conceptual standpoint in terms of formulating the case and piecing the puzzle together, and from a practical one. ... The documentary feels perilously thin for such a rich subject. "Fear City" would benefit from being longer and more in depth than just three episodes.

The first few episodes of "Truth Seekers" are somewhat disappointing, but the acting is strong and there's potential for improvement.

Waithe proves that Emmy for writing was no fluke--script and cast are outstanding--but The Chi takes on too much, too soon, and the story loses focus and latent power as a consequence.

Sweetbitter has some sensory pleasures, a good cast and better wine (or so we're told). Otherwise occasionally pretentious and ultimately superficial.

A reverent portrait, if not necessarily a penetrating one.

Rowe simply does not look like Washingtone, and for a miniseries that seeks to render him in fully human form, that is a drawback. A fatal one? Hardly, but a distracting one. ... Meanwhile, Kearns Goodwin is missing entirely. ... Yet get past this and her "Washington '' works well, as levelheaded, cleanly-told history, absent hagiography or unnecessary clutter.

Maddening Here and Now can also be engaging and provocative. The frustration is in never quite knowing what it wants to be.

Reliable, durable and comfortable, "ST3" is what you'd expect and certainly what you want, if what you "want" is seasons 1 and 2, with a few big twists along the way.

The cast is excellent, the writing superior and the direction, too. ... But this "World" does suffer from lack of scale, or at least reduction in scale. This could easily be a Syfy series as well as a Peacock one. It doesn't soar off the screen to wow you, or shock you.

There's not a whole lot of pleasure to be had in the waiting. June's ordeal has now started to feel like our ordeal. We need to have it resolved as much as she does. but like her, don't have any choice in the matter because we're invested too.

Indeed, with his mugging and childlike innocence, Pinchot is sort of cute, especially if your age hasn't yet reached double digits. [25 Aug 1993, p.90]

Uneven pilot which at least promises something much better.

Yet as good as "Travelers" often is — the performances of Bomer and Bailey in particular — something is missing. There are no female characters of any particular substance or depth. A few arrive, then go, while Williams' Lucy is mostly a sketch of the "long-suffering" variety over too many of these hours.

A little bit of "Dallas," a little bit of "Empire," "Our Kind of People'' is a whole lot of what you expect it to be. ... Silly, fun, frothy, watchable.

Skillful, at times powerful, blend of fact with fiction — and not always clear which is which.

A huggable charmer with a big heart that can’t decide whether to go deep or skim the surface.

The supernatural action unfolds through special effects like some live-action cartoon, with maybe-aliens literally losing their heads. That matches their Fox Sunday night surroundings--but with sneaky bits of sentiment sprinkled in.

There’s promising humanity to The Gifted, even in the hyperactive pilot directed by “X-Men” movie auteur Bryan Singer

The story shambles at first, then picks up but never quite enough to place this among the better seasons of "Justified."

Exhaustive without ever being quite comprehensive, "Death" is still a solid, sane overview.

Entertaining, but the book is better.

Platinum-plated nonsense--but also self-aware enough to know just how nonsensical. Deception is mostly just a lot of fun.

Solid opener that otherwise oversells the premise.

Sharply crafted show, but far too long at eight hours.

Yes, "Impeachment" is watchable and (yes) it's also flawed. But it's fascinating, even though you too may come to suspect, for all the wrong reasons, or one of them anyway.

Get past the first episode — better yet, skip it — and "Bupkis" gets better and better.

Imperfect, often entertaining, unrecognizable from book or movie.

This certainly isn't bad TV--Murphy isn't about to leave his longtime home with a turkey--but it's often bland TV, and oddly enough, stock TV.

Congenial sitcom set in the great outdoors where everything--even or especially a sitcom--seems just a little bit better.

"Paradise" is what TV executives used to call "high concept," except that any Fogelman show (or movie, like "Crazy, Stupid, Love") usually gets around to what he's really interested in — human relationships, romantic entanglements, tragic loss. There's a lot going on in "Paradise," but if this big swing of a series connects — a medium-size if — it'll be for that reason.

Setting aside a glib and emotionally manipulative launch, of all the "This Is Us" wannabes ("Manifest," "A Million Little Things," "New Amsterdam") in the 2018 fall lineup, "God Friended Me" may stand the best chance of success.

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.

It’s not fully baked, not by a mile, because Baldwin has launched with friends, or at least show biz friends, who admire him as much as he admires them. ... Nobody’s neutral about him, and their neutrality will be tested as much as his. The show’s potential will rise or fall in those edgy encounters when they come, and they certainly should. That passion could ultimately be Sunday’s chief asset.

Funny, vulgar, for Burd fans only.

The comedy here can be broad, and is usually far from subtle, but there’s a buried message that promises better episodes ahead.

Aside from a nagging sense that Sam and "Things" are standing in place. Inertia is part of the joke except that we think we already know the punchline. TV shows are about journeys too but through the early episodes, this one seems like it may be stuck in neutral.

No teeth, no energy, no fun, this Vanity Fair can occasionally feel like a homework assignment.

The second season is a beauty, and Diana Rigg is in the house, but Victoria still feels like sanitized history.

Just let the romance flow because true love conquers all, or at least it conquers plot holes, continuity errors, pacing issues and funky time travel stones that buzz like angry bumblebees. That's all part of the charm of "Outlander," and potentially "Blood of My Blood," too.

Good performances, strong start, but the pulp and cliches eventually take over.

Thwarted by same-old sitcom scripting, full of adults’ childish bickering and laden with “irony” setups. ... The saving grace for the show, as for Alex, becomes his family. Through the first three episodes, they’re a nicely knit group with real chemistry and real concerns vs. the podcasts-for-dummies approach to his workplace.

Stalter's fun — no surprise there — but we've seen this show before (a few times).

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.

A mostly promising start, with some unpromising distractions.

The three judges are amiable, upbeat and gentle. They’re also incapable of criticism, either constructive or harsh. ... It’s a soft down pillow, a gentle bromide for turbulent times. Ageless, old-fashioned, congenial, reassuring.

Good performances, thoughtful series, but saddled with a grim inevitability.

Hardly quaint or entirely redundant, these three are at least good, and the third — written and directed by Oz Perkins — easily the best. But something's still missing and that was the bane of the first season too: Neither sharp-edged nor jagged, they don't stay with you, or haunt you, or vex you in some hard-to-define way.

Last Man Standing is that unusual red fish in a sea crowded with blue ones, and it never lets you forget that. As always and as expected, Mike gets the best lines, the easiest put-downs and literally the last word.

No, this isn't your father's (or mother's) "Watchmen," but something new, occasionally thrilling too. Just not consistently so.

Will this be your next "Downton Abbey?" Probably not, but it could be your next "Poldark." Nothing wrong with that.

A thin story spread over a lot of hours, but Ali is excellent and so is his support.

Nicely crafted, but still Hillerman-lite.

Fake news, real soap — and still watchable.

Well-done, but then TWD is always well-done. What’s missing is the thrill of surprise, or the shock of surprise. “Mercy” at least offers a hint that one may be coming.

What’s funny in Sheldon/adult is grating in Sheldon/child.

This "100" is indeed dazzling to look at and to listen to (in English, this "100 Years" would be — well — strange) while the cast is excellent. But what's missing is what possibly matters even more — those ideas, that magic. Without them, this is just another intelligent TV series with a lot of money on the screen. Márquez was right. His masterpiece is impossible to adapt.

Get beyond the talk, inertia and emotional overload, and there's still some truth and beauty here.

The first two episodes of "The Right Stuff" offer a lot of promise, but the characters other than John Glenn need to be more fully developed.

Bryant's a standout, the show not so much.

Doubts are raised, and convincing ones, but none are fatal blows, while the program is forced to concede at the end--in an on-screen bumper--that "post-conviction DNA testing has so far come back inconclusive."

It's maybe easy, too easy, to write off "B Positive" as just another sitcom with a few setup jokes, along with the usual, predictable beats. But there's something else here, something potentially even good. Which would be? Call it comfort food, well-served.

The first two parts of "Tell Me Your Secrets" are certainly engaging in a potboiler sense, but it's not at all clear that its makers can keep it up for 10 episodes.

"Maisel" is still that charming, or irritating (your call) embrace of ethnic stereotypes, and filled with that dazzling, or grating, patter of quips, wisecracks, put-downs and zingers. It remains more about presentation, less about plot or character development.

Not a lot of laughs — as if — but the payoff succeeds and so does Winslet.

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.

Good Pacino, skillful pulp, but an impossible balancing act.

While an Emmy may not be forthcoming, Clinton acquits herself well in this fifth-season launch of a hit that wants--and occasionally has--some of that ol' "West Wing" mojo.

While the middle episodes slump, "Life & Beth" starts strong, ends strong, and features a lead with genuine dramatic chops.

Occasionally flat, sporadically gruesome, Mindhunter is also potentially absorbing.

We want to know what happens to Helly and Mark — all four of them. We care about the others along with their "outie" doubles. And goats aside, the abiding mystery still hints at something consequential. Perhaps "Severance" will get around to a genuinely profound insight into our own fraught life and times. Perhaps. If only this second season weren't so self-serious about the whole process.

Updated, sharply written, socially conscious, this new version wants to improve on the original and often does. But what’s missing is a compelling reason for a reboot in the first place.

"House of Guinness" is always entertaining, but there's a hollowness to it that's hard to shake.

Neither slop, nor the obverse (a masterpiece), "Grand Hotel" resides squarely and benignly in the middle: A pleasant summer diversion with a good and absurdly telegenic cast .

Like the original, this "GG" can be pithy and clever (that Forster line tells you as much) but unlike the original, at times glum and muddled too. It's a sibling-rivalry drama set in the age of Instagram and COVID, where social media is the true villain. That part may be accurate — just not quite as much fun.

Don't come for a fresh perspective or revisionist history or faithful recounting. Do come for the laughs. "Plumbers" probably gets that part right anyway. ... Amusing, inconsequential.

To Wisdom’s credit--so far anyway--this doesn’t look like the typical gruesome network cop drama arrayed with female victims and their predatory killers (even though there are two such victims in the pilot). It does look like a good idea in search of genuine high-tech bona fides.

While this is the In Memoriam tribute that Williams so richly deserves and fans need, the title is misleading because that mind remains out of reach.

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

Mostly solid material that yokes the old Schumer with the new.

Exhaustive, admiring, comprehensive and richly documented, Bobby Kennedy for President nevertheless doesn't feel especially revelatory.

A beauty to behold but an ice cube to hold, this Howards End never quite thaws.

"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

Solid thriller, good twists, too violent.

"Emergence" is a "Stranger Things" thing. There's nothing wrong, necessarily, with being a "Stranger Things" thing, because "Stranger Things" was itself once the thing of a half-dozen '80s landmarks, like "The Goonies." But the tangents, or less kindly appropriations, here are inescapable. ... What's best about "Emergence," however, is the cast, including Faison. ... Decent "Stranger Things"-loving pilot.

After a bumbling 4th — especially with regards to race — "Outlander" is back on track. A familiar one.

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.