A touchier-feelier Ray Donovan emerges, and the change is welcome.

Fun, lively, imaginative — with a whiff of Disneyfication.

The first "Super Pumped" installment approaches its ripped-from-the-headlines story correctly, and Gordon-Levitt is great.

Newcomer Gibbs is good, but it's a shame Waithe doesn't appear in her own story — a sharply written, often amusing one.

Good newcomer, good cast and star showrunner. What’s missing, at least in the early episodes, is a propulsive story and pace to match.

Sure, the plot's ridiculous, but the film's mostly fun, while the pleasure of watching Burstyn play a homicidal wacko is not to be denied anyone.

Monday’s busy pilot (crammed with setting reveals and visual effects) leads to a sluggish second hour trading the thrill of discovery for downbeat foreboding. Yet the purpose-seeking characters emerge so starkly--Jason Ralph’s disturbed new student, Hale Appleman as his sardonic guide, Arjun Gupta as his itchy roommate, Stella Maeve as his left-behind soul mate. They feel worth following.

Ambitious and intelligent, but also a sprawl that can’t quite master all the big themes and ideas.

Fresh Off the Boat is charming, convivial, even--gasp--at times cute.

A not nearly as bad (as you feared) cop procedural, plus toys that go boom.

Tyrant gets a welcome addition, along with more intrigue.

A quick summary makes it sound schlocky, but William & Catherine is pretty slick schlock.

"Johnny's" back to corrupt the locals, and if you liked last season, there's no apparent reason not to go along for this ride.

Saccharine by jaded prime-time standards, this show still just might be the kind of sentiment lots of viewers crave at the moment.

A sensitive, nuanced and particularly well-acted dirge.

Every screen shot locks you comfortably into the familiar "Star Wars" canon, but somehow it all feels fresh and new. ... "The Mandalorian" feels like a trip worth taking with them.

This is a fun throwback and a return to form for J.J. Abrams.

The opener is marred by a conventional plot. The producers--who include Steven Spielberg--show almost complete indifference to science (or sci-fi). That said, TV's most ambitious new series has some promise.

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.

Fun, congenial and lighthearted but also smart and--when least expected--a little bit profound.

[The Canadian comedy all-stars] give it good vibes. But the scripts, despite mad moments of whimsy, can't keep pace with the cast's comic timing and tone.

Skies fans should be pleased.

Settled, thoughtful and at times engaging coming-of-age sequel.

Almost everything in The Wizard of Lies succeeds. The acting is impeccable, the script taut and Levinson’s direction scalpel-sharp. ... But what’s missing in Wizard is the why.

Another Discovery/BBC beauty, but short on answering obvious questions.

There's some very funny stuff here, but the serious question before NBC is this: How long can it stretch the joke before viewers go stark raving mad?

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.

Smart, engaging and a lot of moving pieces (so do a little homework first).

As expected, both sitcoms [black-ish and The Conners] approach the national tragedy in their own unique ways. "Black-ish" is the brighter of the two, the optimist that finds light at the end of the tunnel in the trustiest of sitcom conventions.

As expected, both sitcoms [black-ish and The Conners] approach the national tragedy in their own unique ways. ... "The Conners" is about as upbeat as late Eugene O'Neill. ... In capable hands, it feels just about right. These hands are capable indeed.

Admirers of the novel probably will be pleased. Average viewers who never read the novel (or any historic fiction) will be either confused or bored--possibly both.

It's "Reno 911!" with bloody bite.

Excellent portrait of a legendary band that gets to the heart of why it's endured--that tragedy notwithstanding.

Is there anything great here? No. Is it goofy fun? Yes.

It's an odd concept, but it works pretty well.

Just as people either drink or don't, you'll get it or you won't.

A competently made soap with some good actors and nicely staged musical numbers.

Grimm has real promise if NBC has real patience.

Sometimes, you're not looking for great TV. Sometimes, you're looking for par-tay! And dudes paid "to mess with the zombie culture," while also acing the case, surely fits the bill.

Funny idea that doesn’t quite attain the level of “funny show,” but a good cast along with a few good lines indicate this superhero sendup will eventually get there.

At least in the first three episodes provided for review, what the Kesslers and Zelman don't seem to quite realize is how much of a narcotic this setting actually turns out to be. The story is also often languid to the point of stationary.

Tough to watch, but an effective — and often powerful — indictment.

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

It's almost a shrug of an opener, a bit diffident, a bit unfocused (not unlike Brett, in his less lucid moments). But Togetherness does gets better, and funnier.

A colorful "Friday" with the Disney touch, while Zuehlsdorff and Blickenstaff shine.

Liv is more goth than zomb, more punk than spunk. She's also as appealing as anyone who eats human brains for a living could possibly be. Her supporting cast is good, too.

Atlanta is still good and still roughshod, but there’s a tougher texture to this season. That’s mainly the robbin’ part.

Rule-breaking law enforcers! Wherever have we seen this before? But it sure works Friday, seasoned with devil-may-care brio from a cool cast.

Taken exercises its thriller muscles effectively, dashing between locations and speed-introducing people as props to help/harm Mills while he races the clock to save the day.

The elements don't quite congeal, but it's intriguing and well-crafted.

Above-average special effects and the presence of two old and beloved friends--you know who!--more than make up for an eye-rolling new premise.

Feels like a rebuilding year here. Veterans trying to hold their spots, rookies working to make the team. Whether a winning lineup coalesces remains to be seen.

While "No Direction Home" can't turn the American Mastery trick of telling us what makes a cultural titan tick, it probably gets deeper inside the Dylan mystery than any such portrait is likely to. [26 Sep 2005, p.B17]

Richly documented, but tends to become long-winded--or just plain winded--by the end.

The story has been told many times before, and is told competently--if not always with dazzling or unexpected insight--again Wednesday.

The huge cast is excellent. ... There’s no driving narrative until at least the fifth episode. That’s an awfully long time to wait for something big to happen in an eight-episode season. At least The Deuce makes a case that it’s worth the wait.

Being Mary Jane has been formulated for being fascinating. Now comes the follow-through.

A very good-looking pilot. That leaves Gustin, which is where nagging doubts crop up.... Gustin's Allen is blue of eye and clear of conscience. Sweet and gentle, he's immensely likable but not particularly intriguing, unlike Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen or even Tom Welling's Clark Kent.

The pilot’s tropes are overly familiar, the action sequences predictable. But this is absolutely a welcome addition, potentially a valuable one, and indisputably a long overdue one.

The first eight episodes (those offered for review) go down effortlessly and, if none was particularly memorable, each was pleasurable.

Discovery introduced a compelling new hero, an even more compelling new alien, and a whole new war. But mostly it did negligible damage to a revered franchise and its legacy. Discovery is perfectly fine.

Noisy, silly, occasionally obnoxious, sporadically funny and ultimately sweet.

Old-fashioned and a bit placid, but Stults and Duncan save the day, and maybe the series.

If not much sunnier, not as relentlessly grim as the second, while June is slowly, methodically, morphing into the Robo-June we know she must become. So far, so good.

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.

An oddity with additional oddness in the form of Malkovich. But as summer diversions go, this looks to be a good one.

The beats here are familiar and comfortable. Perhaps best of all, they are actually moving.

Relatable, but especially enjoyable.

Mr. Dynamite instead works best as musical biography, only fitfully as a comprehensive one.

Extremely raunchy, and often quite funny.

"The Great" is an engaging historical satire that resonates thanks to its vision of courtly debauchery and the tremendous acting by Fanning, Hoult and the rest of the cast.

It's ideal family viewing: Thought-provoking and fun, without one element compromising the other.

What a hoot. What a ridiculous, soap-operatic cutup of a series. But if you can stop giggling long enough, as I managed to--quite a feat, let me tell you--Harper's Island is also hugely enjoyable.

Intelligent, sharply produced and respectful of its female characters, For the People looks like a winner.

What's most intriguing here is deconstructing the process, when Stewart outlines the surprisingly demanding "skill set" needed by "Daily Show" correspondents (with supporting clips), when Colbert clarifies how their shows are only "curating the news" to the point of setting up "the joke you wish to tell."

Of the two live episodes, "The Jeffersons" was easily the better, and also made the unexpected case that it was possibly the better series all along. Foxx nailed Sherman Hemsley's George, Wanda Sykes nailed Louise (originally played by Isabel Sanford), Jackée Harry nailed Diane Stockwell (Paulene Myers), Will Ferrell nailed Tom Willis (Franklin Cover) and Kerry Washington nailed Helen Willis (Roxie Roker).

“Shangri-La” offers a look into the private world Rubin has created. It may be limited, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fascinating.

Smart, engaging, thoroughly updated.

This is a thinking viewers' show, filled with plump, meaty ideas — just not too plump or meaty.

It's an upbeat, glass-half-full hour with some tough love from Tony, who also dispenses sound couples therapy advice. But the hour also feels facile, and rushed.

Not to worry, fans — the third is hugely enjoyable, but someone's missing and you know who.

The Last Five Years will be a must for even casual Bowie fans, who are most likely still reeling from their idol’s absence. It captures the ever-changing artist in his most surprising incarnation yet: a mortal man.

Lots of eye candy, mystery, intrigue, questions, and superlative production values. But who's ready to jump back in this pool again?

Hardly a treasure, but a lively island of adventure.

This doesn't pretend to be a deep show, but it's a pleasant diversion with a good cast, and really good (read: expensive) production values.

Fascinating, incomplete, portrait of a man of mystery.

The show could go interesting places, too, even explore provocative ideas--although the pilot pokes at those only halfheartedly. Limitless instead sets up as just another buddy cop show, with a superhero component and a sinister subplot. Those potentially interesting ideas are kicked to the curb.

Well done, but formulaic.

A well-rounded, nicely mature comedy.

There are a whole lot of ideas here--a few thrown against the wall to see if they'll stick--but the real pleasure of this four-hour head trip are the performances. Lyonne is outstanding.

"We Are Lady Parts" captures the spirit of punk rock in a way that's both entertaining and resonant.

While a bit deliberately paced, a good start, with (as always) an excellent guest-star roster.

Fans of quality action and thriller storytelling will have a good time with "The Terminal List," even if they'll probably be able to predict exactly where it's going.

Sorry, not as good as “O.J.,” but Criss turns in a dynamic performance in service of a desperately sad story.

It's all packed with inside jokes and callbacks of inside jokes. This one's for the fans.

Frank and Raimy are co-authors of their own personal histories. How they write it together, or mess it up together, could make an intriguing cop procedural.

Bigger, bolder, in some ways better--and some ways not--2 avoids a sophomore slump by sticking with what worked so well.

Even if it gets permanently blocked in traffic, Latka and Hirsch are a lot for the average TV sitcom. [12 Sep 1978, p.35]