It's entertaining enough if real-life make-it-or-break-it tension is what you're looking for in TV. That's also a bit of better-them-than-me satisfaction that comes in watching this and all the Tough Guy TV shows. Gold Rush has the added element of will-they-or-won't-they make it rich.

The Lying Game is not great television by any means but it's an adequate teen soap filled with attractive performers playing characters much younger than their actual ages, something the target audience for this type of series has come to expect.

The show may not be comedy gold, but it generates enough laughs to make it worth checking out before hitting the sack Sunday night. But is it a keeper in the long run? We'll see.

Sullivan & Son is no instant TV classic, but its reinterpretation of a place where everyone knows your name is outrageous enough to bear watching.

Too often the series fixates on Madeline’s entertaining but ultimately predictable passive-aggressive battles with another mom, Renata (Laura Dern). These mommy rivalries play like something out of a high-end prime-time soap.

Cute and occasionally touching, About a Boy gets no points in its early episodes for originality or expanding the single-camera comedy form but it's a decent little show about flawed but essentially decent characters.

There are enough flourishes surrounding Pernell’s visions to maintain viewer interest, but after a while the pilot feels like a slog.

The 90-minute Fairly Legal pilot, written by series creator Michael Sardo, moves at breakneck speed and fairly effortlessly welcomes viewers into spastic Kate's world. It's not a bad place to visit--but I probably won't be checking in on her on a regular basis.

Because it’s set in such an alien world and jumps around a lot introducing its myriad characters of assorted social classes while also setting in motion multiple plots, The Bastard Executioner gets off to a messy start. (When press notes offer more details on the many bearded and long-haired look-alike characters than the show itself, you know there’s too much going on in a series, and clarity has been sacrificed.) But Bastard Executioner improves as it goes. The question is whether viewers will stick with it.

Mom is a bit all over the place in its pilot.... The show is at its best when the focus is on Christy and her relationship with her own mother, Bonnie.

Detroit 1-8-7 is disappointingly generic. It's not a show that compels viewers to tune in on a weekly basis, but die-hard cop show fans may be satisfied.

HBO's Recount is an entertaining political drama, one in which both Democrats and Republicans get dinged, but the film is clearly sympathetic toward the underdog Democrats.

There's nothing in ABC's Castle viewers haven't seen a million times before, but the cast elevates the pedestrian material.

It rarely feels improvised except maybe in Q&A interviews with celebs and in “Pepe’s Unbelievable Game Show.” After four episodes, it’s safe to say “Muppets Now” is only occasionally funny, and the recurring segments grow repetitive.

The pilot episode for "life" is really interesting; unfortunately two subsequent episodes are not as commendable. ... The direct address to the camera begins to grate, and the whole show is not different enough from teen shows of the past. [3 Oct 2004]

There are some truly funny moments in Fox's manic, animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up, a series that requires almost rapt attention to pick up all the jokes and amusing dialogue that's hurled at viewers. If a TV series ever suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder, this is it.

Charmed has none of the wit or intelligence that characterizes The WB's superior supernatural series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but "Charmed" is an OK drama for the post-"Sabrina" crowd. [7 Oct 1998, p.E-4]

"The Lost Room" is certainly a more creative exercise than past Sci Fi miniseries (including "The Triangle"), but it sometimes feels rushed.

The show operates at such a constant, rapid-fire level that it’s almost exhausting.

Ignoring all that, shallow Mafia entertains in key moments.

Legit comes off as appalling at first but after a few episodes, you get used to how awful Jefferies is and the show even allows for a few skewed, sweet moments.

Another of those amusing but not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny sitcoms that are so popular on premium cable channels.

If Revenge can curb its more outlandish tendencies, this soap could become a welcome guilty pleasure.

Clearly this isn’t the comedy of the "Leave It to Beaver" era, but there are some laughs to be found in "The Mick," which is made tolerable thanks to Ms. Olson’s charm in spite of the character she plays.

Even in its first half-hour American Vandal begins to drag. A cliffhanger ending pushed me on to episode two, which also failed to move the plot along.

It’s unclear from the pilot how all these players fit together.... Gotham could rebound from its overly familiar opening episode. Maybe the villains will become more than the sum of their early cameos. And certainly the presence of actors of the caliber of McKenzie and Logue, capably playing odd-couple police partners, offers promise.

The acting talent here is marginal compared to the sitcom it replaces, "Out of Practice" (returning later in the season), but I found "Courting Alex" more enjoyable.

It’s hard to see what Frances saw in Robert that made her love him at some point, which, along with some crazy incidents, gives Divorce the sheen of absurd, heightened reality as opposed to a show that feels real.

Levi exudes an everyman appeal that may catch on with viewers, but the show's plots need to grow beyond the action-adventure tropes of 1970s TV if Chuck hopes to avoid being chucked off NBC's prime-time schedule.

Younger is fine. But in a TV universe of ever more scripted series, it also feels unessential, which is exactly what original programming today cannot afford to be.

The Man in the High Castle is a show that walks a fine line; it’s just intriguing enough to keep me coming back, but it doesn’t make me yearn to watch the next episode.

Fans of relationship-driven story-telling might just get hooked on this silly, lighter-than-air summer series.

The show is intermittently funny but not consistently hilarious, too often going for the low-hanging fruit of old people saying dirty things.

A fine but unexceptional retelling.

Forever is not a bad show--the pilot is pretty well made for what it is--but aspects of the premise feel awfully familiar.

A decent but slightly pedestrian family drama that throws off a "Brothers & Sisters" vibe whenever its sibling characters are in the same room.

Almost Royal is not a series that demands to be watched, but it’s a cute diversion for Anglophiles looking for intermittent laughs.

The X-Files is back with a mix of convoluted mythology and more satisfying stand-alone stories.

There's an appeal to the gentle spirit of Derek but it would have a stronger pull if the plotting was less dull.

A cute if unnecessary time-traveling fantasy-drama.

Veep offers uncomfortable comedy at its most sardonic.

Sunday's premiere is a little dull, but future episodes have more entertainment value. Still, you have to be a fan of neuroses humor for Bored to have much comedic impact.

At just six one-hour episodes (two airing each Sunday for three weeks), “Valley of the Boom” runs out of gas well before its conclusion and begins to feel padded, especially in its last hour. The series also suffers from tension-free drama as the stories mostly go the way viewers will expect.

Although Friday's season premiere is a bit confusing at times, the Spartacus world comes into better focus in episode two.

In short, they do what friends do, only they do more of it more often. Too often, actually. That constant comic bantering grows a little tired, just as it would if it ever actually happened in real life. [22 Sept 1994, p.C1]

The show is at its slightest when it slides into the “dumb daddy” territory previously mined by “According to Jim” and myriad other sitcoms. But at its best, The Jim Gaffigan Show manages to be cleverer despite a familiar conceit.

The character [Zach Galifianakis] plays in Baskets (along with the main character's twin brother) is too often unfunny and too mean to the poor insurance adjuster, but I found [Martha Kelly's insurance adjuster character] and Chip's mother to be pretty entertaining.

Whether viewers find Enlightened all that funny may depend upon whether they have a person similar to Amy in their lives--and whether they want to spend time with an irrational, hysteria-prone fictional character, too.

The Borgias is an adequate soap but one that's also rife with missed opportunities.

Taken as a whole, the three episodes mark a decent reintroduction but individually these episodes are basically daring viewers to watch. It's like producers are actively trying to repel viewers, not because the episodes are overly violent but because they often don't make much sense.

It’s exhausting to watch Ally put through the wringer and yet also predictable about how she will emerge from the trial.

"Invasion" offers a few scares, but it's more a sense of dread and something subtly awry that gives this drama its creepy vibe.

The Kennedys has the look and feel of a 1980s miniseries, and it's not trying to be anything more exalted. Unlike "The Borgias" and "Camelot," its reach does not exceed its grasp.

Goode really does feel too much like the flip side of "King of the Hill." The humor comes from the opposite point of view but it's still a too-similar-to-stand-on-its-own comedy.

Margulies is an ideal actress to carry off this icy role. Perhaps in the hands of a more deft writer, Canterbury's Law could be the edgy show it aspires to be instead of the common courtroom drama it is.

Running Wilde at times recalls the comedic brilliance of "Arrested Development," but unlike that show, there's no relatable central character to ground Running Wilde.

Somewhere within this bloated six-hour miniseries there's a lean, mean four-hour miniseries trying to escape.

It's a cute show, but the premise is so paper-thin you have to wonder how the writers will sustain "Knights" for a full season, let alone many years, if successful.

What the pilot lacks in smooth-flow niceties it makes up for in silly fun.

The show is gently entertaining in a way reminiscent of variety shows of old.

Town of the Living Dead, though entertaining, does not feel at all real.

After watching the first two episodes it's a little difficult to say what the show will be on a weekly basis because each of the first two episodes plays like the pilot for two different TV series.

The show is subtitled, which helps viewers understand the thick accents and British slang, but the whole thing is a bit nihilistic and the characters come across as somewhat debased.

The Strain isn’t great TV but it offers enough unexpected gross-out moments that it’s OK summer popcorn fare.

The humor quotient in the pilot proves to be a mixed bag. The laugh lines come, but they're fairly inconsistent. Still, when they do hit--particularly during a canvassing door-knock scene that includes a Fred Armisen cameo--it's easy to see Brooklyn Nine-Nine's potential to develop into a good, maybe even great, prime-time comedy.

The new season of "Carnivale" continues to showcase the series' potential, but it still doesn't live up to the show's enormous promise. It's a cryptic series full of mysteries and that should suck viewers in. But I've yet to feel the full effects of its gravitational pull, which is disappointing because, as they said so often on "The X-Files," I want to believe. [7 Jan 2005]

While there may still be doubts about the sustainability of The Leftovers, it clearly seems to be moving in a positive direction creatively even as the show’s overall tone grows more pessimistic.

Seed isn’t great TV, but it’s a funny enough diversion in the context of generally disappointing summer comedy.

It’s the conversation about race and African-American culture in the pilot that gives Black-ish a little bit of edge. Whether that will be maintained in future episodes or dulled into familiar family sitcom pabulum remains to be seen.

In its pilot, Once Upon a Time succeeds on charm but comes up short on logic.

Jousting on ATVs aside, there’s not a lot of exciting, forward plot momentum in the first few episodes, but later episodes spend more time with characters in town, and episode four includes a plot twist that will either make viewers sit up and take notice or prompt them to turn off the TV.

There's nothing egregiously wrong with Aquarius--it's sometimes dull but also at turns surprising--but with so many options for entertainment content today, this NBC procedural-serial hybrid doesn't do much to stand out.

It's too soon to say if the show will again employ a bounty of red herrings, but the show's penchant for plot holes persists.

HBO made the first five episodes available for review, and in the early going “Avenue 5” doesn’t entirely work but neither is it the disaster that befalls the show’s ship and passengers.

The first two Sharp Objects episodes take a slow-burn approach--too slow--but the pace picks up in episode three as Sharp Objects delves deeper into Camille’s back story and as Camille begins to connect with suspects in the case. That’s probably OK for fans of the novel, but for the rest of us, it’s a tough early slog in an era of myriad TV series choices.

Occasionally funny but mostly sort of dull, “The Moodys” seems unlikely to become a Christmas classic.

On paper, this show sounds dreadful, but it rises above its premise largely thanks to Goggins.

“Servant” is a tough show to embrace. Dorothy is an insufferable, emasculating, high-strung local TV news reporter. Sean is a grumpy, unsupportive husband and snooty chef who thinks lobster ice cream is a good idea. They’re both miserable people, not characters a viewer would want to spend time with.

The series feels padded and the lack of Kristen Bell’s presence – she does introductions for all the episodes but only appears in a few – is a disappointment.

Has its moments, but the whole story drags, especially in the first half. There’s just not a good enough mystery at the heart of this season to justify eight episodes.

The first two episodes of “Disenchantment” are more amusing than funny with entertaining enough puns and parodies of modern-day brands in the names of shops in the Kingdom of Dreamland.

Take away the fun and silliness of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” add more robust production values and dim the lights and you’ve got this self-serious bore.

UnReal continues to give short shrift to the meta commentary on reality TV that made season one such fun.

Sort of a comedic “X-Files”--but only mildly amusing--“Ghosted” needs to be funnier and less predictable if it hopes to win over TV viewers with thousands of options.

This is “True Lies” in title only. The film’s concept has been reduced to a paint-by-number, light CBS procedural. If that’s the type of programming you enjoy, have at it. Just don’t expect anything more.

For the People is OK but not great, too all over the place for any of the legal cases to make much of a dramatic impression.

The characters are all the shades of unlikeable – lazy, thieving, selfish, etc. – but surely there’s an audience for this kind of humor, based on past bad boy successes, so it’s fair that the women get a turn. The humor is often not subtle and the dialogue tends toward the unpleasant with some regularity.

The show’s visuals — often achieved through a combination of puppetry and computer-generated effects — can be enchanting, especially in a library location, but the backstory of Thra society requires a lot of unpacking. Telling the puppet characters apart sometimes proves a daunting challenge, and it’s difficult to mount much enthusiasm for the task given the first episode’s plodding pace.

It mostly plays like an unproduced early 1990s “Star Trek” spinoff, complete with holodecks, replicators, alien crew members and missions of the week. It’s also pretty dull.

Even though the premise of The Crossing seems like it’s another TV show that should really be a movie or limited series and not an ongoing drama, the pilot offers (for a broadcast network series) some decent twists, welcome casting against type and a somewhat intriguing plot.

Much of the humor is of the predictable, fish out of water variety ... but “Bless This Mess” is at its funniest when it gets weird with characters like Rudy (Ed Begley Jr.), who lives in the couple’s barn, and Jacob (JT Neal), the dim-witted son of the neighbors.

To be sure, there are interesting ideas floating around in Heathers but surely too many at once.

Casting Ms. Kreuk as an anti-hero would be a unique twist but Burden quickly undoes that, settling for the more pedestrian idea of Joanna crusading for the little guy while also, thankfully, voiding the notion that the show is pro anti-vaxxer.

Sure, it takes time to build characters, but “Night” feels super sluggish.

Fans of CBS crime dramas will probably find “Gone” perfectly acceptable. Viewers who gravitate toward more complex, character-driven cable/streaming dramas will be unimpressed with the plots but may enjoy the local scenery.

It’s fine, escapist fare but lacking in much imagination.

There are occasional glimpses of “Seinfeld”-style humor. ... But the pilot is neither as funny as that NBC classic nor as topical as “The Carmichael Show.”

OK-not-great Indiana Jones-inspired series that adds terrorists — who blow up a pyramid in the first five minutes of the premiere. Tonally, it’s very similar to ABC’s “Whiskey Cavalier.”