Fans of podcast sensation “Serial” and anyone intrigued by a good character-driven murder mystery will want to jump on board HBO’s six-part documentary series The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.

The humor is quick and smart, often poking fun at the conventions of period dramas and the perceived privilege of the wealthy.

The series remains smart and thought-provoking but it's also quite funny.

It may do some good, but it's still a piece of TV entertainment that, first and foremost, must succeed as a revenue generator for ABC. That realistic, not cynical, caveat aside, Big Give is certainly more positive than "Big Brother" or numerous other reality shows.

The animated comedy returns in stronger comedic shape in its fourth season.

An animated series with an odd mix of historical figures and parodies of teen-appeal TV, advertising and music. It's a bizarre combination, to be sure, but it works. [12 Jan 2003, p.D-3]

To the credit of writer James Graham and director Stephen Frears (“A Very English Scandal”), “Quiz” rigorously offers both sides of the story and allows viewers to decide.

Last summer Oxygen's The Glee Project proved a better TV show that Fox's "Glee" and it appears that may be more true in the show's second season.

With A Year in the Life, there actually is a plot that propels the characters forward and that might be the highest praise possible for any TV revival.

It's a true character piece with top-notch acting all around. [21 Mar 2004, p.TV-5]

It's the characters of Banshee and their labyrinth of relationships that make the show an engrossing, entertaining portrait of a fictional small town.

It's a sensitive, one-hour portrait of three teens: one gay, one lesbian, one transgender.

An exhilarating, fast-paced competition filled with colorful characters, "The Amazing Race" is a pulse-pounding good time.

Roth's Lightman is not nearly the curmudgeon Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) is, nor is he as entertaining, but Lie to Me has the makings of a fine procedural for viewers who can't seem to get enough of this type of series.

Although The Beat rises above much of what's on TV - and everything else on UPN - it is nowhere near as complex and layered as "Homicide." But it may be just as off-putting to some viewers.

Tonight's premiere has a zippy energy that can be attributed to the writing and Mr. Cumberbatch's riveting, gonzo performance. He plays Sherlock as authoritative and arrogant but also with a hint of excited madness that makes for an engrossing new take on this classic character.

A splendid cast, headed by Shelley Long, a college-educated cocktail waitress, and bar owner Ted Danson, make Cheers something to cheer about. [19 Oct 1982, p.34]

It's mysterious and exciting, a suspenseful and tense action-drama. [6 Nov 2001]

Did the new network screw up the show? Not that I could tell from the incomplete first episode sent for review (no judge's remarks or eliminations).

Season four promises more of the same while expanding on stories in the books and in some cases improving on what could be long literary slogs.

It’s a mammoth, epic undertaking that starts with a smart opening episode. “Déjà Vu,” beautifully written by Geoffrey C. Ward, manages to both deliver the expected (images of Vietnam, first-person accounts of fear and heroism in combat) and the unexpected (a history of the conflict that drills down beyond the immediate run-up all the way back to the beginning of French colonialism in 1858).

Season two pulls viewers back on board with intriguing plot twists, more light moments and strong performances.

Issa’s troubles--and Insecure itself--feel authentic even if the series is only intermittently funny.

Clearly this show is not for the easily offended. Not everyone will appreciate this kind of humor, but anyone who values smart, provocative comedy that's about truth telling will be intrigued.

The payoff--Black Mirror promises no happy endings but the conclusions are always thought-provoking--is worth it.

No reservations, just a ringing endorsement for Comedy Central’s The Other Two, a smart half-hour comedy.

Smart, clever and punctuated with moments of warmth that avoid treacle, ABC’s Downward Dog delivers delightful comedy thanks to an angsty canine character with a psyche that is more human than mutt.

Most sketch comedy shows decline with age but IFC's Portlandia continues to show signs of smart, savvy, new comic life in its fourth season.

The show creates tension--through atmosphere and characters the audience cares about--and offers so many make-you-jump scares that by the end of an episode, you're left breathless.

In its first two episodes, season two of Saul offers a welcome return to form.

Entertaining in a sober-minded, educational way, Victorian Slum House offers an illuminating history lesson without getting preachy or dull.

A highly entertaining and addictive costume drama.

Executive producer David Eick said, "We wanted to make it less about escapism and more about moral complexity and great characters." In its early episodes, Caprica certainly succeeds in achieving those goals.

As entertainment, United States of Tara succeeds through humor, vivid characters and a stunning performance by Collette, who disappears into the roles of Tara's alters.

Atmospheric and strange (images of power lines abound for no discernible reason), Durham County is not much of a murder mystery--viewers know who the killer(s) are by the end of the first episode--but it is an intriguing crime drama that's more character-driven than it is procedural.

Smart, thrilling and politically timely, "Sleeper Cell" works overtime to mix believable character drama with jolts of surprising plot twists.

Saul isn’t a failure at all. Instead, Saul feels like a series with many of the hallmarks of classic “Breaking Bad” episodes that’s set in the familiar “Bad” universe, emphasizing a similar vibe that mixes personal drama with dark comedy.

This first episode back sets a lot of goals for itself: Remind viewers of the backstory, advance the plot from the cliffhanger, and introduce and resolve the murder-of-the-week. Daisies succeeds in accomplishing these tasks and even finds time for a "Sound of Music" shout-out as Olive pulls a Maria von Trapp en route to a nunnery.

It's edgier than "7th Heaven," but not so edgy that parents will be turned off. It also expands the definition of a family and realistically shows the complexity of intergenerational relationships. [5 Oct 2000, p.D-6]

The series retains its trademark flash forwards that signal murders and/or deceits yet to be revealed. It's one of the show's more operatic touches but this time the revelation, a fantastic and personal driver for stories, feels less like an attempt to manipulate the audience and more rooted in the plausible.

The question becomes will more screen time allow the Big Secret to make sense? That will determine if the whole of Wayward Pines is ultimately worth watching. If nothing else, the first five hours are at turns intriguing, mysterious, engrossing and spooky.

Next week's episode has more taut scenes than tonight's premiere, which has to lay the groundwork for the season. No surprise -- last season, it took several episodes before "24" began to live up to its promise. [29 Oct 2002]

Underemployed is one of the most enjoyably upbeat twentysomething scripted dramas to hit prime time in ages.

They're not making evolutionary leaps but these men do show enough signs of progress that viewers who appreciated their struggles and triumphs in the first season will have renewed reason to cheer them on in season two.

The Tick"is a funny, creative show and a risk worth taking. It's disappointing Fox has so little faith in these oddball superheroes. [8 Nov 2001, p.E-4]

Elfman, the best thing about the short-lived ''Townies,'' is a lovely live-wire who makes eccentricity appear irresistible; Gibson, who was ill-used on ''Chicago Hope,'' is a magnetic leading man who can simultaneously seem vulnerable and stable. As a pair, they fulfill the first essential requirement of a screen romance: they make you want to see them end up together. [24 Sept 1997, p.D-7]

Mad Men relies on its talented cast to communicate the unspoken, to get across the emotions and thoughts that roil just beneath the surface. I'll admit, there are times when I know I'm supposed to intuit something but I'm not completely sure what it is. And that's OK.

An engrossing, humanizing portrait of the British monarch.

Smart and well-acted with clearly defined heroes and villains--all painted in varying shades of gray--this Chicago-set show feels familiar and new at the same time.

Early on, Band of Brothers is more methodical, less emotional due to its large, unwieldy cast. Once the uniformed soldiers put their helmets on, it's tough to tell them apart. If you're like me, you'll spend too much time trying to figure out who just got killed to work up much sympathy for the mystery victim. [9 Sept 2001, p.TV-5]

There's no question this intriguing, seductive series is set to a slow boil. ... But this series picks up its pace in future episodes. Anyone taken with the dark mystery of "Twin Peaks" or "American Gothic" is advised to stay tuned.

NBC only made the premiere available for review, so I can't offer any guarantees that subsequent episodes will not disappoint, but as a pilot, "The Event" gets this series off to a rollicking start.

[Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (Aya Cash) are] both terrible people in a myriad ways, and yet, they really seem to connect, which allows “You’re the Worst” to evince an acidic sweetness through its bleakness.

Ultimately, after eight episodes that wax and wane in intensity, viewers learn whose worldview emerges as the accurate one in this case--Hardy's pessimistic take on human nature or Ellie's more positive outlook. In a small town where everyone knows his or her neighbor, unmasking the killer is almost as wrenching as the crime itself.

In its first two episodes, AHS returns as a creepy, spooky jolt of unpredictable storytelling.

Mockingbird Lane is funny, fanciful, a visual treat and, perhaps surprisingly, full of heart.

Big Love succeeds in entertaining through the nuance of its characters, especially perpetually seething Nicki (Chloe Sevigny, queen of the slow burn), one of the three wives of Salt Lake City businessman Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton).

Despite how outlandish some of the scenarios become, they remain relatable.

Wise is one lucky devil. And so are viewers who appreciate lighthearted, supernatural dramas.

The first half-hour is all setup, and while entertaining in its own way, with just one character, it's insular and unlike anything else on TV, which is always a tough sell for viewers conditioned to expect more of the same. The second episode gives Phil a much-needed sparring partner, which is funnier than the gags during his solitary existence.

It's a typically funny Office episode that makes good use of most of the cast.

It's occasionally randy and sophomoric, but there are also some smarts and heart mixed in.

Fans of the original are likely to enjoy this follow-up, which improves in succeeding episodes after the somewhat lackluster first entry and those who scratched their heads at the movie are likely to have the same reaction to this prequel series.

It's a rollicking adventure with decent special effects and better stories and character development than, say, Sci Fi Channel's "Eureka."

Happy Endings excels at fearless humor that's sometimes shocking, not because it's gratuitous, but because it's an unexpected surprise--and a welcome one at that.

A funny, bizarre high concept comedy about a support group for alien abductees.

Stack, Stern and the other executive producers created "on of the Beach with "over-the-top" as the show's mantra. It may not hold up on a weekly basis, but this first trip to the "Beach" is outrageous fun.

Pushing Daisies captivates with an emotionally resonant story and dazzles with its bright visual imagery. Fans of delightfully daft fairy tales, this one's for you.

Terrific performances make it a movie worth seeing.

The casting is close to perfect.... This production of "Jane Eyre" holds its own against any other.

Often profane and occasionally offensive, Louie won't be to every viewer's taste, but it's a more interesting show than many with a definitive point of view.

It's so funny and so well-done on so many levels, the Conchords definitely deserve to be discovered by a wide TV audience.

It's a clever, funny hour that's written in rhyme with imaginative songs threaded throughout.

t's an entertaining episode that doesn't fall into the pacing trap so often seen in "Sherlock" where there's not enough story to hold the show up through its 90-minute running time. (Episode two fares worse in this regard, although it's still an entertaining outing.)

The Middle is funny enough to merit a weekly visit.

Entertaining and warm in appropriate 1980s fashion, “Stranger Things 2,” now streaming, fills its nine episodes better than season one filled its eight episodes.

How sadly true and truly funny. [25 Sept 2001, p.C-1]

Writer/creator Patrick Sean Smith gives Greek a greater sense of light-hearted fun that seems more authentic to the real-world experience of college as "the best years."

A whimsical, cleverly conceived dramedy ... Whether 'Ally's' fantasy element can stay whimsical, without falling over into tiresome or distracting (as it did on 'Dream On'), remains to be seen. [8 Sep 1997]

Maximum Bob maximizes its dark humor in satisfyingly loopy ways. [4 Aug 1998, p.E-1]

Aside from a few head-scratcher terms (GBH = "grievous bodily harm"), lawyers and judges wearing white wigs while in court (the judge in the premiere looks like she's got a poodle on her head) and occasionally impenetrable accents, Law & Order: UK should be remarkably familiar to fans of the original series.

Mom remains funny, thanks in large part to the great work of Allison Janney as Christy's potty-mouthed mom, Bonnie. And the show continues to make excellent use of actress Mimi Kennedy (now a series regular and pictured above at left) as a foil for Bonnie and friend to Christy.

With so few traditional sitcoms on the air this year, the new ones had better be good. Happily for viewers, Fox's "Back to You" and CBS's Big Bang Theory qualify as generally welcome newcomers.

Torchwood gets off to a lighter, more rousing start in its second season premiere.

30 Rock is more manic than "Seinfeld," but its smart observations on political correctness, corporate culture and life in Manhattan make it an ideal heir. This Rock continues to roll.

it's the danger of Dexter being found out that permeates these episodes, upping the pressure and keeping the series as tense and twisted as it was in season one.

It’s a smart, funny series, and it’s a relief to know Netflix saved it from what was sure to be terminal neglect had it aired on NBC.

Designated Survivor pilot has its share of gaps in logic but it’s engrossing, if not entirely believable, and features the best opening scene of fall’s broadcast drama pilots.

While there are still some improbable elements--would the nephew of the killer, Olly Stevens (Jonathan Bailey), really still be allowed to cover a relative's trial?--Broadchurch remains a tense, engrossing drama.

There’s an enjoyably spooky “X-Files” vibe and also a little too on-the-nose will-they-or-won’t-they? chemistry between the married Kristin and the presumably celibate David. “Evil” evinces a welcome cheekiness.

Because it’s so true to its roots, the new Roseanne does feel somewhat dated at times with longer, talkier scenes than many of today’s comedies. But the writing is crisp, smart and, most importantly, funny.

Through its first three episodes, Castle Rock builds out its world and character relationships thoughtfully and deliberately. Whether it holds up through the entire 10-episode first season remains to be seen, but Castle Rock gets off to a strong, engrossing start.

It’s an engaging (and, perhaps to some defenders of Joe Paterno, it will be an enraging) film that explores character, the politics of college athletics and the value of local journalism in a style that’s more process piece thriller than it is anything like a biopic given how “Paterno” concentrates on a short period in the coach’s life.

The first episode of “One Dollar” wallows in the struggles of several sad sack characters and jumps around a confusing amount as it introduces the unwieldy, large cast, but the show becomes more engrossing in episodes two and three. “One Dollar” hits its stride by episode six, proving it’s a worthy addition to the Peak TV era.

[“The Violet Hour”] takes some unexpected and some predictable turns along the way, but it’s ultimately an enjoyable, charming story. ... “The Royal We” is less involving than “The Violet Hour.” Shelly’s story proves more compelling than Michael’s and the Romanoff theme is more pronounced and bizarre. ... [The third episode is] the second best of the first three episodes made available for review.

The guest performances were delightful and contributed greatly to the success--in my opinion--of the opener. [28 Sep 1977, p.49]

It's not even groundbreaking in the way "Will & Grace" was when it first appeared in 1998. But, boy, this Will & Grace is fun to watch. It's entertaining to spend time with the characters again and since 11 years have passed since I last watched an episode, it doesn't feel as tired as it did once upon a time.

[Discovery season premiere] offers a mix of resetting characters and action sequences. But it also embraces Pike’s mandate for a lighter tone thanks largely to the Pike character--a warmer, more likable leader than season one’s cold, aloof Capt. Lorca (Jason Isaacs)--and a new character played by comedy actress Tig Notaro. ... So far, so good, but what any of this signals for the rest of the show’s second season is unknown.