When Amazon’s Lore allows Mr. Mahnke to just tell a story, it’s pretty compelling. But when the show dives into dramatic re-creations of stories, Lore generally falters.

What Mindhunter lacks in energy it makes up for in better attention to character details. Mindhunter grows significantly more interesting in its second hour once Holden gets paired with veteran FBI agent Bill Tench (Holt McCallany, “Lights Out”) and starts interviewing co-ed killer Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton, who nails a so-serene-it’s-creepy vibe).

The Exorcist started wobbly in season one, quickly grew into a smarter-than-expected, horror-themed drama and then turned wobbly again toward the end of the season. Season two begins similarly, but thanks to Mr. Cho’s character and storyline “The Exorcist” shows promise.

Where the show goes will largely determine its ability to sustain itself as a weekly series, but “The Gifted” gets off to a smarter, more visually compelling start than the other new superhero show of the fall season that debuts tonight.

Crammed with incessant exposition and shoddy special effects akin to those in ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” “Inhumans” disappoints from start to finish.

It’s a cute premise. But the pilot is not believable or funny, which isn’t to say it couldn’t have been either of those things, but the details don’t ring true and the humor is sort of amusing but rarely elicits a laugh.

The rules explained by the angel (Kimberly Hebert Gregory, replacing Cristela Alonso from the pilot) are both complicated and nebulous, and it’s not clear what Kevin is supposed to do beyond being a do-gooder. Maybe “Touched by a Guy Touched by an Angel” is what this show is going for?

The show’s one-joke premise--parents can be such buttinskis!--wears thin fast despite the likability of Ms. Lavin and Mr. Gould. A few jokes manage to land, but mostly it’s predictable dialogue about what a smothering mother Ms. Lavin’s character is. There’s also way too much information about the state of Mr. Gould’s testicles.

Why ABC thinks American viewers will care about what happens to a TV scriptwriter who brings turmoil and heartbreak upon herself is beyond me. Maybe it’s the Kyra Sedgwick of it? Even “Closer” fans may have a hard time cozying up to this character.

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.

A watered-down “Person of Interest” crossed with Fox’s failed “APB,” this time-waster stars Jeremy Piven as a Silicon Valley mogul touched by tragedy when his daughter is murdered, leading him to quit his company and create a crowd-sourced, crime-solving app. ... And to think CBS’s Sunday night was once home to a prestige drama like “The Good Wife” and now it’s a parking spot for this disappointment.

It’s similar to History’s “Six,” which aired earlier this year, as well as CBS’s own 2006-09 show “The Unit.”

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.

Whenever Mr. Highmore is on screen, “The Good Doctor” compels, but he’s surrounded by standard-issue medical show characters and plots.

It’s an interesting conceit to follow one character at three points in his life every week and see how things that happen in one era influence another. It also seems like quite a juggling act for the show’s writers. Time will tell how they manage to maintain it on a weekly basis.

In many ways this show plays like a cross between “The Wonder Years” and last fall’s “Speechless” only in this one the mother character is likable. Zoe Perry, daughter of Laurie Metcalf (who plays Sheldon’s mom on “BBT”), is a standout in a pilot episode that’s warm and embraceable but not yet essential viewing. But it may get there.

What viewers saw so far was exciting, fun stuff with potential for a great “Star Trek” series, but the material in the first two episodes serves as prologue.

The Menendez Murders lacks the multiple social themes of “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” settling instead for an occasionally pulpy story that takes a turn into purple prose when it begins to explore the role of Erik’s therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel (Josh Charles). ... The presence of Ms. Falco, whose character gets a husband (Chris Bauer) and workaholic back story, elevates the proceedings, but she appears sparingly in the premiere.

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).

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.

A dark character drama, it’s a show for viewers who enjoy a deep dive into a culture, one that, in this instance, happens to be ugly and exploitative.

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.

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

When Atypical keeps its focus on the teen characters, including Sam’s ready-to- leap-to-his-defense younger sister, Casey (an outstanding Brigette Lundy-Paine), the series is at its best if sometimes most familiar. The show turns more annoyingly soapy when it turns to Sam’s father, Doug (Michael Rappaport), and mother, Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

Fans of Mr. King's Bill Hodges Trilogy might wonder how a mostly internal cat-and-mouse game between Brady and Bill, a retired police detective with too much time (and drink) on his hands, is played out over 10 episodes. Very well, as it happens, and to chilling effect.

Comrade Detective certainly has its moments, but its one-joke premise may make it a tough sell for all six half-hours.

Mr. Garcia’s style of humor tends to be sophomoric--sex jokes, overweight stripper sight gags and broad comedy predominates--but this style manages to blend well with the show’s unique format.

Manhunt, clocking in at eight hours total, makes for fine if unexceptional storytelling. It’s a scripted true crime drama that may hook fans of psychological thrillers but lacks the panache and visceral punch of FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”

As a drama, The Last Tycoon is slightly less successful. Occasionally plodding and without a lot to say in the early going that isn’t spelled out in capital letters--NAZIS = BAD!--early episodes offer good, not great drama.

Too often the show is raucous without reason, but Will sparks to life in a scene where Shakespeare engages in what in modern times could be compared to a rap battle or poetry slam, only in Will it’s a word competition using iambic pentameter.

After so many series have failed to come to satisfying first-season conclusions after similar built-in obsolescence plots, it’s hard to trust Salvation will live up to its title. If it does, what will producers do for season two?

Mostly the show dutifully doles out a lot of the special effects viewers expect from a supernatural series. But it’s all noise and explosions of light with scant attention to character development or relationship building (beyond the one obvious romance), something “True Blood” got right early on.

Snowfall benefits from strong performances from a cast made up of largely unknown actors, but the show is dark with none of the humor that helped leaven “Breaking Bad.”

GLOW is not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it is often funny, from its pitch-perfect opening scene to the potential for back stories on all the women who make the cut for GLOW and the relationships among them that are sure to develop.

[The Mist] resurrects many of the small­town tropes that were in “Under the Dome” but with a cast of largely unknowns and B­-movie effects, writing and performances.

There’s a lot to like about TNT’s dark comedy/​crime drama Claws, including a terrific cast of women playing some unusual-for-TV characters. But the show would be stronger if it had a more unique story engine to drive its plots.

Daytime Divas has its funny moments as it recounts the petty behaviors of daytime chat show stars but too often in its first two episodes the show moves in all the expected directions and feels like a lesser Lifetime entry.

Without some Cliff’s Notes handy, the first half of Monday’s pilot is a muddle as to who’s a Montague and who’s a Capulet. Once Romeo and Juliet die (about halfway through the pilot), Still Star-Crossed improves as the focus shifts to the politics of their deaths and those left behind.

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.

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

The eight-episode first season of American Gods takes about four episodes to cohere, especially for any viewers unfamiliar with the novel. ... Mostly it is Mr. McShane’s performance that carries the early episodes. His Mr. Wednesday is self-assured, charming and cutthroat all at once.

Gteat News manages to be at least a good broadcast network comedy thanks to sharp writing and winning performances, particularly from “SCTV” veteran Andrea Martin as Carol, mom to cable news producer Katie (Briga Heelan).

It’s a role that could fall into caricature, but Ms. Winfrey brings vulnerability and believability to the part. Henrietta Lacks also benefits from a strong supporting cast. ... The film, directed by George C. Wolfe (“Lackawanna Blues”), stumbles most profoundly in the way it wraps up. The conclusion to the 90-minute film comes too quickly with an abrupt shift in tone.

Bill Nye Saves the World is just not that entertaining a show all-around. While the format is geared to adults, the content is too simple to be of interest to them. For kids who might try to watch, all the talking heads will be a bore.

It’s a somewhat slower build--and there’s a seemingly non-sequitur prologue to wade through at the start--but eventually this Fargo premiere suggests reason for excitement for the new season. But then episode two comes along and also fails to ignite the addictive interest of past installments, so this year’s Fargo will require a wait-and-see approach.

It’s definitely a slow-burn start to season three, but aspects of episode two suggest viewer patience will be rewarded--eventually.

The show remains crazy in its plotting, but it does move at a quick clip, fast enough that some viewers will forgive it for some obvious twists and turns. ... Other than an effort to goose ratings with the return of a familiar title, is there really any creative reason for more “Prison Break”? Probably not.

Imaginary Mary would be more generic if it didn’t have Mary, but when she appears on screen with a grating voice that betrays Alice’s independent career woman id, it adds little comedy to the show.

Nobodies has its amusing moments--and plenty of celebrity cameos in the premiere, including Maya Rudolph, Jim Rash and Jason Batema--especially when it explores the disdain more successful writers have for, say, animated kids show writers. But tolerance for uncomfortable comedic moments will vary by viewer.

Consistently funny and with surprisingly engaging twists for a comedy, Trial & Error commits few errors through its first three episodes.

Episode one spends an awful lot of time on digging a huge hole in the ground with fairly predictable results. And in episode two there’s a lot of wandering around a greenhouse buzzing with insects that’s supposed to be ominous but instead comes off like a homage to “The X-Files.” ... The third episode moves all the stories forward at a better clip.

It’s unclear if the series will rise above a constant cat-and-mouse game between Wells and Jack, something that seems like it could get old quick.

The pilot has its intermittently amusing moments, but episode two, where the trio foments the American Revolution using 2016-era NRA tactics, proves stronger. A third episode involving travel to Al Capone’s Chicago, circa 1919, is fairly lackluster.

Easily the best new series of 2017 so far, Feud will prove especially appealing to fans of old Hollywood and smart, layered storytelling.

If anything, The Arrangement plays it a little too straight and sedate. An injection of just a little crazy would make the whole enterprise more fun.

When We Rise feels a little rote and predictable in its main characters’ trajectories but given its subject matter and airing on a broadcast network, that also works to the program’s benefit.

The Norma-Norman plots made up the best parts of the series and then there was everything else. In this final season, the show seems better focused because now all the plots feature Norman at the center.

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.

Written and executive produced by “Good Wife” creators Michelle King and Robert King, The Good Fight marks a pretty seamless transition from “The Good Wife” that feels similar enough for viewer comfort, but also different enough to avoid being a total rehash.

Comfort food appeal to some viewers who could certainly do worse than this series that tends to be more lighthearted (listen for the bouncy music soundtrack), with enjoyably quirky supporting characters. It’s just unfortunate the show’s primary story is often overwrought and obvious.

It’s a strange, sometimes confusing and always visually arresting program.

Every plot turn is predictable, no trope goes unexplored.

The two-hour premiere ends with a big question mark, which may lead me to tune in again but I just wish The Expanse was a little less murky. I'm prone to liking complex TV but The Expanse is borderline impenetrable at times.

If Powerless had been funny, the lack of big-name heroes would be excusable, but with not much to laugh at a viewer is bored enough to consider all the things this show could be, but is not.

With its talented cast and a willingness to reference current events, Superior Donuts evinces some potential, especially if the show’s writers can come up with better, less redundant sitcom plots.

Riverdale shows off a heightened visual look that sometimes calls to mind “Pushing Daisies” in its ambition. Whether it can maintain that high level of production design, we’ll see, but in its early episodes, Riverdale positions itself as one of the more ambitious teen dramas to come along in several years.

The program remains steadfast in its ability to build a unique fictional Appalachian world that makes Outsiders unlike any other serial in prime time.

Mercy Street remains strictly middlebrow fare, but it’s well-done for what it is and better than in its first season.

It’s a marginally adequate, unremarkable series that follows fictional members of Navy SEAL Team Six on fictional missions inspired by actual missions.

The show is too smart to be so easily dismissed, but whether its depiction of Vatican politics--and especially its title character’s abrasive personality--warrant devotion will be in the eye of the beholder. Lenny’s not a likable character, but The Young Pope offers addictive stories of unpredictable political maneuvering.

Coming on the heels of Netflix’s superior British period drama “The Crown,” Victoria is a bit of a comedown, but it’s not bad, merely familiar and expected.

All the trappings of “The Wizard of Oz” without any of the charms.

A wonderfully entertaining program, Bright Lights shows just how close the mother and daughter had become in recent years, living as neighbors on the same Beverly Hills compound that vaguely brings to mind “Grey Gardens” without the fallen-from-grace squalor.

A pedestrian procedural, "Ransom" follows the team at Crisis Resolution as they resolve kidnappings and hostage situations in the most rote, CBS fashion you can imagine.

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.

Star feels kind of junky, an everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink concoction made worse by bad dialogue too often delivered poorly.

So much about Incorporated is predictable and rote, it's tough to buy into the story or its characters.

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.

The show is energizing and a fun thrill ride in its first hour until Letty falls off the wagon. Then it just turns depressing, meandering down a dark road that’s in keeping with TNT’s new aesthetic, but a bit too far out of step with how Good Behavior plays until that point.

Mars feels somewhat familiar, but combining the fiction and nonfiction elements is an interesting attempt. Give NatGeo credit for trying something different. Whether this hybrid satisfies fans of either genre remains to be seen.

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

British comic actor Stephen Fry is the best part of The Great Indoors, playing the company’s top honcho but his presence alone isn’t enough to salvage this stale series. A second episode proves to be no improvement on the lackluster pilot.

Uninspired, obvious and just not that humorous, there’s little reason to make a plan to watch CBS’s latest in a string of disappointing new sitcoms.

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

At times Dirk Gently feels like one long, never-ending tease but the show is so strange and consistently surprising and unpredictable it seems likely to find some sort of a cult audience.

The new cast is certainly game, expecially Cox, who has some terrific moves in her dance routines. And Adam Lambert crashes through a window on a motorcycle to perform a rollicking number. But what plot there is goes sideways in the last half-hour, just as in the movie. At that point, I just wanted it to be over.

Girlfriend remains stubbornly weird, including in an avant garde musical number (pictured above and after the jump) that proudly proclaims it busted the show's budget.

With the exception of some added F-bombs, Goliath plays like a reasonably decent prime-time legal mystery circa 1998, not a modern drama revelation.

The Durrells in Corfu is as warm and pleasant as its picturesque setting.

Killing Reagan is pretty much the expected, rote bio movie of the assassination attempt on President Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. (Kyle S. More).

American Housewife isn’t this fall’s best new comedy but it’s certainly one of the better offerings.

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

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.

No Tomorrow is original, quirky and fun, not another remixed superhero story or movie remake.

It’s slightly above average as this type of series is concerned but not something that will satisfy "Castle" fans still smarting from its cancellation.

Timeless is not serious, thoughtful TV. But it is well-produced, escapist fun that gives each of the lead characters some story engine baggage, especially the show’s lead, Lucy.

It is the definition of a slow-burn series, a program that should be exciting rendered as kind of dull.

Everything about MacGyver feels rote--from the constant bombardment of brotastic banter between Angus MacGyver (a bland Lucas Till, “X-Men: Apocalypse”) and ex-military sidekick Jack Dalton (George Eads, “CSI”) to the entirely predictable plot of the pilot that lays track for a seasonlong arc--and imbued with a CBS house style.