Ms. Dandridge makes a positive impression as the show’s lead character and it helps that she has such strong support from Mr. David and especially Ms. Whitfield, whose character proves an effortlessly serene scene-stealer.

In its first hour, at least, Major Crimes appears to be making a pretty seamless transition.

most importantly, The Office is generally funnier than it was last season.

It's weird and different enough to stick with for a little while to see how it develops.

In its second half the Ballers pilot finds its footing and the show’s trajectory becomes clear, playing like an entertaining mix of HBO’s “Entourage” and “Arli$$” and Starz’s “Survivor’s Remorse.”

Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll may not be easy to swallow, but it digests comfortably.

Fast, frothy and fun, “Flack” only falters when it slows down and tries to get serious about Robyn’s issues – her mentally ill mother committed suicide; Robyn may have some mental health challenges, too – but when it sticks to its soapier agenda, “Flack” moves like a runaway train.

Billingsley brings a gentleness to the role, making the character believable, decent and a surrogate for the audience. He watches The Others with amazement, and so will viewers. [4 Feb 2000]

There's nothing particularly new about a superhero show, but Arrow exhibits a stylized ferocity that, in its initial hour at least, makes a positive enough impression.

Her observations throughout Wishful Drinking are incisive and funny. But at times the production, directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, gets a little bogged down in minutiae.

It’s a niche series that can be visually stunning but chilly and dark. ... After one episode, I had no interest in watching more “Devs”; after four, the series has me quite intrigued.

As creator Marc Cherry explained this summer, he wanted to re-set the series and get the stories back to something more closely resembling reality. Sunday's season premiere does that pretty well with some of the women's stories, especially Lynette (Felicty Huffman), whose twins are now terrible teens.

It's best not to think of Shameless as a deep, important show. Tune in for the character drama and recognize the characters' anti-social behavior for what it is. There's no shame in that.

The wartime setting gives The Crimson Field” more gravitas than a “Downton-style soap but the premiere episode never gets too bleak.

It's a strange show and I'm sure some people won't find it funny at all. But if you have just enough of a cracked sense of humor, it's worth giving Jon Benjamin Has a Van a try.

It's a particular kind of wry, quiet, slightly depressing in its self-deprecation style of humor that won't be to every viewer's liking.

Conan O'Brien debuted his new talk show, Conan, on TBS last night and it didn't feel all that different from the show O'Brien debuted last year on NBC under "The Tonight Show" banner.

While the realistic depiction of college is not in question, "grown-ish" borders on depressing in its sobering depiction of modern college life.

My Own Worst Enemy sets up what could be an overly complicated premise and miraculously makes it all seem perfectly acceptable and clear by the end of the first hour.

House of Lies is not a revolutionary show, but it is a fun study of men behaving badly.

At times overly earnest, “The Red Line,” written by Chicago playwrights Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss and executive produced by Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) and Greg Berlanti (“The Flash”), is imperfect, but its existence demonstrates broadcasters haven’t completely thrown in the towel on quality drama and for that viewers can be grateful.

There's enough to recommend about Copper that it's worth tuning in to see how the series develops.

This season doesn't really kick into gear until night two, when Bill Buchanan (James Morrison) and Chloe (Marylynn Rajskub) return, operating outside the bounds of the government.

This seven-episode series, written by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, doesn't offer many new ideas about the evils of the TV business--a lot of the ground covered here was previously mined by the underrated 1999-2001 Showtime series "Beggars & Choosers"--but it's still fun to join in the mocking of Hollywood, a big, juicy target that Episodes hits with ease.

What the show lacks in originality it makes up for in crisp, politically tinged dialogue.

While the show doesn't have the cachet of, say, Marc Maron's series, it's a funny, entertaining comedy starring the offbeat comedy-folk duo of Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci.

It's an entertaining hour sure to appeal to fans of A&E's equally fast-paced British import "MI-5."

It must be said that viewing Grey Gardens without prior knowledge of the Beales' story would make it easier to like the HBO version....Michael Sucsy directs an HBO version that takes a little of this, a little of that, in building toward a (sort-of) happy ending that's hard to swallow.

Blue Bloods showcases a surprising amount of character-driven storytelling. The potential police department conspiracy pushes Blue Bloods into more sudsy territory than necessary, but at least this show marks another attempt by CBS, following "The Good Wife" last year, to expand its offerings beyond paint-by-number crime dramas.

The pilot is slow but it builds to a twist that sets up the show’s first season and offers a solid enough foundation that encourages horror fans to come back for more.

Disposable as it may be, Starter Wife still has more to recommend about it than, say, NBC's "Lipstick Jungle."

Humor is woven throughout The Dead Zone, particularly in scenes between Smith and his physical therapist, Bruce Lewis (John L. Adams), who helps update him on what happened during his long sleep. [16 June 2002, p.TV-5]

The network scores again with the clever, entertaining enough iZombie.

“Brave New World” begins as mostly serious and dystopian, but by episode four there’s a shift in tone. Whether by showrunner David Weiner’s design or network notes, the show lightens up, allowing for more moments of dark humor but also some weird character turns.

It’s not so bloody to turn off viewers coming to it from lead-in “Downton Abbey,” but it’s also not so mercenary in its attempts to be compatible that it seems watered down.

The relationship plots are less interesting to me than the comedy.

Home Fires offers British drama that’s as satisfying as a warm cup of tea.

The movie holds the interest, despite a tendency to sentimentalize.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns tonight at 10 with an episode that misses the mark, but another upcoming episode offers more hilarity.

Memphis Blues has a similar feel to "The Closer" at the same stage. The secondary characters are not yet developed, and the show feels fairly pat. But it has the necessary ingredients for a lightweight, innocuous procedural.

It’s intriguing for its setting and some of its stories--although the fine arts world in New York does call to mind the lighter “Mozart in the Jungle” on Amazon--and yet at the same time it’s often predictable in its premium cable-style plotting and pretentiousness, which is where the irritation comes in.... And yet, Flesh and Bone proved highly addictive, encouraging a binge of all its episodes in just a few days.

It's less aimless and has renewed momentum--even if its plots tread familiar ground.

Written by novelist Patrick Gale, “Man in an Orange Shirt,” airing timed to national Pride Month, tells stories both familiar and heartfelt (the consequences of repression; not being true to yourself) but also occasionally surprising (“open relationships” come into play in the second, contemporary-set hour).

The miniseries feels a little pokey in its early chapters, although it does an excellent job of establishing the primary characters, and then races too quickly toward its conclusion (wait, who is Mildred married to now?).

By the third episode... "Big Love" becomes an addictive treat.

Generally they do their best to walk a fine line, attempting to execute the show in as uncomplicated a way as possible so less devoted viewers keep watching while rewarding obsessive fans with small steps forward in the exploration of Britten's condition.

Even a half-hour of these admittedly entertaining Q&As might get old but as a fan of Savage's writing (but not always his advice or views), I was pleasantly surprised that MTV found a way to keep Savage U entertaining throughout.

If the concept of Taking on Tyson seems odd, the execution is more predictable, framing Mr. Tyson's pigeon racing, his first competitive endeavor in several years, as a kind of therapy. Still, the show benefits from some surprisingly strong visuals of the birds in flight--at least for viewers who do not see pigeons as rodents with wings.

Parks was disappointing in its first year but tonight's episode and one airing next week--with a storyline inspired by the Henry Louis Gates-cop kerfluffle--show that the program is making steady, funny progress.

The psychological cat-and-mouse games the characters play are more interesting and a welcome respite from the intense, horrifying serial killer stories.

The Expanse is pure space opera with political and cultural undertones that aren’t always communicated well, but there are compelling enough stories in the foreground that perhaps in time the detailed universe the series attempts to build will become clearer.

The Millers won’t be confused with highbrow entertainment but taken on its own terms and thanks to a talented trio of cast members, it’s a welcome addition to CBS’s Thursday night comedy block.

If it digs in to explore the conflicts inherent in collaboration, resistance and protection of family, this soapy saga might have legs.

Growing Up Fisher offers earnest, heartwarming stories about "a new kind of family," as ABC Family promos would call the divorced-but-still-friendly Fishers if the show aired on the basic cable network instead of NBC.

Though the characters are quite different, "Earl" somehow brings to mind NBC's "Ed," perhaps because both shows feature a cast of oddballs and are ultimately uplifting, heartwarming portraits of people trying to do good by making a fresh start.

Provocative and occasionally insightful--except with Whitney Cummings brays with laughter--The Approval Matrix is like "The McLaughlin Group" for pop culture junkies.

AMC is airing only the show’s first hour this weekend, and if it leaves viewers confused about the world, come back for episode two, which fills in a lot of blanks about the Badlands and its characters.

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.

Bates Motel developed into a watchable, character-driven thriller in its first season. As season two begins, it seems poised to maintain that same level of quality.

As has always been the case, Damages remains a mystery-thriller whose characters and their psychological quirks are more intriguing than the plot.

The pilot episode is more amusing than hilarious, but it's often delicately funny thanks to Mr. Thomas' odd duck character and his reactions to those around him. When Geoffrey (Wade Briggs) hits on him, he's flummoxed.

You've seen everything 'ER' has to offer in other medical shows, but you've never seen so much of it crammed into one episode. [17 Sep 1994]

Plot contrivances aside, the new season of Chuck gets off to a decent start as friendships rekindle (Chuck and best friend Morgan become roommates) and new parties get involved in subterfuge.

Developments in Brenda's private life also lend the episode some comic relief, which makes "The Closer" a well-balanced prime-time drama that has improved markedly from its earliest episodes.

The Beast, named after Barker's reference to his FBI job, seems like a pretty plain cop drama with added "Road House"-style grit until the end of the first hour, when a new wrinkle adds more intrigue.

Viewers who appreciate slow-moving stories set in gritty, somewhat sleazy environments with characters of questionable morals are most likely to be rewarded by betting on Luck.

Odd Mom Out definitely will not be relatable or entertaining to everyone, but for viewers who enjoy Bravo’s other shows about the uber-wealthy, it’s a canny fit.

The Company starts slowly and somewhat confused, but eventually it chugs its way to coherence as it becomes a decent little drama.

An engrossing thriller... a welcome return to the juicy, complex miniseries of old.

The Carmichael Show improves as it goes, especially when veteran performers Loretta Devine and David Alan Grier come on screen.

It was often laugh-out-loud funny as Ms. Horgan’s quips found equal footing with Mr. Delaney’s quick-witted retorts. Season two continues in the same tone but somewhat less successfully now that the pair are enmeshed in domestic woes.

There is no mistaking "Boston Legal" for anything other than a Kelley office drama. The show and its characters have all the trademark tics that have become his calling card: Quirky cases, outrageous characters, legal arguments as sermons on the mount. Everything is just a little bit heightened, at least when it's not completely over the top; caricatures too often sub for characters. [1 Oct 2004]

The Limitless pilot, the only episode CBS made available for review, offers a terrific hour of character introductions that builds on the world established in Mr. Cooper’s movie. There are a few plot holes, but they’re forgivable. Then in the last 10 minutes of the pilot, everything that made the hour unique is threatened with extinction when you can see the confines of the CBS crime procedural box closing in.

Mike & Molly has more of the crude humor of "Men" than "Big Bang" had at the start, but it's offset by a sweetness in the lead characters that makes this sitcom a welcome addition to CBS's Monday night laughter lineup.

Archer may be crude but it's far more clever than last fall's disappointing "Testees," and "Archer" wins points with its observational humor about modern life and in its mocking of mundane workplace minutiae, such as computer passwords and the lack of security at a spy agency.

The show’s staging in the Hall of the Universe at New York’s American Museum of Natural History in front of an audience is a little low-concept, but the enthusiasm of Mr. Liu and Ms. Lord in Monday’s premiere keeps Star Talk from getting too dry.

Public Morals blends somewhat predictable plotting with decent character development and recognizable period, cultural flourishes.

The River lacks the sophistication of "Lost" but its formula is more flexible than recent Fox addition "Alcatraz."

It's more cheekily amusing than hilarious and full of comedy-of-the-uncomfortable moments.

The New Normal is at its funniest when it's most outrageous; other times it feels as if it might have worked better as a one-shot movie than a weekly TV series.

History purists who loathe artists taking creative license steer clear, but for viewers who enjoy a good soap, gorgeous costumes/locations and a winning soundtrack, The CW’s Reign delivers an entertaining romp in its premiere outing.

"Shark"... is clearly a "House" imitator, but a pretty crisp copy.

Later episodes are funny enough. Perhaps it’s just the usual early episode growing pains.

The Protector is fairly routine plot-wise but the breezy tone--conveyed through upbeat music and snappy dialogue--and strong, collegial performances make this series a welcome summer diversion.

The show's writers seem to have less of a firm grasp on how to evolve some of the secondary characters, particularly while Dexter is on leave from the Miami Metro police department.

It gets off to a slow start and then takes a while for the whole enterprise to get up to speed. At about the third episode, enough of a foundation has been set that the jokes start to come more easily and more quickly.

Like "Family Guy," The Cleveland Show jumps from the main plot to tangential asides often built around pop culture. But the show's tone is different because Cleveland is such a well-meaning, likable character.

In its first two episodes, Playing House does a nice job slowly building out its world and introducing an assortment of amusing, oddball characters.

Kelley has a great gift for establishing his plots quickly, and for bringing them to powerful conclusions. Like '[L.A.] Law' and '[Picket] Fences,' however, 'Hope' is an oddly self-contained universe -- despite the show's reliance on social issues, it's hard to imagine any of these people actually functioning in the real world. [17 Sep 1994]

The recurring gag is the absurdity of nerdy Forrest reviewing often illegal/immoral activities, and it’s a pretty good joke in the early episodes. It remains to be seen if that joke holds up or grows tiresome over time.

Ailes’ now-infamous skulduggery may have irrevocably damaged political discourse, but recounting it all makes for a wildly entertaining, occasionally painful, deep dive into the history of Fox News Channel and an excavation of one of the ways the current polarized American political climate came to exist.

Maybe network executives are just throwing their hands up for now and clearing the cupboard shelves of what’s left, which includes the funny, engaging Weird Loners.

Dominion will never be confused with sophisticated TV but in its pilot episode, the only episode made available for review, it’s surprisingly more entertaining and a better yarn than plenty of other Syfy efforts.

A funny enough comedy with a predictable premise that manages to surprise by often taking an unpredictable path.

A fun, entertaining action show.

Some viewers will be eager to get to more zombies, but the quicker the show does this, the less unique it will be. Episode two moves the plot forward faster--more characters begin to understand what “the infected” are capable of--which will appeal to those craving zombies, but is sure to disappoint anyone wanting this show to shamble its own way.

It’s not perfect--the pace is a bit plodding at times,; some characters hew a little too close to types--but overall The Divide is an engaging endeavor.

Overlong compared to the compact, well-edited six hours of "The Jinx," "Making a Murderer" could use a lot of tightening. ... And yet it's a fascinating story.