It’s an entertaining enough hour for kids — my 8-year-old was spellbound — but whether it attracts adult viewers as “Rebels” and “Clone Wars” did probably depends on how the show’s serialized story develops.

If this is the end for “The Gilded Age,” bravo to the series for delivering two near-perfect seasons. But I do hope we’ll get to spend more time with these fantastic characters.

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.

How really pleasant it is to report that M*A*S*H turned up on Sunday night with the spirit of the original, if not all the blood and free-swinging language, intact. [18 Sep 1972, p.31]

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 a remarkably talented group. [14 Sep 1978, p.26]

It's a slam-bang hour that also serves up some "Battlestar" touchstones -- religion, politics -- while advancing the story a half-step and introducing another Cylon threat to the Galactica crew.

It would be a lot easier to like the kids from Dawson's Creek if they'd just put a sock in it now and then. [20 Jan 1998, p.C8]

Although I'm wise enough not to cross Jordan, I don't really want to watch more of this formula-driven show. [24 Sep 2001]

The show looks slick, the attention to detail is painstaking and the music inspires toe tapping.

It doesn't make for an original TV show, of course, but Young Americans still manages to be guilty summer fun. Mindless and cliche, to be sure, but escapist entertainment nonetheless.

The new Wolf Lake... is obvious and lumbers to a start rather than moving in Twin Peaks-like mysterious ways. [12 Sep 2001]

Shepherd plays good-naturedly off her narcissistic image and the writers get off a few good lines. But this is just the kind of show that has to score with the quick zinger because it has nothing more solid to stand on. [01 Jan 1995]

[Lansbury] made this show, which depended on smarts, instinct and the force of J.B.'s personality, not CSI evidence.

Meredith Baxter Birney and Michael Gross do a splendid job as modern-day parents with an attractive brood of convincingly "now" youngsters. [19 Oct 1982, p.34]

Well, you won't find a much funnier lead than Pinchot, but even a comic genius needs something and someone with which to work. With the supporting cast offering no support at all, Pinchot pushes egregiously, until even this funny man isn't funny anymore. [25 Aug 1993, p.

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

"Rose Red delivers a better story than his last opus (1999's "Storm of the Century") with better developed characters, but at the end I still felt like I'd wasted a lot of time. What's the point in setting up an intriguing, intricate backstory without offering some answers?

If you're going to have a great actor play the vampire's human familiar, you could do worse than James Mason. [10 Sept 1917, p.F-7]

The first two episodes deliver a lot of setup as Alex’s world is ripped apart before he’s set on his path to becoming a spy. The plot mechanics are fairly predictable and it takes the show too long to get where it’s clearly going.

An easy, breezy binge, “Corona” puts a welcome, mostly upbeat spin on trying times.

Though I find it boring as can be, my kids enjoy watching YouTube videos of other people playing video games. I suppose “Dead Pixels” might be for those entertainment consumers – and those alone.

Showtime’s “Love Fraud” is the year’s most engrossing true crime docu-series. ... There’s barely any flab in these four hours as the story takes progressively weirder, more surprising turns.

While there is an ongoing serialized story, the individual episode stories involving the lead characters represent “Lovecraft Country” at its best: a haunted house in episode three, a “National Treasure”-style quest in episode four, a metamorphosis in episode five. The episodes often upend expectations.

Lasso’s good-humored, unflinchingly honest and polite character appeals as a type we don’t often see in a single-camera comedy in the post-anti-hero TV series era.

“Lower Decks” has its occasional chuckle-worthy moments, but too often the show opts for wild chaos as a substitute for actual comedy.

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.

As with plenty of reality competitions, one wonders if “Fridge Wars” might be stronger with one family at a half-hour rather than the one-hour running time, but for the most part “Fridge Wars” doesn’t feel padded.

This silly series deserves kudos for living up to its title. Each eviction is carried out in campy, horror style. ... If future episodes can effectively-yet-cheesily ape horror movie conventions with a different method of end-of-show murder each week, “Killer Camp” will prove itself an entertaining summer diversion.

This paint-by-numbers series has everything you expect in a lousy ’90s comedy but don’t want.

Give this show the “Space Force” medal for unfunny comedy. And as bad as “Space Force” was, Netflix’s Steve Carell disappointment was still better than this dud.

“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.

A conspiracy thriller, this 2019 British import offers a whiplash-inducing premiere that goes from, “This is a ridiculous investigation that appears to lack a crime” to “How is that possible?”

Bloated and still inconclusive, the new “Unsolved Mysteries” benefits from Netflix’s usual high production values for nonfiction programming, but there’s no reason for these episodes to drone on as they do; there’s not enough story to support their running time.

“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” opens some doors and then never fully explores the implications of McNamara walking through them.

A hilariously absurd sketch comedy that masquerades as a “Soul Train”-esque show.

“Love, Victor” is a pretty tame affair – perhaps too tame for Hulu. The show builds to a season finale cliffhanger that sets the stage for a potentially more interesting, less paint-by-numbers second season.

HBO’s remake of “Perry Mason” pulls together great elements, casting and period production design in particular, but it takes a full five episodes to get to the courtroom drama viewers familiar with the character expect.

When the show focuses on Beecham and his staff, it’s not terrible. But when it ventures off the grounds of Beecham’s ornate estate, things go sideways.

“Swords” is occasionally funny but more often settles for outrageous — a Little People figure swearing and showing off his private parts! — which may work to a degree the first time, but grows tiresome and dull in repetition.

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.

Alas, imagining the concept is funnier than anything in the show’s early episodes, which mine stale humor from the pitfalls of military bureaucracy. ... Perhaps with time to grow the characters in “Space Force” will develop into something worthwhile.

“Genetic Detective” is more cerebral than an Investigation Discovery show while it creatively — using visual graphics — explains the science and technological advancements that make these investigations possible.

It’s unclear who “Not Too Late” is aimed at — certainly not kids, who aren’t known for their love of celebrity interviews. Maybe it’s meant for die-hard Muppets fans?

“Love Life” lacks the HBO edge but it’s still the HBOiest of HBO Max’s early offerings, even as the characterization of Kendrick’s Darby is closer to Ally McBeal than Lena Dunham’s Hannah on “Girls.”

Just enough modern references so these new 10-minute episodes don’t feel like reruns.

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.

A children’s reality competition — one that would be at home on Nickelodeon. ... HBO Max waters down the brand with shows like this.

The new season’s second episode picks up the story from season one, untangling confusing character turns and detailing how events came to pass in a brilliantly-executed bit of plot jujitsu that avoids retroactive continuity. ... The remaining five episodes then backfill character information, which fails to be as compelling as season one’s plot.

The relationship between Courtney and Pat forms the spine of the series and it’s a welcome change of pace from the network’s twentysomething heroes. Whether that's enough to justify yet another superhero show remains to be seen.

What “Snowpiercer” does best in early episodes is world-building. But it’s problematic for the show’s long-term prospects that the various train cars — cattle car, aquarium car, classroom car, night club car (with multiple levels and a surprising number of staircases for a train) — stir up more initial excitement than the characters or story.

From its title to its tone to its production design and look, “The Great” mirrors “The Favourite” quite a bit. “The Great” is at its, uh, greatest when Fanning and Hoult spark off one another with McNamara’s rat-a-tat-tat dialogue.

“Upload” is more amusing than it is laugh-out-loud funny. But it’s quick-witted, clever (an Arnold Palmer bot appears on a VR golf course in episode four) and twisty with a thread of mystery.

A fun, frothy, limited-series period drama.

Good TV you can find almost every night. Titanics on the scale of ''seaQuest'' are few and far between. [11 Sept 1993]

“Belgravia” is more focused on secrets and lies; it’s less of a soapy delight. Still, Anglophiles will surely appreciate this limited series, particularly the strong performances from the women who lead the cast, Tamsin Greig (“Episodes”) and Harriet Walter (“Succession”).

The writers use a contrivance viewers will see coming miles away to pull I’m-done-with-all-this Eve back into the game. It’s an eye-roll-worthy plot turn. The acting remains impeccable, the costumes amaze, the locations offer beauty shots galore. Maybe for some viewers that’s enough. But it’s tough to get past the unbelievable relationship at the show’s core.

Hilariously and thought-provokingly, “The Good Fight” explores an alternate reality where Hillary Clinton was elected U.S. President in 2016.

A nine-episode limited series worth the investment. It’s easily the best new series this year.

World on Fire” plays like a mainstream broadcast network miniseries circa 1988. That’s not a knock. It’s kind of cool to have this sort of story back on TV, an old-school format that follows disparate characters in desperate times. If you liked “The Winds of War,” this should be a nice reminder of that ABC classic.

[Brooklynn] Prince is a real find and Hilde’s relationship with her father forms a heartwarming backbone for the series. But the tone is confusing: Too dark to be a family show, even though it has a family at the core, “Home Before Dark” offers a dark mystery plot instead.

The good news is the fashion competition at the heart of “Making the Cut,” as in “Project Runway,” remains strong. The competitors are mostly serious designers. They’re not gimmicky distractions to be laughed off stage (except maybe one). ... Despite episodes with long-ish running times, “Making the Cut” doesn’t show the judges offering post-runway critiques to every designer, just the top two and bottom two.

“Council of Dads” is a better show and less blatantly manipulative than last year’s post-“This is Us” NBC series, “The Village,” but “Council” still piles on the dramatic plot turns in ways that are easy to spot a mile away, though occasionally unpredictable (and maybe even confusing for some viewers). It’s a LOT of drama to absorb all the same.

The types are all pretty obvious and plot turns are telegraphed well in advance, yet the show fails to clearly explain what is going on in this alternate America. The witchiness of the young women is even underplayed to a frustrating degree until late in the premiere episode.

Three episodes in, this season three reboot offers some hope but. ... The problem: when nothing in “Westworld” is reliably real, there’s little for viewers to cling to, which makes the entire enterprise more exasperating than cleverly twisty drama.

An emotionally moving period drama that feels timely and recognizable in the present.

“Fires” burns bright in its first episode and beyond, promising an engrossing, fast-moving, character-driven drama that becomes deeper and more disturbing as the story unspools.

The pilot episode of FX’s new dark comedy “Breeders” will be instantly relatable to anyone who’s ever parented young children. ... Subsequent episodes draw focus away from Paul and Allie and their children and expand to include more attention on Paul’s elderly parents and the addition of actor Michael McKean as Allie’s unambitious American father. None of this is bad per se, just not as funny as what’s established in the premiere.

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.

Daring and different, but not dark. It’s a rare feel-good contemporary series that’s not dumbed-down.

While there’s sometimes a sameness to Fox’s recent animation efforts — comedies centered on families filled with oddballs — that doesn’t necessarily diminish the laughs. Newcomer “Duncanville” certainly prompts multiple guffaws in its first two episodes.

In its first couple of episodes “Mythic Quest” carves out its own niche, mining comedy from the specific realm of video game creation. A sociopathic intern who worships the boss, in particular, offers consistent laughs.

A self-consciously strange series can’t quite settle on a tone. Sometimes absurdly funny, other times a little dull and draggy.

It's not every day that I feel like a new TV show merits success -- and rarer still that I feel that way about a reality competition -- but "Lego Masters," already successful in the U.K. and Australia, offers family-friendly fun as it shows off brick building skill and creativity. It deserves to be a hit.

It’s all a little too on-the-nose and predictable. Falco is fantastic as always, but the writing in early episodes lacks anything approaching the nuance and sophistication of Falco’s past series, “The Sopranos” and “Nurse Jackie.”

“Picard” certainly introduces a deeper “Star Trek” which has its appeal but at times it also seems a little convoluted with talk of a “shared mythical framework.”

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

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.

Sticks close to the original in tone, but, oooof, it suffers from a clunky introduction. ... The exposition is heavy-handed, the justifications for some plot twists are dubious and the dialogue often laughable. It’s just so on the nose.

The pilot doesn’t even really play into the absurdity of war a la “Catch-22.” It’s unclear what “68 Whiskey” is trying to do but whatever it is, it’s not doing it well.

The verdict? Not as gosh-awful as I expected...sort of a "Hunter" with heart. [4 Apr 1993]

While “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay” addresses myriad issues, it does so with good humor, warmth and fresh approaches to an orphaned family, Nicholas’ sexuality and a child on the spectrum. Yes, this newly formed-by-circumstance family faces crises but they’re realistic with an equal mix of drama and comedy, just like real life.

The immigration angle is new and does add an element that wasn’t there before but the rest of “Party of Five,” while admirable and certainly watchable, doesn’t demand to be seen.

It’s filled with music and some high-energy dance numbers. But what comes between those highlights is often dull and without stakes. It’s the perfect show to do laundry to; it only beckons viewers to lean forward and pay attention during the occasional musical number.

In between firefights and car crashes, the clichés pile up quicker than dead bodies.

A smart, thought-provoking drama. But for some it will be tough to sit through the show's unrelenting gloom....TV viewers who like to be challenged -- I'm thinking of the "Homicide: Life on the Street" fans out there -- will cotton to the murkiness of Wonderland.

With its emphasis on dysfunction, Titus allows for dramatic moments that actually ring true. But they're few and far between in this show punctuated by flashbacks that interrupt the narrative flow. Titus suffers from a TV version of Attention Deficit Disorder, similar to the tangents on Fox's "Family Guy" but a lot less funny. [20 March 2000]

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

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.

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.

Maybe "Mr. Mom: The Series" would have been revolutionary back in 1983 when the Michael Keaton movie was released, but 17 years later the concept is as fresh as month-old milk.

Maybe if the cardboard secondary characters develop more dimensions and if the writing improves, "Battery Park" will have a longevity similar to that of its closest cop comedy antecedent, "Barney Miller." But don't count on it.

“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.

“Heartstrings” isn’t HBO-caliber TV but for viewers who want feel-good stories with a bit of an edge. this Netflix series offers a more expansive approach to uplifting programming.

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]

Tonight's City of Angels premiere offers toothless, almost bland TV drama. It's not hyper-revved like "ER," and is probably most similar to "Chicago Hope" in its depiction of behind-the-scenes hospital politics. With both of TV's existing medical dramas growing tired, the time is right for "City of Angels," but it needs work... It's pretty uninspired melodrama with a dash of attention-grabbing weirdness.

Its first hour intrigues with quiet promise.

In fine form, too, a seamless transition between casts with writer Peter Morgan keeping everything on an even and remarkably timely keel as the queen frets her new prime minister may be compromised by the Russians.