[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.

Season 4 is uneven. Three stories--“USS Callister,” “Black Museum” and “Hang the DJ”--are far superior to the others. There is much more graphic sex (albeit hilariously depicted in “DJ”) and violence than in past seasons.

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.

The pilot has all the markings of a winner. [26 Mar 1999]

The third season, streaming Thursday on Netflix, delivers more forward momentum. ... The eight episodes of “Stranger Things 3” generally hang together well if sometimes predictably, although a few character turns offer genuine surprises.

A cute if unnecessary time-traveling fantasy-drama.

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.

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

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.

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.

It remains to be seen whether either will merit watching for a full season but the pilot does exactly what it should: It intrigues and makes the case for viewers to come back next week for more.

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

It's the students that make Teach a sometimes interesting show. They drive the story's forward momentum as much as Mr. Danza does and quickly emerge as his co-stars in a program that touches on teacher quality, student apathy and the plight of urban public schools.

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

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

Occasionally funny.

The humor in Friday Night Dinner is often as surprising as it is rude. But there's a spirit of good-natured goofball charm evident in this family whose members clearly love one another, quirks and all.

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 premiere feels a little overly long--it clocks in at 53 minutes--but it capably creates the show’s insular world of blood, sweat and cheers, ending in an inevitable fight that features Nate as Ryan and Jay offer encouragement from the sidelines.

An enjoyable mix of romance, period adventure and serialized plot turns, Poldark proves an entertaining, 18th-century summer soap.

Mr. Colbert’s Late Show proved smarter and more savvy than the average broadcast network talk show.

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?

Rome wasn't built in a day, the saying goes, and that applies to this show, too. It's a slow build that requires some effort on the part of viewers, but after the first three episodes, I was hooked. [28 Aug 2005, p.TV-3]

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

Everything about City does not spin with equal balance. The pilot's plot (the mayor stumbles into a gay rights controversy) is so hackneyed and out-of-touch, it makes you wonder if the writers have been to New York in the last decade. But the spin doctors at Spin City insist the plot's creakiness is an aberration - and so many other things in the show go well, I'm inclined to believe them. [17 Sept 1996, p.D-4]

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.

Bosch is by no means a revolutionary show like Amazon's "Transparent," but it offers smarter than usual cop drama fare, and it's certainly better than any cop show currently on a broadcast network.