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.