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.