What distinguishes 'Grain' from many Hollywood efforts is its feel for the rhythms of small town life. ... If many of the plot points seem familiar, ''Grain'' also has a nice way of exceeding expectations, calling characters up short or twisting the plot in ways you may not see coming. [1 Oct 1993]

Unlike some seasons of “AHS,” Hotel lacks dark humor, at least in tonight’s initial outing.... Visually, the premiere episode is a stunner, from the hotel set to the use of a fish-eye lens on the camera that squeezes so much into the frame.... Heavy on atmosphere in its early going and light on plot, a storyline starts to kick in around the premiere’s halfway point.

While scenes with a crime crew drag, in part because it's not always clear what's going on with them, anytime the focus shifts to crooked cops Frank Agnew (Mark Strong) and Joe Geddes (Lennie James), Low Winter Sun proves to be a gripping drama with a vibe most reminiscent of "The Wire."

Whisker Wars gives a few glimpses into the care regimen of these mens' beards but fails to ask or answer an essential question: Why do they bother?

It no longer feels like you're watching a dozen different TV shows now that the main characters actually interact with one another. And the show's pace seems more brisk, less stodgy.

By episode two, Mulder and Scully are, jarringly, back on the job and once again investigating an X-Files case that may or may not involve alien-human hybrids.... [The third episode is] the best of the first three episodes but also the weirdest.

The first 20 minutes of Resurrection are terrifically emotional and engrossing. When the focus is on Jacob and his parents, the show is a real heart-tugger. But then it gets into family soap opera territory (what big secrets have family members kept from one another!) and the mystery returns when another dead person is found to be alive.

When Amazon’s Lore allows Mr. Mahnke to just tell a story, it’s pretty compelling. But when the show dives into dramatic re-creations of stories, Lore generally falters.

It’s hard to see what Frances saw in Robert that made her love him at some point, which, along with some crazy incidents, gives Divorce the sheen of absurd, heightened reality as opposed to a show that feels real.

American Housewife isn’t this fall’s best new comedy but it’s certainly one of the better offerings.

It's a clever, funny hour that's written in rhyme with imaginative songs threaded throughout.

American Odyssey too often lacks the gritty realism of cable series that attempt similar, convoluted plots. It doesn’t catch viewers in a plot that feels real; rather, it feels like a planned, plotted, manufactured-for-your-enjoyment TV show.

Alex, who has tried to live a by-the-book life as a businessman, gets pulled into a family crisis in a believable way that doesn’t feel like a ridiculous TV plot twist.

TNT’s Proof is not a terrible show, but it is a terribly ordinary TNT drama.

But like so many other shows in recent years, this concept would work better as a one-shot movie than as a weekly series.

Rise is likable enough, but through its first five episodes the show doesn’t rise above a pale analogue to shows in the family drama/football/drama club genres that came before.

You can't shake the feeling that "Watching Ellie" is the most vain vanity project to hit TV in recent years.

The 90-minute Fairly Legal pilot, written by series creator Michael Sardo, moves at breakneck speed and fairly effortlessly welcomes viewers into spastic Kate's world. It's not a bad place to visit--but I probably won't be checking in on her on a regular basis.

Ultimately, the story doesn’t really matter because the characters are paper thin and efforts to make Alice more than a damsel in distress--she’s a skull-crushing, tree climber--don’t really add much depth.

The show operates at such a constant, rapid-fire level that it’s almost exhausting.

Sure, it takes time to build characters, but “Night” feels super sluggish.

Even though the premise of The Crossing seems like it’s another TV show that should really be a movie or limited series and not an ongoing drama, the pilot offers (for a broadcast network series) some decent twists, welcome casting against type and a somewhat intriguing plot.

There are two shows struggling to exist in one in the ABC comedy Back in the Game. One is about former all-star softball player Terry Gannon Jr. (Maggie Lawson) and her relationship with her hard-charging, estranged, ex-athlete father, Terry Sr. (James Caan), who goes by “The Cannon.” This show is pretty terrible.... The second show is not at all novel but it’s at least easier to take: Back in the Game is essentially a “Bad News Bears” reboot.

It’s unclear if the series will rise above a constant cat-and-mouse game between Wells and Jack, something that seems like it could get old quick.

“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.

This story of professional thieves is beautifully shot, but the structure of the pilot -- it begins with the start of the robbery, flashes back to the planning of the robbery, returns to the robbery and shows its aftermath -- is a little repetitive, which takes away from attempts to build tension and surprise.

In execution, Mr. Selfridge is a bit of a slog.

All style, no substance.