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.

What Mindhunter lacks in energy it makes up for in better attention to character details. Mindhunter grows significantly more interesting in its second hour once Holden gets paired with veteran FBI agent Bill Tench (Holt McCallany, “Lights Out”) and starts interviewing co-ed killer Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton, who nails a so-serene-it’s-creepy vibe).

The Exorcist started wobbly in season one, quickly grew into a smarter-than-expected, horror-themed drama and then turned wobbly again toward the end of the season. Season two begins similarly, but thanks to Mr. Cho’s character and storyline “The Exorcist” shows promise.

Where the show goes will largely determine its ability to sustain itself as a weekly series, but “The Gifted” gets off to a smarter, more visually compelling start than the other new superhero show of the fall season that debuts tonight.

Crammed with incessant exposition and shoddy special effects akin to those in ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” “Inhumans” disappoints from start to finish.

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.

The rules explained by the angel (Kimberly Hebert Gregory, replacing Cristela Alonso from the pilot) are both complicated and nebulous, and it’s not clear what Kevin is supposed to do beyond being a do-gooder. Maybe “Touched by a Guy Touched by an Angel” is what this show is going for?

The show’s one-joke premise--parents can be such buttinskis!--wears thin fast despite the likability of Ms. Lavin and Mr. Gould. A few jokes manage to land, but mostly it’s predictable dialogue about what a smothering mother Ms. Lavin’s character is. There’s also way too much information about the state of Mr. Gould’s testicles.

Why ABC thinks American viewers will care about what happens to a TV scriptwriter who brings turmoil and heartbreak upon herself is beyond me. Maybe it’s the Kyra Sedgwick of it? Even “Closer” fans may have a hard time cozying up to this character.

Sort of a comedic “X-Files”--but only mildly amusing--“Ghosted” needs to be funnier and less predictable if it hopes to win over TV viewers with thousands of options.

A watered-down “Person of Interest” crossed with Fox’s failed “APB,” this time-waster stars Jeremy Piven as a Silicon Valley mogul touched by tragedy when his daughter is murdered, leading him to quit his company and create a crowd-sourced, crime-solving app. ... And to think CBS’s Sunday night was once home to a prestige drama like “The Good Wife” and now it’s a parking spot for this disappointment.

It’s similar to History’s “Six,” which aired earlier this year, as well as CBS’s own 2006-09 show “The Unit.”

It's not even groundbreaking in the way "Will & Grace" was when it first appeared in 1998. But, boy, this Will & Grace is fun to watch. It's entertaining to spend time with the characters again and since 11 years have passed since I last watched an episode, it doesn't feel as tired as it did once upon a time.

Whenever Mr. Highmore is on screen, “The Good Doctor” compels, but he’s surrounded by standard-issue medical show characters and plots.

It’s an interesting conceit to follow one character at three points in his life every week and see how things that happen in one era influence another. It also seems like quite a juggling act for the show’s writers. Time will tell how they manage to maintain it on a weekly basis.

In many ways this show plays like a cross between “The Wonder Years” and last fall’s “Speechless” only in this one the mother character is likable. Zoe Perry, daughter of Laurie Metcalf (who plays Sheldon’s mom on “BBT”), is a standout in a pilot episode that’s warm and embraceable but not yet essential viewing. But it may get there.

What viewers saw so far was exciting, fun stuff with potential for a great “Star Trek” series, but the material in the first two episodes serves as prologue.

The Menendez Murders lacks the multiple social themes of “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” settling instead for an occasionally pulpy story that takes a turn into purple prose when it begins to explore the role of Erik’s therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel (Josh Charles). ... The presence of Ms. Falco, whose character gets a husband (Chris Bauer) and workaholic back story, elevates the proceedings, but she appears sparingly in the premiere.

It’s a mammoth, epic undertaking that starts with a smart opening episode. “Déjà Vu,” beautifully written by Geoffrey C. Ward, manages to both deliver the expected (images of Vietnam, first-person accounts of fear and heroism in combat) and the unexpected (a history of the conflict that drills down beyond the immediate run-up all the way back to the beginning of French colonialism in 1858).

Even in its first half-hour American Vandal begins to drag. A cliffhanger ending pushed me on to episode two, which also failed to move the plot along.

A dark character drama, it’s a show for viewers who enjoy a deep dive into a culture, one that, in this instance, happens to be ugly and exploitative.

It mostly plays like an unproduced early 1990s “Star Trek” spinoff, complete with holodecks, replicators, alien crew members and missions of the week. It’s also pretty dull.

It’s exhausting to watch Ally put through the wringer and yet also predictable about how she will emerge from the trial.

When Atypical keeps its focus on the teen characters, including Sam’s ready-to- leap-to-his-defense younger sister, Casey (an outstanding Brigette Lundy-Paine), the series is at its best if sometimes most familiar. The show turns more annoyingly soapy when it turns to Sam’s father, Doug (Michael Rappaport), and mother, Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

Fans of Mr. King's Bill Hodges Trilogy might wonder how a mostly internal cat-and-mouse game between Brady and Bill, a retired police detective with too much time (and drink) on his hands, is played out over 10 episodes. Very well, as it happens, and to chilling effect.

Comrade Detective certainly has its moments, but its one-joke premise may make it a tough sell for all six half-hours.

Mr. Garcia’s style of humor tends to be sophomoric--sex jokes, overweight stripper sight gags and broad comedy predominates--but this style manages to blend well with the show’s unique format.

Manhunt, clocking in at eight hours total, makes for fine if unexceptional storytelling. It’s a scripted true crime drama that may hook fans of psychological thrillers but lacks the panache and visceral punch of FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”