After so many series have failed to come to satisfying first-season conclusions after similar built-in obsolescence plots, it’s hard to trust Salvation will live up to its title. If it does, what will producers do for season two?

Mostly the show dutifully doles out a lot of the special effects viewers expect from a supernatural series. But it’s all noise and explosions of light with scant attention to character development or relationship building (beyond the one obvious romance), something “True Blood” got right early on.

Snowfall benefits from strong performances from a cast made up of largely unknown actors, but the show is dark with none of the humor that helped leaven “Breaking Bad.”

GLOW is not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it is often funny, from its pitch-perfect opening scene to the potential for back stories on all the women who make the cut for GLOW and the relationships among them that are sure to develop.

[The Mist] resurrects many of the small­town tropes that were in “Under the Dome” but with a cast of largely unknowns and B­-movie effects, writing and performances.

There’s a lot to like about TNT’s dark comedy/​crime drama Claws, including a terrific cast of women playing some unusual-for-TV characters. But the show would be stronger if it had a more unique story engine to drive its plots.

Daytime Divas has its funny moments as it recounts the petty behaviors of daytime chat show stars but too often in its first two episodes the show moves in all the expected directions and feels like a lesser Lifetime entry.

Without some Cliff’s Notes handy, the first half of Monday’s pilot is a muddle as to who’s a Montague and who’s a Capulet. Once Romeo and Juliet die (about halfway through the pilot), Still Star-Crossed improves as the focus shifts to the politics of their deaths and those left behind.

Smart, clever and punctuated with moments of warmth that avoid treacle, ABC’s Downward Dog delivers delightful comedy thanks to an angsty canine character with a psyche that is more human than mutt.

Entertaining in a sober-minded, educational way, Victorian Slum House offers an illuminating history lesson without getting preachy or dull.

The eight-episode first season of American Gods takes about four episodes to cohere, especially for any viewers unfamiliar with the novel. ... Mostly it is Mr. McShane’s performance that carries the early episodes. His Mr. Wednesday is self-assured, charming and cutthroat all at once.

Gteat News manages to be at least a good broadcast network comedy thanks to sharp writing and winning performances, particularly from “SCTV” veteran Andrea Martin as Carol, mom to cable news producer Katie (Briga Heelan).

It’s a role that could fall into caricature, but Ms. Winfrey brings vulnerability and believability to the part. Henrietta Lacks also benefits from a strong supporting cast. ... The film, directed by George C. Wolfe (“Lackawanna Blues”), stumbles most profoundly in the way it wraps up. The conclusion to the 90-minute film comes too quickly with an abrupt shift in tone.

Bill Nye Saves the World is just not that entertaining a show all-around. While the format is geared to adults, the content is too simple to be of interest to them. For kids who might try to watch, all the talking heads will be a bore.

It’s a somewhat slower build--and there’s a seemingly non-sequitur prologue to wade through at the start--but eventually this Fargo premiere suggests reason for excitement for the new season. But then episode two comes along and also fails to ignite the addictive interest of past installments, so this year’s Fargo will require a wait-and-see approach.

It’s definitely a slow-burn start to season three, but aspects of episode two suggest viewer patience will be rewarded--eventually.

The show remains crazy in its plotting, but it does move at a quick clip, fast enough that some viewers will forgive it for some obvious twists and turns. ... Other than an effort to goose ratings with the return of a familiar title, is there really any creative reason for more “Prison Break”? Probably not.

Imaginary Mary would be more generic if it didn’t have Mary, but when she appears on screen with a grating voice that betrays Alice’s independent career woman id, it adds little comedy to the show.

Nobodies has its amusing moments--and plenty of celebrity cameos in the premiere, including Maya Rudolph, Jim Rash and Jason Batema--especially when it explores the disdain more successful writers have for, say, animated kids show writers. But tolerance for uncomfortable comedic moments will vary by viewer.

Consistently funny and with surprisingly engaging twists for a comedy, Trial & Error commits few errors through its first three episodes.

Episode one spends an awful lot of time on digging a huge hole in the ground with fairly predictable results. And in episode two there’s a lot of wandering around a greenhouse buzzing with insects that’s supposed to be ominous but instead comes off like a homage to “The X-Files.” ... The third episode moves all the stories forward at a better clip.

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.

The pilot has its intermittently amusing moments, but episode two, where the trio foments the American Revolution using 2016-era NRA tactics, proves stronger. A third episode involving travel to Al Capone’s Chicago, circa 1919, is fairly lackluster.

Easily the best new series of 2017 so far, Feud will prove especially appealing to fans of old Hollywood and smart, layered storytelling.

If anything, The Arrangement plays it a little too straight and sedate. An injection of just a little crazy would make the whole enterprise more fun.

When We Rise feels a little rote and predictable in its main characters’ trajectories but given its subject matter and airing on a broadcast network, that also works to the program’s benefit.

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.

Too often the series fixates on Madeline’s entertaining but ultimately predictable passive-aggressive battles with another mom, Renata (Laura Dern). These mommy rivalries play like something out of a high-end prime-time soap.