BrainDead is an entertaining enough summer distraction through its first three episodes, but it’s no “Good Wife.”

Come for the stupid, sexy young things making bad choices; stay, if you must, for the weird, outta-left-field guilty pleasure of an oddball lawyer who waltzes in.

Animal Kingdom, based on a 2010 Australian film of the same title, won’t be to everyone’s taste, but fans of dark, family criminal enterprise shows (think: “Sons of Anarchy,” “Outsiders”) might be intrigued.

Few of the jokes land and although the show gets mild props for its series premiere cliffhanger (and to a lesser degree the out-of-left field resolution in episode two), Still the King looks shoddy and fails to produce many laughs.

The big problem with Wrecked is that the pilot episode is just not that funny. A second episode was slightly funnier but not entertaining enough to warrant watching a third half-hour.

There are times the whole affair feels little to similar to season one, but by the end of the second episode a new character has entered the series, promising to shake things up in a necessary way.

Feed the Beast feels like a broadcast network crime underworld show circa 2002--it feels like same old, same old TV.

The new Roots offers a strong dose of drama--too strong, perhaps, for some viewers who will shy away from scenes of brutality--and compelling character stories.

Fans of bold, dark-themed (and darkly funny) TV series inspired by comic books will have a blast watching AMC’s Preacher, a welcome new entrant in the expanding genre of offbeat, gory, supernatural dramas.

The mystery has largely been replaced by a dystopian soap opera that disrespects one first-season character in particular by having the character take an action that doesn’t reflect the character’s first season strength and resolve.

From the music to the dialogue, Houdini & Doyle seems laughably flashy given the characters involved and time period (London, 1901). But the plot is fairly standard in its procedural trappings.

A multi-character drama, Containment is fine but unexceptional.

As serialized mysteries go, Game isn't terrible but some of it is preposterous enough that viewers may not want to play it again.

The Detour is pretty consistently funny but the humor tends to be filled with sexual innuendo that some viewers will find offensive. For others, it will be just fine.

One of the schlockiest, most amateur series to come along in the #PeakTV era, Syfy’s Hunters delivers a mashup of a terrorist-tracking drama and alien invasion story.

It was often laugh-out-loud funny as Ms. Horgan’s quips found equal footing with Mr. Delaney’s quick-witted retorts. Season two continues in the same tone but somewhat less successfully now that the pair are enmeshed in domestic woes.

A paint-by-numbers action-comedy.

It's not that Lopez is terrible, just terribly unoriginal as it depicts its lead character as slightly out-of-touch, overly concerned with his image, etc.

It’s frustrating when a series hitches its drama to a lack of communication as its primary conceit because the solution seems so simple: Just ’fess up! The addition of new sources of dramatic conflict in episode two helps explain Eddie’s choice but doesn’t completely eliminate the show’s weak dramatic raison d’etre.

The relationships are paint-by-numbers predictable as are the plots and Alex's I-know-better-than-everyone-else reactions. Heartbeat has a pulse but just barely.

Crowded has a couple of laughs--mostly due to Warburton’s deadpan reactions --but mostly it mines well-trod sitcom ground with jokes on parents smoking pot (they get the munchies!) and old people yelling.

Through the first four episodes of the new season, the ever-excellent spy thriller explores the parent-child dynamic, introduces the concept of biological weapons and plays on the suspicions of FBI neighbor Stan (Noah Emmerich). The Americans is mostly adept at surprising viewers by not tacking in expected directions, although one plot results in a dead end that left me to wonder, why did the writers spend so much time on that?

The pilot is relatively inert for a thriller as it pretty much tacks in all the expected directions.

The whole affair seems like a major miscalculation: Of Kings and Prophets seemingly features too much sex and violence for some churchgoers and not enough clarity for anyone else.

Underground is a rough watch, but it offers twists and compelling characters worth watching for viewers up to the challenge.

Funny enough and real enough, The Real O’Neals fits in well with ABC’s established Wednesday night comedies.

Although it feels overly familiar, The Family kicks off with a strong pilot. But like many series, the question is, will it keep viewers hooked? And will the “is this the real Adam or a fake” question linger so long viewers get annoyed with the tease?

The first episode does a nice enough job juxtaposing scenes from the original with parallel scenes in the present, but enjoying Fuller House will require a high tolerance for laugh tracks and corny sitcom humor.