Just an entertaining, 52-minute program shot in the style of classic Universal Studios monster movies. ... This Halloween-season special is a true treat, not a trick.

Written with an exacting knowledge of the ride by Bill Baretta, Kelly Younger and director Kirk Thatcher, “Muppet Haunted Mansion” is the first Disney+ Muppets show to do right by the Muppets.

“Unstable” proves consistently funny and involving. The father-son dynamics, while familiar, do manage to feel real (for a TV comedy) amongst the whiplash comedy.

“Landman,” streaming Sunday on Paramount+, is Taylor Sheridan’s best series yet. It’s even more entertaining than “Yellowstone.”

An engrossing, character-driven thriller.

There’s a loosey-goosey quality to “Bad Monkey” that keeps the tone light, emphasizing the comedy even when it sits alongside more dramatic moments.

This one’s a winner thanks to an incredibly likable lead character, skate-boarding, comic book-loving Naomi (a winning Kaci Walfall).

“Archive 81” starts strong with creepy atmospherics, gets a little confusing in its mythology around episode six but then clears everything up in time for a cliffhanger in the eighth episode.

Ahmed created the series, and he’s clearly having a blast making fun of himself and wringing laughs from the situations he puts his alter ego into, absurd as they often are.

Aside from a few repetitive cat-and-mouse moments between Leaphorn and the new Big Bad, “Dark Winds” benefits from its short run because it’s not bloated like so many streaming series are these days. The show makes every episode matter and keeps up a breakneck pace that relentlessly drives the story forward.

True’s penchant for fisticuffs, reminiscent of the leads of every past Whedon show, ensures action aplenty as “The Nevers” develops characters alongside an engrossing, deepening mythology.

It’s unclear where this is going — early episodes suggest a doomed affair à la “Fellow Travelers,” or maybe it will become more upbeat like “Heartstopper” — but through its first two episodes, the show definitely lives up to its title.

FX’s latest half-hour comedy won’t be for everyone because of the graphic depiction of a woman. .... But “Dying for Sex” — all eight episodes stream April 4 on Hulu — inspires a lot of laughs, too, thanks to Molly’s voiceover observations and her interactions with scattered best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate).

Unlike many CBS procedurals, this one’s lighter and while the lawyering isn’t always in the realm of reality, the show’s breezy tone should win over CBS viewers with ease.

Perhaps what is most notable and welcome about “Winning Time” is its sheer sense of fun. ... While too many dramas today take viewers for granted with self-indulgent, drawn-out storytelling, through its first four episodes, “Winning Time” smartly builds each episode to a cliffhanger crescendo that, even with full, one-hour running times, leaves viewers wanting more.

Through seven episodes made available for review, this season of “Only Murders” hangs together quite well thanks to both viewer familiarity with the returnees and the influx of Hollywood characters that add humor and a multitude of new suspects.

There’s loads of great music on the soundtrack that’s representative of the era (not just by The Sex Pistols) that’s matched by Boyle’s shooting style that embraces the period in an off-kilter, slightly chaotic manner.

The first “Paper” episode is amusing but rarely outright funny. The comedy quotient improves in later episodes, particularly episode four, when Esmerelda moves from sabotaging Ned to working alongside him on a scheme.

This latest Disney+ series showcases the best writing and performances in a Marvel project since “WandaVision.”

The show approaches these themes [what it means when companies commodify and exploit employees’ personal stories and Joanna’s stunted-by-childhood-cancer inner life] with a deft subtlety but it’s enough to ground it and make the cringe comedy more palatable.

Even with some wayward storytelling, “Fleishman” remains appealing for viewers whose primary interest is in complex characters (nobody is black or white, they’re all shades of gray) rather than plot. And while several characters make questionable choices, the ending defies expectations in a way that seems true-to-life.

An odd but welcome diversion.

The supernatural elements are more grounded than in the usual CW fare, and the backdrop of an impoverished community adds unexpected realism. This “Trickster” is worth watching.

That remains true in the revival, which is funny and clever in the way the first episode’s script, by Daniels, Judge and new showrunner Saladin K. Patterson, updates viewers on the characters and what they’ve been up to.

“Wonder Man” stands on it[s] own, although fans who know the character may have a better grasp on Trevor’s background. For Marvel, “Wonder Man” is a slight story with limited action sequences and at times feels too subtle for its own good. But credit Marvel with taking a risk and trying something different that often succeeds.

The series is interested in serving up the fights viewers want to see, but it also peels back layers of the characters to ultimately reveal how similar Danny and Amy are. Whether it’s healthy for easily-triggered viewers to tune in to watch others get triggered, well, each viewer will have to decide on their own.

The show piles on enough mysteries to make it intriguing and then answers some questions fast enough to be satisfying.

“Derry” dribbles out character details episode-by-episode through five (of eight) episodes made available for review, routinely connecting seemingly disparate characters. That “Stand by Me”-meets-“Stranger Things” vibe of the first episode returns in episode three, thankfully, since it’s the show’s most potent element.

There’s a dark humor, absurdist vibe that, alongside the mysteries (What are the workers doing at Lumon? Why does Mark’s boss live next door to him?), makes “Severance” appealing. But some of that interest gets undone by over-long episodes and a thudding pace.

The results improve on the original.

If early seasons of “Game of Thrones” meandered a bit or felt slow as the series followed assorted characters on multiple quests, “House of the Dragon” barrels through its story.

By the last hour, the more serious tone takes over again, but it’s earned given what we’ve seen Garfield endure (though I could have done without Garfield’s widow visiting Guiteau in prison, which never happened in real life and seems designed to unnecessarily juice the drama quotient). Still, for fans of historical fiction, “Death by Lightning” remains worthwhile.

Patinkin is always fun to watch but through the first four episodes his arc as a disruptor to the judicial system is more entertaining than driving a dramatic storyline with stakes, something “The Good Fight” seems to be having some difficulty finding in a post-Trump environment.

Through clever re-creations of sitcom theme songs, sets and tropes, “WandaVision” proves a unique entry in a genre that’s too often overly similar.

There’s enough potential in “Alaska Daily,” to easily be fall broadcast TV’s best drama pilot that it’s worth rooting for this series that’s earnest without being cloying, sincere without getting sappy.

The season two plot, courtesy of new showrunners Jack Amiel and Michael Begler (“The Knick”), is less convoluted but still occasionally overly languid. “Perry Mason” remains at its best when the focus is on the series regulars and their relationships.

Even if the plotting is less urgent and the comedy, when it flares up (not often enough), is less biting, “White Lotus” remains consistently watchable for White’s finely-drawn characters, whether it’s Daphne’s sunny disposition that masks uncomfortable truths or Dominic’s justification/excuse for his cheating ways.

A winning, offbeat animated comedy.

There are some moments in Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy” that will make viewers take notice one way or another, but early episodes of this limited series are fairly hum-drum when they’re not way over-the-top. Then it improves, becoming more nuanced in later episodes.

“The Madison” moves at the snail’s pace of Sheridan’s “1923” — and the music score sometimes sounds nearly identical — but “The Madison” also borrows some of the humor that’s made Sheridan’s “Landman” a hit. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Stacy Clyburn isn’t as sarcastic and profane as Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris, but Stacy displays more backbone and bite than viewers might expect.

The seven-episode limited series zips along with all manner of surprising plot turns.

It’s not as funny as one would hope. But the series improves as it continues, expanding on the characters and their relationships, which become more recognizable, realistic and funny with each episode.

It’s effortlessly entertaining and frequently funny; an easy, breezy eight-episode binge.

Jarecki certainly knows how to create drama, and “The Jinx Part Two” continues to provide good entertainment though it remains to be seen if it will again end with a bombshell. Regardless, the series offers examples of smart, pointed lawyering by prosecutors and Durst’s defense team.

While early episodes are a little too slow-paced, “Hijack” grows more engrossing over its run.

In “Our Flag Means Death,” the farcical humor is more of the subtle, knowing variety than it is playing for big belly laughs.

Season two proves narratively more cohesive, more entertaining and just plain better on all fronts.

Fans of “Monty Python” or “Blackadder” are the ideal audience for “The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin,” a family-friendly, often silly 1735-set adventure-comedy series that also brings to mind “Galavant” (without the songs).

Through its first three episodes, “Revival” showrunners/writers Aaron B. Koontz and Luke Boyce seem more interested in the impacts of Revival Day — personally, politically and culturally — than the mystery of it all, and that is to the show’s benefit.

Where “Lone Star” was cold, “Ordinary Joe” is warm. ... It’s too soon to know if the show’s writers can sustain this premise but the pilot episode is a winner.

It’s heady, highbrow horror that, though talky, grows more engrossing the longer you stick with it.

Both nostalgic and a painful reminder of the violence visited upon Black Americans, this “Wonder Years” capably walks a narrative tightrope in its premiere.

Funny and fast-paced, this single-camera comedy is worth a test drive.

By the end of the first season, it’s hard not to be invested in the Peaches as a team, but it’s an occasionally bumpy road getting to the point that the series and its characters become entirely embraceable.

The ghosts begin as well-drawn archetypes (Viking, Scout troop leader, Prohibition-era singer, Wall Street bro) and the comedy is broad but often quite funny.

Sometimes all it takes is the right casting to make a show that on paper sounds “meh” turn out so much better. That’s the case here thanks to the likeable lead performance by Kaitlin Olson.

The comedy comes fast and furious in early episodes, rarely taking a breather, and the comedic hit-to-miss ration favors the hits.

Mackie, borrowing some comedic delivery stylings from Eddie Murphy, proves again he’s a welcome lead actor, effortlessly playing the humor while also evincing the anguish of John’s past that’s brought to the fore through flashbacks. .... Sometimes characters from these episodic adventures recur as “Twisted Metal” engages in satisfying world-building.

Missed opportunities and mid-stream course corrections suggest a better, more coherent version of “Masters of the Air” could have been constructed. But fans of WWII, brothers-in-arms action-adventure tales will likely be satisfied regardless thanks to the aerial derring-do amidst time spent with the four lead characters.

With most episodes running around a compact 30 minutes, “I’m a Virgo” entertains with a sly sense of humor (Cootie’s reaction when he finally gets to eat a Bing Bang Burger is a realistic disappointment) and Jerome’s sweet and grounded performance. The show has a lot of Big Ideas it wants to introduce even if “I’m a Virgo” doesn’t always follow through.

The live-action “Bebop” is at its best in episodes three through eight where the bounty-of-the-week stories build camaraderie among the Bebop crew and their adopted Corgi, Ein.

“Strange New Worlds” is at its best in its fifth episode, which delivers more cheeky fun and short bursts of character development with economy that are more meaningful than the paragraphs of breathless character exposition found in the first four episodes.

It only takes a few episodes for “Shrinking” to feel like a true ensemble.

On “Bupkis,” the deeper viewers dive into the eight-episode first season, the story becomes less “Entourage”-y and instead turns on Davidson’s demons and whether he can overcome them.

This spin-off feels of a piece with “Blue Bloods” – police cases mixed with decent family relationship drama — so it should have similar appeal.

Zeus is petty and vindictive, which makes him an entertaining character. But it’s the way the eight-episode first season of “Kaos” unspools — introducing a legion of gods and humans — and how they ultimately interconnect that makes the series an addictive, intriguing addition to the Netflix roster.

Steinberg runs with the “Amelie” homage in the first and last episodes, especially, from applauding stuffed animals to a camera that rotates 360 degrees. However, in between, “Twisted Tale” becomes more serious as it explores the injustices that befall all the primary characters, not just Knox, but also the prosecutor, Mignini (Francesco Acquaroli), who sends Knox to prison.

Delivers a welcome fairytale with a “Pushing Daisies” vibe, but with such a tight initial focus on just these two characters, one wonders if it can go the distance.

One thing all five episodes have in common: They’re smart, thought-provoking and worth watching.

“Industry” seems unlikely to have broad appeal – the characters are too uniformly unpleasant – but it’s worth watching for fans of intriguing niche dramas.

Most of the laughs come later in the [premiere] episode. Subsequent episodes prove funnier still.

“North of North” is an easy, entertaining watch that’s improved by its cultural specificity.

“Hawkeye” features plenty of Marvel-standard action, but it’s the comedy and Christmas setting that make this entry stand out.

More situationally and character-driven funny than jokey funny, “The Afterparty” offers a decent enough blend of humor and mystery.

Thanks to Voisin’s charisma, “Carême” entertains consistently through its first three episodes, though it loses some points for its blatant rip-off of “The Good Fight’s” exploding-objects opening credits.

The overall vibe of “Loki” is, like “WandaVision,” more off the beaten Marvel path. Both the MCU as a whole and this individual series are the better for it.

Embracing steampunk stylings, “Nautilus” is a serialized, family-friendly adventure with decent special effects.

Hulu’s FX-produced “Class of ’09” starts slowly but then ratchets up intrigue as the thriller tracks FBI Academy classmates in three time periods. It’s a limited series worth watching.

“Promised Land” proves a much better viewing experience in episode two. All the setup is out of the way and the parallel storylines are less confusing and more engrossing. It’s that rare occasion where it might have been smart to start with a two-episode premiere. As it is, one wonders if viewers will stick around to become invested in this propitious soap in the vein of the original “Dallas” and “Dynasty.”

“Pose” seems to be sprinting through story — the seven-episode season begins in 1994 and ends in 1998 — to fit everything in in its final season. It’s a little all over the place but entertaining enough in the soapy way “Pose” always is.

When the focus is on Pyre, interrogations and the investigation, “Under the Banner of Heaven” can be a harrowing deep dive. But flashbacks that depict how tenets of the faith were rooted in the church’s history, while relevant to the characters’ motivations, leads to some plodding pacing.

These characters offer a fresher take on “Star Wars” lore than Andor’s story, which is a rote rebel mission. If the series finds a way to further blend familiar storytelling with the more-unusual-for-“Star Wars” vibe of palace intrigue, “Andor” might yet prove itself to be a favorite among fans much the way “Rogue One” has become embraced in the eight years since its initial theatrical run.

Where this all goes and whether the balance tips more toward character and story or more toward video game-like battle scenes is unclear, but if the first two episodes are any indication, character stories will win out. As long as that remains the case, I’ll gladly go along for this sci-fi ride.

“Rutherford Falls” has the building blocks to become a smart comedy hit. It just needs more time to build its characters’ relationships.

It’s more like soapier, sexier Jane Austen-lite that would benefit from a dash more wit.

Through the first five episodes, the new “Frasier” proves adept at the classic sitcom form and it’s certainly funnier than many of the CBS comedies viewers have seen in recent years.

Even if some elements of “Dopesick” feel too pat, the story as a whole is a worthwhile indictment of a government regulation system that allowed Purdue to operate for years with impunity, ruining the lives of thousands of Americans.

There’s a too-crazy-to-be-true quality to Johnson’s real-life story that plays well in a TV comedy but it’s wisely leavened with more grounded, vulnerable moments, particularly the warts-and-all portrayal of Johnson’s father (Joseph Lee Anderson), and the complicated relationship Johnson had with his dad.

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” is a bit of a come down from “WandaVision.” “Falcon” isn’t bad, just more familiar.

Through it all the performances of Paulson, Davis, Cynthia Nixon (as Paulson’s potential love interest) and Sophie Okonedo (as a mental hospital patient) keep “Ratched” watchable even as the quality droops under the weight of too much melodrama.

“Woke” is a funny, smart show and the always likable Morris handles the lead character’s predicaments in the every-man style fans of “New Girl” would expect.

The premiere episode, with a story by “Good Wife” creators Michelle and Robert King and directed by Robert King, efficiently introduces new characters. Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) warms up to Elsbeth’s quirky ways quickly and serves as a grounding force. NYPD Police Capt. C.W. Wagner (Wendell Pierce, always a welcome presence in any series) comes across as more of a wary ally.

There’s a lot of wandering around before the show gets to that. Viewers’ enjoyment of “Fallout” may depend on their tolerance for the fetch-quest story that makes up the bulk of the first season.

The combination of Tudyk’s otherworldly performance and Sheridan’s execution of stories running on multiple, parallel tracks make “Resident Alien” a welcome addition to the dwindling ranks of scripted basic cable originals.

“Usher” saves almost all its big revelations, emotionality and its most biting humor for its last episode — which explains all that’s come before as the pieces fall into place as surely as the house of Usher must also fall, given the show’s title. It’s a satisfying ending, even if the series as a whole doesn’t quite live up to Flanagan’s previous, better efforts.

The show has a “Breaking Bad” circa 2008 vibe, a show where smart people make bad choice after bad choice. But don’t take that as a knock on “Average Joe,” which is better than average and does what it sets out to do quite well.

“The Chair” has a lot it wants to address — gender dynamics in academia, cross-cultural adoption, grief and self-destruction, white privilege, wokeness and cancel culture — and it’s probably too much for a six-episode, half-hour show that’s also a romantic comedy. ... To its credit, “The Chair” offers no easy answers. It’s more interested in exploring the complexities of transgression and the multitude of reactions than in villainizing or lionizing the individuals involved.

Like many programs of the streaming age, this one probably would be better as a movie – Jack continues to find ways to kick the can of truth down the road into a potential second season — but ultimately “Hello Tomorrow!” made me hope the show will have enough tomorrows to reach an adequate resolution.