Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Scores

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For 436 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 40% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.6 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average TV Show review score: 70
Highest review score: 100 Battlestar Galactica (2003): Season 1
Lowest review score: 30 Salem's Lot (2004)
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 323 out of 323
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 323
  3. Negative: 0 out of 323
323 tv reviews
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  1. Battlestar Galactica (2003): Season 1
    Two things make this series a vast improvement over the miniseries: Show runner Ron Moore and his writing staff now feel free to dig deeper into the characters, and the show's pace and tone, though still sometimes slow and somber by conventional standards, has been opened up and made more accessible. Lighter moments have been added and the show's scope has grown more epic, the way a "Battlestar Galactica" story should be. [9 Jan 2005]
    • Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
      • Posted Aug 23, 2022
  2. Hacks: Season 3
    Perhaps more than past seasons, these new episodes deftly balance comedic moments with insightful dialogue that explores generational differences in grounded scenes that don’t come off as preachy.
  3. Pluribus: Season 1
    “Pluribus” is the most original, unexpectedly thought-provoking and frequently funny series of 2025, thanks in large part to star Rhea Seehorn (“Better Call Saul”), who throws herself with gusto into almost every scene of the series.
  4. Happiness: Season 1
    This import from New Zealand charms from start to finish.
  5. The Diplomat (2023): Season 2
    Returning drama “The Diplomat” is that Netflix rarity: A great show.
  6. The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh: Season 1
    A genuinely smart, funny, entertaining and timely comedy.
  7. Overcompensating: Season 1
    Perhaps the funniest streaming comedy since “Hacks,” Amazon Prime Video’s “Overcompansating” presents as a wild, profanity-filled “Animal House”-style bacchanal. But at its heart, the eight-episode series is an endearing coming-of-age story centered on two good people trying to find themselves.
  8. American Born Chinese: Season 1
    “American Born Chinese” proves to be one of the year’s best surprises. A coming-of-age story that at times brings to mind TV greats “My So-Called Life” (though this one is from a boy’s perspective) and “Freaks and Geeks.”
  9. It's a Sin
    “It’s a Sin” offers one of the most honest, moving takes on the AIDS crisis and in its final episode delivers a searing critique of the shame that ensured the disease’s spread.
  10. Schmigadoon!: Season 1
    “Schmigadoon!” is a hoot — an inventive and thoroughly enjoyable summer delight.
  11. A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
    It plays immaculately. Some of the appreciation for this special can be chalked up to nostalgia – for the show and its idealism about public service; for a simpler, comparatively chaos-free time in American politics – but this “West Wing” special also delivers a patriotic balm with entertaining calls to vote, delivered with clever word play, that substitute for commercials.
  12. Evil: Season 4
    The best supernatural, religious-themed comedic drama you’re not watching.
  13. Boots: Season 1
    “Boots” proves to be a smart, empathetic, character-driven drama that explores coming of age in a time when Cameron can’t be his true self, while also showing the toll that repression takes on another character, conflicted and similarly closeted Sgt. Sullivan (Max Parker).
  14. The White Lotus: Season 3
    Much of the acting is masterful, but Parker Posey proves the revelation. .... White’s attention to local details, from visual close-ups of flora and fauna to the use of regional music, give “White Lotus” a vibe unlike any other series.
  15. The Serpent Queen: Season 1
    “The Serpent Queen” offers juicier period drama than either of the ballyhooed fantasy epics [“House of the Dragon” and “The Rings of Power”]. ... [Samantha] Morton mesmerizes.
  16. Andor: Season 2
    Season two of “Andor” stands proudly alongside season one as the most sophisticated, smartest “Star Wars” storytelling to date, thanks to showrunner Tony Gilroy.
  17. Fellow Travelers: Season 1
    Equal parts political thriller and steamy, doomed romance, “Fellow Travelers” proves to be an addictive yarn that, despite its period setting, feels vital and relevant in 2023 America.
  18. The Other Two: Season 2
    “The Other Two” remains frequently screamingly funny, but it’s the rare TV comedy that also allows itself to show some heart, particularly when it comes to the relationships among the core family.
  19. Succession: Season 4
    “Succession” proves particularly engrossing when the series finds new themes to explore and forces the characters to confront new situations as it does in season four. ... Allowing the series to conclude sooner rather than later insures it will likely continue to be regarded as one of the best TV dramas of all time.
  20. The Gilded Age: Season 1
    “The Gilded Age” is easily the best new series of 2022 and sets a high bar for shows that will follow.
  21. The Patient: Season 1
    A tension-filled, character-driven psychological thriller that's a worthy successor to their early 1980s Soviet spies drama [Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg's "The Americans"].
  22. The Agency (2024): Season 1
    Shockingly well made. Tense and intense, “The Agency” gives off “MI-5” and “Sleeper Cell” vibes
  23. The Good Lord Bird: Season 1
    Hawke mesmerizes as Brown — excellent casting for a wild-eyed character — and Johnson brings a mix of a child’s innocence and a young man’s recognition of the craziness of the world around him to his sometimes heartbreaking performance as Onion.
  24. Hacks: Season 4
    Max’s “Hacks” remains a comedy gem in its fourth season.
  25. Everyone Else Burns: Season 1
    Easily the fall’s best original scripted series.
  26. Swarm: Season 1
    The “Swarm” finale may not satisfy all viewers – it’s somewhat open to interpretation and not concrete – but it is a fitting finale to easily one of the year’s best, most outrageous series.
  27. Fargo: Season 5
    Sure, this latest season also stars Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”), Jennifer Jason Leigh (“Hunters”) and Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”), but this is unequivocally Temple’s season and yeah, sure, you betcha, she shines.
  28. Dark Winds: Season 3
    There are grittier, hipper, more popular crime dramas coursing through the TV/streaming ecosystem – “Tulsa King,” “Presumed Innocent,” “The Rookie” — but none of those shows can match the quality of AMC’s “Dark Winds.” .... “Dark Winds” continues to feel taut and rightsized.
  29. Hacks: Season 1
    HBO Max’s best series since “The Flight Attendant” and easily the funniest new TV/streaming comedy of the year.
  30. True Detective: Season 4
    Your next crime fiction obsession arrives with the fourth season of HBO’s True Detective,” this time subtitled “Night Country” (9 p.m. Jan. 14). It’s far superior to the show’s disappointing second season.
  31. The Last of Us: Season 2
    The show excels as both an intimate character study — this year’s most affecting theme: how each generation of parents screws up but tries to incrementally improve on how they were parented — and an action-packed adventure.
  32. Better Call Saul: Season 6
    Through the first two episodes made available for review, “Better Call Saul” remains a well-plotted masterpiece, similar to “Breaking Bad” for which “Saul” is a prequel, complete with unexpected twists and action sequences that a viewer might expect to go right but end up going left.
  33. The Diplomat (2023): Season 3
    Aside from an unearned character turn in the season finale that seems to come out of nowhere, “The Diplomat” delivers another great season of political intrigue mixed with character drama.
  34. The Flight Attendant: Season 2
    What’s great about “The Flight Attendant” is that it’s airy fun but it’s also well-plotted with an eye toward satisfying viewers. Many characters from season one pop in, often in the most unexpected moments, and it’s a delight.
  35. The Muppet Show (2026)
    This “Muppet Show” is the sincerest effort yet to re-create the manic lunacy and charm of the original and feels of a piece with the series that started it all.
  36. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
    This Marvel-ous treat from writer/director James Gunn proves an entertaining enough diversion regardless of the degree of your devotion to the MCU.
  37. Succession: Season 3
    Focus on the characters brings to the fore the show’s dark humor. There are more laughs to be had watching “Succession” than most TV comedies, a testament to the show’s writers who imbue the Roy children with specific foibles and a general lack of self-awareness.
  38. Star Trek: Picard: Season 3
    This season of “Picard” doesn’t feel like fan fiction; it feels legit.
  39. The Last of Us: Season 1
    “The Last of Us” turns out to be a terrific series despite its thematic similarities to “The Walking Dead.”
  40. For All Mankind: Season 4
    It takes a few episodes for a lot of the new season’s setup – more politics than space exploration, really — to pay off but when it finally does, it proves worth the wait.
  41. The Lowdown: Season 1
    Just as a viewer might suspect the plot will go one direction, Harjo gives the story an unexpected, shocking turn. It’s a potent mix that makes “The Lowdown” a welcome addition to a short list of TV’s best current series.
  42. The Pitt: Season 2
    A textbook example of how to write a second season that sticks to what made the show great: Complex characters, a real-time format and medical cases depicted with an unwavering dedication to authenticity.
  43. Yellowjackets: Season 2
    A best drama nomination for “Yellowjackets,” which was nominated for its first season in last year’s Emmy race, seems pretty likely if the first six episodes made available for review are indicative of the season as a whole.
  44. The Comeback: Season 3
    She’s still funny, sometimes foolish and still prone to malapropisms. .... In a season as upbeat as Valerie herself, “The Comeback” allows itself some moments of earned emotion.
  45. Hacks: Season 2
    “Hacks” remains in top form. ... “Hacks” finds a way to restore the frenemies dynamic between the two lead characters without ignoring the progress made in their relationship in season one.
  46. Reservation Dogs: Season 1
    The show is not a downer but a welcome look at an under-represented culture through Waititi’s and Harjo’s cracked lens. It’s a series full of oddball characters with a likeable quartet at its center.
  47. English Teacher: Season 1
    “English Teacher” delivers consistent laughs, evincing a sunny disposition even in the face of complex and complicated societal issues that constantly — and usually hilariously — encroach on its high school classrooms.
  48. Maid: Season 1
    Overall “Maid” is a quality series with a pro-social message that brings to mind Netflix’s 2019 limited series “Unbelievable,” another worthwhile story of a woman’s empowerment and recovery from difficult circumstances.
  49. Citizen Nation: Season 1
    It’s a feel-good program that highlights not only the efforts of students from all walks of life (wealthy, impoverished, liberal, conservative) but also the dedicated teachers doing their best to lead them.
  50. The Studio: Season 1
    “The Studio” becomes an often screamingly funny series through the course of its first season, making it the best new comedy series of 2025 so far.
  51. A Small Light: Season 1
    It’s not a somber re-telling of a familiar story but a sensitive, humanistic approach that allows room for humor and happiness even as viewers know the story will inevitably take a tragic turn.
  52. Poker Face (2023): Season 1
    Even though this is a procedural, it’s more elevated, more cinematic and more entertaining than most. ... Lyonne is perfectly suited to this milieu.
  53. The Morning Show: Season 2
    This is one fun – and sometimes bonkers — show.
  54. Shogun (2024): Season 1
    The love story is perhaps the least convincing aspect of this iteration of “Shōgun,” but the rest of it feels impressive in its scope, attention to detail and storytelling that sucks viewers in by the end of episode two and holds their attention from then on.
  55. Justified: City Primeval: Season 1
    The best ones [reboots and sequel series] take what’s great about the original and layer in something new. That’s just what FX’s “Justified: City Primeval” delivers.
  56. Mrs. Davis: Season 1
    A true original that’s completely strange, “Mrs. Davis” is a breath of fresh air in a reboot-happy medium.
  57. Severance: Season 2
    By the end of the second season, a few aspects of the mystery plot come into better focus but it’s one step forward, two steps back. Still, “Severance” remains a rare, unique and completely distinctive series.
  58. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: Season 1
    The casting is on point, particularly Simhadri, who brings a lovely gentleness to Grover. .... “Percy Jackson” works for kids and adults thanks in part to the attention to detail in casting those guest stars.
  59. The Pitt: Season 1
    What makes “The Pitt” worth watching are its characters. .... Creatively, “The Pitt” succeeds by any measure.
  60. American Rust: Season 2
    If there’s any downside to this new season it’s that the first half feels stronger than the second half. Returning characters’ personality changes in the first half of the new season are necessary tweaks that help lift the show’s overall mood, which makes “American Rust” more entertaining and less depressing.
  61. The White Lotus: Season 1
    “The White Lotus” plods through its first episode — a cringe-worthy luau of misery — but the longer viewers sit with the show, the better and more engrossing it becomes.
  62. Dark Winds: Season 4
    Although the new fourth season lacks a defining episode like season three’s sixth episode, “Abidooniidee (What We Had Been Told),” featuring lead character Joe Leaphorn on an emotional, hallucinatory journey, season four manages to advance all its characters’ stories, even as they spend more time than ever off the reservation.
  63. Alien: Earth: Season 1
    In lesser hands, a series spinoff of the theatrical “Alien” franchise might seem like just another IP play — a money grab. But pair Noah Hawley, the writer behind FX’s “Fargo,” with “Alien,” and you get a show that’s significantly better than that.
  64. Scrubs (2026): Season 1
    It’s rare for a TV comedy to return in as strong form as this new “Scrubs.” Fans who loved the show in its early seasons on NBC should happily scrub back in for ABC’s new iteration of the series.
  65. For All Mankind: Season 3
    If you have been on board already, season three proves as addictive as season two, albeit slightly more heightened because the technology of this timeline’s 1990s is advanced beyond space-faring technology then or now.
  66. Gaslit: Season 1
    Roberts’ all-in performance and those of her co-stars, especially Allison Tolman (“Downward Dog”) as a sympathetic reporter and Shea Whigham as an accurately unhinged G. Gordon Liddy, are a delight, and the whole endeavor is entertaining enough to recommend.
  67. Mare of Easttown: Season 1
    The series gets off to a somewhat sluggish start but by the end of the first hour, “Mare of Easttown” gets its hooks into viewers, building tension around the murder investigation that engulfs Mare’s life. Episode two ratchets up the mystery further as multiple suspects come into focus.
  68. Attack of the Murder Hornets
    Filmmaker Michael Paul Stephenson not only scores points on style but also substance, revealing the character of a state scientist and citizen scientists as well as the impact of greed on scientific research that comes in a last-act twist.
  69. SNL50: The Anniversary Special
    Really, it’s hard to imagine how “SNL50” could have gone any better as it delivered a welcome mix of comedy and music over almost 3½ hours, wrapped in a warm blanket of nostalgia (without getting sappy).
  70. Too Much: Season 1
    Funnier and more of a rom-com, “Too Much” largely isn’t too much in the way “Girls” was, thanks to Dunham leaning into a lighter tone and the likability of star Megan Stalter. ... Stalter is a riveting performer.
  71. The Bear: Season 2
    What’s great about this second season is the way Storer and co-showrunner Joanna Calo find growth in each of the characters while still staying true to who they were when viewers first met them.
  72. For All Mankind: Season 5
    Themes include the use of government propaganda on Earth to frame events on Mars in a negative light, also relevant to real-world current events. Science fiction is often at its best when it reflects the here-and-now, which “For All Mankind” has done from the start, contributing to the strength of the show’s dramatic storytelling.
  73. Spartacus: House of Ashur: Season 1
    While early episodes are heavier on “300”-style bloody fights and full-frontal male and female nudity – sometimes in the same scene! — the franchise’s delicious character drama amps up a few episodes into the season. This is the good stuff that makes “Spartacus” more than the sum of its arguably gratuitous parts.
  74. The Flight Attendant: Season 1
    A jaunty spy thriller score set the tone for what the fast-paced show becomes in episode two once Cassie regularly imagines conversations with the dead guy (Michiel Huisman, “Game of Thrones”) as her way of coping. “The Flight Attendant” becomes a comedic mystery-thriller and Cuoco’s presence and performance capably sell its delicately balanced tone.
  75. Ted Lasso: Season 2
    Season two goes deeper as it explores the characters’ insecurities and strengths. “Ted Lasso” remains funny and focused on kindness. A wealth of compassion for its characters courses through the show’s writing.
  76. Only Murders in the Building: Season 2
    The good news is the show’s second season, streaming Tuesday, is more like the back half of season one: funnier and more involved because we’re dealing with established characters and because the writers, led by showrunner John Hoffman (“Grace and Frankie”), have a firmer grasp on the show’s tone and a more confident hand in its plotting.
  77. Interview With the Vampire: Season 1
    This is a show that knows what viewers want and gives it to them. “Interview” is not precious about its subject matter. ... Through the first five (of eight) episodes, it’s got all the makings of a deserving cult hit.
  78. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins: Season 1
    “Reggie Dinkins” uses quick cuts and cartoon-like tangents in a manner that will feel familiar/comfortable to “30 Rock” fans. The return of “Scrubs” and the debut of “Reggie” offer solid evidence that with the right talent involved, comedies still have a place on broadcast TV.
  79. Task
    “Task” proves engrossing and propulsive throughout, a smart, generally sophisticated crime drama, although there are a few too many moles and turncoats that detract from a story that otherwise feels authentic.
  80. Chad Powers: Season 1
    “Chad Powers” offers a welcome mix of cringe comedy, raunchy humor and even some sweet, odd couple moments.
  81. Painkiller: Season 1
    This Netflix limited series manages to stand on its own. At six episodes, compared to eight for “Dopesick,” “Painkiller” tells its story with more expediency.
  82. Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show: Season 1
    The show’s fly-on-the-wall intimacy – surely it will make some viewers uncomfortable — combined with Carmichael’s winning but deeply flawed nature makes this series a viewing experience that’s hard to tune out.
  83. Diarra From Detroit: Season 1
    “Diarra from Detroit,” furthers the niche streamer’s reputation for quality shows after last summer’s Pittsburgh-set “Average Joe,” which had a similarly well-balanced tone of comedic drama.
  84. Duster: Season 1
    Even as the series depicts period-accurate racism directed at Nina and her Native American colleague, Awan (Asivak Koostachin, a standout for his character’s cheerfully innocent disposition), “Duster” isn’t a super-serious show. It’s as playfully madcap as Holloway’s character.
  85. 1923: Season 1
    Paramount+ only made the first episode available for review, and it’s a taut hour of drama with a few moments of levity courtesy of Ford’s trademark, low-key sarcasm.
  86. 3 Body Problem: Season 1
    “3 Body Problem” is the rare series that consistently surprises, making me (mostly) forget my worries during initial episodes that this could be another “Lost,” a show with great ideas but no concrete story path.
  87. Sprung (2022): Season 1
    Coarse but clever comedy abounds in “Sprung,” with Plimpton stealing almost every scene as a crusty mama bear with a contorted face and a squishy core.
  88. Rooster: Season 1
    Fast-paced and funny with an undercurrent of authentic emotion, “Rooster” is a half-hour comedy worth crowing about.
  89. Julie and the Phantoms: Season 1
    Superior to a Disney Channel, three-camera sitcom, each episode features a couple of original tunes that should get toes tapping.
  90. The Good Fight: Season 6
    Through its first five episodes, the show’s final, sixth season is stronger even as it gets stranger.
  91. We Own This City: Season 1
    Serious and sobering, the six-episode limited series “We Own This City” delivers a worthy and worthwhile follow-up to “The Wire.”
  92. Based on a True Story: Season 1
    The high concept, darkly comedic “Based on a True Story” takes two overly long episodes to set up its premise, but once it does the right-sized 30-minute episodes that follow have a blast satirizing true crime stories and those who love them. It’s an entertaining yarn that taps into the American bloodlust for true crime tales.
  93. The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Season 1
    Because it’s a series, “Game Changers” has more layers than a film. While Alex initially insists they just play for fun, by the end of episode two Evan says losing every game isn’t fun, ensuring this series will have some smarts to accompany its big heart.
  94. Gen V: Season 1
    The “Gen V” premiere has the most shocks while subsequent episodes deepen the character backstories and the show’s mystery. It’s engrossing enough thanks to the efforts of showrunners Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, veterans of genre series “Agent Carter,” “Reaper” and “Resurrection.”
  95. The Penguin: Season 1
    “The Penguin” stays interesting thanks largely to a litany of episode-ending cliffhangers and its female characters, Cobb adversary and former Arkham Asylum patient Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti, stealing many scenes) and Cobb’s mother, Francis (Deirdre O’Connell, “One Dollar”), who gives off Livia Soprano vibes.
  96. Schmigadoon!: Season 2
    This second outing of “Schmigadoon” pales a bit compared to season one — too many ballads, not enough big song-and-dance numbers — but, at just six half-hour episodes, there are enough fun winks at Broadway to make it worthwhile for devoted musical theater fans.
  97. The Gilded Age: Season 3
    Sometimes it feels like not a lot happens in this 1890-set period drama, but thanks to a game cast of mostly Broadway veterans, “Gilded Age” remains an entertaining enough soap.
  98. The Chair Company: Season 1
    Tim Robinson returns with another hilarious cringe comedy, but the emphasis is on cringe, which makes “The Chair Company” an acquired taste that not everyone will want to acquire.
  99. Abbott Elementary: Season 1
    Sure, some of the characters are stereotypes – painfully woke, white teacher Jacob (Chris Perfetti); ziti-making Melissa “I know a guy” Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter, another scene-stealer) – but they’re all uniformly funny.
  100. Chimp Crazy: Season 1
    “Chimp Crazy” paints a more complex, nuanced portrait of chimp owners than “Tiger King” did of folks who collect Big Cats. “Chimp Crazy” also proves more entertaining with surprising twists and outlandish characters who are hard to dislike even as they make terrible, self-destructive life choices.
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