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.

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.

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.

“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 Big Leap" delivers engaging dance numbers and characters that grow in the show’s second episode.

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

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.

“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).

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 “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.”

“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.

When the story remains in Iceland, exploring the whodunnit of the murders that occur at the retreat, “Murder” entertains. But inevitably the show segues to the overlong Darby-and-Bill flashbacks that, while they do serve to inform elements of the Iceland story, ramble on and on.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

Disney fans who have consumed unofficial books, blogs, podcasts and YouTube videos may find themselves bored and not learning anything new. More casual Disney aficionados will likely fare better overall.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

More deadpan than laugh-out-loud funny, “Wellington” will require some American viewers to turn on closed captions, as the New Zealand accents pose a significant barrier to entry/comprehension.

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.