One needs to hone in on the performers to find reasons to stay engaged, because the plots and premises of Criminal Minds are worn thin as filaments by this point.

So much of the outright horror is recycled from films-The Shining, Don't Look Now, Poltergeist-but the plotting and pacing feel vaguely original, sometimes complicated and sometimes satirical, like American Beauty.

The Oedipal quagmire only enhances the political treachery.

Unlike their previous show [24], Homeland takes its time: it doesn't make clear right away who's trustworthy and who's a traitor. Based on the first episode's strong script and performances, it looks as though the reveal will be worth the wait.

It's as though the show imagines that if can just cut from one event to another fast enough, no one will notice how shallow it all is.

We are afforded perspectives on staff and patients alike. But, this ER runs almost too smoothly.

The Amazing Race is at its best when it anticipates our assumptions about other people, overturns them, and then invites all new judgments.

We never know how fully such a mix might develop, and in this episode, it seemed undercooked by the end.

As ordinary as this plot sounds, How To Be a Gentleman has a couple of things going for it, namely, Hornsby and Dillon.

Even if it makes for far less gripping viewing in its sophomore iteration, Luther remains notable in the police drama pantheon for this stark perspective.

The result is a show that's more ABC Family than Tina Fey.

Hart of Dixie doesn't look to be much more than what you'd unfortunately expect.

There's a lot of clunky setup, a lot of piece-moving to send the main characters back to Terra Nova, and a lot of explaining of rules once they get there.

Set in 1963, Pan Am's production is highly stylized, neat, and dreamy, perfectly suited to the nostalgia it is eager to evoke.

The general integrity of the first episode offers some hope that it won't become a Procedure of the Week melodrama.

With its stilted scenes, canned laughter, and handwringing about marriage, Whitney feels more like a step backward.

Here everyone, even Bosley, seems interchangeable.

Parts of the show seem archaic, more Life on Mars than life in a 21st century police department. Other parts seem careless bricolage.

From a storytelling standpoint, though, the real juice of the show is going to lie in its long-form arcs. It's a delicate balance to maintain, and it will be interesting to see if Person of Interest is up to the challenge.

The X Factor is one reality competition show that delivers that experience to its home audience also. At least on this show, when Paula's moved to tears, so are you.

The story is silly, but not trashy enough to make it your latest guilty pleasure.

Unforgettable is a show cobbled together from the once good bits of once good shows.

The promos for New Girl suggest that it's something new or at least mildly unusual. But its first episode looks like more of the same.

It seems a missed opportunity: the premise of the spoiled rich kid and the sassy poor kid forced to team up is an old story that often works. But both Caroline and Max come across as prep school students who are slumming.

While options during the era were surely limited, the show's broad strokes don't do justice to the choices women were making, or their self-awareness while making them.

It's the rock-solid basic format that makes the show feel vital even 11 years and 22 seasons in.

Unfortunately, The Secret Circle's first episode doesn't offer much beyond all this plotty set-up. Specifically, it's missing what made other supernatural shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Supernatural successful: funny, quirky, and layered characters.

This is not a show that wants to be analyzed. Rather, it demands that you enjoy it. And there is plenty of humor to mine in the premise.