The storylines are darker, sexier. They also arc across episodes — I recommend watching at least the first two to get the full flavor. Also, Episode 2 is stronger, with the loss of intimacy explored through both comic and poignant storylines. It’s a network show, so don’t expect The Leftovers. But Fantasy Island is back and it’s in good hands.

Valdez was not making a film about boys or football. He was making a film about men. ... It’s probably closest to Hoop Dreams in spirit (and length), but while that classic film was about two kids and the families living their dreams vicariously, this docuseries is about something larger, what I would call the building of social capital.

Only Murders in the Building feels fresh and interesting and you should absolutely watch every new episode as it drops on Hulu (or Disney+ if you’re reading this from outside the U.S.).

When the show focuses on the reward and the struggle of the work, it’s fabulous. ... Even if it can get preachy, Alaska Daily’s warp-speed dialogue and efficient, network-TV execution ensure that viewers won’t get too bogged down in sermonizing.

The stories are relatable and the dialogue, if predictably TV-ish at times, gets at big issues about loss and what really matters in life — topics I think we can all relate to a little more closely these days. ... The casting, the dialogue, the pacing, the relentless Windham Hill-quality soundtrack — Council of Dads feels like a fly trap designed to capture as many This Is Us viewers as possible.

The execution of Living with Yourself is mostly brilliant. These eight half-hour episodes go fast. If I have a quarrel with the show, it’s that too much time is spent on the admittedly rich storylines that can be developed from this premise. ... Really, you should watch Living With Yourself for Paul Rudd and... Paul Rudd. A role like the two Mileses requires a surprising amount of emotional range, and Rudd’s got it.

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker is a highly watchable bit of what I call rock-and-roll history. It’s a subgenre that tries to bring the past alive with modern dialogue and a ripping soundtrack. ... Spencer delivers the goods.

A Teacher is not about the guys. This is a star vehicle for two women — Mara in front of the screen and Hannah Fidell behind it. ... If you want to see a creative female mind exploring how female power, when it runs into the brick wall of societal taboo, can be self-destructive, A Teacher is your show.

For Life joins a growing number of series devoted to exploring wrongful conviction and the ordeal that convicts must go through to have their cases retried and verdicts overturned. But it stands out in two ways. First, unlike nonfiction series like Free Meek and Confession Tapes, For Life has the look and feel of an ABC courtroom drama. Second, it’s based on the life of a real-life person, Isaac Wright Jr., a man whose story is so incredible Disney+ should consider making a companion documentary or podcast. ... After two episodes of For Life, I’m in.

Creator Joshua Safran has assembled a good crew of writers to weave all the threads together. The dialogue of Sam and Nellie’s first date crackles.

As as critic I would advise viewers short on time to watch only the first and last episodes. Then, if you like what you see, you can go back and watch parts two through five. If you’re a teacher, though, you may just want to carve out a week or more for your kids to watch and discuss all six hours. It's that good.

Welcome, if long-overdue, tribute.

An enjoyable and accessible pilot episode, one that brings the iconic admiral down to earth (literally), gives him lots of great dialogue, and reunites him with an old ally and monstrous adversary that even those of us not schooled in all things Trek will remember.

Perhaps owing to the nearly six-year gap between Seasons 6 and 7, this final lap is basically self-encapsulated and requires almost no effort to get up to speed (narrator extraordinaire Tom Kane will help with that part). ... Bottom line: If you loved The Mandalorian, you just might like Star Wars: Clone Wars.

Inside LuLaRich, directors Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason have embedded some equally compelling stories about why people get swept up by MLM fever and wind up bankrupting not only themselves but friends and family that they enthusiastically pull into the scheme with them.

The intimately close visuals and clever editing make interactions between a bear and a squirrel, or baby bats trying to avoid being eaten by snakes, feel as gripping as any drama.

Like the original, Legacy pairs the architecturally glamorous side of L.A. with its seedy underside, and Harry Bosch is still compelling as the guy both savvy and scrappy enough to take on the rich and powerful in the never-ending pursuit of justice.

It’s nicely written, with the kind of diversity you find in Commonwealth shows.

If you enjoy sports documentaries, then you'll likely appreciate how deeply Players understands the template that makes those shows satisfying. The result is an accessible, enjoyable introduction to a huge industry that passes many of us by.

On Briarpatch that protean mind [of creator Andy Greenwald] is put to surprisingly good use. Maybe the best idea Greenwald had was taking Benjamin Dill, the hero of Ross Thomas’s long-forgotten 1984 detective novel Briarpatch, and turning him into Allegra.

I thought it was great. Lively writing in an entertaining, network-quality serial thriller about artificial intelligence running amok. John Slattery — pitch-perfect casting.

Fortunately, Stumptown is blessed with a proven TV and movie star playing a character who herself arrives on screen fully formed. It’s years away from becoming a classic in its own right, but it reminds me of one, and that’s a good start.

Not only its most promising show to date but one that could serve as a template for future Apple TV+ shows. It’s a good-verging-on-great anthology series with storylines, writing, and casting that could be replicated again and again, allowing Apple to widen its lane while shrinking HBO’s. ... [Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul] alone are worth the investment of eight hours of your time.

We Own This City comes reasonably close to serving as a Wire follow-up. It tells a compelling story that must be seen to be believed. And it effectively raises a myriad of vital and not easily answered questions about not only public safety, but also the future of public institutions.

McKinnon embodies a down-to-earth but quirky version of Baskin, totally selling the idea that a woman this committed to saving tigers could find herself involved in a bizarre death match with the likes of Joe Exotic. Mitchell is equally convincing.

Losing Alice, besides being a seductively-paced drama you may have trouble shutting off, is also a backdoor commentary on women who disappear from the entertainment business around middle age, both in front of the camera and behind it.

Space is more of a backdrop for Away’s actual drama, which is about smart, ambitious people getting in each other’s way, and their own, and whether keeping your feet on the ground might not be the better decision.

Parton’s Madea-like role in the “Jolene” episode is a big part of its appeal. ... Heartstrings does not suck. Know what would make it suck even less? More Dolly.