Marco Polo flits between storytelling styles without completely tying them together as successfully as "Game of Thrones" does.... By the fifth and sixth episodes the action picks up, the intrigue deepens and the stakes some higher.

Coleman's rich performance matches Capaldi's as Clara struggles with the regeneration of her Doctor.... The Doctor may be different, but he's as entertaining as ever.

[Bean's] nearly the only reason to watch this retread mashup of team-based crime/spy shows and the "Bourne" films.

Despite its supporting cast of international actors who bring even thinly drawn characters to life, Outlander truly shines when Balfe shares the screen with either Heughan or Menzies.

It's not easy to watch, but the Steven Soderbergh-directed period hospital drama sure is worth a look.

History tells us what the Manhattan Project unleashed on the world, but Manhattan conjures a compelling (fictional) journey for the men and women who made it happen.

The short, 41-minute opener (I'd DVR it and fast-forward through the commercials) is slickly filmed, generally well acted and ends with an intriguing revelation. But so little feels new and fresh.

Live Another Day starts its 12-episode run in a typically gripping if superficial and improbable fashion, but you'll get no complaints from me.

Salem as a whole reflects the difference in the work of West and Montgomery. Yet its wildly uneven premiere has enough going for it to make me watch at least another episode.

It remains one of TV's most compelling series, period.

While we appear to be in for a depressing ride, fear not: Creator Matthew Weiner still has a few winks and tricks up his sleeve.

Fargo the TV series--confident as Lorne Malvo--stands firmly on its own. You betcha it does.

The former WWII code-breakers of this excellent British import don't deflect bullets with magical bracelets. They use their brains, determination, courage and pleasant demeanors like stealth weapons, covertly undermining postwar expectations to right wrongs no one else seems to notice.

Silicon Valley is a funny, insightful, blistering satire.

It may not be as intriguing as "Thrones" or as tense as FX's spy thriller "The Americans," but Turn--which touches on still-relevant topics like torture, homosexuality and politics--offers a fresh spin on the War of Independence.

The first three episodes of the epic fantasy's fourth season reach new heights at times, offering enough twists, shocks and action to make us forget last season's mind-blowing Red Wedding.

While the storytelling is generally riveting, Hirst and his team occasionally drop a few stinkers in the dialogue. The exceptional cast—which also includes Katheryn Winnick as Ragner's wife, Lagertha—is able to rise above those bombs. It's their distinctive portrayals that, for me, bring this Dark Ages tale to life.

Unlike in "Homeland," the show's main conceit grows even more complex and fascinating by including the Jennings kids.

If only writers John Brownlow and Don Macpherson focused more on Fleming's wartime spy-jinks than on his extended mating dance with the already married and cheating Ann.

While its glimpses into the democratic world of piracy are interesting, Black Sails could cull a few plot barnacles and give viewers more action.

[Broad City] feels like a series of sketches that often hit but sometimes miss.

Scheuring gets sidetracked by the trite redemption stories of a hooker (Conor Leslie) and a Canadian Mountie (Marton Csokas). But those are small hiccups in this entertaining, expansive tale of one man's fight to keep his humanity, which he discovers is more valuable than all the gold in the Yukon.

With its strong performances, subtle details and believable situations, Looking presents a convincing portrayal of everyday life--either gay or straight.

Chozen will get more compelling once it focuses on that feud over loutish buffoonery and references to prison sex--which aren't that funny even the first five times they're made. For now, though, it simply mines the gay rapper premise for cheap laughs.

Hints of a deeper mythology are revealed, too, suggesting that Helix will move beyond its stop-the-virus story into something even more intriguing. In the meantime, it's a suspenseful, scary thriller.

[Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey's] riveting work would be worth the admission alone, but the hauntingly beautiful True Detective excels in every way.

The Spoils of Babylon is an entertaining and spot-on spoof of the overdone potboiler miniseries of the 1970s and '80s.

As an exercise in recreating a noir drama, Mob City has all the trappings we've seen better in "L.A. Confidential" and other projects, but little of the thrill.

The ambitious series finds a nice balance of slapstick and suspense. You might feel cheated if you're expecting the usual setup and joke, setup and joke format of many American sitcoms, but there are plenty of surprises and laughs.

[Creator J.H. Wyman] peppers what really is a police procedural with enough not-so-distant science to make Almost Human a sci-fi thriller, and enough humor to make it a buddy cop comedy.

The Returned is far and away the most thoughtful and thought-provoking series I've watched this year.

It's often dull and heavy-handed. Rhys Meyers is burdened with purposefully heightened dialogue that sounds silly at times. His Dracula is meant to be irresistible, but he's just plain creepy.

Though the gorgeous production starts out slowly and has its pompous moments, it's ultimately worth your time.

Reign isn't half bad at times with its marvelous costumes, palace intrigues and Follows' delicious take on Catherine. But the minute you start getting into fantasy, you're yanked right out by the contemporary music and other oddities—like a montage of giggling gals putting on makeup.

I can't help but believe that if this new series focused on the dark, foreboding tone in its asylum scenes, it could become a powerful, trippy 9 p.m. drama.

Although the premiere is hampered by unnecessary narration and over-exposition, it's still a bewitching brew of whimsy, psychological scares, horrific atrocities and the wonderfully relentless feeling that something wicked this way comes.

Believe it or not, that stomach-turning gore is part of this four-part gem's charm. A Young Doctor's Notebook gets the balance between tragedy and comedy just right.

The slooowly-paced first two episodes offer enough action and intrigue to keep me riding a while longer.

Even though the team's first assignment—involving an ordinary guy with strange new powers (J. August Richards)--is kind of average as adventures go, the actors seem to have found a snappy groove already.

There's no doubt that The Blacklist will present a terrorist case of the week. But the marvelous action sequences and intriguing plot twists should lift it above any standard procedural.... If none of that interests you, Spader's magnetic performance alone is enough to warrant at least a couple looks.

Like Spader, Collette is fascinating to watch; there's always so much happening just under the surface.... Show creators Alon Aranya, Omri Givon, Rotem Shamir and Jeffrey Nachmanoff pack the Hostages pilot with a ton of side plots.

All joking aside, Key and Peele do still have something to say.

Gervais has written, produced and directed a thoughtful and thought-provoking dramedy that celebrates everyday heroes and the power of kindness while attacking materialism and the way society often forgets people "just because they're old and poor and weak."

It gets darker, scarier and more captivating with each episode as Luther matches wits with killers and cops alike.

The show is edited almost like a sitcom to draw out maximum humor, with cutaway interviews of cast members at just the right moments to reinforce their folksy philosophies. One could complain about the gender stereotypes at play, but the roles are so exaggerated here it seems the show and the Robertsons are mocking those biases.

The show is way more than a thriller--although it could stand tall if it were just that. It continues to subtly examine the effects their high-risk and dangerous jobs have on the brave special ops soldiers fighting evil in the world.

Despite some flaws, Broadchurch is beautifully filmed, sharply directed and intensely acted.

Please Like Me, unlike the much-praised millennial comedy "Girls," feels unpretentious and natural with fully-realized characters rooted in reality.

The show had all of the potential of "Idol," but Fox blew it by forgetting these words of wisdom: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. [15 Aug 2005]

"CSI: NY" is just as good as the original "CSI" and its first spin-off "CSI: Miami." ... Yes, the writing is a little weak, but the atypical crimes and the fascinating technology make the show extremely addictive. [24 Sep 2004]

It's epic, hilarious and totally tasteless.

The premise is fascinating enough to keep viewers' attention, if only to see what numbers Charlie will spin next. But some kinks need to be worked out before "Numb3rs" will add up.

True Blood still entertains with crackling dialogue and about half its plotlines, but it's starting to feel a little long in the fang.

[King & Maxwell] will live and die on the casting--because everything else about it feels as stale and standard as week-old white bread.

Both believable and appealing as the hard-bitten homicide investigator, Lehman provides the only real motive for tuning in.

You're likely to understand Fox's hesitation with The Goodwin Games after seeing the premiere, which introduces the characters and the premise, but with only a few laughs.

[A] stinker of a family sitcom.

These final episodes overflow with love, compassion and one lesson we all can take to heart: Cathy lived.

It's a powerful, emotionally engaging character study.

While well acted and artfully shot, it suffers from message movie traps.

Much of the writing here is dreadful; scenes go nowhere while thinly developed characters pop in and out of the action--although there is little action early on.

Not only is the production harmed by its overloaded pilot and just fleeting moments of originality, its visual effects and alien makeup design are wildly inconsistent. Despite all this, Defiance grew on me the more I watched.

The mystical mumbo jumbo nearly derails the proceedings, but Goyer reins in the hookum in favor of frolicking adventure that's more fun than fact.

Unlike Season 5's two-hour premiere, which easily could have been edited to half its length, every minute of Sunday's episode feels necessary, checking in with all our favorite players and dancing with Weiner's favorite theme, death.

In seriously exploring what drives people to kill, Hannibal serves up a meal too heavy to enjoy each week.

Despite its historic gravitas and scrupulous attention to period detail, Spies of Warsaw never really ignites.

As Sarah makes one shocking discovery after another, Orphan Black weaves an increasingly intricate, suspenseful tale.

Mamet and his actors have created a fascinating character study that puts our notions of prejudice, celebrity, media and justice in the spotlight.

Like "Psycho," it offers a deliciously scary stew of unexpected twists, murder and mind games.

The good news is Vikings improves with each episode, slowly building its fascinating characters and discovering its ultimately absorbing tale.

Psych still finds new and wonderful ways to amuse and delight fans.

Sparks fly, parts break off, hydraulic fluid sprays. At least the episode ends with 10 minutes of awesome.

Despite fine acting from Cumberbatch and especially Hall and rare moments of comic relief, this adaptation of Ford Madox Ford's novels feels heavy and suffocating.

As fascinating as the minutiae are, fine work by the cast makes me wish this had been a fully scripted miniseries.

The HBO special comes off more as another managed attempt to forge the legend of Queen B.

[Todd Ray's] passion for the peculiar is praiseworthy, and erases any misgivings that the venture is exploitation at its most blatant. Still it's not that easy to watch a guy called Morgue stick a hook in his nose until it comes out his mouth.

It's not always pretty or easy to watch, but Southland remains an outstanding hour of appointment TV.

The quirky campus comedy is as clever and edgy as ever.

The addition of Chicago native Hudson is a masterstroke, but with all that other melodrama, Smash remains a hit-or-miss proposition for me.

The M&Ms are brutal and might have set Monday Mornings apart as a psychological examination of regret and human error. But in the three episodes sent for review, producers David E. Kelley and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta (adapting this from his 2012 novel) instead overdose on the same sappy storylines we've seen before.

[An] exciting but frustrating spy thriller from former CIA employee and writer-executive producer Joe Weisberg, skillfully captures the anxiety of the age.

Dallas is just as superbly soapy as ever, but you have to wonder whether the show can survive without its legendary star.

He's funny and totally down to earth, which makes him an engaging host and guide for the eight-episode series.

[Purefoy's and Bacon's] performances--and scenes that focus on Carroll's killer minions that I won't talk about lest I spoil things for readers--are the strongest parts of the series and overshadow the weaknesses. Those include numerous plot holes and some sketchy logic, plus Williamson's annoying habit of beating us over the head with the Poe references.

While "Copper" took some time to get into a groove, Ripper Street is riveting from the first cry of murder.

While Prosecuting Casey Anthony does a decent job of re-creating the trial and media frenzy surrounding it, it fails to offer theories as to why the jury didn't convict her of murder.

Legit is legitimately and simultaneously raunchy, sweet and funny.

Exec producers Paul Abbott and John Wells deliver dark humor, a full heart and a real desire to illustrate--no matter how outlandishly--just how difficult it is for impoverished families to make ends meet.

Liz & Dick is, simply, a joke.

This is history lite, to be sure, but it's probably a lot livelier than your sixth-grade history class was.

The movie holds these men and women up as heroes, but it makes them rather bland cardboard cutouts.

Hunted is an intriguing and rewarding puzzle worth (trying) to solve.

It's truly troubling to watch as helpless, restrained patients are treated against their wills. Yet despite mumbling over and over during the first episode, "I'm done with this already," I had to see the second.

Despite the familiarities, the cheerfulness of this group helps the show overcome its predictability and other faults.

While Mazzara has amped up the action, he doesn't skimp on the angst.

"Law & Order" mastermind Dick Wolf doesn't blaze any new trails with his latest effort, but at least he's getting out of the courtroom and precinct house.

Arrow landed in my list of Top 5 pilots of the season, and I hope future episodes are as enthralling and well-made.

[Show creator Callie Khouri] has created rich histories for each of her compelling characters. The actors give nuanced performances that make their characters more than one-dimensional cliches.