The Detroit News' Scores

  • TV
For 300 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 39% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average TV Show review score: 69
Highest review score: 100 jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy: Season 1
Lowest review score: 20 Big Brother: Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Mixed: 0 out of 221
  2. Negative: 0 out of 221
221 tv reviews
  1. "True Detective: Night Country" is best taken as a small town story, which uses a crime to peel back the region's layers of humanity, nature and corruption, to expose the depth of the darkness within.
  2. The twisted, distorted, decadent fun of "The Curse" is how much you'll recognize but won't like what you see.
  3. He's not really stretching here, he's adding to the bank of Pete Davidson characterizations he's already done. It's gotten him this far, sure. But with "Bupkis," the well has run dry.
  4. Yeun and Wong are both excellent, meeting the material and consistently finding new wrinkles, new layers, in their characters.
  5. "Swarm" plays with form the way "Atlanta" was able to completely switch styles from one episode to the next, and it finds freedom in its narrative looseness. If only it had more going on underneath its hood. ... But at least with Fishback in the driver's seat, the ride is never dull.
  6. "Poker Face" pays homage to the shows that came before it by following in their tradition and honoring their path. And it's done in the right spirit, so that it never has to call bulls--- on itself.
  7. The high production values and the series' ability to pivot its storytelling — the third episode is a lovely and quite moving distraction from the main plot — keep it fresh, even as the show's familiarities and the rudimentary bickering between characters ("you sure do ask a lot of questions!" Joel crankily remarks to Ellie, as he'd rather walk in silence) ring all sorts of bells.
  8. This is a Tim Burton production, so it looks great. But looks wouldn't matter if Jenna Ortega's deadpan wasn’t just as elastic as it needed to be — she consistently pushes outside the caricature enough to keep things lively.
  9. "The White Lotus" is still a buzz of capitalist hypocrisy, absurd indulgence, clueless privilege and mordant wit. The beautiful people have changed for the most part, but the abundant anxieties and kinks beneath their shiny surfaces are apparently universal.
  10. There’s tons of pseudo-scientific cyberpunk gobbledygook, of course, but Smith keeps things moving and pretense falls to the wayside. ... “The Peripheral” is dead center fun.
  11. Obviously "Shantaram" is your basic sprawling story set in an exotic location with an internationally diverse cast. It repeats itself, occasionally flies in the face of plausibility, and has a tendency to stagger instead of sprint. But Hunnam charges through it all, determined to bring the essentially flawed Lin to life. Ultimately he succeeds.
  12. As the show flies by, the nightly scare stories work more effectively than the lumbering haunted house stuff, and of course all of this is housed in a Young Adult world that may be a bit gory but is essentially wholesome.
  13. There’s no question Hollywood loves to look at itself and a TV show about a TV show is more than a bit indulgent. But audiences also like to look at Hollywood and “Reboot” at least manages to be witty and entertaining.
  14. "Devil" is one of Netflix’s light-horror excursions, nothing too gory or sexy. ... It’s messy TV but, really, you can’t go too wrong with devil worshipers.
  15. It’s all very efficient, well-made television, but just as it’s lacking in fun it’s lacking in fire.
  16. If you make it through the messy early episodes, “League” turns out to be a sweet show and downright wholesome in its own way.
  17. “The Sandman” stands out visually. A parade of fine actors — Joely Richardson, Charles Dance, Stephen Fry — weave in and out, with David Thewlis particularly strong as an escaped mental patient. Still, the show remains comic-book thin on character and plot conveniences are everywhere. “The Sandman” dreams of being more than it is, but it’s still pretty good.
  18. There’s no sense of depth or attachment here, all is obvious and shallow and ultimately contrived. Again: Forgettable.
  19. Hauser doesn’t set out to overwhelm. In fact, his monster is all the more scary because he’s so low key and obviously demented. But he has so much there that all else seems commonplace.
  20. Wooden self-serious streaming content at its most mediocre.
  21. “Chloe” is an intriguing tangle of lies and obsession, a well-made striptease of a show that slowly reveals all over six episodes of cringey psychological suspense. Heads don’t explode, super-heroes don’t save the day and nobody hires a hitman. Instead “Chloe” is that rarest of birds, an adult drama, albeit one stuffed with odd turns and awkward encounters.
  22. “For All Mankind” is simply one of the best things on TV. Aside from being uncomfortably prescient — the Russia/U.S. tensions induce cold shivers of recognition — it balances what might be with what is, mixing the not-all-that-fantastic with well-grounded human drama. Prepare for blast off.
  23. It’s heavily populated, extremely well cast — whoever found the chiseled Antony Starr deserves either a raise or an Emmy — and never boring. The third season has a lot of moving parts but the show wisely keeps its focus on Homelander. There are a lot of jerks here, but it’s the jerk at the top, the jerk with the most apocalyptic power (like that jerk in Russia), who’s scariest.
  24. Unfortunately, the positives are overwhelmed by so many disjointed things going on at once. For the most part it doesn’t matter that these are 20-year-olds playing 14. What matters is there’s simply too much that feels like plot fodder for a show stuffed with too many characters.
  25. The real cement here is two Oscar-winning actors painting a portrait of aging lovers staring down their eventual demise. There is no greater dilemma or darkness. And “Night Sky,” to its credit, knows and shows this.
  26. Stars Rose Leslie and Theo James have an easygoing bicker-banter chemistry that lets this fantasy rom-com slide past its many ridiculous and overtly sentimental moments. No, it’s not a show for the ages, but it works as a ray of empty-headed spring-summer sunny optimism.
  27. Kirby's nobody's girlfriend and even if she is constantly on the verge, she perseveres. Good stuff.
  28. “City” is based on a nonfiction book by Justin Fenton and somewhat weighed down by its solemn intent. It doesn’t have time for humor and it doesn’t have the space for subtlety. Too many scenes are plain explanatory and grim business simply leads to more grim business. Still, Simon has always excelled at capturing specific cultures and their contradictions.
  29. “Outer Range” is a complete mess: Senseless, pretentious, purposely obscure and wasteful.
  30. While still elaborate, feels a bit slight, tepid and drawn-out compared to the first season. For many it won’t matter — look at those gowns! But let’s be frank: Next season, turn up the heat.

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