The Mercury News' Scores

  • TV
For 243 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 79% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 19% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 10.5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average TV Show review score: 78
Highest review score: 100 Half Man
Lowest review score: 37 Hello Tomorrow!: Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Mixed: 0 out of 228
  2. Negative: 0 out of 228
228 tv reviews
  1. Showrunner Joe Barton’s production isn’t in the same leagues, but it’s good enough thanks to the dedication of its two leads — Paul (“Wandavision”) Bettany as the conniving and cruelly envious Salieri and Will (“The White Lotus” season 2) Sharpe as the bad boy 18th century groundbreaking composer with daddy issues.
  2. A promising start of what could well find John Creasy (Abdul-Mateen) reprising his role as the PTSDing loner.
  3. Sometimes it goes a little overboard with its aesthetics. So be it. Director Marc Munden’s hour-long episodes do become more disturbing (just like the book) and he draws impressive performances from a young cast.
  4. “Half Man,” as you probably can guess, is a bit of an endurance test. But it has a storytelling mightiness and an acting fury you can’t deny or ignore. It wrings you out, and leaves you in awe of all involved.
  5. “Beef Season 2” will invariably be compared to Season 1, and while it’s not quite there it’s in the same neighborhood.
  6. One of Apple TV’s best series of the year.
  7. Each episode runs less than 25 minutes and is instantly bingeable. It’s a well-made entry, better than some of the live-action films.
  8. The writing, casting and acting add up to a show that is so good you’ll be inclined to give it multiple viewings. There’s no word yet on Netflix ordering a follow-up season; let’s hope that happens.
  9. It’s a lot to stuff into one series and sometimes “The Audacity” does suffer from trying to do too much. But what it does accomplish is to deliver a solid right hook to the tech world and that hit proves to be acerbic, relevant and unbelievably on target, as are the performances from Magnussen and Goldberg.
  10. Nesbø realizes the importance of showing all the shading of a character he obviously feels strongly for, and that comes through in the poignant scenes between Harry and his lover’s (Pia Tjelta) son Oleg (Maxime Baune Bochud) who feels a strong connection to Harry. It is those decisions that elevate this series above traditional mystery fare and makes us hope that this team will reunite to adapt more of Nesbø’s addictive novels.
  11. Riz Ahmed’s maverick Prime series oscillates from boldness to hilarity — sometimes in the same instance — throughout all six of its under-25-minute episodes. It’s that potent balance that makes it one of the smartest and best streaming shows you’ll watch this year.
  12. What makes season 2 stand out is that showrunner Dario Scardapane’s hard-boiled superhero thriller refuses to pluck at the same dramatics notes strummed in season 1. Instead it arrives, to a story destination that challenges and upends expectations while showing how revenge can have its limits.
  13. She [showrunner/executive producer Haley Z. Boston] makes the anxiety-ridden upcoming nuptials of the doubting Rachel (Camila Morrone) and the devoted Nicky (Adam DiMarco) one of the most malevolent and surreal events of the streaming season.
  14. Creator Annie Weisman does know how to keep the pot boiling, but the material, based on a novel, seems obvious and struggles to figure out what it wants to accomplish.
  15. This is an extra-busy series that hopscotches too often. Carrel and company are all stellar and worth crowing about but plucking out a few side stories might well make this a smoother, more tonally consistent show.
  16. As you probably guessed, “Sunny Nights” switches from chuckles to beatings (a waterboarding scene goes on much too long) and even bloody deaths. The disparate parts create a gumbo filled with so many ingredients that it keeps us surprised and discombobulated.
  17. “Vladimir” works because it is indeed funny and sexy but also because it has fully developed, complicated characters — the too-smart-for-their-own-good sort that are having a hell of a time sorting out their lives.
  18. While it fails to approach the same comedy and writing heights of those aforementioned series [“Only Murders in the Building” and “Schitt’s Creek”], creators Michael Hoffman and Bob Bob Martin’s champagne-bubbly sendup of the stage world earns positive notices mostly due to its cast.
  19. This is a grand adventure and cracking good mystery awash with gaslighting, brawls, murders, red herrings and a secret society. Better yet, it provides a better understanding of how the past and Sherlock’s dysfunctional parents (played by Natasha McElhone and Joseph Fiennes — Hero’s actual uncle) and his ardently disappointed brother Mycroft (Max Irons) ushered in Sherlock’s anxiety and neuroses.
  20. As far as guilty pleasures go, Prime Video’s cockamamie but sexy mystery series serves its purpose. So good on that. But be ready to titter away at its unbelievable twists and turns. They’re ridiculous but fun.
  21. Who’s responsible for the buried body of a drag queen decomposing in the basement of a rundown Victorian in Louisville, Kentucky? That question keeps you watching this compelling two-episode, true crime series directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
  22. Sometimes veers toward the overstated and melodramatic. .... “Love Story” is best at showing how damaging and merciless the scrutiny can get for the rich and famous and those thrown into it all without a life vest.
  23. It’s a better and more cohesive series than Murphy’s “Grotesquerie” and slams home a harsh point — that we are all to blame when it comes to worshipping beauty.
  24. The first four episodes sew with the same pattern, and while that’s comforting, the seams are starting to fray.
  25. The ones who makes this all work are the two leads. Kingsley is a natural-born showman and channels legendary thespian vibes with every line he delivers, while Abdul-Matten II makes you feel the neuroses rooted in the psyche of his trying-too-hard character, who feels like an imposter.
  26. Their back-and-forth gives the series the pluck it lacks elsewhere. Should there should be a second season of “Seven Dials, it would be best to dial up more of that Bundle-Battle repartee and formulate a better, more convincing mystery that’s not overly reliant on coincidences and preposterous.
  27. The eventual big reveal leaves you with more questions than answers. No matter, this is a tightly wound, decent financial thriller worth a binge. It’s made all the more suspenseful for its lead characters’ honest and realistic antics.
  28. The violent series once again is breathlessly plotted, and the production details all but make you smell the stench of the mangy streets.
  29. Like its predecessor, “Hijack” is a fun escapist thrill-ride, though it does go off the rails and sticks too closely to the same playbook as Season 1 — trading air passengers for Berlin train commuters.
  30. Any mother with a newborn will feel like they’ve stepped into their worst nightmare when watching this well-done Paramount+ six part series based on Sarah Vaughan’s novel.

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