The Mercury News' Scores

  • TV
For 252 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 79% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 20% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 10.3 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 236
  2. Negative: 0 out of 236
236 tv reviews
  1. Phongam plays off Jittri’s steam-rolling ambition to electrifying results in a rather addictive Thai thriller series that throws a lot of story at ya.
  2. For the third season, lead showrunner Rolin Jones pulls off a hell of a hat trick and puts a lot onto the chiseled shoulders of Sam Reid, reprising his role as the sexy, witty bloodsucker Lestat de Lioncourt. Good news: Reid is electrifying and looks, acts and struts around like a legit rock star from the Bowie and Jagger age.
  3. A breathless experience, a shattering new impression that repurposes what came before and strives to do something similar yet different. Is it better than either film? In some ways.
  4. Each of its 25-minute-or-so episodes mine comedy gold and will make you shoot water out of your nose at least once. But underneath its potty-mouthed humor, it’s sweet, accentuating how true-blue friendships can help each other survive the calamities of the dating and mating scene.
  5. It’s a big improvement from Season 1 and is on its way to establishing itself as a contemporary “Friends,” only with better scenery.
  6. Is it as good as “Money Heist”? No. But that doesn’t mean this melodramatic charmer that dips in and out of the love troubles of its characters isn’t worth watching.
  7. As is, “Punisher” is pure grindhouse fare with more grunts and groans than dialogue; it’ll make you long for something with more meat on its bones.
  8. Amateur sleuthing takes Paula to unexpected places, leading to a denouement that doesn’t entirely tie everything up but makes us crave a second season so we could spend more quality time with a flawed, likeable character you can’t help but fall in love with.
  9. The supernatural element here is snicker-worthy scary. But where “The Boroughs” sizzles is in its May-December romance between Renee — played with such appeal and zest by Davis — and helpful new security guard Paz (San Francisco native and dreamboat Carlos Miranda). Their interplay sparks the kind of chemistry most romantic comedies beg for and gives Miranda a part that will melt hearts and turn him into a breakout star.
  10. 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.
  11. A promising start of what could well find John Creasy (Abdul-Mateen) reprising his role as the PTSDing loner.
  12. 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.
  13. “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.
  14. “Beef Season 2” will invariably be compared to Season 1, and while it’s not quite there it’s in the same neighborhood.
  15. One of Apple TV’s best series of the year.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. 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.
  26. “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.
  27. 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.
  28. 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.
  29. 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.
  30. 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.

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