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. While it might seem awfully bleak, there’s humor too, including a four-legged troublemaker locked up at the jail. It’s a series that’s hard to resist.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. You never quite know where “Sunny” is heading and that’s a good thing. The series leaves the door wide open for a Season 2 and I’d gladly walk through it.
  5. 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.
  6. There are obvious parallels to today’s bizarro political landscape and its annoying, blustery players, and the topicality of that adds spice to “Sausage Party: Foodtopia.” But more than anything, it’s the series’ oh-they-didn’t-just-go-there naughtiness, terrific vocal cast and ridiculous situations that make you laugh uncontrollably.
  7. “Girlfriend” is hardly high art, but it is an outright gas.
  8. Of course, anyone with a low tolerance for sugary sweet, sometimes sticky sentimentality would want to suck on a pack of lemons afterwards. For others, this is pure comfort and joy.
  9. It’s cheeky, irresistible and undemanding from start to finish. Hopefully, there will be a Season 2.
  10. Toss in an invitation to engage in a threesome, and this racier season, which, of course, is resplendent with gorgeous costumes, period details and classical-contemporary music, is just as much of a great escape from wretched reality as, says, a corker of a romance novel.
  11. “Running Point” is far from perfect but it still has Hudson and she’s sinking three pointers every time.
  12. Two theatrical films (both received poor reviews and not the blessing of Riordan) preceded this impressive eight-episode spectacle, which wields a Riordan-approved (he executive produced) Midas touch that’ll appeal to kids and Bullfinch-loving adults.
  13. That’s a lot of characters to keep track of, and while things bounce around like a “Ben-Hur” chariot, the series keeps you mightily entertained — even in its most ridiculous moments.
  14. Series creator Rachel Bennette keeps it pithy, but it really comes to life whenever Rhys appears on the scene; his character is far more interesting than any other and reminds us of what a tragedy it was that “Perry Mason” received the ax from HBO.
  15. Season 2 rebounds and embraces its kitschy self and is all the better for it. Burnett finally gets her chance to shine (and speak — first season she was mum).
  16. “Hotel Costeira” balances the beauty of the Amalfi Coast with often humorous but compelling plots and subplots — a dreamy mix indeed.
  17. “Murder Before Evensong” has just enough edge — including a zinger of a finale — to keep us hooked.
  18. The actors enlisted to play the lengthy list of suspects are a treat. “Moonflower Murders” is pure comfort food for the mystery lover, and holds true to the Christie spirit.
  19. Showrunner Akiva Goldsman takes full advantage of the 1979 setting and fashions a successful psychological thriller filled with good performances and taut direction. But this series belongs to Holland and he’s shattering to behold. His emotionally staggering performances takes “The Crowded Room” to a whole new level.
  20. It didn’t need to be 10 episodes. A tighter framework would have turned up the heat and made it less of a slow burner. But Chau and Basso make it worthwhile.
  21. Prime’s eight-episode thriller from creator Ben Winter takes a creepy premise and makes it violent and watchable, even if the plot does doughnuts around logic. What saves it is that Hodge and Winters allow novelist James Patterson’s well-known character to be more of an anguished soul than the actors who previously portrayed him.
  22. Netflix’s eight-episode black comedy series doesn’t grab you with the audaciousness of “Dead to Me” and it doesn’t always realize the full potential of its characters, but does it ever have one killer cast and an intriguing premise that takes a good twist near the end.
  23. “Butterfly” interjects a wee bit of dark humor that works and features some risky moves in its final episode. If it embraces that dark side more, it would give the series more edge and would give it more kick. As is, it’s a middling watch with a good performance from Kim.
  24. The result is a compelling if not overly deep expose on a series that has run its course, thankfully for the health and well being of all.
  25. 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.
  26. Throw in grandiose crime scenes with those biblical implications and a bubbling cauldron in the desert and you have another bizarre guilty pleasure that taps into our dark sides and keeps us watching.
  27. An improved second season patches up a few rough edges in Netflix’s enjoyable spy romp, and does so by repositioning its jocular, off-the-cuff spirit in mostly a new setting, South Korea.
  28. “The Brothers Sun” does ramble on, but when Yeoh and Chien bust out those fancy moves and gather around the family table with Song Li, its pure action/drama magic.
  29. While the show’s languid pace in the first few episodes might test your patience, prepare to get drawn in as this hot-potato case reflects the tenor and the racism of the times, and is far more gnarly than originally thought.
  30. The story line could use some tightening, but what works well, and best, about Apple TV+’s easygoing six-part series are its three generation of actors: Eva Longoria (also an executive producer), Carmen Maura and Victoria Bazua.

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