With Horace and Pete, [Louis C.K.'s] ambitions can sometimes outrace his execution, but the commitment of his cast to a consciously old-fashioned kind of drama reminiscent of Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill makes the pilot exciting even when it’s a bit stilted.

It’s all wonderfully led by an unrecognizable Richard Dreyfuss in the leading role and Blythe Danner as his wife, Ruth.... Where Madoff falls short is in developing the man’s complex relationships with his sons, wife and those who beg him to take their money. While the narrative certainly scratches the surface, it’s not often that it delves any deeper as the writers choose instead to grandstand Dreyfuss’ performance as the leading man.

The production managed to capture the overall cheesy tone present in the original while moving through the many numbers with lightning speed. The three hours flew by quicker than expected at the outset thanks to giggle-worthy moments and fun numbers, with things really picking up in terms of overall entertainment and production value at the two-hour mark.

Sweeping and complex with a large cast of characters to delve into, The Outsiders isn’t necessarily new or gripping television, but it’s structured drama that delivers results thanks to the likes of Peter Tolan and Paul Giamatti at the helm as executive producers.

The FX limited-run series is every bit as watchable as the insanely watchable trial.

The result is a clunky hour of bad one-liners and exposition.... The narrative tightens up in Episode 2, at least, as the series settles into a Monster-of-the-Week format. That allows Duchovny and Anderson to play to their respective strengths, but it also feels like the show is marking time.

It’s frustrating to watch these four men fumble every opportunity to straighten out the mess they descend ever deeper into.... But it’s worth giving Mad Dogs a chance to prove itself to the end of season one. If the action ramps up and the bickering dies down, these dogs could have a few more miles in them.

The surrealness almost disguises the repetitive plot of returning home as a manchild. But as a series, Baskets is more bleak than amusing.

[Arthur Darvill's Rip Hunter is] definitely the best part of the show. Which is all the more aggravating when he gets sidelined for long stretches in favor of the more familiar characters.... Some things work great, though. A 1975-set bar fight involving Lotz, Miller and Purcell is quite fun, and the action in general scenes genuinely work, helping the fledgling series come together. But when the characters stand around and talk, things start to feel silly.

This sitcom’s battering ram of madcap inanity can run aground when a particular episode doesn’t have an especially memorable storyline, and perhaps Angie Tribeca caters too much to an audience in thrall to the old “Airplane!” style of so-broad-it-hurts humor. From the 1980s’ “Sledge Hammer!” to the more recent “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” smart-aleck cop comedies are nothing new. But in its minute-to-minute pleasures, Angie Tribeca is one big goofy grin of a sitcom. Season 2 can’t come quickly enough.

Subplots surrounding Green’s southern belle daughters, espionage and PTSD do little to move the series along and would’ve been better shortened or left on the cutting-room floor. That said, such distractions do little to dilute Mercy Street as the imperative Civil War narrative it truly is.

It’s Siff and Malin Ackerman, as Axe’s loyal wife (who’s like a sober Michelle Pfeiffer in “Scarface,” all sharp blonde bob and sharper tongue) who simply, by virtue of their talent, keep Billions from devolving into an exercise in white privilege and machismo, something it constantly threatens to do.

Although there’s nothing new here, per se, it’s still a solid hour of watchable drama that often plays out more like a movie than a television series.

We’ve all seen this world mined before in movies and TV programs alike. What makes Teachers stand out is the way in which all of these humorous Katies handle the trouble their offbeat and sometimes lewd and rude characters have made.

Other than presenting Kazinsky with the late holiday gift of a starring role, there’s not much else to Second Chance. The twins feel as if they’ve been grafted onto the plot from another series, while DeKay’s sole note for much of the first few episodes is pissed off. Other shows have tackled estranged fathers and sons better.

Not fun enough to be trashy and not resonant enough to make you care.... Lordy, is it silly--and worse, it lacks the wit or sharp self-awareness to own up to its campiness or help make its melodramatic elements more palatable.

The series once again attempts to pair the straight-shooter with the oddball muck-up in an attempt to allow both characters to find middle ground. In the process, hilarity ensues. Except when it doesn’t.

By the end of the first hour you’re not entirely sure what happened or who is to blame, but you’re left with an unsettling feeling that even when the truth does surface the story won’t be tied up with a neat little bow as it would be in so many other crime dramas on television.

Fantasy fare like this generally has a pretty low bar to clear and a pretty forgiving target audience, but the heavy-handed jargon, pointy elf ears and brooding self-seriousness of The Shannara Chronicles might be too much for even those fans. It doesn’t help that the characters seem to be allowed to switch from talking dour fantasy-novel heroes to bored millennials whenever the mood strikes them.

Writer and creator Julian Fellowes provides a sweet parting gift, indulging fans with closure on so many dangling storylines, while offering fiery and long-overdue exchanges between some of the most popular characters.... His ensemble of actors is equally generous, each giving such steadfast performances in these last episodes of the award-winning series.

The show is satirizing smug, middle-class white folks who resent any threat to their status quo, but the only viewpoints presented on Bordertown are those of smug, middle-class white folks and smug, middle-class liberals who resent the white folks’ resentment.

Instead of being nags or props, the female costars on this series are just as fleshed out and funny as their male counterparts, and the comedy is all the better for it.

It’s hard to hit pause on Making a Murderer once it’s rolling through the queue.

The best that can be said about The Magician thus far is that it has so many balls in the air that you’re tempted to stick with it just to see where it’s going. Even then, though, the show puts more stock in atmosphere and attitude than in distinguishing its characters or sci-fi fantasy terrain from those of comparable projects.

Smart, sincere and punctuated by four-letter obscenities in the way Burr’s stand-up routine is.

The Expanse is indeed expansive with the universe it sets up within the pilot and through the characters presented. Unfortunately though there’s so much going on in the pilot that it quickly becomes a convoluted romp through space that’s more about showcasing the wasteland that humans have become than developing characters viewers will remember, let alone invest in watching.

The miniseries’ balance between individual narratives and humanity’s collective destiny remains a bit wobbly throughout.

Longoria remains radiant. Whether a sitcom spoofing soap opera is still relevant in 2015 remains to be seen--but this one is certainly a worthy addition to your weekly viewing.