The show takes the right risk in affording Lucy specificity as a character, and therefore a defined personality that can measure up to the wacky mayhem of the other weirdos she meets. The show’s clearly committed to being the definitive Fallout adaptation, a love letter to fans, no question, while still opening the vault door to welcome in just about everyone else brave enough to step inside.

Heels is an entertaining and worthwhile watch for wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans alike. While the show’s in-ring segments are pretty cool, the show’s biggest sell is the prickly but tight-knit relationship between the Spade brothers, who have very different dreams but remain entwined because of the family business.

Rich with intriguing characters and armed with a breezy comedic tone, the campus comedy from first-time showrunner Amanda Peet is a smart, low-key charmer that sneaks up on you.

The acting is tremendous across the board, as is the directing. Quiet and meditative throughout, China Girl is gorgeously photographed.

Once the RESET button is hit, it’s just Eric McCormack (Will), Debra Messing (Grace), Megan Mullally (Karen) and Sean Hayes (Jack), pros at the top of their game, absolutely killing it.

This is a revival with real purpose — and, for the most part, the one fans have been hoping for ever since Lazlo Bane's "Superman" last kicked off an episode of "Scrubs." Yes, the original theme song is back. But more importantly, so is the heart.

Ultimately, while Season 5’s opening episodes benefit greatly from Dunham’s decision to unite the ladies, Girls‘ greatest joy remains its Ginsu-like sharpness for skewering its twentysomethings’ misguided sense of self-importance and self-entitlement. Well, that and its guffaw-inducing dialogue.

If The Bear’s previous season was a letdown, Season 4 is a triumphant return to form, with raw emotion and beautiful performances.

It’s nice to spend more time with Apple TV+’s Bad Sisters, but Season 2 stretches their story well beyond its natural limits.

All told, Discovery still has some storytelling kinks to work out with the Klingons, and all the breathless action in the first two episodes didn’t leave a ton of room for character development beyond Burnham. But the seeds for a compelling series are definitely there--and, best of all, it feels like Star Trek.

A gaudy and campy docudrama sung in the key of Ryan Murphy (though Murphy isn’t involved in this production), Clipped bites off far more than it can chew. It’s part underdog sports drama, part overheated soap opera and part overly broad cultural satire… none of which are entirely successful.

What’s fascinating--and disappointing--about Confirmation is that we somehow manage to learn more about Hill in the recreation of scenes that are essentially dramatic re-enactments of C-Span clips you can watch right now on YouTube. That leaves about an hour and a half of bloodless storytelling that ping-pongs from law offices to congressional corridors to Thomas’ living room.

Overall, Season 4 is a truly mixed bag, evenly split between gems and duds.

Apple TV+’s WWII epic Masters of the Air is gorgeously filmed but dull, with a distinct lack of narrative urgency.

High Potential works on the strength of Olson’s joyful performance. It’s still a network procedural, at the end of the day, but it’s smart and funny

The Penguin is a fairly straightforward yet involving mobster story powered by Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti’s terrific performances.

Mainly what you’ll be doing when you’ve finished your binge is trying to catch your breath (the finale is epic with a capital E, P, I and C), drying your eyes (it’ll also give you feels that you never even knew were feels) and wondering whether you’ll remain on the edge of your seat all the way until Season 4.

All the trite talk of nerds and mean girls feels like it’s from a forgettable teen soap. But the foundation of Cobra Kai is solid: Not only does it deliver on the ’80s retro fun we expect--yes, Johnny and Daniel do face off across a karate mat once again--but it goes beyond that, forcing us to grapple with exactly why we want to see Johnny and Daniel face off again so badly.

The Colin episodes are excellent, but the others lag behind to varying degrees, and Brooke’s own self-examination doesn’t quite gel, despite Aduba’s best efforts.

It’s safe to say that Season 3 improves on that mess [Vince Vaughn’s Season 2 performance], but it still registers as a mild disappointment, all things considered.

The Old Man seems to be shooting for something tense and riveting like Homeland or The Americans, but it doesn’t deliver the depth or nuance needed to bring us along for the ride.

Peacock’s The Day of the Jackal is a top-notch thriller, with dazzling action sequences and smart storytelling.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is a feel-good show that dutifully honors the past, doesn’t reinvent the wheel, and delivers the comforting optimism we’re all craving right now.

While it’s not entirely successful, the directing team’s approach is certainly skillful, and McMillions is definitely a fun watch.

Michael Cudlitz has a few nice moments as gruff but tenderhearted dad Mike, but ultimately, the show isn’t funny or heartwarming enough to overcome how familiar it feels.

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series The Rings of Power is worth the wait: a grandly ambitious epic with stunning visuals.

It’s an instantly gripping premise (previously mined by Battlestar Galactica), but a tricky one to pull off, and Designated Survivor stumbles a bit in the execution.

The fatal flaw here may actually be the hour-long format: Get Shorty could maybe work as a rapid-fire half-hour comedy, but at 60 minutes each, the episodes feel bloated and sluggish as they drag their feet getting to the good stuff.

If you stick with the show, a sorta Law & Order: Forensic Linguistics, you’ll find that, OK, at times, it’s a little heavy-handed. ... Bettany is so compelling, in fact, that you’ll wish we got more of him sooner. Ditto Jane Lynch, who does fine, subtle work as Attorney General Janet Reno.

Garland’s singular vision is in full effect — Devs contains some of the most stunning imagery I’ve seen on TV in recent years — but unfortunately, the story gets stuck at the starting gate, bogged down by dense tech jargon and a frustratingly cryptic conspiracy plot.

Though it sometimes clings a little too tightly to sensibilities of seasons past, "Stranger Things" Season 5A is a rewarding, tightly paced showing that's worth the extra-long wait.

The teen dynamics are a little familiar at times, but the revival dares to tackle class disparity and white privilege while playfully mocking the original’s consequence-free low stakes. It still has heartfelt inspirational speeches… but it makes fun of them at the same time.

The Sinner does have a nicely lyrical visual style: It’s shot with a keen eye for detail, with an appropriately gloomy, unsettling musical score. But strangely, the more we learn about Cora’s complicated past, the less interesting her story becomes. The answers we do get are either too pat--the flashbacks to her childhood, with a young Cora being tormented by her fanatically religious mother, are painfully overwrought-- or they’re simply erased by the latest plot twists.

It never goes as hard or gets as dark as, say, BoJack did… but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, either. The lighter touch makes it an easier watch, and it does deliver more laughs per minute than most anything out there these days. A TV comedy that’s actually funny — what will they think of next?

Vinyl may hit one or two questionable notes in its first five episodes, but fueled by a beautifully realized sense of place and Cannavale’s certain-to-be-Emmy-nominated performance, it’s definitely worth a spin.

They need a strong villain to play off of, though, and generically mean rich girl Alexandra Cabot (Camille Hyde) doesn’t quite cut it. I found myself wishing for more screentime for The Other Two‘s Heléne York, who plays Katy’s bitchy coworker Amanda. She’s sharp enough to provide a worthy foil for Katy, at least… but in the world of Katy Keene, it seems, any and all sharp edges have been rounded off to a safe dullness.

It’s an incredibly entertaining dual performance that carries Living With Yourself… even when the show’s initial spark begins to fade.

The final product is something that stands as well on its own as it does as a continuation of Ron Howard’s classic film.

The hour is stylishly directed by Adam Wingard (V/H/S). But there just isn’t much here that we--or at least I--haven’t seen before.

I do appreciate the effort to highlight some of the stories the film didn’t tell. But the fun is conspicuously missing, and the muddled and labored end result is a far cry from the movie that inspired it.

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, a new talk show for Netflix that puts the emphasis back on “talk.” ... The conversation with Obama, while mostly dense, was not without moments of levity.

Gaslit is a wickedly entertaining and irreverent look at an infamous slice of American history that none of these characters are particularly proud to be a part of.

Peacemaker, if you can stomach the title character’s lunkheaded views (and temporarily forgive if not forget his actions in The Suicide Squad), is a lot of James Gunn fun.

There are also moments you’ll find yourself wishing Goldberg and Katims had trimmed away some of the less vital elements of their dense tale and cleared a path toward higher stakes and greater suspense. ... Still, The Path benefits greatly from the way it takes us into a murky world and repeatedly makes us question how we feel about its protagonists.

There are a few genuinely poignant moments scattered through Disclaimer’s run, but taken as a whole, it’s a rough watch, putting its characters through the wringer and wallowing in overheated melodrama with lots of wailing and crying.

Left with mostly just his voice to act with, Pascal gives Mando some hints of snarkiness, if not humor; by and large, he comes off as a business-first ballbuster. (And truth be told, no one wants a quippy Mandalorian.) Weathers and Herzog fit comfortably into this world, in their brief intros, and it’d be great to see more of Nolte’s Kuiil.

By the time Episode 5 rolls around, with the great Parker Posey guest-starring as a kooky artist looking to unload her cheating husband’s mega valuable record collection, High Fidelity has established a funky, unassuming charm all its own. It’s kind of like your favorite local dive bar: nothing too flashy, but a reliable combination of fun people, a killer jukebox and good vibes.

In short, unless you’re for some reason dying for a reinvention of the wheel, you’re gonna love this. It’s suspenseful, exciting, funny and scary as hell.

If you can get past the lack of originality--and lines like “We have to be more pure than the Virgin Mary before her first period”--Billions does offer a nasty but fun escape into a world that brings to life the title of the Notorious B.I.G.’s old hit, “Mo Money, Mo Problems.”

How much you enjoy Roseanne‘s return will probably depend a great deal on how well you’re able to overlook that Trump Plaza-sized continuity gaffe. I largely managed to do that, which speaks volumes about the strength of these new episodes (only two of which I’ve seen). The cast brought its “A” game.

Moon Knight remains wonderfully unpredictable every step of the way.

Sure, a couple of subplots--one involving Will and Katie’s teenage son getting involved in a black-market operation, and another hinting at a romance for Katie’s sister (The Mentalist‘s Amanda Righetti)--feel a little extraneous at the moment, but enigmatic glimpses of “Factory” indoctrination promise that Colony won’t run out of ideas anytime soon.

Lena Dunham’s Netflix rom-com Too Much has a certain charm and a great lead performance, but its central romance is too shaky to sustain it.

The result is an inspired mix of Beetlejuice and The Money Pit, with a spooky, goofy energy that isn’t remotely like anything else on broadcast TV...The chorus of ghosts is a comedic masterstroke.

Little Fires Everywhere, I realized, must be what watching Big Little Lies is like for people who don’t like Big Little Lies. In my eyes, though, that show managed to find a way to elevate this kind of soapy, pulpy material into something great. Little Fires Everywhere, sadly, does not.

Hulu’s wildly ambitious Paradise might bite off more than it can chew, but it’s an entertaining thriller with serious emotional heft.

Unfortunately, The Detour too often confuses the obvious for the outrageous, and mistakes hacky-ness for hilarity.

After three-and-a-half hours of action, The Get Down‘s tone still seems to be a work in progress--not that there’s anything inherently wrong with a “hey, there’s even a kitchen sink!” melding of genres. The good news is that Ezekiel’s poetry and Mylene’s pipes are so undeniable, you’ll relate to the former’s optimistic English teacher (Treme’s luminous Yolonda Ross).

Though it doesn’t take as many bold chances as I’d hoped it would, Love, Victor does still possess an undeniable charm.

[A] little bit of bloat hardly slows down a slick production that, while transporting us back in time, stakes Hulu’s claim as a serious streaming player of the future.

Despite a deliberate pace and narrow scope, HBO’s House of the Dragon proves itself a worthy successor to Game of Thrones.

Ahsoka avoids the excessive cameos and contrived dot-connecting of other, lesser Star Wars shows, focusing instead on what makes this franchise so much fun — its characters.

Despite some nice touches and performances, Kidding gets stuck somewhere between comedy and drama, and isn’t entirely successful at either.

It bites off more than it can chew by taking on too many characters. We follow more than a dozen characters through a flurry of flashbacks and strange psychological detours, explaining how this parade of damaged men came to be so damaged. (It’s ten episodes, but it could’ve easily be six, or even four.) Its dynamic style and the intriguing personalities involved help it rise above all of that, though.

While it’s not always easy to watch--and can go for long stretches without a real laugh--Baskets elevates itself by showing it’s interested in more than just clowning around.

The Gilded Age is a feast for the eyes, and its aesthetic pleasures are undeniable — but those are the only pleasures to be found here.

HBO’s reboot somehow feels vitally current, with richly drawn characters, gorgeous visuals, a genuinely compelling central mystery and another terrific lead performance from star Matthew Rhys.

The Young Pope feels more like an eccentric foreign film than a TV series. Except it is a TV series--and little quirks that might seem charming in a 90-minute movie can begin to grate across several episodes.

Rockwell and Williams are shoo-ins for Emmy nominations this summer, it’s true, but the material they’re given here never quite rises to meet their level.

Monarch’s story does get a little dense at times with lots of scientific lingo being thrown around, leaving us lost in the weeds. Plus, I have to admit my eyes glazed over with all the talk about the shadowy corporation called Monarch that secretly monitors the beasts. But Russell’s natural charm and sly sense of humor go a long way towards cutting through all that and making the whole thing work.

DC’s Stargirl gets off to a rousing, high-flying start, then loses some momentum when subsequent episodes open with deep-diving, Titans-style, -centric flashbacks. But by Episode 4, the stage is set for what is both DC Universe’s and The CW’s lightest, brightest, family-friendliest live-action superhero show yet.

The Breakfast Club meets X-Men with a splash of Stranger Things thrown in, Marvel’s Runaways is the richest, best-realized Marvel drama of the new TV season.

It’s a real high-wire act, blending teen soap, a murder mystery, biting humor and a beloved franchise. But Aguirre-Sacasa and uber-producer Greg Berlanti (who, with NBC’s Blindspot and The CW’s superhero lineup, seemingly has the magic touch these days) manage it all in surprisingly nimble fashion.

Euphoria is admittedly better at establishing a distinctive mood and style than at telling a story, at least early on. ... But Euphoria‘s exhilarating style and achingly incisive observations more than make up for any storytelling flaws it might have.

It was a mostly safe, by-the-numbers affair that was woefully short on buzzy watercooler moments.

Apple TV+’s Sugar is a stylish throwback to classic film noir, with a compelling turn from star Colin Farrell.

Jen’s She-Hulk origin story, which unspools in the first episode, gets a bit repetitive — another case of an unwitting someone not wanting the gift of superpowers — but Maslany and Ruffalo enjoy a wonderful sibling-like banter that transcends the VFX they’re often hidden under. Once Jen accepts her duality, things get much more zippy and She-Hulk transforms into “Lawyer Show!”

he show allows these women to be substantially flawed and messy, and it resists the urge to get too mopey and maudlin. Plus, their banter is fun and snappy, in the vein of Coupe’s Happy Endings. ... The three leads have excellent chemistry right off the bat, too.

"Star Trek" tries to get a fresh start with "Starfleet Academy," but it's dogged by the same pitfalls that have hampered recent "Trek."

Daryl Dixon is by no means perfect. There are some murky motivations, eyebrow-raising coincidences, and here and there dialogue that is more mystifying than it can possibly have been intended to be. .... Despite my quibbles, I never got to an installment that made me reluctant to watch the one after it.

In lieu of an actual story, we’re treated to a constant stream of wink-wink references to jokes from past seasons. ... We do get more Bluth family interaction this season, but the cast members mostly look older and worn down... and not in a funny way.

SNL alum Taran Killam is a riot as Will, a hopelessly dorky single dad who gets taken in by a battle-tested clique of single parents who want to shake him out of his world’s-best-dad funk. The kids are cute, the one-liners have plenty of zing and the cast feels like a well-oiled ensemble already.

It’s an odd blend of tones that doesn’t always work, but the smart, spiky humor and standout performances from stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini combine to make it a satisfyingly offbeat binge.

It all unfolds along predictably miserable lines, and confirms that there’s not really ten episodes’ worth of story here to tell. A Teacher is just an uncomfortable, frustrating viewing experience, and not in the ways it’s meant to be.

It sets out to be the comprehensive historical record of gay rights in America, but its unwieldy structure and clumsy writing make it more of a footnote.

Donald Glover proves he can do horror too with Swarm, anchored by a dazzling lead performance from Dominique Fishback.

Really, it looks like all of the actors are having a blast filming Zoey‘s big musical numbers... but that fun never fully translates to us at home.

Steinfeld is excellent as Emily, armed with a delightful, Wednesday Addams-like morbid streak. (When her sister compliments the “lovely funeral” they just attended, Emily sniffs: “Mine will be better.”) Of all of Apple’s new shows, this one actually made me want to watch a second episode, and has the kind of breakout potential that a new streaming service desperately needs.

If this were just a revenge thriller, or just a beauty-standards takedown, it might find its groove--but as is, Dietland is just too bloated to add to your DVR plate.

With too many new characters and not enough family togetherness, Hulu's "Malcolm in the Middle" revival can't recreate the anarchic thrill of the original.

Until Jack Ryan finds a way to make its drama as compelling as its action scenes, it’ll go down as a mission not quite accomplished.

The early episodes are a little scattered, plot-wise, trying to juggle a multitude of narratives across several timelines, and it takes a while for the storytelling to find its footing. But the Henry Deaver and Skarsgård threads are strong throughout, and the more you learn about this town, the richer and more enthralling the story becomes.

Sirens tries to follow in The White Lotus’ footsteps with soapy drama in a luxury setting, but the satire falls flat, and the tone is hopelessly jumbled.

The whole thing has decent energy, and boasts enough interesting visual flourishes that it’s tempting to let it slide by purely on style points. But it’s hard to locate the humanity buried underneath all this style. Like fellow oddballs Claws and On Becoming a God in Central Florida, Briarpatch tries to get by solely on quirk at times — but, sadly, man cannot live on quirk alone.

Sorry, Miley, but your Black Mirror is the weakest of the bunch. [C-]... The twist [in "Striking Vipers"]is genuinely shocking and opens up a number of intriguing storytelling avenues, and the acting is solid. ... But after the initial shock wears off, the episode just kind of plods along, and the ending feels too easy for such a complicated premise. [B] ... ["Smithereens"] is Scott’s episode from start to finish: a harrowing portrait of a man pushed firmly and irretrievably over the edge. [A-]

A show like this sinks or swims on the lead performance, though, and Gilchrist (who previously played gay son Marshall on United States of Tara) makes the whole thing work as Sam. ... Gilchrist’s performance is so strong, in fact, that Atypical suffers a bit whenever Sam’s off-screen.

The Politician provides plenty of laughs and on-target jabs at our current political moment — but it’s the battered yet still-beating heart found in Platt’s performance that ultimately has us pulling the lever for this one.

The four episodes I’ve seen have some narrative kinks to work out, to be sure, but the filmmaking is truly stunning at times, and it manages to capture an energy and a beauty that more polished series can only dream of.