Rosenbaum has an amusing moment or two, but nothing to make anyone grin with the stereotypical wideness of the church’s gay staffer. The marginally funnier stuff occurs away from the parish.

The Jim Gaffigan Show showcases its star at his exasperated best, putting his now well-honed spin on the befuddled dad genre from which many a sitcom has supped.

Season 3, which again will have 12 episodes, shows strong signs of fully regaining its bite, passion and fury.

Rectify can be both hypnotic and heart-wrenching for viewers who have invested in these characters throughout the first two seasons. Season 1 remains the high point, though, and there doesn’t seem to be much time left to scale some of those peaks again.

It’s not a game-changer or first-rate through and through. But it is an interesting and very nicely acted look at online daters meeting for the first time.

Zoo very much spares the gore in its less than scintillating but better than lackluster opening hour.

Elliot's (Rami Malek) haunted eyes and black hoodies, coupled with a blunt, abrasive take on humankind, propel Mr. Robot through a world of deep discontent and covert villainy.

This is still a quality, provocative series that’s unlike any other and has already been renewed for Season 4. But much work needs to be done during the off-season--beginning with restoring an ominous sense of disorder and peril in a place that’s gone more than a little too soft and soapy.

An explosively funny satirical descendant that can hit home without being even slightly preachy about it. Mostly, though, have fun with both the madcap characters and the notion that one of the Pakistani demands in play is a full membership with the Augusta National Golf Club.

In Ballers [Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson] brings it in full and then makes the sale.

The overriding problem with True Detective 2 is its neck-deep wallow in debasement and self-pity.

It’s a character study first and foremost, with a sure-handed sense of time and place.

Beals’ sturdy performance is an overall plus, but Proof has a harder time selling its basic week-to-week premise.

This so far is an overall sturdy production that re-details the lives and deaths of high-powered hoods.

It’s basically another short-burst, talking heads/clip show with too much to cover and not nearly enough time to do so.

Spielberg has always had a facility for casting children and a fondness for the supernatural. In The Whispers he also gets the adult mix right in a bracingly good and shivery serial drama with much to show and tell in the first three hours.

Garner convincingly captures the ill-fated, love-craving blonde bombshell while Sarandon summons up more than a one-note character and Morgan brings DiMaggio back to prideful, brutish life.

Despite its letdown ending, oft-jumpy storytelling and extreme liberties with Manson in particular, Aquarius also leaves a mark as a chancy and difficult undertaking by a mainstream broadcast network. Duchovny is up to this task with a sturdy and watchable center-ring performance.

Viewers are advised to stay with Grace and Frankie and watch it both blossom and bear fruit. It’s not a great, game-changing series by any means. At least not yet.

By the end of Chapter Two, many viewers might well be in the mood to detour elsewhere rather than follow Houston’s plea to “follow me a little longer down this twisted, bloody road.”

Latifah and Rainey can sure sing out, though. It’s a pleasure to watch and hear them wail in a film that otherwise doesn’t quite cut it.

Wayward Pines looks as though it has the potential to rise above its false starts while grippingly spooling out truths that are “worse than anything you could even imagine.”

Screenwriter Sarah Phelps has deftly adapted Rowling’s novel into a cautionary, metaphorical tale that pulls its weight and measuredly draws one in.

Happyish has a few genuinely imaginative moments amid its many, many excesses. But in the end, it’s too much of a one-note Hell-On-Earth “Greatest Hits” album whose principal characters have the overall appeal of vinegar-drenched cotton candy.

The Messengers looks as though it has a handle on how to pull this off with some flair and identity of its own.

Buoyed by a bravura performance from Australian Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises) as prodigal son Danny Rayburn, Bloodline is an absorbing, fractious family drama that captivates despite giving away Season 1’s major development in the very first hour.

Epic in scope, basic in motivations, it will fill the next 10 Sundays with “appointment viewing” of the highest realm.

The Comedians is a decently prepared entree with just enough bursts of flavor.

Louie begins Season 5 in great and oftentimes phenomenal shape.

As galvanizing hours of television go, this isn’t Mad Men with a bang. It’s more like beginning a closing 100 meter dash somewhere in between a slow trot and a false start. But surely things will pick up.

[Ricci's] performance in the first two episodes of Lizzie Borden Chronicles is more a collection of telling looks than substantive scenes. In the early going at least, Hauser makes a stronger impression as the doggedly pursuing Siringo, who otherwise has a soft spot for the abused wife of a prosperous hotel owner.

Wolf Hall has its moments if you have the endurance to wait for them.

Weird Loners instead re-shuffles the aimless singles deck before falling well short of coming up aces.

A.D. for the most part has a fairly solid script.

It’s an ambitious, sprawling undertaking.

This is an incredible film that never releases its hold on viewers.

There also are some intriguing twists as these beats go on. One Big Happy may be entirely sitcom-y but it’s not thoroughly predictable.

CW is just a little network trying to make some noise. It makes more headway with iZombie, a “cute” but never cloying show centered on brainy brain-eaters and their present-day dilemmas.

Whatever your takeaway, the performances of Spacey and Wright remain assured and now ingrained in a series that ranks as the best body politic drama ever.

Creators Fey and Carlock instill Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with the infectious positivity of their title character, who won’t give up, no, she’ll never give up. Still, her hard knocks life starts taking its toll in later episodes, draining some of Kimmy’s ebullience and replacing it with a little petulance. The sunny side up Kimmy is much preferable.

This thing appears to be going nowhere fast. And it’s already taking way too long to get there.

It is an extraordinarily intelligent and compelling look at racial dynamics and polarities.

Tennant and Colman still command center stage, but not without considerable help from the incoming fellow thespians. Under these circumstances, It’s not a case of the more the merrier. Instead it’s an even richer recipe for a seriously dramatic series that already had an A-game in place.

On CSI: Cyber, Ryan and her team act very swiftly, oftentimes preposterously so. Computer graphics whiz and buzz. And then, just like that, another suspect is chased down and vetted by Ryan, who seemingly needs nothing more than a burp or a twitch to determine who the bad guys are and who they are not.

The five episodes I’ve seen have enough small pleasures to carry them to their finish lines. Just don’t expect to be blown away.

This is a concept that so far doesn’t lack for execution. Last Man On Earth has no chance at all to be a blockbuster in league with Fox’s new Empire. But it’s another distinctive example of what the Big Four broadcast networks should dare and do.

Phillippe and Lewis as the two principal characters are not potent enough to get the juices flowing in an unfolding crime tale that’s neither terrible nor scintillating.

A ridiculous and desperate effort to generate some buzz about its carrier, the wee little WE tv network.

It’s a solidly told whodunit with a payoff that’s worth your investment.

All involved are dedicated to the cause of making Vikings one of television’s most striking series. It’s also emerged as one of the best, evolving from a guilty pleasure at first to a first-rate tale of substance and even subtlety mixed with the cold steel of primal warfare.

Nothing about this latest re-do offers any hope for its future.

It’s well-acted while at times also being mis-directed in terms of storytelling and too many hit-over-the-head characterizations.

The screws need some tightening but the basics are in place and the cast is more than capable.

Better Call Saul looks very much as though it can stand on its own, even with occasional drop-ins from prominent Breaking Bad characters other than Mike Ehrmantraut. Jimmy/Saul’s life isn’t in jeopardy as long as he stays in the past.

Intercut with brief, unobtrusive reenactments and accompanied by a dangerous-sounding music track, The Jinx very much looks like a masterwork of the true crime genre.

Its lead characters for the most part are appealing and accessible, even if their machinations aren’t always well-oiled.

Fresh Off the Boat paddles hard in its efforts to be an amusing comedy with heart. So far, the parents--not the featured kid--are the primary reasons to watch.

It’s still an open question whether its central murder mystery can sustain a number of false leads and other mis-directions for a full 12 hours. But the resplendent panoramic visuals are a show in themselves. So the bigger your HD screen the better, with Fortitude’s overriding whodunit gradually firming its grip while those icy, snowy vistas stay strong.

Breaking Greenville is stupid fun for all, even if some of the featured players almost assuredly will bitch about being edited into cartoons of themselves.

The Americans remains one of television’s very best drama series. Still, this season so far is not up to the fly-high level of the first two.

Sons of Liberty can’t match Vikings’ intensity, ferocity and full-immersion sense of place. Instead it’s a serviceable battle cry in some instances but rather laughable in others.

What you’ll see is the best broadcast TV cop drama of the season, with a dirty-to-the-touch sleuth played to the hilt by an actor who’s very much up for this.

The first two episode of 12 Monkeys move along crisply and effectively.

One viewer’s bad taste is another’s comedy gold. And Man Seeking Woman arguably has just enough going for it to merit a further investment in its remaining eight episodes.

Girls still delivers other memorable moments, though. And not all of them are gag-inducing. Dunham has written some terrific scenes for herself, and she also rises to the occasion of acting them out. Even so, how many times can this show basically go back to square one?

So much of Togetherness hung together with a very deft blend of humor and angst. But then the angst took over, the loopiness kicked in too hard and schmaltz came charging up through the backstretch.

Empire, its flaws notwithstanding, looks as though it has the potential to be a mainstream success. It roars into view and keeps everything humming throughout its all-important first episode.

These guys know what they’re doing. And this time they’re doing it with a welcome edge in rousing, ribald times.

Those who swoon at the name Marvel are likely to be entertained anew by a short-run series that pushes all those familiar buttons before the next feature film attraction kicks in with bigger stars, bolder visuals, better battles and a tease for the next one.

For now, Season 5 is proof that Downton Abbey remains in possession of a strong pulse and story lines. It minds its manners--and its stately manors--while keeping its characters vital and vulnerable.

As holiday newcomers go, this is much better than socks and underwear from Grandma. Just don’t expect a shiny new train set.

Ascension aspires to be a cautionary tale on a grand scale. But its cardboard characters and a paint-by-the-numbers script just aren’t up to the task.

Marco Polo might best be utilized as a sedative or sleeping pill. All those dark to pitch black exteriors and interiors seem guaranteed to prompt an onset of heavy eyelids if not a complete conk-out. And if that doesn’t get you, the ponderous pace almost certainly will.

Edelstein’s pitch-perfect performance elevates Girlfriends’ Guide to one of the best new series of the season.

Its tone can be a bit preachy at times, but the problem itself is a clear and ever-present danger.

A total of nine executive producers, including Heigl and her mother, Nancy. That’s too many cooks for what turns out to be a half-baked hour of ridiculosity.

McDormand's portrayal of Olive Kitteridge is even more accomplished, in turns aggravating and affecting while always seeming just right. Jenkins is likewise superb.... This is a nuanced, slowly simmering look at bent and spindled lives molded by previous bent and spindled lives. The bright spots are there, but never glowing. Self-realization is the payoff.

Whatever its traditional trappings, The McCarthys is buoyed by Metcalf’s always solid work and Ritter’s boyish appeal amid a capable, energetic ensemble. Some of the lines are amusing and even the clinkers don’t land too hard.

Much of the performance footage is phenomenal in that respect. But in two hours time, the film could have dug deeper rather than coming to a screeching halt that almost rivals its subject’s high-pitched stage wails.

Constantine doubles down on both shape-shifting and puzzlements. Its whiz-bang-boom special effects also might serve as ample enticements for viewers who don’t much care whether anything makes any real sense.

Whatever happens, this is an interesting series and a worthy endeavor that makes terrific use of archival footage in both of the first two hours.

Marry Me runs a solid second to ABC’s black-ish in the informal competition for best new comedy series of the fall season. Episode 1 gets off to a terrifically inventive start, with Wilson and Marino teeing things up before further hitting their grooves apart from one another.

Jane the Virgin tries to walk a tightrope between comedy and poignancy. It sometimes teeters, but Rodriguez is perfectly calibrated throughout.

The Affair for now has done its job by tantalizingly baiting its hook. The solid performances by its four principals further heighten both the drama and the expectations.

Episode 2 is considerably weaker than the watchable premiere.

Freak Show looks like a beauty, with a wealth of fascinating characters and a little smattering of heart helping to balance out the grisly appointed rounds of a so far unidentified clown with a hellish half-mask.

The Flash pushes most of the right buttons with its engaging first episode. It’s alternately action-packed, character-driven and poignant, with dashes of humor here and there.

Its downward slide shows signs of leveling off by the end of Sunday’s opening two hours. Danes’ Carrie is steelier than ever, her heart hardened to near-concrete while going about the exhilarating business of eliminating terrorists no matter what the collateral damage.

This is a messy disposable diaper of a comedy series whose star plays himself without any idea of how to act or write the part.

Gracepoint may not be superior to Broadchurch, but makes its own mark as fall’s best new broadcast network drama series--even if in some ways it’s not. Tennant’s estimable talents are the driving force of both versions, with each of the surrounding casts helping to keep him on point.

Charming and disarming without yet being exceptional, NBC’s breezy A to Z nonetheless comfortably wins this season’s boy-meets-girl bout against ABC’s similarly themed Manhattan Love Story.

Walsh throws herself into the part but Bad Judge so far is falling apart around her. It’s not terrible, and maybe not even a misdemeanor offense. But it’s still guilty of not being all that good.

Stalker at best is an unsavory blend of violent crime, voyeurism and by-the-book preachments just in case you aren’t getting its “messages.”

This is the series that puts Amazon Prime on the map, if not yet on the same level with competing streamer Netflix.

The dialogue and interior monologues occasionally have some snap. But Manhattan Love Story mostly is pretty thin soup in a city known for its delis. Seconds are not recommended.

Their [Eliza and Henry's] odd couple liaison occasionally begins clicking from a humor standpoint.

Murder jumps around a lot, to the point where it’s perhaps too much.

Black-ish has a lot packed into its oft-amusing opening half-hour. It’s both fairly daring and also endearing, sharply written but with an overdose of narrative exposition. The kids and adults are all well-cast and there’s no laugh track to gum anything up.