Berlin Station so far looks like a series worth riding out, with Jenkins, Armitage, Ifans and Forbes all making strong contributions to the cause.

The story has ample pulling power. But the music is its driving force--all day and all of the night.

Warm--or more accurately, lukewarm--moments intercede before the final bells in both half-hours. And Meloni delivers them like a champ while also dominating during an American Gladiators face-off that jump-starts next week’s episode.

After an energetic start and a nice twist at the end of Episode 1, City on a Hill slows its pace a bit.

Good Behavior so far is a work in progress with two leads who show considerable promise in terms of making it all work.

It shows only scant signs of life while also failing to be all that revealing about the unique profession it depicts.

None of the performances so far are enough to override or ameliorate all the concoctions and detours of the TV version.

From the network that brought you Quantum Leap, it’s NBC’s Timeless, which can be far-fetched even for a show of this genre. But it’s also agreeably fast-paced and a good deal of fun before jumping through another hoop at the end that might make the present an almost equally wild mini-ride.

At one extreme, you want Santa dead. At the other, it can get to be ho ho hum in a hurry.

Major Crimes has the makings of a very sturdy reboot outfitted with a built-in philosophical debate over how justice is served. Supporting characters are newly invigorated, particularly Bailey's Provenza.

Buoyed by two blow-away performances by U2, Fallon got past a rather obsequious start in which he walked viewers through the basic mechanics of a monologue and said he’d be doing 10 minutes worth every night in case the Jay Leno faithful might have thought otherwise.

Sunday's 90-minute premiere makes for an unintended hoot, both ridiculous and often ridiculously watchable.

Some of its imagery is arresting. But this is mostly a sorry, unfortunate and even contemptuous enterprise.

Cedric the Entertainer, Nash and Beasley go with this flow--and flow pretty well.

Cougar Town remains amusing in fits and spurts.

Whatever your religious beliefs--or lack thereof--The American Bible Challenge is good for the soul. It's also the best new game show in years.

Terra Nova certainly doesn't lack ambition and scope, which is a plus. But its first two hours fall short in the storytelling department.

Claws never lacks for energy, and its premise and cast composition are somewhat novel. But what it too often lacks is dexterity and texture.

Some of the scenes play out OK, and Favreau has a marginally winning way with the doofus brother he plays. As the self-described scene-stealer, newcomer Totah also gets in a few good jabs. None of this seems nearly good enough, though, to make Champions more than a likely short-termer on the TV sitcom conveyor belt.

A cute little closing segment isn't enough to offset all the forced comedy preceding it.

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

There’s nothing technically new under the sun with BH90210. But it nonetheless feels that way via this fresh approach to what easily could have been a very wrong address.

The Michael J. Fox Show shows signs of deteriorating into a too sitcom-y enterprise with occasional flashes of smart writing and situations.

Not everything is letter-perfect about The Big C. But Linney sure is--and that's more than enough.

Falling Skies holds few if any surprises, although its action scenes and impressively designed creatures still have pulling power.

Foley, Cohan and the supporting cast members need not unduly worry whether their adventures are all that plausible. What matters is whether this show is fun to watch regardless. Which it is.

Life's Too Short is an acquired taste worth acquiring.

The Rookie’s action scenes are capably staged in a pilot episode that’s also brisk and well cast beyond the built-in marquee appeal of Fillion. But the lead character’s back story is barely touched on. And Nolan’s training to become a cop is completely omitted in the rush to get him out on the streets and imperiled.

It’s not nearly in [Modern Family's] league, though--at least not now and likely not ever. Still, Akerman is reason enough to buy in for at least a few episodes.

Mison and Beharie work well together as Ichabod and Abbie.... On the down side, Orlando Jones so far is stuck in the muck of a prototypically officious police captain named Frank Irving.... Whatever befalls its denizens, Sleepy Hollow gets off to a better and more “believable” start than anticipated.

Hotel Hell is every bit as watchable--in a morbidly fascinating way--as his other Fox crock pots.

Making History doesn’t get everything right. But the series’ principal trio commit themselves fully, with Meester particularly fresh and appealing as a transplanted colonial having the time of her life as a newly liberated woman.

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.

Being gross, graphic and disagreeable has not kept Shameless from having a long run on Showtime. SMILF is in that vein, and perhaps also will find enough of an audience to sustain it. It’s hard to know what going to work anymore. But this one just doesn’t work for me.

Revolution, which has the overall look and feel of a big budget feature, delivers some consistently terrific action scenes.

Over the top? Yeah. Closer to the truth of the matter? That, too.

So far it’s involving to a degree but never enthralling to the max.

Winfrey’s performance, as Henrietta’s tormented youngest daughter, Deborah, is jump-off-the-screen terrific. ... Director George C. Wolfe (Nights In Rodanthe) has a tough story to tie together--and at times ties himself in knots.

Despite all its unanswered questions, Hostages is appreciably easier to grasp than NBC’s competing new The Black List, which also gets underway Monday. So for now, it seems worth seeing where this is all going.

Hanks himself book-ends this serviceable, talking heads/illustrative clips treatise with a pair of all-encompassing quotes.

Life in Pieces offers some very good reasons to walk on the wild side and let the laughs come without any in-show inducements. Whether that’s still asking too much is one of the new season’s more intriguing open questions.

The Carmichael Show won’t win any prizes for originality. It does, however, play very well with the above-average material it has. That’s in no small part due to the well-blended cast.

Frequency does a pretty solid job of juggling its balls and creating new intrigues. By the end of the premiere episode, another perplexing murder mystery is in play while Raimy wonders what hit her.

LOLA for its part shows signs of getting that old Law & Order moxie back.

The series repeatedly bounces around, but coherently so. And in the early going at least, Flynn’s performance is the more interesting and affecting while also consuming considerably more screen time.

Its spirit is willing, but the construction has foundation problems.

There’s some enjoyment to be had from the lead performances of real-life best friends Emily Mortimer (The Newsroom) and Dolly Wells (Bridget Jones’s Diary). A brisk walk would be better for you, though.

Alphas looks fairly good on paper, but never catches fire. And its use of Strathairn is even more of a fizzle.

House of Lies' excesses tend to be counter-balanced by its overall look and feel. The production values are first-rate and the storytelling is crisp.

All-American has overtones of NBC’s exemplary Friday Night Lights, but so far is not in its class.

The cast is engaging, the premise is intriguing and the genre long has been CBS' ratings-rich specialty.

It’s kind of all over the map for starters, with the funny business sometimes peeking through the clouds while also hiding behind them.

Young Sheldon ends up having a mind of its own, even if it’s a prequel to a long-established hit. Armitage and Perry in particular are a perfect pair as precocious son and protective but not overbearing mom. There’s an awful lot to like here, with high expectations not only met but exceeded.

The 100 ends up being sci-fi fun for all ages--with a spine tingle or two also within these realms of possibilities.

This is a firmly grounded and compelling drama that’s both ripe for lampooning on Saturday Night Life and rich in story possibilities. Its us-against-them template holds solid over the first five episodes.

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.

After a pretty clumsy start, DM does start to find itself amid a whirl of characters populating not one, not two, but five households.

The mood music in Crisis can be over-wrought at times--and downright over-bearing when a male vocalist breaks into “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” But the first two hours are nicely paced and eventful, with the ad hoc partnership between Marcus and an initially resistant Susie gaining traction as the stakes increase.

Hell on Wheels is a big and ambitious stab at the genre, with a lot going on and much to recommend.

Traffic Light is winning and amusing without being loud and loutish.

Mob City at best is barely above average drama from a guy who presumably is still capable of far better. Boardwalk Empire it’s not. Not by a long shot -- or even a rat-a-tat-tat.

TNT's brighter, shinier Dallas makes an impressively staged re-entrance Wednesday night.

This latest Marvel concoction is better than ABC’s Marvel’s Inhumans, which launched on Friday of last week. Still, an overall weariness prevails, perhaps even among the most fanatical Marvel diehards.

Precious little, beyond his storied and enduring plays, is known about Shakespeare’s personal life or even his sexuality. So TNT is making him up as he goes along in a rousing, colorful drama that signifies more than nothing and indeed can often be quite something.

Dexter likewise remains in solid shape, with new characters generating some additional heat while its namesake keeps plying his trade.

It all makes for a nice enough start to a comedy that already appears to have a pretty happy ending in the bank after just the first episode.

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.

It's a lot to process, and at times too much to take. Still, Horror Story often is a wonder.

For now, though, this is a series that's seemingly built on an arresting foundation.

Ghosted includes a few halfway decent special effects, but not much else, en route to the inevitable.

Those who have devoured the swervy, same-named Douglas Adams books could very well find themselves immensely entertained. Those who haven’t--guilty as charged--at least can admire the energy, cheekiness and slick production values without caring all that much how everything comes out.

The show also wears well, with Longoria vigorously in the forefront and a solid supporting cast led by scene-stealers Diana Maria Riva and Alex Meneses.

The problem, at least for now, is whether the show can find a happy medium between sharpening itself without resorting to any crude or unduly cutting humor. These first two episodes are watchable enough.

The Inbetweeners seems to be experiencing the growing pains of its principal characters. A better start would have been preferable, but at least the show's weekly slings and arrows are pointing upward.

666 Park Avenue doesn't entirely lack a pulse, but doesn't get the blood rushing either.

ABC made four episodes available for review. All have their moments, some of them cloying, others amusing.

For now, you’re advised to ride out The First, sluggishness and all. There are enough bright spots to bring it all home, with Mars very gradually getting closer to becoming more than just a talking point.

Nothing you’ll see rises to any level of must-see. Instead it’s all pretty much preachy and pedestrian, with the diversity of the cast working against itself in terms of this show’s labored approach to injustice and discrimination.

House of Cards also can be a victim of its own excesses, which are now built up into a heavy goo of previous evil and investigations of same by the sometimes ridiculously dogged Tom Hammerschmidt (Boris McGiver). ... Wright’s performance reflects all of [Francis's] cynicism, calculation and deep, unhealed wounds that powered his engine, and now hers as a President who pledges allegiance only to herself and her gender.

I’m Dying Up Here convincingly recreates both a period and the primal scream existence of would-be star comedians who seem to most enjoy trading very barbed insults during frequent gatherings at a local diner.

Although its super-bleak future is nothing new, Incorporated does an above-average job of bringing it all home.

The Kennex-Dorian combo is the best part of Almost Human, which otherwise keeps twisting and turning itself into a series of unwieldy plot knots.

Its overall implausibility and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink plotting work against what little promise Banshee has.

Kinnear carries himself ably, and his character’s amiable rogue presence wears fairly well for starters. The long haul may be problematic, though.

Matador is fairly jaunty and breezy in the only episode sent for review. But it also throws in some serious-minded violence as part of the mix.

Da Vinci’s Demons halfway succeeds on the strength of its vigorous, devil-may-care approach, even if it’s also almost thoroughly preposterous in terms of the central character’s deductive powers and abilities.

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

Cooper and Pulver are fine in the lead roles, although there’s little to like about either character’s comportment. The music swells on cue but the story just doesn’t jell.

Thorne's performance occasionally threatens to rise above this mess. But it's tough to overcome a narrative opening line that goes like this: "My dad used to say life is like a football game. There's winners and there's losers."

A Gifted Man won't kill any brain cells if you want to give it a try. But it's not all there yet with an unwieldy mix that also includes two life-threatening cases, a few scenes with Michael's frazzled sister, Christina (Julie Benz) and her problematic teen son and an attempted exorcism of sorts by a mystic named Anton (Pablo Schreiber).

This is a genuinely scary and unsettling series.

Friday’s curtain-raiser makes a better than expected first impression while at the same time putting Herrera’s hunky, soulful and appealing lead priest in play.

Snowfall is competently made and acted. But its images are just too destructive all around.

Entourage looks as though it still has enough juice--comedy, drama and Drama-wise--to make its last season a keeper.

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

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

It all ends predictably--and flatly. A grin or two may intrude amid all the bountiful bad taste. It’s certainly not enough, though, to redeem a series that false starts and then keeps stumbling. Full of grace it’s not.

It’s fairly sturdy and convincingly gruesome in terms of showing a variety of battle wounds. It’s also predictable and oftentimes stilted, with the dialogue regularly preachy.