Deception isn’t likely to win any awards, except perhaps from the Society of American Magicians. As escapist fare, though, it turns the trick, plays its cards well, pulls a rabbit from the hat, etc. Or as ABC might say, “Abracadabra, here’s to another Castle.”

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.

It's not a great series, but it looks to be a solidly commercial one.

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

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.

Three episodes deep, there’s an appetite for more, but not a ravenous one. Taboo could develop into a whale of a tale once Delaney is fully seen in his earlier element.

Legends is too pockmarked with standard issue dialogue and situations to merit any awards for the series as a whole. But Bean, who this time is assured of staying vertical, might have enough pop in his performance to break on through.

This seems like a serviceable drama that merits a bit better ladder grade (heh-heh) for an improved second hour.

Killing Kennedy easily could have been twice its length, the better to add both nuance and context. Instead it’s a watchable film with many missing parts, a broadly drawn Classics Illustrated version of what happened and why.

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.

There are a lot of moving parts and agendas here, but The Originals does a pretty good job of stitching them all together by the end of its first hour.

A little too much patience is required at times, but the first four episodes do include a brief glimpse into a pretty cool looking netherworld during Holden’s chemical injections at the hands of Willa.

It all comes out pretty well in the wash. Same Name gets fairly close to sealing the deal on the idea that celebs can learn something from just plain folks.

The two lead performances make me want to see more. ... Prodigal Son is more than several cuts below that Oscar-lauded classic. Still, it’s better than chopped liver, of which Dr. Martin Whitly has shown he knows a thing or two.

Riverdale can be overwrought at times and even too transparently politically correct at others. But it’s also crisply entertaining and particularly well-cast with respect to the pivotal roles of Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) and Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes).

Falco is fine in this role and Jaeger brings some nice touches to the role of detective Zoeller. Josh Charles (The Good Wife) adds a little extra marquee value as the brothers’ compromised psychiatrist, Dr. Jerome Oziel. ... Just don’t expect any style points or departures from the straight ahead Wolf playbook.

Undateable airs in times when summer series aren’t always the throwaways they used to be. This may not be a keeper but it may well grow on viewers rather than wear on them.

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

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland is very nice to look at, particularly in homes that have upgraded from rabbit ears. Its speaking parts, though, are sometimes better heard at low volume.

[There's] quite a lot to unpack--and the first episode is awkward at times compared to the two subsequent ones made available for review. Barr’s acting is noticeably mechanical in the early going while Goodman (who seems to have made a million movies in the interim) initially seems a little lost in the transition back to playing a character for which he received seven Emmy nominations without ever winning.

Based on just the pilot episode (no others were made available for review), it doesn’t look too bad for re-starters. The acting is no great shakes but the special effects and overall atmosphere are overriding plusses.

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

This is an at times affecting but too often overwrought drama series.

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.

Wyle’s lead performance is solid, although more than a little weepy. ... Red Line is a revelation, though, in terms of introducing Aliyah Royale to a national audience. Her portrayal of Jira is terrifically compelling and natural. ... Red Line force-feeds more than it should. It has some messages of true value while also failing to resonate to the degree it could have and should have.

Cougar Town remains amusing in fits and spurts.

Its hip replacement is a cast that's been around the block and knows how to act accordingly.

Seven Seconds, which runs for more than 10 hours that seem like 15, follows the grim and grimy Sud playbook without really saying much of anything new. The fault lies not with its stars, most of whom perform very ably or well beyond that. It’s just that sometimes enough is enough.

For now, the three lead performances are uniformly winning while the pacing is bracingly brisk. The male characters in large part are furniture to be moved around in service to the women’s varying predicaments and aspirations.

[Sarah Shahi] plays this lead role with assurance and aplomb, elevating the entire enterprise in the process.

Final Witness has more texture and bite than most of TV's myriad explorations of the true crime realm.

The scenes from the set of Soul Train are well-captured and choreographed. But BET’s still limited production budgets are reflected in recurrent Vietnam War sequences involving the Clark kids’ father. They’re phony-looking to say the least, and really not needed at all. Walls, formerly of Starz’s Power series, is effective as Cornelius, although not to the point of blowing anyone away.

You may not laugh until it hurts, but there are some laughs to be had. Particularly for those who also swear by Family Guy.

It's a decently made but hardly exceptional movie without any high wattage star power but with a few familiar faces.

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

Bent ends up being worth watching for the recurring grins it provides. Just don't expect to ever know what happens to any of its main characters.

The cancer/pregnancy storyline unfortunately takes a rather predictable turn in terms of the woman’s hard-praying husband. But the dynamics between the willful Bell and his staff are well-played throughout.

Ben and Kate can be a bit grating and certainly isn't all together great. But its small ensemble--which also includes Ben's pal, Tommy (Echo Kellum)--is clicking pretty well for starters.

Urie's mostly a hoot, with his inflections infectious and his comedy timing a thing of beauty. Krumholtz offers sturdy enough support, but his co-star does most of the heavy lifting.

The plotting and counter-plotting in Tut are meshed with some fairly ambitious battle scenes and pulsating full-gallop chariot rides. Not everything is telegraphed, with Grand Vizier Ay in particular a fairly nuanced man of deception and feints.

HBO’s six-part Mosaic, also available as an “interactive movie” on mobile apps, begins as an immersive spellbinder before eventually plodding to the finish line under its own diminishing power. Accomplished director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven and its two sequels, Traffic, Erin Brockovich) does succeed, though, in resuscitating the acting career of Sharon Stone, who gives a bravura performance until her character suddenly goes missing.

The Catch takes a while to kick in, afflicting viewers with way too much of Pitbull’s “Fireball” during an extended early game of now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t.

The Mayor can be preachy and predictable, but is also spirited and reasonably amusing in this opening scene-setter. Hall brings considerable charisma to the lead role and Brown supplies the needed anchoring presence. Michele, the former Glee star, still seems to be finding her way, though, in a role that at the moment doesn’t really fit her.

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.

For now, Levy is an OK mix of insolence and vulnerability, Hines is her usual hoot and Sisto shows signs of being nimble on his feet in an arena where he's still learning the ropes.

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.

The script and circumstances really labor down the stretch. Still, Tenney and Romijn make for a pretty nifty pair, whether quipping on cue or subduing some henchmen with their feet and fists.

Arrow may not be a-point-ment television. But for starters at least, it's a sharper little tale than expected.

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.

All in all, this is a light-hearted series that also looks as though it's going to be light-headed in terms of basic story construction.

A Very Murray Christmas is as uneven as a child’s first effort to build and frost a gingerbread house. It’s also different, which sometimes works in its favor.

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.

The first two episodes flex a fair amount of pulling power, even though nothing really jumps off the page. The series could use a more galvanizing, take-charge sleuth than Epps portrays.

Gummer's a gamer, investing her lead character with smarts, compassion and no small amount of discombobulation. She injects the ordinary with her own unique prescription brand pick-me-ups, making Emily Owens bearable when it's not fully embraceable.

One can appreciate Adams’ performance, though, without buying into the overall endurance test required by Sharp Objects.

Despite its flaws, 11.22.63 ends up closing the deal in a way that for the most part makes it a long, strange time travel worth taking.

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.

True believers who have devoured most if not all of the 208 previous episodes likely will find it thrilling simply to be strung along anew. Those of us who have been less dedicated to the cause perhaps can be more forgiving of the show’s loopy transgressions.

In the end, all of this may amount to little more than a one-trick dog and pony show. But Gann can be irresistibly gross at times while Wood is good at being hapless. Together they sometimes make quite a comedy team. Almost as good as Turner & Hooch.

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.

It’s not always an optimum blend of merriment and miscreants. Still, The Moodys earns its candy cane stripes as a Christmas mini-series with bite.

All in all it's a pretty deft mix of violence, pathos and ethos via a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost as roomies.

Goodwin Games isn’t an Olympian comedy but it’s by no means an out-and-out clunker either.

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

It’s a reasonably involving series made better by the chemistry between the two leads.

Chicago Justice, which some also see as something of a lightly camouflaged Law & Order reboot, gives NBC another steady hand that’s also no great shakes. But it’ll do, and Wolf very likely has more where it came from.

There are ample interesting ingredients here. But two subsequent episodes--Fox for some reason hasn’t provided the second one--are comparably hit and miss.

Go On obviously won't be off the charts ratings-wise, as Friends was for most of its run. It might settle in, though, with Perry still a solidly capable comedic actor looking to nest a while.

Beaches hits some sweet spots without being overly taxing on the male gene.

It’s an ambitious, sprawling undertaking.

Red Band Society has enough lightness of being and appealing characters to counterbalance its overall sobering premise.

The first five episodes of Dracula, although unwieldy and murky at times, flex just enough storytelling power to keep the juices flowing.

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

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

Stuck on hyper-drive and stuffed with hyperbole, Mankind: The Story of All of Us is history a-go-go from a programmer that used to obey a few speed limits.

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

Damned if it doesn't pretty much work. The O'Neals are still quite a duo, whether they end up staunching a lot of those old wounds or opening new ones.

Wednesday’s premiere episode veers back and forth story-wise almost as crazily as the show-starting wild ride. ... That’s the overall point and thrust of Stumptown, where a woman drinks, fights and has sex on her terms in the same manner numerous men did in an assembly line of earlier ABC action dramas.

None of this qualifies as breezy spring/summertime entertainment. Still, if apocalyptic drama is your entertainment of choice, then Containment might well keep you contented.

Partners has its share of clunkers, but Lawrence and Grammer retain their comedic timing while also pairing up nicely.

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.

Episode 2 is considerably weaker than the watchable premiere.

Blindspot has an initially intriguing premise and a compelling co-lead in Alexander. But there’s also some Silly Putty in play here, with Weller’s hard-charging man of action at times laughably intense amid all this oh-so deadly serious business.

There’s enough set in motion here to perhaps lure a small, loyal audience from week to week.

Stroma and Rodriguez have some sweet getting-to-know-you moments together while Bowman has presence as a menace run amuck. Still, by the end of Episode 2, a dull-edged redundancy is already starting to set in.

It’s a very energetic two-hour premiere replete with cartoonish screams and schemes. But a cesspool runs through it in the person of the noxious Chanel.

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.

The fight scenes are easily digested but those down times can really make your head hurt.

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

Sometimes you just want a single serving, with the table cleared by episode's end. This one keeps passing its spinning plates while re-stating the obvious.

Too much of Forever is either overwrought or half-baked. But Gruffudd is mighty handsome as Henry. Jaunty, too. So the series is well-equipped from that standpoint.

Tuesday's premiere certainly has enough intrigue for starters. What it needs is more overall electricity.

We get three long hauls that mostly test a viewer’s endurance. The performances aren’t at fault, but the stories themselves easily could be trimmed to an hour apiece or less. Left free to indulge himself, Weiner gorges too much on empty calories.

Viewers get to see what they've all got and what some of it is worth. Which continues to be addictive viewing in itself as the hoarder, pawn shop and abandoned storage unit shows just keep piling up.

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

Based on the limited evidence provided by Netflix, Disjointed is also discombobulated and too often dim-witted. There’s some cleverness amid its clutter. But Bates was better served as the bearded lady in American Horror Story: Freak Show.

New Amsterdam tends to rather tidily resolve all of its patient crises in these first two episodes. It also can get treacly at times, particularly when Coldplay’s “Fix You” hovers over the closing minutes of the premiere hour. The long-term diagnosis is iffy at best, with the main characters and their cases coming off as not that special or interesting.

Serviceable yet unremarkable. ... 9-1-1 is a match for the overall quality of NBC’s Chicago trifecta. None of race-to-the-rescue, life-and-death dramas are anywhere near Emmy caliber. But if there’s room for one more -- and quite likely there is -- then Fox certainly could do worse than a comparatively blood-less but decently executed series from a producer who still hits more than he misses.