Expect nothing new under the sun from a drama set in San Antonio, filmed in New Mexico and falling flat wherever the cameras might roll.

For his first Monday night face-off against those two dramas, Holloway strips down to a glistening muscular torso while taking out his frustrations on a heavy boxing bag. But any visual stimulus is countered by Helgenberger’s continued struggles with the clunky lines given her.

PBS made all but the final two hours of Season 4 available for review. And while certainly not a slog, they end up being more than a bit saggy.... ownton Abbey has no scenes or sequences of knockout import during these first seven episodes.

The Assets just can’t get untracked, lumbering through its first two hours without any sense of purpose, style or urgency.

Rodeo Girls so far has stopped short of giving its stars and their story lines enough rope to hang themselves. Instead It manages to jingle jangle jingle its way toward an overall entertaining first hour of animal desires occasionally played out on horseback.

This elongated version makes its own mark, although certainly not an indelible one.

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.

Alley, Perlman and Richards were far more gainfully employed on their previous classic comedy series. Now they’re in a sense doing dinner theater in Yuma but seemingly having a good time together nonetheless.

In the end, though, justice is served. Although with Bruckheimer, the serving spoon again tends to be a sledgehammer.

Their all-that activities become redundant and tiresome at WARP speed, raising the overall question of whether watching Ja’mie: Private School Girl on a continuous loop would be worse than eternal burning in hell.

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.

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.

Parents of kiddoes, tweens and young teens can be assured that all of this is quite harmless.

Stuffed with stilted actor re-enactments--and repeated shots of a mock John F. Kennedy corpse with its skull blown open--Smoking Gun basically regurgitates the 1992 book Mortal Error and its conclusion that a Secret Service agent accidentally fired the third and fatal shot.

Time of Death breathes new life into a handful who chose otherwise. And with this series, they also chose pretty wisely.

Seduced and Abandoned doesn’t always stay on track, but nonetheless never derails. It’s both a romp and a stomp, with Cannes the go-between.

A show that again shows us what we already know. Politicians are a collective group of crooks who very seldom get what they deserve.

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

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

This is a frothy, giggly, historically silly, pop tune-themed trifle, with mid-16th century France as its backdrop.

It’s a film that asks a lot from West and Bonham Carter, who deliver time and again in roles that could have eaten them alive. Instead we feast.

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

Witches of East End is just not worth a viewer’s toils and troubles.

Welcome to the Family is a passable half-hour that fends for itself without a laugh track and manages to deliver a few un-goosed grins.

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.

For better or worse, Sean Saves the World is exactly what he wants it to be--an old school, joke-loaded, histrionic showcase for himself.

There’s plenty to sustain The Millers over what could be a pretty long haul. The show has both star quality and stars who know how to work the material.

Underwood tries hard throughout and is still a small-screen presence. But that doesn’t save Ironside from being thoroughly overcooked and stuffed with convoluted deductions on how the featured wrongdoing went down.

Super Fun Night isn’t entirely super-bad, but so far that’s about the good thing to be said about it.

Its first half-hour comes and goes without providing any further reason to hang out with these guys.

Adapted from the Dutch series Overspel (adultery), Betrayal is consistently overwrought.

Hello Ladies already seems well-worn by the end of Episode 2. Some of Merchant’s asides are amusing enough, but not to the point of caring one way or the other about what befalls his character.

Performance is never a problem for the cast of Masters of Sex. Caplan, Sheen and the supporting players keep everything humming in the best new drama of the fall season. You’ll want to watch.

Mom isn’t a comedic high point, even if one or more of its principal characters falls off the wagon during a ratings “sweeps” month. But it gets this particular job done with flair, vigor, a punchy script and two leads who make it all fairly addictive.

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

The Crazy Ones may not be fall’s worst new comedy series, but its premiere episode easily is the biggest underachiever.

Caan’s perfectly clipped delivery and his daughter’s well-timed comebacks make Back in the Game at least a standup double if not a sliding triple.

Gregg’s resurrected Coulson so far is the much-needed glue, lending a familiar presence and sturdy countenance.

For now, Lucky 7 is a grabber with strong potential for further viewer investment.

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.

The Goldbergs is amusing in fits and spurts before ending on several sweet notes--including REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling.”

Watsons Go to Birmingham is well-meaning to a fault and would play well as a teaching tool in elementary school classrooms.

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.

The Blacklist is watchable but patently unbelievable and increasingly unpalatable.

It may be quite a challenge to keep up the pace and the quality. But the bet here is that these guys will find ways to keep making it all work for them.

Dads is just a senseless pounding of sensibilities, a beat-down without any saving graces.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, with its solid supporting cast aiding and abetting Samberg, has a so far/so good first outing that rises above the majority of this season’s new fall comedies.

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.

It succeeds in being more or less stupidly watchable [than Sharknado], but unlikely to prompt anywhere near the same Twitter eruption.

The first episode is just too relentlessly clunky and stupid.

As concocted backwoods “reality” shows go, it’s stepped to the head of the class and far surpassed the likes of TLC’s Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Buck Wild.

Low on initial appeal and likewise short on originality, it’s a bleak ’n’ grim undertaking that just doesn’t seem built for the long haul.

Clear History is amusing enough to pull a viewer through it, although those who haven’t yet acquired a taste for Curb might find it the equivalent of a pricey two-drink minimum without enough payback.

Broadchurch, with its recurring crashing waves wiping some slates clean, is thoroughly captivating from start to finish.

Few TV dramas are as thought-provoking or daringly opinionated. Sorkin doesn’t always get everything right. Who the hell does? But he writes with purpose, force and conviction, sometimes with a heavier hand than necessary.

As a silly summertime lark, HGN pretty much hits it out of the park on opening night. Lynch brings some of her Sue Sylvester sass to the proceedings, Kudrow has an infectious laugh, Petty knows how to take a punch and Short is always a consummate mirth maker.

Schilling, Prepon and Mulgrew are uniformly terrific throughout, whether in prison garb or flashback civilian clothes. But other characters are equally compelling, giving this series innumerable stories to tell for hopefully many seasons to come. Based on the first six of 13 episodes, Orange is the New Black has passed virtually every test with flying colors.

Sunday night's sixth season opener, "Meet the Blacks," is a gem from start to finish. Two subsequent episodes sent for review aren't as finely tuned, but still get high passing grades.

What emerges, in the three episodes made available for review, is an accessible, easily imbibed summertime series that basically beats actually going to camp for an entire gut-wrenching summer.

The Bridge so far looks to have more promise than [Fox’s The Following, NBC’s Hannibal, AMC’s ongoing Season 3 of The Killing]. It’s still early, though.

Showtime’s taut and pretty terrific Ray Donovan.... Schreiber brings a solid, stolid presence to the role. But it’s Jon Voight as Mickey who gives this drama its ferocious, dangerous and sometimes creepy edge.

The end result isn’t a very good biopic and certainly not a noble one.

Under the Dome parlays solid special effects and an intriguing storyline, giving CBS’ a bracing breeze of fresh air during a summer season that previously has been a playground for Big Brother and “procedural” crime series reruns.

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

Maybe this will prove to be a bit more interesting as the contestants dwindle. But based on Sunday night’s premiere, that seems like a long slog toward the show’s eventual payoff.

Crossing Lines isn’t breezy enough for a summer diversion. Instead it’s ponderous, pretentious and too predictable.

By the end of Episode 1, Twisted has imbedded its hook with open questions about a mysterious necklace and Danny’s connection to its past.

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.

Graceland is nothing to get all shook up about.

It’s all cut and spliced to the point where any real “jeopardy” involved is anyone’s guess. The weekly competitions on Survivor are far more convincingly presented.

Overall impression: look for them [the episodes] to get better, stronger and funnier.

The scripts are serviceable, although some lines land with a Richter Scale thud.

That initial heat from Season 1 has been lowered to room temperature. Kinnaman continues to give The Killing a pulse. But he can’t do it alone, and at this point merits a new, more vital vehicle in which he can really gun his engines.

Douglas, Damon and company put on a crowd-pleaser that even Liberace couldn’t top during all those many-splendored stage performances. A film that could have been so very bad turns out to be pretty mah-velous.

Sometimes they’re [TV networks are] still smart enough to know when they have a stinker.

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

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

Potentially the best new comedy series of this season.

Dear Mom, Love Cher is both a pleasant and evocative way to spend an hour.

Maron, 49, seems to be effortlessly gliding through his angst, laughing only rarely while giving viewers far more reason to do so.

It’s a grindingly bad half-hour with some even worse finishing touches.

Hemlock Grove overall falls well short of anything resembling sustained brilliance. Still, each episode may well push just enough buttons to pull you along to the next one.

Although its principal supporting players are first-rate, Rectify would be lost in transition without Young’s stellar work in the lead role. It’s a fearless, fully immersed, Emmy caliber performance tinged with sadness, searching, primitive pleasures and even a little comedy.

HBO subscribers thereby are the beneficiaries of a film with star power and staying power. It won’t surprise you with its outcome--or for the most part, how it gets there. But it may well have more of an impact than anticipated.

Louis C.K. shoots from the lip and keeps scoring. The beauty is the seeming ease with which he does this. And the knowledge of how hard it really is.

The ripping good special effects of Syfy’s Defiance harken to Fox’s recently failed and likewise futuristic Terra Nova, which also popped the eyes. In each case, the bigger your DVD screen, the better. Another shared trait: the scripts and story lines tend to be cliche-heavy and sense-dulling predictable.

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.

Weiner’s end-game for his leading man does not appear to be brightly lit. Nor is Season 6 of Mad Men off to a particularly sparkling start creatively while we wait for the worst to come.

None of this really clicks.

The NBC series deteriorates from a graphic but promising first episode to a third hour that basically falls apart from any rational credibility standpoint.

How to Live is decently performed in light of the oft over-reaching material at hand.

It’s terrific fun as well as involving drama.

Game of Thrones seems to be getting better all the time judging from the four episodes sent for review. It’s just that it also seems to be taking longer and longer to get there in the interests of servicing all the returning and new characters in play.

In the end, Phil Spector succeeds on the strength of its two marquee thespians. Mirren is wonderful throughout, Pacino scores in double figures and they have enough scenes together to make it all well worth your while.

A&E's Bates Motel is both mesmerizing and sometimes absurd in its rewind to Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) as a repressed 17-year-old.

The World According to Dick Cheney instead is nuts-and-bolts bland and overly deferential.

Vikings enthrallingly captures the world of Norsemen and oarsmen, circa 793 in the Eastern Baltic but soon heading West to England.