A smart, sedate Canadian production imported by ABC for a summertime run.

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.

The special effects are better than decent and the ensemble cast wears pretty well as Falling Skies begins to hit its stride.

Drescher still looks good a dozen years removed from the last season of The Nanny. But the lines coming from her mouth are too obvious for words.

Campbell-Martin very ably acquits herself while Walker runs a little low on overall oomph. Together they're less than dynamite, but capable of a few sparks.

So far it's the televised documentary film of the year, with its truths stranger than fiction from opening move to checkmate.

Franklin & Bash sometimes tries too hard to be edgy, suffering some paper cuts in the process. It's otherwise a good deal of fun delivered with an abundance of energy.

Too Big to Fail effectively follows the money while humanizing most of the moneychangers.

You won't find a better rendering of time and place anywhere else on the sprawling TV landscape. This is still the real deal, through and through.

Cinema Verite's strength is in dramatizing the off-camera seductions and betrayals that led to the Louds being vilified in many quarters before the entire family went on The Dick Cavett Show to both tell their side of the story and confront filmmaker Craig Gilbert.

But oh the machinations. And diversions. And overly long, leisurely scenes that keep sinking Game of Thrones into a quicksand of its own making.

The older you are, the more you might respond to the oft-clunky, middle-aged craziness of The Paul Reiser Show.

Happy Endings quickly gets its game in gear and emerges as ABC's best new sitcom since Better Off Ted unfortunately failed to find an audience.

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

Laughable? Yeah. Pathetic? Even more so. Degrading? That, too. Entertaining for consulting adult viewers who pay extra for such premium cable fare? Possibly.

This series is a complete mis-fire. There are no relatable characters, every joke's a dud and Slater seems to have no earthly idea what's befallen him.

Despite all the aforementioned intrigues, The Borgias so far isn't quite as bawdy, foul-minded or over the top as its predecessor. It moves more deliberately, sometimes a bit ploddingly.

Watch The Kennedys--if you haven't already had enough--and you'll instead see a compelling, well-told tale of a political dynasty with beauty marks, warts, doubts and the embedded determination to plow full steam ahead.

The disparate detectives of The Killing may have their own means and methods of getting to the bottom of this. But the overall air of believability is palpable from the start. All the better for taking a deep breath and diving right in.

Chaos can be amusing in spots, although it's hard to envision it as a long-distance runner. It might be housing a breakout star, though [in James Murray].

It all gets pretty involving in time. Based on the first three hours, this is a sturdy production from a producer/scriptwriter (Chris Chibnall) whose well-appointed credits include Torchwood, Doctor Who and the United Kingdom version of Law & Order.

Coal has the right stuff, putting viewers of a mind to hurt for these men--who hurt right back.

Body of Proof for the most part plays dead within the realm of plausible crime-solving, interesting characters and assumptions that Delany's once-promising career would do more than wither on this vine.

HBO has done it again, investing in a project of substance and a lead actress who powers it home.

It's a long pull that can be fun and funny--and more than a wee bit tedious.

A show that can make you feel this way can't be all bad. Even if its clandestine millionaires can be more than a little grating.

The newcomer is unlikely to provoke much dinner table conversation, but goes down easily enough while trying not to leave any really bitter aftertastes.

There's nothing particularly striking or compelling here. But at least the escapee of the week will meet his fate at the end of each episode.

Shedding otherwise is groaningly familiar in every way with its mix of taskmaster trainers, supportive yet firm host and heavyweights who are in it to win it.

Suspect Behavior is in every way a grind, with even the usually very capable Whitaker looking lost at sea with his halting, stumbling, keep-pausing-for-effect portrayal of crime team head Sam "Coop" Cooper.

The semi-dreaded but not altogether unwelcome "not terrible" tag is visited upon CBS' latest Monday night comedy entry.

None of this will cure cancer--or even hemorrhoids. Only in America might qualify as a guilty pleasure, though, with the star of the show agreeably and likably throwing himself into a wide range of activities.

Decidedly dreary for openers, Mr. Sunshine succeeds in making Cougar Town look like a lion of the prime-time jungle. That's obviously not the intent. But Perry, Janney and company will have to brighten matters in a hurry to avoid a very quick sunset.

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

What we have so far is a sturdy cops/crooks/corruption series that falls short of The Shield but is certainly capable of someday earning its own stripes.

It's FX scoring again with another out of the box, jump-in-your-face series that most assuredly isn't for everyone but most definitely knows what it's doing.

You'll likely guess every development at least a minute or two beforehand. But Peterman's enthusiasm for her role is tangibly contagious, making it possible that a decent percentage of opening night viewers might RSVP in the affirmative to this show's overall "Ya'll come back, ya hear" motif.

At least it's different, even though your basic "reality" competition trappings remain firmly in place.

Comedy Central's The Daily Show at last has a worthy rival in the "fake news" game.

Episodes are one hour each, requiring ample manufactured "drama" to keep this thing percolating.

It's obviously not for the squeamish, nor perhaps for the refined. But it's al-i-i-i-i-i-ve in so many ways. So what the hell, let's rock.

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

It has its moments and is well-appointed with seasoned actors who know how to hit their marks. So if you like Hot In Cleveland, then by all means stick around.

Unfocused, unfunny and all together unbearable, Perfect Couples at least affords NBC a chance to hit rock bottom before the new owners begin their massive cleanup effort.

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

An improbably entertaining outing that initially finds Kathy Bates' character reclining at her office desk while smoking pot and bemoaning her fate.

It sometimes lapses into the abundant cliches of its genre. Pound for pound, though, you won't see many better dramas this season. Gloves on or off, it keeps scoring points.

What's supposed to be a taut and many-splendored mythical yarn in league with Heroes instead registers as a topsy turvy laughable feast complete with chapter titles.

The deadpan deliveries of its principal characters can be very moderately amusing at times. But in the end, you probably won't want fries with this one.

Shameless instead is about as uplifting as rectal cancer, even though it's hard not to at least respect the gumption and resilience of Fiona. Rossum's performance in this role is all together pretty terrific.