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.

The Bible has the misfortune of looking cheap in comparison to the visual feast provided by the preceding Vikings. And the acting isn't nearly strong enough to overcome this.

Red Widow isn't as compelling as Last Resort was in its early episodes. But it's appreciably better than those other two. Still, consumer confidence in Red Widow's staying power should be rightfully suspect at best. And in Sunday's second half, the premise already shows some signs of unraveling on the road to potential ridiculosity.

Although affecting at times, Parade's End tends to congeal rather than gel.

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

It somehow manages to be more inviting than ABC's new and thoroughly preposterous Zero Hour, although both series could be the stuff of sadistic semester-ending writing essays.

It's much more a bare-bones recitation, with some interesting sidelights in the telling.

Life Is But A Dream in reality doesn't give all that much. Still, it's a watchable film for those who just can't get enough of a pop music jewel to behold who's still just 31 and likely not even in her prime yet.

Preposterous, ridiculously earnest, poorly scripted and laughably acted, this is the series that Anthony Edwards chose to re-enter prime-time after a long tenure as one of ER's main men. He should've stayed in bed.

Watch at whatever pace you'd like--immediately. Given its quality, I think you'll be drinking it all in sooner rather than later.

It's the strongest medical series since House arrived on Fox for an eight-season run that ended last spring. The genre badly needs a transfusion. And at last, here's a strong one.

It's simply not coherent enough to sustain weekly interest.

The Americans enthralls with its complexities, simplicities and overall derring-do.

The first season of TNT's Dallas reboot was far better than many had anticipated. These early stages of Season 2 likewise keep the faith.

War of the Damned doesn't spare any of it en route to its no doubt hellish conclusion. But the characters aren't as compelling as they once were, rendering the fight scenes even more voyeuristic.

Wild Things is very nicely shot and buoyed throughout by its star's upbeat persona.

Ripper Street is pretty ripping good for the most part.

This is a genuinely scary and unsettling series.

This energetically produced, brightly colored concoction hits the guilty pleasure spot more often than not.

It's coarse and sometimes dirty to the touch, but pretty damned hilarious at crunch times. FX just might have the standout new comedy series of this season.

Kroll Show works often enough to make a name for itself among young males in particular. Men of a certain age might be more resistant, but still susceptible.