A touching, intimate, humor-laced family drama that is easily the best new show debuting this fall, and the way you'll be able to watch it holds a not-small part of its power.

Broadchurch doesn't come with many stylistic flourishes--it's a pretty straightforward crime story. But the care given to its characters and the damage the crime inflicts on the town make it one of the best scripted series of the summer.

All in all the things we love about OITNB are still there--the dark humor, the camaraderie, the misery and the mystery.

Boardwalk Empire has everything you'd expect in an HBO drama--sharply drawn characters, large-scale stories intercut with intimate moments and a sense that you couldn't find something like it anywhere else on the guide. It's maybe the best new show HBO has launched in several years.

The British detective series remains one of the best shows on television. Cumberbatch and co-star Martin Freeman have only grown more comfortable in their respective roles of Holmes and Watson. The scripts, meanwhile, understand these men, what makes them tick and why they gravitate toward each other.

Through three episodes, there are enough funny, frustrating, sad and beautiful moments to make me hope Treme sticks around for a while.

Four episodes in, and Girls is still packing tons of jaw-dropping, head-shaking, eyebrow-raising scenes into 30 minutes each Sunday night.

True Detective proves to be everything the HBO marketing has promised it to be: a gorgeous, stylized and dark exploration into the worst parts of the human psyche.

The Pacific never feels like anything less than a cohesive whole. It's really a remarkable piece of television. I know what I'm doing for the next 10 Sunday nights.

All together Masters of Sex makes an engaging pilot, but it is as yet untested as a premise for a series.

Between the funny characters and the endless possibilities of worlds the two can visit, Rick and Morty has plenty of places to go.

There aren't a lot of hints as to whodunit by the end of the first three episodes, but the accumulation of these little things adds up to a very engrossing story.

Silicon Valley has its share of pause-the-DVR laugh lines, but it's not as relentlessly funny as, say, Judge's "Office Space." It does, however, get better as it goes along.

The new season returns to the show's more familiar structure. But the character beats that played out last season--and in previous seasons, for that matter -- linger. The result is that the Harlan, Ky., and environs of Justified feels like a very familiar, lived-in place--in the best possible sense.

Yet as inspired as the performances are and as fully realized as the world is, traces of Soderbergh's recent weaknesses remain. For all the insight into Liberace's private life, there's very little insight into the man himself.

Always a 30-minute show with a rich vein of drama, Weeds feels darker than ever this season.

It's a great, gory and surprisingly emotional ride.

The good news is that this contemplative, utterly engrossing and frequently gorgeous character study achieves and then surpasses both of those goals [justify the network's foray into the field while living up to the Sundance brand] over the course of its initial six episode season.

Carter and West turn in winning performances, however little they resemble the icons they've been tasked to portray.

Justified is well-written and well-produced, so it would be good with any decent actor in its lead role. But the show got Timothy Olyphant for the role, and the match could not be any more perfect.

Fun jokes, strange setups and surprisingly touching moments are all present as Community dances its fine edge between silliness and the abyss of the insane.

It's stunningly rendered and very well-acted, and though the first few episodes have a tendency toward telling rather than showing, the pace rarely feels slack.

Like so many Showtime comedies, Jackie leaves us feeling a bit conflicted. But the acting, caustic characters and looming consequences make Season 3 destination viewing for anyone who's already hooked--and a worthwhile pursuit for anyone still on the fence.

Billy and Steve, and even Rodney (Nick Daley) and Walter (John Ratzenberger), get entire story arcs and episodes dedicated to their lives and troubles, and that's part of what is helping the series find its footing.

It's fun, but it's best in moderation.

For all the excitement of the missions and the tension with the FBI neighbor, what really carries the show is the relationship between Philip and Elizabeth.

It's hard not to compare the comedy to past shows such as "The Bernie Mac Show" and "The Cosby Show" and rightfully so. Black-ish continues the momentum these shows started and brings in issues of this generation.

The Bridge sets the bar high with its early episodes--it's easily the best new show of the summer so far. Here's hoping the rest of the season follows suit.

Spacey clearly loves portraying the wonderfully manipulative Frank Underwood, while Wright does a very convincing take on Lady Macbeth.

It's extremely well cast, uses its Windy City locations beautifully and has an energy that grabs you pretty much from the first scene. Monday nights are really, really crowded, but you need to make room for this show.

Terriers is unlike any private detective series and it more than upholds FX's tradition of original programming with clever writing and solid acting.

There's something both frustrating and fascinating about the way Showtime's classy but surprisingly dull new drama Ray Donovan aspires to greatness.

It's not only the charm of the characters that raises "Please Like Me" above the lazy comparison. The series is also funny.

The biggest downfall of Enlightened is doesn't know what it wants to be. It's in no-man's land between a comedy, a drama and a satire.

The show is likely to score big ratings for its premiere, and early evidence indicates there's enough to keep people coming back.

The criminal-teams-with-agent dynamic is nothing new, but it's taking the journey of The Blacklist with Spader and Boone that makes this show so engaging. It only helps that they have a strong supporting cast featuring the likes of Ryan Eggold, Diego Klattenhoff and Harry Lennix.

The show has one of the most thrilling pilots of recent years, but there are a few growing pains in the subsequent two episodes as the show sorts out the weight it gives stories involving the sub's crew, the locals on the tropical island they commandeer and the people back home who have connections to the sub.

It helps that so much of 'Klondike' was shot on location and without CGI. That makes the series feel especially real and lived, which is key in making a project like this one work.

Three good lead performances (including one from "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc) and enough sharp writing about both show business and relationships give the show a comedic bite that makes up for the stuff you've seen before.

There are moments where The Flash feels tied down in flashbacks. There are pockets over-acting and cheesy dialogue, but those are easily overlooked for the sake of establishing necessary emotional connections in 45 minutes of show time.

Some won't find it gay enough, others will likely wrinkle their nose at the word "gay" and avoid it like the plague. That's a shame, because with this quiet, sincere little show is quite revolutionary on its own. And that's something worth looking at.

The beginnings of answers do appear by the end of the episode, and they are definitely compelling enough to encourage continued viewing.

Each episode is essentially a glorified DVD box set extra, but fun and informative enough to appeal to anyone interested in the increasingly respected field of TV writing.

Both our and their [James Wolk's character's women's] affection is bound to star James Wolk, who takes what would be a relatively engaging series and turns it into something much more exciting with the charm he injects into every scene--regardless of which persona he's playing.

Veep is a show, though, that finds great comedy in the space between that idealism and the reality they face every day.

It all works. Although Ripper Street does move at the slow pace characteristic of most British dramas, every scene and every line has meaning.

The actors bring an appropriate amount of camp to their performances, spitting out slick comic-book-speak with just the right cadence.

Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 offers a new take on an old formula and it succeeds. It's weird, well cast and, most importantly, funny.

It delivers laughs, for sure, but with a brainy, subversive and sometimes absurdist edge.

There are some predictable relationship issues that are introduced between a few characters that are more than a little groan-worthy in how cliche they are. Those few issues aside, Finding Carter hits the ground running with an extremely compelling pilot.

Add in openly gay Captain Holt and the excellent supporting cast of Chelsea Peretti, Terry Crews, Joe Lo Truglio and Stephanie Beatriz and you've got a good formula for a fun half-hour comedy.

What is there in the premiere of Blue Bloods is the aforementioned cast, which also includes Will Estes ("Reunion," "American Dreams") and Len Cariou ("Damages"), and some sharply written and acted scenes between the family members. Those more than make up for a pretty standard-issue case in the premiere.

It's anchored by several great performances, and it's among the more distinctive and gorgeously filmed shows on the air right now.... What did turn me off a bit in the first couple episodes of Hannibal was the victims were all young women.

The writers of Community have done a good job with what they were given. The problem is, they needed Dan Harmon.

The new comedy delivers on its crazy promise.

It's a somewhat old-fashioned and pretty kick-ass hour of TV, with great action sequences in the first two episodes and, probably more important, well-turned performances by its three regulars: Mark Valley, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley.

There's a lot happening all at once and not all of it even makes that much sense. It may never help you pass a history test or win accolades for Starz, but Da Vinci's Demons is still a whole heck of a lot of fun.

It's definitely a flight worth booking.

Where the show stumbles a little is in the case itself.

It's not exactly groundbreaking TV, but it's fun, sexy and filled with "Degrassi" alums--easy to watch and incredibly addictive.

It's up in the air as to how Wilfred will be perceived by viewers. The first three episodes are fantastic, but proudly off-color, like most of FX's comedy line-up.

Will it mete out enough answers to keep viewers tuning in? And can it sustain the mystery all season? We're dubious, but we're already engaged enough that we'll give the show a chance.

For those who loved the original series, the theme song is intact, and the phrase "Book 'em, Danno" isn't used lightly. Other than that, this "Hawaii Five-0 2.0" is its own beast, slow-roasted in the ground until it's ready for crowd-pleasing perfection.

Witty dialogue combined with the likability of the squeaky-clean Feldman and Milioti will bring you in for the first few letters, but the supporting players will keep you in through the letter Z.

While there's a little something lost in translation, the show retains enough of the core of the original that--bolstered by strong performances from top to bottom--it's as good a remake as any import since "The Office."

The ABC drama is one of the best new series to hit TV this fall.

The Red Road drops viewers into a complicated situation that only gets more complicated by the end of its first episode.

Overall, it's a strong first episode and we will definitely keep watching.

No other new show this fall is attempting to tell a bigger story, and we're hoping the rough patches smooth out and it fulfills the potential that's there in its very strong cast and premise.

As long as that emotional content isn't overpowered by the central mystery, Twisted could prove to be another worthy summer sudser for ABC Family.

The characters aren't terribly deep and the dialog doesn't take advantage of Emerson's and Caviezel's acting chops.

But when a show reaches the level that Nurse Jackie did in Season 4, reverting to cruise control isn't enough--and Jackie is just coasting through its new run.

It's trying too hard to be a "sitcom" that looks and feels straight out of 1992. The bones are there, but the execution is lacking.

For now, we find it a solid, entertaining spook-fest.

Chiklis ("The Shield," "Fantastic Four") and Benz ("Dexter") are appealing leads, and "No Ordinary Family" will most likely rise and fall on their backs.

Terra Nova is another vehicle for a familiar story. It's one we're happy to watch, just maybe not with the fervor FOX is hoping for.

While there's definite potential in the show, there were a few things about it that just didn't work.

Though the choice to have the characters speak to the camera feels a little tired (and the plotting to have it continue past the premiere is quite contrived), the show is quite possibly one of the funniest new comedies of the season, full of small moments that lead to big laughs.

With Covert Affairs, USA has added another slick and likable drama to its summer lineup.

Sleepy Hollow is quite fun, if you're willing to suspend all disbelief and go for the ride.

A cool premise can only take a show so far, and there's some work to do on the character front to make the show worthy of using all available technology not to miss.

Like several new shows this season, the ABC comedy is neither cover-your-eyes bad nor set-the-DVR-season-pass good. It just sort of is what it is, which is occasionally cute and amusing--thanks mostly to a cast of comedy veterans--but largely forgettable.

Undercovers [is]quite possibly one of the best meldings of the two sides of Abrams thus far: the action-adventure guy and the seriously modern romantic.

House of Lies lacks the heart of "Shameless" and Kaan lacks the likability of Duchovny's Hank Moody, which means we care very little about the characters after two episodes.

There is a lot to like and there is great potential, so give it a chance and see if you want to engage with Marry Me every week.

At the end of the day, Hell on Wheels is beautifully-filmed project that offers exceptional attention to detail on everything but the main character.

Mob City presents a sumptuous-looking period piece with remarkable attention to detail. But beyond that, it all feels a little bit overblown.

The new Dallas isn't a game-changer, but it's a solidly built, easy-to-take soap that does right by its predecessor.

We have no idea what the future holds, but if the series holds up to the pilot, Satisfaction is an exciting and way more than satisfying journey worth taking.

The location shooting and some very strong performances lift it above standard cop-show fare.

If horror is your thing, you should definitely check it out for a few episodes and decide for yourself.

There's enough in the premise and the performances (particularly those of Garcia and Neill) to keep us watching, but to really hook us in Alcatraz needs to decide what kind of show it wants to be.

It's Kurtz and Mixon that really elevate Mike & Molly from most couple-centric comedies.

While the first two episodes of "Da Vinci" are overly convoluted, the action moves at such a rapid pace and unfolds with such giddy enthusiasm that it's easy to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The viewer are asked to digest a lot, but we're willing to bear with it and see if the subsequent episodes can strike the same supernatural-but-not-super-goofy note, retain the production values and keep us interested.

Anyone looking for soapy twists and turns, shocking violence and a fast-paced ride will get what they want from creator Kevin Williamson and crew, just don't expect the show to dig deep into its characters or give you much to think about in the process.

Expect some equally strong language to reflect the harshness of the crimes, but enough charisma from the protagonists to keep the show from derailing into glorified grisliness.

This heartwarming show just might become the sitcom success NBC so desperately needs.