Using the audio from the radio episodes and then supplying a sort of 1960s-style Hanna-Barbera wash of cheap animation to more fully illustrate the inanity of their conversations, Gervais has landed on something quite special that can be scorchingly funny.

HBO's The Sunset Limited--faithfully adapted from Cormac McCarthy's 2006 play and directed by its co-star, Tommy Lee Jones--more than overcomes the challenge of getting a satisfying piece of theater to work on a TV screen.

I trust completely the template laid out for The Killing by the original "Forbrydelsen" (which I've not seen) and the artistic instincts evident in the first three episodes.

The show is also refreshingly entertaining, even when it relies on familiar cliches of the singing-competition genre.

Beyond its breakneck speed and miles logged, Citizen U.S.A. couldn't be more easy or straightforward: From tiny ceremonies in county courthouses to massive arena-sized gatherings in big cities, Pelosi presents a surprising collage of that essential moment when people who've immigrated to the United States become official Americans.

Gosh, that's a lot of derivative teen-movie influences for a half-hour show. Yet the swift pacing and simplicity of Awkward remind us that awkwardness can still be freshly painful and funny material, so long as there are still teenagers and high schools.

A lavish, exciting, well-acted and admirably thorough movie adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 classic.

A surprisingly stylish and addictive new counterterrorism series.

The show seems somehow sleeker and better paced. Characters may now be people first and archetypes second. This has the subtle but immediate effect of making The Walking Dead less predictable and more frightening.

The interplay between Arnett and Applegate has an instant crackle to it, especially when they argue about which one of them got the least sleep during Amy's latest tearful night. Just as one's interest in Up All Night's domestic cliches may flag, "SNL" alum and "Bridesmaids" co-star Maya Rudolph is here to lift the show up several notches as Reagan's boss.

This new season starts off strong.

Paradise Lost 3 is perhaps the most interesting and well-made film of the trilogy

Director Nancy Buirski's engaging HBO documentary (a Valentine's Day treat, airing Tuesday night), rescues the Lovings from the perfunctory realm of footnotes and newspaper clippings and brings them into a more emotional light.

My own enjoyment of The Killing begins and ends with the gloom so brilliantly conveyed by its pace and performances.

This plot sounds laughably bizarre, but Hit & Miss has a strikingly strong sense of pace and character.

Political Animals verges right up to the edge of ludicrous with the right combination of salty-sweet and silly-smart.

The mind reels with possibility, and even hope, which is why we keep coming back to stories like these.

It's all so real it verges on the mundane, but the show is also strong and necessary medicine for these times.

People who think the Kennedy cake has been overfrosted surely won't fall for it, even though the film is undeniably moving. No one in the film tells all, certainly not Ethel.

Most of History of the Eagles is rich in detail and bemused reflection, perhaps because sobriety has worked wonders on some of the band members’ sense of recall. Frey, Walsh and Don Henley are wonderful storytellers.

Bates Motel turns out to be a worthy reimagining of the Norman Bates story.

One girds oneself for some serious hammer time when an opening fight scene of History’s compelling and robust new drama series, Vikings, delivers all the expected gore and blood spatter.

It’s mainly an intelligent crime drama, and a real step forward for Sundance, which is bringing more original programming to its slate. As slow as it seems to go at first, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’re addicted.

A fresh and even stirring reminiscence.

A fascinating new PBS documentary.

Even with a lavish two-hour premiere, Terra Nova could stand to slow down and admire the world it has taken us to--Earth, 85 million years ago. Still and all, it's a dazzling debut, with a variety of compelling mysteries to get itself going.

Suburgatory displays a polished sense of humor and a better cast than it deserves, which makes it worth a look.

666 Park Avenue will have a little of what "American Horror Story" is having, obviously, even if its frights aren't nearly as jumpy.