Being Human works better than it should because of skillful writing, often laced with wry humor, and the very deep well of plot possibilities in the idea that three "monsters," as they call themselves, can pass for "human."

Media Rights Capital, an independent production company, took an offbeat idea and made it work surprisingly well.

While some plot elements and characters have been imported intact from the United Kingdom, the American show makes its own statement and will move away from its British roots in future episodes.

The trick to Archer is that you have to listen--and watch--carefully. What can be seen and heard on the surface is outlandish, but the real genius of the show is to be found in its seemingly offhand sight gags and throwaway lines.

For the most part, [Haynes] succeeds because he embraces the story's excesses instead of feeling they need to be swept under a metaphorical rug.

The Borgias, created by filmmaker Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game"), is the better of the two [The other is "Camelot"], thanks largely to Irons, a strong supporting cast and sophisticated production values.

The material works more often than not because the guys are completely shameless, which makes them difficult to dislike.

While there are somewhat foreseeable plot developments (Cameron's falling for Melanie, but she's hooked on Dutch), the series does have an agreeable cast and clever writing, and perhaps enough of both qualities to go the distance.

They bring David himself on as a kind of nudge to the ribs, as if to say, "Of course we know we're ripping off Larry's show." But what the hey? David's clearly in on the joke and is well paired with Reiser as the two of them riff off each other over lunch.

Several recent documentaries have tried to help the rest of the world understand the realities of being transgender, but, ironically, one of the better efforts does it well in spite of the fact that it focuses on the offspring of one of the most famous couples in pop culture.

Despite the complexity of the subject, it's impossible not to get the gist of what went on in 2008, thanks to the focus on the players and the actors who do the playing.

Unlike other documentaries, Gettysburg is short on archival still photography from the battlefield, but that's because, for once, it isn't needed. The re-enactments are dramatic and horrifically convincing all by themselves.

Despite what we know about his troubled childhood, Fischer remains enigmatic.

Don't try too hard to make sense of it: Covert Affairs is simply--and simple--fun.

Skies has enough going for it to appeal even to those who don't think they like sci-fi.

It's unlikely that any TV drama filmed in Toronto could ever come close to the bloody reality of war, but ABC's new series, Combat Hospital, makes a pretty compelling attempt at doing so.

The performances and characterizations are all top-notch, and the action sequences, especially in the first episode, are crisply directed.

Pelosi's film may not tell "the other side of the story" directly, but if it does nudge us to consider these issues, viewing the film becomes more rewarding.

The life of an everyday American high school girl has rarely been rendered with such sly and funny precision as it is in MTV's aptly named Awkward.

Dinner isn't quite ready to take its place in the Brit-com hall of fame, but it's good for a laugh or three.

By making us wonder what Steinem doesn't declare, we can come to a greater understanding of the complexities of the woman herself, but only if we are willing to venture beneath the surface.

With a cast this big, though, and plots this complicated, it can be a challenge to keep up. Then again, if you're willing to do the work, it more than pays off.

The show is great fun, and clearly the star herself is having fun in the lead roles.

The changes enhance the comic balance between the reality-based humor of a young couple coping with their new baby and their evaporating youth, and the "SNL"-sketch-like satire of a powerful and powerfully self-involved talk show hostess.

Broke is rich with laughs, warmth and credibility. The performances by the two lead actresses are instantly winning, both individually and as they play off each other.

Revenge has enough meaty characters and plot possibilities to keep it going for years. And it just may last long enough to explore them all.

The scary parts of the show really are scary and the actors are all appealing.

Even if it isn't the scariest series ever, Horror Story still has tasty performances by several characters, chief among them Lange and Conroy.

Composed of extraordinary source footage, most entirely unseen before, that combines newsreels, U.S. and British television shows, home movies and hundreds of rare photographs blended with the requisite talking-head interviews.

If Amy really was enlightened, there'd be no show, but the fact that she's wearing her enlightenment like an ill-fitting coat gives the show both its comedic and plot trajectories.

The films work individually, of course, but gain even greater meaning and emotional strength in context with each other.

Once Upon a Time is both family-friendly and smart enough to win viewers of any age and level of sophistication.

The writing is juvenile, hormonal and often pretty dang funny.

It definitely has its moments.

It's great to have such important talking heads, but after a while, they don't really contribute much new to the discussion.

Angry Boys is an equal-opportunity offender, but its infectiously juvenile humor, not to mention its secret heart and, of course, the appeal of Chris Lilley's multiple impersonations, make it very hard to stay angry for long.

The cast is appealing and the story line is not only compelling but also deals with fascinating moral complexities.

[Berg gives] us a richly detailed look behind the scenes of the boxing world, and, in the process, showing us a battle-scarred warrior determined to live to fight another day.

Key and Peele are sufficiently talented and versatile to carry off a half-hour show on their own.

It opens into a fairly entertaining ensemble show about beautiful, bright people.

The truth is, it takes a very big man to laugh at himself, and a very good actor to get us laughing along with him as well.

A single film about three young people won't, by itself, make a universal happy ending for every troubled LGBT kid in the United States. But it's doing its job if it reaches just one of them.

Mullally is certainly another reason to watch the show, but her presence also works to solve another problem: cast dynamics.

The strength of his film is that he leaves it to us to make our own decisions about Barnes and the other death row inmates.

Missing may be 2 percent inspiration and 98 percent perspiration with all of its action scenes, but it's fun to watch. Judd classes up the joint nicely.

Notwithstanding the cat-and-mouse plotting, we watch The Killing because of the superb writing and attention to character detail in the scripts by series executive producer Veena Sud and others.

BFF takes a less than inventive situation and turns it into something close to sitcom gold, thanks to the fact that creators Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham have taken the time to write believable characters saying legitimately funny things.

The result is not only that the show is funny, but that we also actually like both June and Chloe.

Kaufman's film, despite some flaws, captures the intensity of their story and pulls us in with the irresistible force of a great, doomed love story.

Hatfields & McCoys does a good job of explaining the roots of the feud and helping us see that, regardless of whatever legitimacy there may have been in one family's hatred of the other, none of it was worth the lives lost over those six blood-soaked years.

Adams and Macht are terrific, with the former loosening up quite considerably this year as Mike....Torres is cool, sexy and commanding as Jessica, and Markle, Hoffman and Rafferty contribute greatly to the energy of the show's core ensemble.

This is a family show in the best meaning of the term.

The performances are all first-rate, so much so that they help the audience overcome very minor skepticism when events in Tony Basgallop's script feel a bit too convenient to be entirely credible.

The performance quality of the show is matched only by the sharpness of the writing.

The second season is to explore Ryan's character and the vulnerabilities that enable him to see Wilfred as a biped.

Endeavour is wonderfully entertaining on its own, but what puts it over the top is its loving respect for John Thaw.

Hit & Miss doesn't take long to convince us that its characters and plot are not only possible, but credible and, dare I say, touching.

Schwartz's workmanlike film nonetheless gives us a detailed portrait of the man as well as the activist.

The characters on Go On are engaging and varied.

Although the characters have only scant or fleeting redeeming personal values, we continue to buy into their machinations because of how they are created and because of superbly convincing performances at every level of the cast.

A fairly promising new show with a lot of humor, solid performances, a snappily written script.

What truly makes the miniseries, though, are the performances in general and that of Garai in particular. The entire story and theme turn not only on contrasts but also on character evolution, which demands precision and nuance from the cast.

Yes, Revolution is a good adventure yarn, but the other reason we're likely to watch future episodes is that it grounds the action in thought-provoking themes.

Two things are clear from the Mindy pilot: First, that the writers need to do some work to make the secondary characters less of a cliche, and, second, that Kaling has the stuff to go the distance.

Whether you see the seams or not, though, what matters is that it all works, and we'll keep watching, if only to see Quaid and Chiklis square off against each other week after week.

There's no laugh track, the humor is gently sophisticated and the main characters wounded but appealing.

Elementary will probably infuriate Sherlock Holmes purists, but other viewers are likely to find it gripping and well cast.

The production values are first-rate, the performances convincing, and with 60 units in the building, there's a wealth of potential stories to keep 666 in ABC's address book for several seasons.

Loss is the birthright of every life, and no one can refuse it. Yet we go on, buoyed by hope and love. Not exactly an original message, but it is one that Midwife delivers convincingly.

The action is hot, fast and believable, achieved through quick-cut editing and spot-on direction.

You will come away from the film understanding a great deal about an extraordinary woman who played much more than just a supporting role in a significant period in our history. Perhaps more important, you will get a better sense of that historic period as well.

Occasional PSA breaks aside, Asylum is all in great and occasionally gory fun, and the cast members deliver the over-the-top dialogue with a heaping topping of relish.

The series' historic recreations are convincing, for the most part, although at times, the History Channel can't help itself and falls back into some of it cheesier bad habits.

Hurricane is a whirling impressionistic painting of the band, beautifully conveying the energy, drive and genius of the Stones, more or less chronologically within the basic flashback structure.

He holds forth telling wonderful stories about his childhood, about working as a "tummler" at Grossinger's, what it was like working with Sid Caesar and his enduring love for Gene Wilder, whose role in "Blazing Saddles" initially went to Gig Young, in between clips from too few of his many great films and TV work.

1600 Penn may not be as sophisticated as the hysterical HBO series "Veep," but it's still pretty funny when all the cylinders are firing.

On the one hand, our love of the characters makes it more than possible to overlook the sloppiness of the scripts. On the other, though, it's because we do know these characters so well that we notice the inconsistencies in the first place. Again, none of this detracts significantly from our enjoyment of the series.

It has a solid pedigree. It's also part of Cinemax's effort to expand its original programming. That effort pays off with Banshee.

It's funny and oddly touching.

Funny, fearless, down to earth and informative, Monaghan makes a great host and guide and gives us a new respect and appreciation for nature's wild things--from a very safe distance.

The first two episodes of Dallas 2.0, the TNT reboot of the classic nighttime soap, have all the fixin's for a juicy second season.

The Americans benefits from convincing performances by the cast, but Weisberg's concept and writing in the first two episodes make the show much more than "just" a spy thriller.

In the end, it's easy to overlook some of the credibility gaps because the writing is otherwise so fine, as are the direction and the performances.

The inevitable and believable intersection of "old" and "new" musical theater adds real life and renewed potential to Smash.

There isn't a bad performance in the bunch.... Veterans Molina and Irwin stand out for especially complex and nuanced performances.

Fans were rightly worried when Harmon was canned, but at least the first two shows of the new season follow his crazy-quilt template.

One thing is certain -- Kathryn Morris is going to be a star. Whether her starring vehicle ever catches up to or captures her potential is another thing.

While it's true that television has been overloaded with acronyms lately and the redundant, long and confusing Navy NCIS is an egregious offender, it's also true that television is exploding with quality dramas and this is another of them.

For now, though, the credibility issues don't matter that much because we're more interested in the characters, who may not be all that credibly created themselves, but who are informed by Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece.

Hannibal moves at a snail's pace to build tension. At the same time, there's an obvious attempt to counter its inertia with a lot of very intrusive soundtrack music.... Fortunately, Dancy's performance is terrific and more than enough to maintain our interest, with or without elks.

Most of the performances are superb, beginning with Tennant, of course. He is so well cast and skilled that he's able to sustain credibility despite some of the gaps in the script.

In what must be considered something of a stunner on several levels, Two and a Half Men, a new sitcom, is actually funny.

In a world that has exploded with instantaneously accessible information, television news is hard-pressed to figure out how to keep up. It takes a show like Vice to make other news magazine shows seem like they belong in a TV antiques shop.

Entourage works precisely because it's nearly soulless. These guys are wallowing in excess. Any less of a cannonball into it would seem unbelievable. But there's no ignoring how childish and annoyingly limited the group can be, including some aspects of Eric.

Manhunt may not have the thrills and chills of a Hollywood feature film about the raid on bin Laden's compound, but you'll come away from a viewing of the film knowing that there is much more to covert operations than midnight raids and state-of-the-art electronic surveillance.

Maron is his own acerbic, sad-sack self, and his new show is worth a look.

Just as "A Mighty Wind" and "Waiting for Guffman" aren't like traditional movies, "Family Tree" isn't like traditional sitcoms, in that there isn't a traditional setup-punch-line structure to it. It does evoke comedies such as "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Arrested Development," though, where the humor is more incremental, character-based and cumulative.

What NBC has managed to do with The Office is make something true to the original while expanding on the vision and completely avoiding the dour stupidity of the current American sitcom. That, in case you haven't figured it out yet, is nearly miraculous.

The performances are spot-on, of course, but Enos and Kinnaman were never the show's problem. Quite the opposite, in fact. Retooling the show with the murders solved at the end makes The Killing deserving of a new lease on TV life.

Overall, the emotional honesty of Kieran's character and his all too human craving for acceptance and happiness make In the Flesh oddly moving.

Sinbad is uncomplicated and unpretentious fun.

'24' keeps you on edge like no other series. [28 Oct 2002]

Tacky, vulgar, politically incorrect and mocks others. And those are its good points.

Setting up the first big heist takes all of the first episode, so our introduction to Smith and crew is too quick, more than a little forced and ultimately not compelling enough.

Discerning viewers -- and anyone who's hooked on "Lost" -- will realize that "Jericho" is doling out hints to a very large mystery at a very slow pace, which is never a good combination.

"Help Me Help You" has a few more surprises and comedic heft to it than expected.

The first two hours are decent.

O'Brien's debut was pretty much what one would expect from these kind of pre-hyped events. It was both funny and forced and the expectations of - what, exactly?--never seemed to materialize, even though Will Ferrell as the sole guest tried to drum something up and Pearl Jam, as the musical guest, at least kick-started an aural ruckus.

Preposterous ideas know no bounds on "Prison Break."

"Reunion" has more dishonest heartstring tugs than a John Hughes movie sliced up on AMC and filled with Hallmark ads. And the emotional heavy lifting makes people forget that the actual writing -- in this case, an overdose of voice-over narration -- is sleight, cloying and transparent.

By no means is "Just Legal" a top-notch drama as yet, but it certainly has potential to be agreeable lighter fare.

There is something too pat, too telegraphed in "Invasion" to rile up the blood.

The problem with "Criminal Minds" -- other than there are 48 series in a similar vein, 39 of them on CBS -- is that every person in this cast has an area of expertise, and they spend the hour telling you about it in the most unrealistic workplace conversations you'll ever hear.

There's no doubt that "Related" will speak to some women. It will make other women break out in itchy, insanity-inducing hives.

This is a series that throws so much lunacy into the plotlines that even the writers on "Dynasty" must be hissing.

Actually, "Emily's Reasons Why Not" does have its funny moments. The problem is twofold. The show tweaks and contorts itself so hard to get those laughs that the whole thing feels forced and unmanageable for two consecutive episodes, much less a season. And secondly, the premise is unlikely to hold up for any length of time.

"Huff" got too heavy, and too predictable in its moroseness. Lying on the couch for more seems unnecessarily depressing.

The real problem with "Justice" is that the series is very average.

Can we negotiate for a better premise if we release some hostages?

It's not compelling at all.

This is a paint-by-numbers legal series that's as predictable as they come.

It never finds a compelling vision while inside those heads to suggest it will be anything more than a good, but not great, hospital drama.

At some point, your head will explode.

"The Dresden Files" is currently mediocre, a series searching for the right tone, seemingly unsure of itself and all the while not quite selling itself to the non sci-fi crowd.

You might not remember to record it every week, but if you stumble upon it, you might stay.

[It] ultimately succumbs to being an inferior story on a broadcast network that can't even remotely match two far better cable series ["The Sopranos" and "Brotherhood"].

The pilot looks dangerously flawed and seriously underwhelming.

"Raines" is one of those shows that are enjoyable time wasters if you don't know what else is available.

There's much to recommend in "Thank God You're Here!," but the show could be vastly improved by giving viewers at home a little more credit.

Much of the writing in the first episode is competent, but it's hard to judge whether it will rise above that, because Smith has to spend so many words establishing the bases for all the plot developments to come.

The spy story, wartime bullets and intrigue carry The Company, though the writing and story are unnecessarily obvious.

To some extent, the sequel could never live up to "HS1" because the first film was such a surprise. There are more than a few high notes in the sequel, but there are also some flat notes as well.

Intriguing--but not especially enjoyable.

Right now, outside of Anderson struggling to make something from the limited ingredients he's been given, New Orleans itself is the only interesting element.

Three sitcom veterans can elevate comfortable mediocrity only so high. There's probably not one setup, premise or joke that you haven't seen before (or will see coming) in the entirety of your sitcom-watching life.

The main action is pretty much standard soap fare.

It allows McKidd to shine as Mr. Fix-It, even though he never wanted the task. Some of the subtext needs more episodes to provide breathing room.

Ryan seems too inert, not nearly aggressive enough for the role.

Applegate is charming, adorable and funny. But she's going to need that plus a car battery or a purposeful dip in the bathtub with a hair dryer to get much spark into this series.

Though Berlanti doesn't always get the balance right and there's no telling whether people will glom onto Eli the way they did Ally, having seen three episodes and been entertained through most of them is saying something, at least.

The trouble with Welcome to the Captain, outside of the title and romantic emphasis, is that two episodes haven't revealed any clear direction.

For all the effort that was put into making Canterbury complicated, not nearly enough quality control was put into the writing.

But this is an epic drama on HBO, correct? So is it Giamatti or Adams himself who will make viewers wish for a swifter and less pedantic version on the History Channel?

The pilot of Miss Guided suffers a bit from being too cute with a device where the actors talk into the camera for narration and expository purposes.

In Plain Sight, in addition to some of the worst character names you'll ever see, has deeper problems in the writing.

Swingtown was created to portray a broad but nuanced picture of '70s suburban America, but it might be too ambitious.

It's solid for what it is, despite the worrisome gimmick and sometimes obvious story.

Although the cases in Raising the Bar are apparently influenced by real-life cases, they tend to be either predictable or predictably unpredictable, however you want to look at it. In combination with the characters, this makes Raising the Bar about an average law series. That's pretty good for TNT, but less than expected from Bochco - fair or not.

Oh, it's not very French and the dialogue is absurd, but somehow from this divine mess emerges something that at least approximates a woman you have to admire.

Though there are plenty of hard-earned (some might say forced) laughs here and Bornheimer is a real find, you can't help but wonder how they'll keep up the pace.

There's an old-school feel to the storytelling (shades of "Columbo") that makes it feel comfortable--perhaps too comfortable, or at least too easy.

There are funny moments here, mostly coming from Mohr's agitated rantings. But the laugh track is mighty intrusive, which detracts from the average jokes by throwing them in your face (or down your ear, as it were).

Californication in Season 2 seems like its indulging a certain person's condition rather than illuminating the human condition, if you know what I mean - and I think you do.

Some of it works, much of it doesn't.

Not nearly as ambitious as "Life on Mars" but entertaining nonetheless.

In FX's Testees, viewers get a good premise gone sophomorically sideways.

Bad, then decent, then confusing. That's not exactly the trajectory you're looking for in a pilot.

Leverage is far from great TV and not even close to really good TV, but when the bad-turned-good guys team up to do their thing, it's a passably entertaining way to spend an hour.

After watching the first four episodes, it's clear that despite the familiar adrenaline rush and a (temporarily) tighter rein on the ridiculous, 24 hasn't changed much at all.

Joss Whedon is one of television's most talented visionaries, but his latest series--the highly anticipated midseason drama Dollhouse--is a major disappointment.

It's visually engrossing. Then it goes oddly flat in parts, only to kick-start itself with another clash of tones.

Even though In the Motherhood may have universal appeal, overly familiar premises can lead to lameness, so ABC better hope the rest of the episodes play more like the one on Thursday and less like the one a week later.

Ultimately, everybody's affable in this series. There are no sharp right angles, no emotional elbows.

Bateman and Arnett make the most of what they're given, but Sit Down, Shut Up seems to be caught up in actually trying to have a plot and then partly tossing off zany one-liners (with a focus on anatomy).

Unfortunately, The Goode Family isn't distinct enough or, ultimately, funny enough in the few episodes ABC screened to really worry about a future.

CBS can turn a lot of tired fluff into sitcom hits, so who knows about Accidentally on Purpose? There are laughs here and there, but mostly it's all so very familiar and not remotely as funny as "Modern Family" or "Cougar Town."

The pilot is not especially funny. But it has potential.

Branagh is pretty good at being mopey and jowly, and the rest of the cast is fine as well. It's just that none of this really adds up to anything very compelling.

There's nothing inherently wrong with The Good Wife other than it's a legal series with too many close-up shots of knowing glances and "attagirl Alicia" moments of empowerment that you saw coming 20 minutes prior.

What NCIS: Los Angeles does well is what all CBS procedurals do well--bring mostly believable, semi-pulse-pounding justice to bad guys by the end of the hour with some action, a dose of humor and the weekly, methodical unpeeling of each character's private onion skin.

A slightly older version of "Charmed"? Um, yes. Into all of this potential mediocrity (fully realized, by the way), comes the masterstroke of casting the phenomenal Paul Gross as the devil.

If you're a fan of "Family Guy," this is an easy sell....The guess here is that if you don't know anything about "Family Guy," you'll be watching another network anyway.

It's traditional sitcom fodder. But what makes The Middle a pleasant surprise is that the series itself is eccentric and funny in unexpected ways, not just the kids.

It's not a gratuitous failure and makes enough sense to see to the end.

The Prisoner is not compelling. It rambles too much. Its vagaries are not interesting, its unorthodox storytelling not special enough.

Unfortunately, Life Unexpected took all of the schmaltz of "Gilmore Girls" and expanded it several hundred times over, forgetting to insert any of the quirk and only a smidge of the smart banter.

It's beige on beige, people.

A few of the others could have easily painted themselves toward the exit, except that some of the lesser talents are also some of the bigger personalities. And when it comes right down to it, that's what will keep "Work of Art" on the air.

It could spark discussion or debate. But it's mostly just a reality series. And that means manufactured scenarios, big drama, tears, tattoos, drinking, sex, swearing and lots of arguing and playing to the camera. Straight people have been making fools of themselves on TV like this for ages.

In truth, it's the bountiful hamminess of McShane and the other evildoers that makes Pillars great fun, even if it's never going to be a candidate for "Masterpiece Theatre."

It's an hour that you'll be able to understand and appreciate, even if you love "Sons of Anarchy" more. Sometimes it's fun to take a spin on your old bike, so to speak.

Hawaii Five-O is nothing but entertainment. It's eye candy.

Not nearly as good or as complex as "Justified" on FX, but it's a decent hour of mindless entertainment.

While the cop genre is all but played out, Detroit 1-8-7 is stylish and acceptably rough-hewn enough to make it worth your while.

While the reworked pilot is a marked improvement over the original, the parts are still not working together, but you'd like to believe they will be in a few episodes.

It's light but predictable fun.

The Whole Truth, which airs opposite "The Defenders" on ABC, is less lousy.

It's a rote cop show, but in the last five minutes or so, it hints at something deeper.

Despite the fact that the film focuses on just a few critical years of Lennon's life, the pacing is plodding and scattershot at the same time.

Morgan is appealing and brilliant in many ways, but as a stand-up comic, he needs better material. Or at least a few different positions.

The performances are actually good in the series, if only the actors had credible or remotely likable or, dare we ask, funny characters to play.

Show creator Tom Wheeler goes a little heavy with the overwrought dialogue (sample line: "It's not all corrupt! One man can still make a difference!"), but he has a sense of humor that emerges more in the second episode.

The real challenge for the writers is to use the show's formula without becoming so enslaved to it that they fail to allow the characters to move beyond being cliches.

Regardless of the memories and anecdotes, what these films lack are commentators who can provide cultural context.

When the balance is off, as it is too frequently in Harry's Law, it undermines credibility. Bates is almost capable of making us overlook some of the show's problems.

Fairly Legal is adequately entertaining, thanks in large part to Shahi, an engaging actress who looks like Anne Hathaway.

Despite the fact that Portlandia features different sketches in each episode, the show already begins to feel like a stretch by the second show.

The Chicago Code may stick to police-procedural formula, but it does have most of the elements needed to make the show at least a moderate success. With better writing and a bit more imagination, it could do even better.

It's hard to judge a show by a single episode (although, in some cases--NBC's "Perfect Couples," for example--the stench is instantly convincing), but Mad Love has at least the seeds of eventual success.

It's all pretty average and watchable largely because of the cast.

It probably works better onstage, but Stevens should know that what you do to achieve suspension of disbelief in a theater is not what you do to convince an audience that what it is seeing in a film is real.

What makes the show at least mildly interesting is that it's not always easy to predict who will make it to the next round and who will be cut.

While it seems apparent that seeing the show live would be a hoot, it doesn't translate to television all that well--it just feels shrunken and confined by the medium.

Pieces of the familiar Arthurian epic are preserved in the script, but that doesn't mean the characters fit our images of them.

Created by David Caspe, Happy Endings needs better writing and characters who don't look like characters in other forgettable sitcoms. Otherwise, this show's ending may be anything but happy.

And, in most cases, he has a concept for how the food will look, then has to figure out how to make it work. Taste is important, but seems to be somewhat of an afterthought.

F&B will rise or fall almost entirely on the basis of how likable you find Gosselaar and Meyer, not to mention the wisecrack-stuffed dialogue.

It is billed as scarier and sexier than the lighthearted film series. It is that, but still plays it safer than, say, "Vampire Diaries" or the "Twilight" films.