David Wiegand

It's difficult to imagine that even American broadcast TV would import the cliche-ridden melodrama of "Borgen," but if it captures the credible heart of the story - that moderation has a place in politics and can beat old-fashioned backroom deals - it holds promise.

The characters may be types, but what they do as back waiters, servers, bartenders and sous chefs is convincing.

Bobby Kennedy for President is not a definitive work. Yes, it has been carefully researched and is a very useful and important compilation of materials about who RFK was and what he did. In doing so, it captures the appeal of the man, especially to a generation looking desperately for a leader who would bring the nation peace, within its borders and elsewhere.

We’ve all heard the names of the series’ subjects so far (and next year’s subject, author Mary Shelley), and may know something about them — perhaps a lot about them. But the addition of solid performances and attention to production details of setting, design and costumes enhances our knowledge and goes a long way toward making us want to know--and see--more.

The show isn’t as satisfying as seeing Styles perform live, and Grimshaw may not add much to the party, but it is, after all, Harry Styles.

The Searcher is a spellbinding and grippingly revealing documentary. On the plus side, it eschews the tiresome talking-head structure, but doesn’t always identify who is speaking, which only occasionally makes you wonder who’s speaking.

This is not only an important show, one that gets into your head as few TV series can, it is also pretty much a masterpiece. ... Once again, the performances are astounding. And once again, the most astounding is Emmy winner Moss. ... The rest of the cast is extraordinary.

There is plenty of action and violence in the first half of the season, but what will empower the show’s longevity is its metaphysical theme, the exploration of the meaning and definition of human existence.

The show is watchable, but mostly for the special effects. The scripts are plodding and formulaic and the direction consistently flabby.

Not only is it way more fun than most assassination dramas, it’s also nicely conceived and, you should pardon the expression, executed.

Lonergan’s script is simply stunning. ... Every performance is spot-on, especially that of Atwell, who is captivating and engagingly intelligent as Margaret Schlegel. Ormond is heartbreaking and noble as Ruth Wilcox.

The script is weak and the direction is weaker, as Levinson tries to walk a fine line on the issue of Paterno’s involvement for the sake of the tacked-on finale. Fortunately, Pacino’s performance counterbalances the problems with the film, as do solid performances by Kathy Baker as Paterno’s wife, Sue, and Riley Keough as journalist Sara Ganim, who would win a Pulitzer Prize for her work on the sordid case.

The Crossing has a European feel and a more deliberate pace to match. That’s a good thing, but without other episodes, it’s not easy to assess the real potential of The Crossing.

There are rough spots here and there in The Last O.G., but they are easily smoothed over, especially by the show’s excellent core cast. You’ll find yourself hoping the O.G. lasts.

McEwan’s theme, exquisitely celebrated in the adaptation by Stephen Butchard, the direction by Julian Farino and enviable performances by Cumberbatch, Macdonald and Moore, especially, is about the nature of childhood itself, about how it becomes subsumed in the quotidian routines of adulthood.

Apatow’s film overflows with great, smart commentary on who Shandling was and how much of an enigma he remained all his life. ... Apatow is blessedly generous about reminding us how extraordinary Shandling was by including a good number of clips from his standup and his TV shows. In other words, Zen Diaries is very, very funny and very obsessed.

The scripts may make political points here and there, but Roseanne is still a comedy about a family--a family of individuals. Resurrected shows give us a chance to remember what things were like when “Roseanne” and “Will & Grace” first aired, and consider how different many things are today. ... How nice to be able to turn to old friends for their take on it all.

Trust often feels made up, and that’s intentional. Beaufoy and fellow executive producer Danny Boyle, who directed the first three episodes, adopt a slyly sardonic tone throughout the story as it unfolds through shifting time periods. With so many morally bankrupt characters, the slightly humorous tone leavens the mood a bit. The performances are captivating.

The show benefits from superb writing with the slight exception of the eighth episode, where the script falters a bit trying to balance comedy and mayhem.

The series eventually begins to click but the pacing is slow, the action is sporadic and the special effects are, well, not all that special. ... Campbell and Ogbomo, and the battle of wills between daughter and mom, are consistently more interesting than Seg-El’s machinations to restore his family honor.

In spite of its overall lack of imagination, Instinct has promise, but more important, it has Alan Cumming.

The writers rely too heavily on the cliches to develop characters, which leaves many of them underdeveloped or inconsistent. Radnor is such a good actor that it takes a while for us to realize his contradictory actions don’t really line up with what we think we know about Lou.

Deception feels not only time-tested, but timeworn.

Kaling and co-creator Grandy use plot as a display case for consistently funny writing, sweet and credible performances by the ensemble cast and most of all, the exceptional skills of J.J. Totah, who plays Priya and Vince’s proudly out son, Michael.

In the second season of the Emmy-winning comedy, he [Donald Glover] breaks even more rules, again with dazzling and deserved confidence. ... The performances are superb at every level, and the direction, mostly by Hiro Murai, is equal to the levels of excellence in the acting and the scripts by Glover, his brother Stephen and others.

The three episodes made available to critics are masterful and smart in how they use our knowledge of what happened on 9/11 to supply retroactive suspense to the events of the late 1990s. That may be more challenging to maintain over the remaining seven episodes, but even if the the construct falls short, the series still has a core of complex, morally various characters, brilliantly embodied by Daniels and others, to hold our attention.

The show’s success owes primarily to the performances by the lead actors, who are so appealing that you might not remember they are actually committing crimes including theft, kidnapping, blackmail and transporting contraband across international borders. And that’s just in the first three episodes.

Long and Hemingway take a lot of chances with Unsolved, and sometimes come dangerously close to confusing their audience. But their collective drive pays off. Even if we don’t always know where we’re going, the ride is never less than exciting and challenging.