Joel Keller

There’s nothing about this new version of The Time Traveler’s Wife that hooked us in so we could take this romantic ride with Henry and Claire. It doesn’t help that the show is cheekier than it really needs to be.

We’re tentatively giving The Essex Serpent a recommendation because the performances of Danes, Hiddleston and the rest of the cast can overcome the series’ plodding pacing in parts. But we’re just not sure how many people are going to make it through all six episodes when it seems like the first one doesn’t do much to set up the story.

There is also the reasons why the seemingly put-together Candy managed to snap to begin with. Going back to reconstruct all of that will be interesting to watch, especially given the performances of Biel and Lynskey. ... Candy makes a good case that more true-crime dramas should be about the lead up and the aftermath of an event, not the event itself.

The Big Conn is one of those docuseries that moves along at a good pace while not leaving out much pertinent information. It’s as intriguing as a good scripted drama, and that should be the goal of any true crime docuseries.

While Clark may dabble a bit too much in making Clark Olofsson into a hero, it’s still an entertaining look at how Olofsson saw his life, whether the stories are true or not.

As a whole, The Staircase is a worthwhile watch, mainly for the performances by Firth, Posey and Collette. But you might get more satisfying information about the Peterson case by watching the documentary or docuseries.

We don’t expect The Pentaverate to get much funnier as the season goes along. And the longer we watch, we think the more painfully unfunny most of the gags are going to get.

Instead of a rehash of an event that could be easily researched, Meltdown: Three Mile Island takes a familiar event from the past half-century and fills in people’s gaps in information and debunks commonly held beliefs about the event.

Stream it, but only for the performances of Roberts, Penn and the rest of the cast of Gaslit. The series leans too hard on the farcical to help viewers come away with any real information about the Republican side of the Watergate scandal.

A Very British Scandal benefits from fine performances and a scandalous story that touches both on early feminism and salacious scandal.

Despite our reservations on the style choices by Dimmock, the story of Captive Audience is compelling, and the twist that involves Cary is what has us most intrigued.

Because Laurie wanted to stay relatively faithful to the story, viewers are going to have to sit through some predictability to get to the witty dialogue and the inevitable reveal of the killer.

We don’t love Swimming With Sharks, because of its trashy-for-trashiness’ sake nature and the fact that the story feels fairly predictable. But Shipka’s performance keeps the show from getting really campy.

Outer Range has expansive scenery (when it can be seen), and decent performances from Brolin, Taylor, and Poots. But neither its family drama and supernatural elements are compelling enough to make up for the show’s slow pace.

By keeping the stories simple, Roar is able to send its messages without hammering it over viewers’ heads. Could some of the episodes stick their landings better? Sure. But the storytelling in the series mostly solid.

Not So Pretty presents some pretty harrowing information in a tone that’s less hectoring and more sympathetic. By playing the, “hey, we didn’t know, either, buddy” card, its message is even more effective.

Despite the cumbersome cast and retrograde gags, The Garcias has the same warmth as The Brothers Garcia series, and should be a fun nostalgic watch for fans of the original show.

Killing It gets off to a rough but promising start, thanks to a fun performance from Robinson, with an assist from O’Doherty. We hope that as the story gets more personal, the characters will outshine the gags.

Even if you’re a fan of the Kardashians, the whole more-of-the-same vibe of The Kardashians is just a crashing bore.

Colors pop, details come out, and if you’ve got a big screen, some of the visuals are immersive. So, how is Obama as a narrator? He’s OK. His tone is more Policy Wonk Obama than Surprisingly Funny Obama or Soaring Orator Obama, but there are moments where his wryness comes through.

Between the tired format and the idea that Tate is playing most of the featured characters, Hard Cell becomes a lot to take, even after the first 30 minutes. We can’t imagine it getting much better during its first season.

We’re giving a recommendation of 61st Street mostly for the performances of Vance and Ellis. But we’re definitely concerned that the show will lean too hard on things we’ve seen in this genre too many times already to say anything new.

The couples at the center of The Ultimatum: Marry Or Move On don’t feel like real couples to us, mainly because of their relative age and relationship newness, which gives us no incentive to root for or against them staying together.

Ken Bruns doesn’t reveal a lot of new details in Benjamin Franklin, but he paints a complete picture of a statesman that most people only know his many life highlights.

We feel that once you get past the first episode of The Invisible Pilot, the craziness of Gary Betzner’s story kicks in. But the first episode makes it a little tough to get to that point.

Slow Horses has a bit of a generic case at its center, and it feels like some members of the Slough House team get short shrift, at least at first. But Oldman’s presence elevates our interest in just how everyone who works at Slough House actually got there.

In its first hour, The Outlaws manages to have a bunch of funny moments, one or two thrills, and tells more than enough about its ensemble to keep us watching.

If you don’t expect a lot of conflict or high drama, you should be able to sit back and enjoy Julia for the light, fun biography it’s intended to