LaToya Ferguson

The series is ultimately more of an ensemble teen drama a la “Degrassi” or “13 Reasons Why,” only grittier than the former and, thankfully, less bleak than the latter.

“30 Rock: A One-Time Special” absolutely excels at what it is and does. It is a perfect commercial for NBC Universal, a perfect commercial for television, and a perfect commercial for people who believe they are too cool to watch commercials but not too cool to watch television reunion specials. ... A blatant hour-long commercial for television is technically the natural progression for the story 30 Rock told, which allows the special to somehow reach an even higher level of meta inception than it already had.

IFC has released quite a few of the sketches from the special, but while certainly funny on their own, Sherman’s Showcase is a sketch show that truly excels and delivers on the laughs once you can see it all put together.

#blackAF isn’t a bad watch. While the episodes are too long, they’re mostly funny and enjoyable, albeit unsettlingly familiar for obvious reasons.

The series is a love letter to its source material, to the music that plays throughout, to New York City (with a gentrification undercurrent within the season), and even to the rom-com genre.

A lot of Avenue 5’s issues do boil down to the growing pains of a high-concept comedy and how that hinders the rapid-fire joke machine one would expect from Iannucci. Even if you’re not familiar with his past work, this is still the case: The jokes aren’t king, the setup and the full story itself is.

All six episodes function more like a strange experiment in accentuating a project’s flaws, despite a solid cast and writers who know how to work with said cast.

On Becoming a God in Central Florida is a series that caused me to, numerous times as I watched the first season, write in my notes, “What is this show?” But it was always in a good way, as I found myself in awe of what I was watching. With every hard left turn and 180 the series takes, the tone somehow manages to remain consistent.

In A Black Lady Sketch Show, all four stars get a chance to shine throughout the season, each having their own moments as the MVP of a sketch. ... It’s probably also worth noting that it accomplishes its goal of actually being funny.

Pearson lacks the life of Political Animals (which itself was also an atypical USA series at the time); but at the same time, it is going for that grittier approach and one on a much smaller scale. The best true comparison to be made for Pearson is that it’s kind of like a basic cable version of Damages (only focused on politics instead of law) in terms of approach and scope. It’s not as tense nor as thrilling, at least not yet.

If the series succeeds it’s thanks to Bell and Shepard’s pleasant chemistry, which carries the premise further than seems possible if the leads were cast differently.

There was never a dull moment from Mona. Here, that particular brand of chaotic charm is necessary in order to keep this series interesting. ... However, in redeeming [Alison], the series also defanged her. ... Unlike “Ravenswood,” however, PLL: The Perfectionists is more in line with the actual spirit of the original series--though this series leans more into tech where “Ravenswood” leaned into magic--which will at least make it worth checking out.

As is, the series does many things, few of them well, despite containing all or most of the necessary ingredients. I suppose there’s a DJ analogy in there somewhere, but Turn Up Charlie can’t seem to find it, and neither can I.

Ultimately, Flack believes that we’re concerned with the characters’ personal lives, but mines very little compelling material from the subject, while it focuses less attention on their professional dynamic, which is its foremost strength. Still, it’s worth saying: Paquin, Okonedo, and Wilson are a powerful trio, and they might succeed in reshaping Flack’s narrative yet.

It’s a technically proficient, otherwise promising sitcom that wastes these merits on the disastrous decision to let trauma become the driving force of its comedy.

Salvation has an interesting story somewhere deep down--and a cast that’s mostly capable--but it doesn’t care to tell it.