Matthew Gilbert

Breezy and likable.

There are worthy performances in the mix, most notably from leads Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara, but the actors are working with scattered material that might have benefited from focus and some ruthless paring, particularly when it comes to the awkward expositional dialogue.

The many storylines work well, but the best joy of “The Other Two,” which is from former “Saturday Night Live” writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, continues to be the small but everpresent bits of satire.

I found my opinion in flux, particularly as some episodes are much better than others. At points, the show tries too hard to shock — the first episode, in particular — and I was annoyed. At other points, it was funny and even touching, as our woeful and numbed-out hero tries to work through big issues involving mental health and drug abuse. Underneath the absurdities, at times, there’s an honest tone that appeals.

Obviously, if you’re not a fan of “Bridgerton,” you have no business here. “Queen Charlotte” has the same gorgeous gardens, the same string covers of pop songs, the same buoyant tone, and the same central theme: the search for love. It’s a spinoff, yes, but it’s a good one.

Garner manages to reveal some fear and confusion behind Hannah’s eyes, and that helps to make her more human. But generally speaking, the people in this miniseries are one-dimensional.

t is a darkly humorous thriller. Cooper co-created it with her costar, Selin Hizli, and it plays out cleverly across six half-hour episodes.

“Beef” is a comedy, but it’s just as powerfully a drama about two lost and lonely people chasing each other, and chasing each other away. The acting is strong throughout. Wong makes Amy’s raw fury hit home, both comically and dramatically, but she’s always sympathetic. Likewise, Yeun elevates Danny’s wrath into something complex.

Except for some fine work by Olivia Colman as the iconic Miss Havisham, the embittered puppeteer who wreaks vengeful havoc on our hero Pip, I was by turns irritated and bored.

Based on the four episodes available for review, the show’s last chapter will be as brilliantly sarcastic, as strategically plotted, and as crammed with betrayals and patricidal urges as we’ve come to expect from this TV monument of dark wit.

I wish the story line were a little less predictable and trite, as the pair fall apart and get together a few times. Whitman and Valdes are charming enough, but they’re caught in a will-they-or-won’t-they situation that has nothing fresh to offer and songs that too-often fail to rouse or move.

The whole canceled-on-campus thing was already done on Sandra Oh’s “The Chair.” “Lucky Hank” doesn’t drag it out, which is nice, and the resolution of the plot line is comic, which is also nice. But the plot makes for an inauspicious beginning. ... And then I saw the second episode, and it was a marked improvement over the first. Unfortunately, since AMC sent out only two episodes for review, I can’t say whether “Lucky Hank” will continue to find its best self after that.

“Rain Dogs” is for more daring viewers and not for those seeking a balm. The half-hour show is rewarding, rich in its characterizations and commanding in its self-awareness, but the journey can be harsh, especially as your hopes for the characters are so often dashed. ... Another compelling thing about “Rain Dogs”: Cooper, whose performance is remarkable, by turns tender, brash, and amusing. ... Extraordinary show.

The season-long case is tighter, even while it’s not quite rich enough to supply a charge to all eight episodes.

The [dramamentary] format doesn’t always work, especially later in the series when the confessional interviews are fewer and farther between, but still: It’s a different approach that gives everything a bit of a zhuzh as the action leaps between then and now, and what people say now and what we see actually happened then.

It’s at times confusing and consistently half-baked, with dialogue that rarely rises above plot signposts. There are so very many twists, and interested factions, and betrayals, and negotiations, it’s hard to maintain a reasonably solid understanding of what’s happening specifically.

“Hello Tomorrow!” is impressive overall, not least of all thanks to some extraordinary production design. ... But at points midway through the season, the show can be redundant, giving us big reveals of things we already knew.

“Cunk on Earth” is funny and fast, so that each episode gives us just enough giddy foolishness and not too much. The episodes are a great way to break up a night of more serious viewing.

A rich, earnest new Apple TV+ drama. ... It aims to be an opus on loss, community, and recovery, and, unlike so many shows these days, it’s willing to be 100 percent sincere. Yes, the music swells for effect, and yes, the gloom is telegraphed at times. The show will definitely invite you to cry — but you just might be willing to accede.

An endearing and earnest comedy, and all of the ridiculously unprofessional behavior — against which Jimmy’s disapproving colleagues provide the show’s voice of reason — is in service of affectionate character studies and a boatload of healing.

“Poker Face” is an entertaining throwback to a time when murder cases on TV weren’t quite as bloodily realistic and morally challenging. Like so many other crime shows right now, it isn’t asking you to explore your own sense of right and wrong. Instead, it’s offering you a mild diversion, in the playful manner of “Knives Out,” and an hourlong hang with Natasha Lyonne.

A series that effortlessly merges the various horrors of end times with the courage and clarification they can bring. ... Pascal and Ramsey are up to the task, each pushing their character from stock to specific.

A disappointment, a superficial and miscast take that left me cold. The themes of empowered women coping with male oppression are still in the mix, but what a dull mix it is.

“Paul T. Goldman,” which premieres Sunday, may be difficult to describe adequately, but it’s an easy-to-watch six-parter that unfolds slyly and provocatively.

It’s a few things all at once: an enraging tale of racism, a fascinating look into a profoundly rarefied way of life, and a sometimes too self-celebratory vanity project that, for the most part, reiterates what we already know. ... The [battle between conformity and individuality] has been told many times before — from the days of King Edward’s abdication in order to marry a divorcee, to the split between Charles and Diana — but it’s one that nonetheless resonates.

This time, the action begins with a former MI5 Cold War agent dead on a bus, and it spirals out from there into twists involving the sleeper agents and a possible terrorist attack. It’s complicated, but it’s worth it in the end, just like Lamb’s crime-solving methods.

The show has enough charm and energy to make it easy to watch, if not compelling. The casting is good, so that the friends become both endearing and a bit more than the stereotypes they are written as.

The show doesn’t dig very deeply into Avi’s method, or how his belief system enables him to perform his tricks, nor does it follow through on any of the ethical issues his unconventional methods might raise; it simply pursues the procedural material. That wouldn’t be a deal-breaker if the two missing-person cases that make up the eight-episode season were more compelling. They lean hard on very familiar crime-solving tropes, cycling through red herrings on autopilot.