TV: Television Reviews, News and Listings in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland

A refreshingly taut and well-executed futuristic sci-fi series about a group of 100 jailed juvenile delinquents who are banished from an orbiting space-station colony and sent to live on Earth — 97 years after a nuclear apocalypse. They’ve barely crash-landed when things get pretty “Lord of the Flies,” but a determined young woman (Eliza Taylor) tries her best to stick to the group’s real mission. Grade: A- (Cate Cameron/CW)

A refreshingly taut and well-executed futuristic sci-fi series about a group of 100 jailed juvenile delinquents who are banished from an orbiting space-station colony and sent to live on Earth — 97 years after a nuclear apocalypse. They’ve barely crash-landed when things get pretty “Lord of the Flies,” but a determined young woman (Eliza Taylor) tries her best to stick to the group’s real mission. Grade: A-
(Cate Cameron/CW)
Greg Kinnear happily and believably sinks his pearly whites into this amiably sharp drama (based on a hit Australian series) about a criminal defense attorney who finds trouble everywhere. Grade: B+
(Richard Foreman)
The show’s title and advertising seemed to suggest something much saucier and violent, but this lady-cop drama (co-produced by “Modern Family’s” Sofia Vergara) is a fairly straightforward and briskly perfunctory affair about a gutsy Texas Ranger named Molly (Tricia Helfer), who chases after criminals while trying to put her own life back together. Grade: B-
(Bill Matlock/ABC)
In this comedy, three brothers — from left, Randy (Parker Young), Pete (Geoff Stults) and Derrick (Chris Lowell) Waits — work together at a small Army base in Florida, and apparently hilarity ensues. Grade B- (Read the review.)
(Jordin Althaus/Fox)
“Lost’s” Josh Holloway returns to series TV in this espionage drama as Gabriel, an intelligence agent who is the first human to have a supercomputer implanted in his brain. Grade: C+
(Chris Helcermanas-Benge)
Two Baton Rouge teens experience some angsty, sci-fi themed “Romeo and Juliet”-type issues because the boy (Matt Lanter) belongs to an alien race of refugees called the Atrians and the girl (Aimee Teegarden) is the daughter of the commander tasked with keeping the aliens in line. Grade: C+
(Skip Bolen/CW)
“Black Sails” follows several bands of Caribbean-based pirates in 1715, “the golden age of pirating.” When the British Navy starts to crack down on these legendary criminals, the pirate Capt. Flint (Toby Stephens) allies with the daughter of New Providence Island’s crime kingpin to chase after the ultimate treasure. Grade: C-
(Keith Bernstein/Starz Entertainment)
Tobey Maguire stars in this comedy spoof of those sprawling, 1970s miniseries based on tawdry bestselling novels about the rich and powerful — in this case, “The Spoils of Babylon,” written by one Eric Johnrosh (Will Ferrell), who exhumes the film reels of the never-aired series (the networks deemed it “too long”) that he directed himself. Grade: D
(Katrina Marcinowski)
Liberally adapted from Thomas Maier’s thorough 2009 biography of the pioneering sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, Showtime’s provocative new drama has no problems whatsoever grabbing attention and whatever else that wants to get grabbed. Lizzy Caplan as Johnson and Michael Sheen as Masters.Grade: B+ (Read the review.)
(Craig Blankenhorn)
Malin Akerman plays reformed party girl Kate, the third wife to Pete, played by Bradley Whitford. All of a sudden, she’s got an insta-family, complete with three step-kids and two ex-wives (Marcia Gay Harden and Michaela Watkins). Grade: B (Read the review.)
(Peter "Hopper" Stone/ABC)
Comedy starring Andy Samberg, second from left, as a slacker detective who never fails to frustrate his stern, by-the-book boss, played by Andre Braugher, center. Grade: B- (Read the review.)
(Eddy Chen/Fox)
From Joss Whedon, this show features Clark Gregg, back in his role as Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films, as he leads a small group of agents from a worldwide law-enforcement organization. Grade: B- (Read the review.)
(Bob D'Amico/ABC)
Robin Williams returns to TV as a quirky advertising genius in charge of a powerful ad agency — Sarah Michelle Gellar plays his daughter, who also works at his company. Grade: B- (Read the review.)
(Cliff Lipson/CBS)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars in this re-imagining of the classic story — this time, he arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society.Grade: B- (Read the review.)
(Jonathon Hession/NBC)
Ricky Gervais writes, directs and stars in this tenderhearted ensemble mockumentary about an enthusiastic employee at the Broad Hill retirement home. We are to understand that Derek is not quite right, but none of the words for it seem apt. (Simple? Special? Mentally disabled? Autistic?) Grade: C+ (Read the review.)
(Netflix)
The latest Chuck Lorre comedy stars Anna Faris as a newly sober single mom living in northern California wine country working as a waitress and dealing with her mom (played by Allison Janney). Grade: C+ (Read the review.)
(Monty Brinton)
A thriller about a top surgeon (Toni Collette) who finds herself and her entire family kidnapped the night before she’s supposed to operate on the president. Grade: C+ (Read the review.)
(Nicole Rivelli/CBS)
Will Arnett stars as a recently divorced news reporter, whose plans to jump back into the single scene is derailed when his parents (played by Margo Martindale and Beau Bridges) unexpectedly separate after 43 years.Grade: C+ (Read the review.)
(Richard Foreman/CBS)
A drama about Mary, Queen of Scots, as she arrives in France as a teenager, with her three BFFs as ladies-in-waiting. Grade: C+ (Read the review.)
(Joss Barratt/The CW)
In this action adventure series, Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) has been pulled two and a half centuries through time to find that the world is on the brink of destruction, and teams with a contemporary cop (Nicole Beharie) “to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the Founding Fathers.” Grade: C (Read the review.)
(Brownie Harris/Fox)
One of the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives, played by James Spader, center, brokers a deal with the agency. He says he will help capture a long-thought-dead terrorist, but he will only work with one specific FBI agent — who happens to be a young, female profiler starting her first day on the job. Grade: C (Read the review.)
(David Giesbrecht/NBC)
Some say it’s possible to become cool in L.A. simply by osmosis, but it’s not soaking in for poor Stuart (Stephen Merchant), a lonely British bachelor trying to find love (or just sex) in a town without pity. Grade: C (Read the review.)
(Jaimie Trueblood/HBO)
Sean Hayes stars in this comedy as a divorced gay dad whose teenage daughter moves in with him full-time. Grade: C (Read the review.)
(Vivian Zink/NBC)
A spinoff of “Once Upon a Time,” this show focuses on Alice, who returns home to Victorian England telling stories about a strange new land she saw when she fell down a rabbit hole, but no one believes her – until she’s rescued by the Knave of Hearts and the White Rabbit, who take her back to the mystical place. No grade yet.(Read the review.)
(Jack Rowand/ABC)
Julia Ormond stars as Joanna, a witch in a seaside town who is cursed to lose her daughters, Freya and Ingrid (Jenna Dewan-Tatum, left, and Rachel Boston), over and over. She decides to break the curse by casting a spell over her girls so that they won’t dabble in witchcraft or know their true nature. Now they’re grown and fate has come calling. Spells are cast, gloom and agony are foretold. Grade: C (Read the review.)
(Sergei Bachlakov/Lifetime)
A very smart group of people can both teleport and communicate telepathically, solving the world’s traffic congestion crisis and overpriced cellphone bills. Grade: C (Read the review.)
(Mathieu Young/The CW)
This comedy set in the ’80s follows a wacky family, complete with a mom (Wendi McClendon-Covey) who has zero sense of boundaries and a gruff, hot-tempered dad (Jeff Garlin). “The Goldbergs” also stars George Segal, Sean Giambrone, Hayley Orrantia and Troy Gentile. Grade: D+ (Read the review.)
(Craig Sjodin/ABC)
This semi-autobiographical comedy stars Fox as Mike Henry, a husband and dad of three kids who lives in New York, where his challenges include living with Parkinson’s disease. To win the project in a bidding war, NBC has already committed to ordering 22 episodes. With Betsy Brandt as Annie Henry.Grade: D+ (Read the review.)
(Eric Liebowitz/NBC)
A spin-off of “The Vampire Diaries,” centered on Klaus (Joseph Morgan) living in New Orleans.Grade: D+(Read the review.)
(Skip Bolen/The CW)
Seth MacFarlane’s live action comedy series features Gionvanni Ribisi, left, and Seth Green as two successful 30-something guys whose dads move in with them. Grade: F (Read the review.)
(Jennifer Clasen/Fox)
Starring Rebel Wilson, this comedy is about three best friends who spend every Friday night together, staying in – but the rules start to change when attorney Kimmie (Wilson) gets promoted.Grade: F (Read the review.)
(Colleen Hayes/ABC)
This J.J. Abrams buddy cop drama looks at what happens when the Los Angeles Police Department partners its officers with androids. John Kennex (Karl Urban, left) and Dorian (Michael Ealy) partner to fight crime in the year 2048.Grade: F (Read the review.)
(Liane Hentscher/Fox)