TV pilot season is upon us, and, as always, not even a critic can watch everything. But committing to a pilot isn’t the same as settling in for an entire season or series. You sample the television landscape here and there, determining what strikes your fancy, and adjust accordingly. It’s even easier now that you don’t have to make time for the Red Sox until next spring.
With all of this in mind, we dipped in and out of a few new pilots with one question in mind: Could this be worth sticking around for more than just one episode? Results, as you might expect, varied, but they included one show that rates as a new personal favorite. That would be...
Youth
Airs 10 p.m. Sundays on HBO and HBO Max
The Irish writer/actress/comedian Sharon Horgan (“Catastrophe”) has one of the most distinctive voices on TV, attuned to daily humiliations and small triumphs, caustic but empathetic. Here she plays Alex, a literary agent dealing with the reality of life after 50, with a rebellious son (Aran Murphy) heading off to college, an ex-husband (Owen McDonnell) moving to Canada with his younger partner, and a desire to have sex that’s as strong as her distaste for having to deal with it.
About that sex. It’s comically messy and bracingly awkward for everyone involved, even more so after Alex drops her cellphone on her face and gets diagnosed with arthritis in her jaw. The woman can’t catch a break. But you can by watching “Youth.”
Early verdict: Definitely keep watching.
War
Airs 9 p.m. Thursdays on HBO and HBO Max
Mo’ money, mo problems, as the poet said. Morgan Henderson (Dominic West, who will always be Jimmy McNulty to me) is a billionaire social media mogul who struggles to keep his pants zipped. His wife, the movie star Carla Duval (Sienna Miller), wants a divorce, and she’s willing to play dirty in order to nullify her prenuptial agreement. They both have high-powered lawyers. This means … yeah, well, look at the title.
“War” looks fantastic, as money and London generally do, and the writing is sharp, if you’re not opposed to the idea of watching rich people destroy each other. Hey, it worked for “Succession.“ Or, if you’re a bit older, “Dynasty.” The supporting cast, including many actors who don’t appear in the pilot (Marisa Tomei, Richard Schiff), is strong. Things promise to get ugly, and as we all know, that can get fun.
Early verdict: Maybe not appointment TV, but you could do a lot worse on a Thursday night.
Line of Fire
Airs 10 p.m. on NBC; streams next day on Peacock
The trailer for this law-enforcement family drama almost plays like a “Saturday Night Live” sketch: Five high-level law enforcement officers in the same family! The bickering! The snide comments and long-simmering resentments! It looks like something cooked up in an old network TV test tube.
And “Line of Fire” starts that way. But then it loosens up a little and finds a groove of sorts. The leads, particularly Peter Krause (retiring Secret Service agent Mike Hollingsworth) and Hope Davis (US marshal), a married couple separated but not divorced, are appealing. The instigating action, involving a threat against the entire brood, comes into focus, as does the nature of the family dysfunction. By the time the pilot wraps up, “Line of Fire” hasn’t necessarily become a good show, but it’s no longer a pure embarrassment. How’s that for a backhanded compliment?
Early verdict: Meh, but not blech. I actually feel for network TV creators working with this sort of outdated material.
Brothers
Streaming on Apple TV
There is shaggy, and then there is “Brothers.” Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, the twin engine that made the first season of “True Detective” roar, play versions of themselves, hanging out on McConaughey’s Austin-area ranch. Woody, a bottomless supply of spliffs at his disposal, brings his family over from Malibu when his daughter’s engagement falls apart. Matthew is stressing over a speech he’s giving to honor his father. Then Matthew’s mom, or Ma Mac (Holland Taylor), suggests she might have slept with Woody’s dad, and the boys could be brothers.
And … yeah, that’s about it. “Brothers“ might be the most lazily, er, conceived show of the year, leaning so hard on the charm of its stars that it all but forgoes script and story — and yet somehow still feels pre-packaged and contrived. It begins and ends at the idea stage, and it’s not a great idea to begin with.
Early verdict: Time might be a flat circle, but it’s still too short to waste on this.
Chris Vognar can be reached at chris.vognar@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram at @chrisvognar and on Bluesky at chrisvognar.bsky.social.