The Mercury News

It’s irreverent and diverting and is destined to make you crack a smile more than once during each under-half-hour episode.

An ambitious series that works its magic in its first scene. The novel plot is intricately structured and gratifying while the animation — which dips into various styles including impressionism — invites you into an awe-inspiring alternative world.

Oh, yes, there is action galore and a lot of violence. But what makes the seven-part series a cut above derives from the on-target performances.

Phongam plays off Jittri’s steam-rolling ambition to electrifying results in a rather addictive Thai thriller series that throws a lot of story at ya.

A breathless experience, a shattering new impression that repurposes what came before and strives to do something similar yet different. Is it better than either film? In some ways.

For the third season, lead showrunner Rolin Jones pulls off a hell of a hat trick and puts a lot onto the chiseled shoulders of Sam Reid, reprising his role as the sexy, witty bloodsucker Lestat de Lioncourt. Good news: Reid is electrifying and looks, acts and struts around like a legit rock star from the Bowie and Jagger age.

It’s a big improvement from Season 1 and is on its way to establishing itself as a contemporary “Friends,” only with better scenery.

Each of its 25-minute-or-so episodes mine comedy gold and will make you shoot water out of your nose at least once. But underneath its potty-mouthed humor, it’s sweet, accentuating how true-blue friendships can help each other survive the calamities of the dating and mating scene.

The supernatural element here is snicker-worthy scary. But where “The Boroughs” sizzles is in its May-December romance between Renee — played with such appeal and zest by Davis — and helpful new security guard Paz (San Francisco native and dreamboat Carlos Miranda). Their interplay sparks the kind of chemistry most romantic comedies beg for and gives Miranda a part that will melt hearts and turn him into a breakout star.

Amateur sleuthing takes Paula to unexpected places, leading to a denouement that doesn’t entirely tie everything up but makes us crave a second season so we could spend more quality time with a flawed, likeable character you can’t help but fall in love with.