Contributor: Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists

In terms of its content, The Perfectionists is anything but perfect.

Empire

While Empire offers its share of honey, it has a serious sting, too.

Dads

Seth MacFarlane still isn’t done beating up on dads. The creator of animated comedies Family Guy and American Dad now brings a sick, sad live-action sitcom to Fox.

Gracepoint

In this taut miniseries remake of the acclaimed British show Broadchurch, the murder mystery takes center stage, not the problematic visuals. (But detectives still uncover some of them.)

A.D. The Bible Continues

Ancient church meet modern miniseries! Mark Burnett and Roma Downey present a lavish, sometimes accurate, sometimes violent (sometimes both) biblical epic.

Bull

This new CBS procedural focuses not on gritty police work or intense courtroom theatrics, but on … jury selection?

Hostages

A rogue FBI agent takes a prominent D.C. doctor and her family hostage. The conditions for release? She needs to kill the president. (It’s the kind of show the Joker would green light if he were running a TV network.)

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

One fable-themed show deserves another on ABC, just as Alice deserves a second chance to find true love in Wonderland.

Preacher

Despite its spiritual-sounding name, Plugged In won’t be recommending this AMC show anytime soon.

Hannibal

UPDATED REVIEW: The infamous Silence of the Lambs serial killer is the main attraction in this NBC danse macabre.

The Originals

CW’s latest undead drama has legions of vampires, werewolves and witches stalking its plot. Is that really what TV calls “original” these days?

Uncle Buck

Viewers get more than just a humorously bad babysitter: They also get lots of problematic content when Uncle Buck gets that job.

America’s Next Top Model

UPDATED REVIEW: What’s at the top of Top Model’s fashion list? Lust. Indecency. Self-obsession. Destructive spirituality. Outrageous levels of angst and antagonism.

The Lying Game

Wouldn’t it be great to have an identical twin? Then you could make her watch this show so you didn’t have to.

Church Rescue

Reality television has renovated, revitalized and “saved” restaurants, hotels and homes. Now the National Geographic channel turns its attention to churches.