Some hits have gone so far over the top they should be winded, yet instead keep on puffing gusts of hot air, including “Downton Abbey,” “Scandal” and “Revenge.” A new addition on ABC, “How to Get Away With Murder” was a fun substitute, a lurid nighttime soap opera about lawbreaking defense lawyers — “Law & Disorder.”

有些热门剧已经走得太远，应该降降温了，却仍在大张旗鼓，比如《唐顿庄园》(Downton Abbey)、《丑闻》(Scandal)和《复仇》(Revenge)。ABC频道的新剧《逍遥法外》(How to Get Away With Murder)是一部有趣的替代品，它是一部耸人听闻的夜间肥皂剧，讲述不法辩护律师的故事，简直可以称为“法律与无序”。

There were also shows that didn’t live up to early expectations but still had traction, most notably “The Affair,” on Showtime, which began as a Hamptons film noir and instead turned into a French art film. The crime may not be commensurate with the series’s punishingly slow pace and “Rashomon"-like storytelling, but the series picked up momentum — and suspense — in the final episodes.

还有些电视剧不如人们最初预料的好，不过仍有吸引力，最显眼的是映时频道的《婚外恋》，它一开始看起来像汉普顿斯式黑色电影，后来变成了法国艺术电影。剧中的罪行与过于缓慢的节奏以及《罗生门》(Rashomon)式的讲述方式不太相称，不过该剧在最后几集势头大涨，悬念丛生。