Puckish American comic Billy Crystal strikes out in a new direction as the star of the limited series "Before," premiering Friday on Apple TV+. Let us say at the outset that he is completely able to handle the assignment.

Crystal is an interesting choice to shepherd audiences on this creepy voyage, created by Sarah Thorp. The once-boyish comic actor leans into the trauma drama, his unshaven face gray, his clothes unkempt.

Crystal’s return to the screen is not, in fact, in a comedy series. Though you might be confused after watching the baffling, misbegotten “Before.”

I'm not saying Apple TV+ has an issue with repetitive storytelling, but the new drama Before is the service's third series featuring a renowned comic actor playing a man mourning his dead wife. Not the streaming platform's third series ever to rely on that hoary trope.

It's disjointed in its best moments and flat-out bad in its worst, and by the end of the series, it feels like a waste of time.

"Before" seems to have been inspired by the M. Night Shyamalan classic "The 6th Sense," about the dead therapist and the boy who can see him. At least "Before" had the decency to come up with a different ending. It's the beginning and everything in between that's the problem.

The character-driven psychological thriller “Before,” starring and executive produced by award-winning actor, comedian and filmmaker Billy Crystal, debuts today on Apple TV+. The 10-episode limited series launches with the first two episodes,