Billy Crystal is going darker than audiences have ever seen him before in "Before," a new Apple TV+ psychological thriller premiering on Friday. But it was not a role that the actor and comedian expected to take on.

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.”

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.

Billy Crystal plays a child psychiatrist in the new Apple TV+ series “Before.” Crystal, an Emmy and Tony winner, may be known for his long history as a funnyman, but here he stars in a thriller — one filmed in New Jersey (see trailer below).

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,