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Will Heath / NBC Eddie Murphy’s Triumphant Return to Saturday Night Live
After a 35-year absence, one of the show’s most venerated performers had a delightful homecoming as host.
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NBC SNL Gives the Impeachment Hearings the Soap-Opera Treatment
Last night’s episode delivered a critique of Americans’ short attention spans with an overstuffed, melodramatic cold open.
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HBO Daniel Sloss Shows How Comedians Should Talk About Assault
The Scottish performer’s new HBO special is a stunning experiment in controlled transgression.
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Robyn Beck / Getty John Witherspoon, Black Hollywood’s Wisecracking ‘Pops’
The late actor, who died at the age of 77, was best known for his singular ability to convey fatherly frustration with comedic flair.
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NBC Chance the Rapper Hosted SNL Again. Chaos Ensued.
The musician was an endearingly goofy performer who shone in a fever dream of an episode filled with gallows humor and character breaking.
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Fox Searchlight Jojo Rabbit Is a Fraught Tonal Experiment
Taika Waititi tries to balance zany comedy and grim realism in his new coming-of-age film set in Nazi Germany. He doesn’t quite succeed.
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NBC Woody Harrelson Is a Surprisingly Effective Joe Biden for SNL
The Cheers actor’s impression of the former vice president this season is less friendly and more glossy than the show’s previous attempts.
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Netflix Big Mouth and the Poisoning of Teenage Boys’ Minds
In its new season, the Netflix animated comedy untangles the influences that can lead young men to embrace sexist ideas.
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Eddy Chen / NBC Superstore Is TV’s Most Interesting Workplace Sitcom
The NBC series, now in its fifth season, stands out for how cleverly it portrays the many labor issues affecting its ensemble of blue-collar characters.
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NBC / Will Heath Ex–Cast Members Were the Bright Spot on SNL—And That’s a Problem
For its 45th season premiere, the venerable sketch show loaded up on celebrity drop-ins, to the detriment of its regular players.
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Netflix Bill Burr Knows Better
The firebrand stand-up comedian has critiqued “cancel culture” as the work of sensitive Millennials. But his own career is proof that he’s mistaken.
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POP TV The Sweetly Subversive Marriage at the Core of Schitt’s Creek
One of the Emmy-nominated sitcom’s secret strengths is its portrayal of long-term partnership—as a bond that is as eccentric as it is affectionate.
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Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic / Getty Saturday Night Live Made a Mistake Hiring Shane Gillis
The news that the show had hired its first Chinese American cast member was quickly overshadowed by reports that another new hire had a history of racist remarks.
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NBC Saturday Night Live Loses One of Its Most Dynamic Stars
Leslie Jones’s departure comes just as the show enters a big election year, seemingly with few other cast shake-ups.
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Mathieu Bitton / Netflix The Fear in Dave Chappelle’s New Special
The comic’s Netflix show continues a chapter of work that whiffs less of irreverence than of irritation and unease.
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Universal Good Boys Goes Beyond the Dirty Jokes
Gene Stupnitsky’s new film, which follows three middle schoolers bumbling their way through a crazy night, balances raunchy humor with insight.
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Lucas Jackson / Reuters / The Atlantic Aziz Ansari and the Physics of Moving Forward
In his new stand-up special, the comedian celebrates progress—but denigrates the work that progress requires.
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Emma McIntyre / Getty Hannah Gadsby’s Genius Follow-Up to Nanette
On her current tour, the star comedian is having a conspicuously great time making humorless subjects hilarious.
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NBC The SNL Finale Was a Mishmash of Everything the Show Needs to Fix
The send-off to Season 44 might end up functioning as a send-off to a particularly toothless era for Saturday Night Live.
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Jordin Althaus / E! Entertainment Busy Tonight Ended Just as Its Host Was Finding Her Voice
Busy Philipps exited the late-night lineup right when it felt like she’d finally arrived.
