Television

What This Is Going to Hurt Leaves Out

And what the AMC black comedy about a British obstetrician illuminates about women’s health

• Sophie Gilbert
• June 23, 2022

The Delightful Pretentiousness of Irma Vep

HBO’s wonderfully smart new series may be the most meta show on TV right now.

• Shirley Li
• June 9, 2022

Stranger Things Won’t Save Netflix

If anything, the hit show’s triumphant return is only further proof of the streamer’s unsustainability.

• Shirley Li
• June 2, 2022

When Stranger Things Finally Gave Its Villain a Voice

A (spoiler-filled) close read of the show’s new Season 4 monster

• Shirley Li
• May 27, 2022

What Hacks Understands About the Myth of Self-Betterment

The HBO Max show’s second season is refreshingly free of easy epiphanies and life lessons.

• Shirley Li
• May 24, 2022

What Kate McKinnon Gave to Saturday Night Live

Of the show’s big cast departures, this one will hurt the most.

• Amanda Wicks
• May 22, 2022

How Hulu’s Conversations With Friends Got Sally Rooney So Wrong

The novel is darkly observant of Millennial malaise. The TV adaptation is a different story.

• Shirley Li
• May 19, 2022

The Frenetic Basketball Nostalgia of Winning Time

Three basketball-loving writers discuss the first season of HBO’s controversial series about the 1980s Lakers.

• Kevin Townsend, David Sims, Ross Andersen, and Vann R. Newkirk II
• May 15, 2022

Heartstopper and the Era of Feel-Good, Queer-Teen Romances

More stories about young people in love are embracing sweetness and looking beyond straight audiences.

• Shirley Li
• May 11, 2022

Why the Puzzle-Box Sci-Fi of Severance Works

Where Lost and Westworld spun out, the Apple TV+ show’s contained world succeeds.

• Kevin Townsend, Sophie Gilbert, David Sims, and Spencer Kornhaber
• May 8, 2022

Sympathy for the Movie Star

Ten Percent, a remake of the popular French series Call My Agent, is a surprisingly tender ode to acting.

• Sophie Gilbert
• April 30, 2022

The Netflix Bubble Is Finally Bursting

The days of seemingly unlimited new content from the streamer appear to be ending.

• David Sims
• April 26, 2022

When a TV Show Undermines the People It’s Trying to Celebrate

The First Lady tries to honor three underappreciated political spouses. Instead, it blends their life stories and reduces them all.

• Shirley Li
• April 25, 2022

The Cruel Twist of Russian Doll

The show’s second season is more audacious, but also harder to bear.

• Sophie Gilbert
• April 23, 2022

Who’s Watching RuPaul’s Drag Race Now?

The show has evolved into a valuable institution—even if some viewers are sick of it.

• Spencer Kornhaber
• April 20, 2022

Bel-Air and the Flawed Logic of ‘Black Excellence’

Several recent Black shows have leaned into glitzy melodrama and decadent escapism. They also feel completely out of step with their core audience.

• Tanisha C. Ford
• April 19, 2022

SNL Really Wants to Say Something About TikTok

The show’s repeated parodies of the video-sharing app might be viewed as attempts at currency. Instead, they come off a bit like jealousy.

• Amanda Wicks
• April 17, 2022

When a Comic’s Silence Says Everything

Jerrod Carmichael’s HBO special exposes the way that humor can relieve incredible tension while obscuring the truth.

• Shirley Li
• April 16, 2022