TV
‘Saturday Night Live’ Season 46 Premiere Loses Its Edge
As most of the country’s live entertainment is canceled for the foreseeable future, it’s all the more sad that “SNL” — which has returned in semi-full capacity with a live audience of paid first responders — is so unwilling to take risks in its premiere.
Bright Colors Belie a Jarring Thriller in Season One of ‘Ratched’
If Ryan Murphy has one thing, it’s range. From “American Horror Story” to “Glee,” and from “Pose” to “Scream Queens,” the screenwriter and producer has proven time and time again that he can (and will) write any type of story.
‘The Mandalorian’ Season Two Preview: The Dangers of Fan Service
Overdoing fan service has not served “Star Wars” well in the past, and giving into it now would deal “The Mandalorian” (and the franchise as a whole) a crippling blow.
‘Utopia’ Premiere Isn’t Quite Perfect
The opening credits for this first episode are jarringly reminiscent of the news: a montage of environmental disasters, police holding back protesters, and viruses in petri dishes.
Falling in Love with Season Eight of the ‘The Great British Baking Show’ is a Piece of Cake
The return of the beloved series is one of the few headlines of 2020 that have inspired tears of joy rather than tears of frustration.
The Mandalorian Season Two Preview Still
Gina Carano is Cara Dune, Pedro Pascal is the Mandalorian, and Carl Weathers is Greef Karga in Season Two of 'The Mandalorian,' premiering on Oct. 30.
The Show Must Go On? TV in the Age of Corona
Like with most industries, the pandemic has presented Hollywood with an unprecedented set of challenges, posing a myriad of questions that producers, directors, and actors have never before had to consider. And producers’ approaches to the pandemic are about as varied as television programming itself.
Trailer Breakdown: ‘WandaVision’ Ushers in a New Era for the MCU
In the first day of the trailer’s release, it garnered over 53 million viewers, more than eight times the viewership of its debut platform, the Emmys. But if you watched and had no idea what was going on, you’re not alone.
Demand for On-Demand: The New Wave of Streaming Services
With more hours of algorithm-tailored content than it would be possible to consume in a human lifetime, watching TV can feel like a constant game of catch-up.
Introducing the 72nd Emmy (And 1st Pandemmy) Awards
There is a radical merit to immersing oneself, if only for a moment, in television, in film, in cinematic universes filled with diverse people and their hearteningly human stories.
Roll Kredits: Looking Back on 21 Seasons of ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’
The family exists through the television, and through that television, sitting right there on our couches, we were a part of that family. We were a part of that dream.
‘We Are Who We Are’ Premiere Falls Short
By doing a poor job of painting American teen life and presenting a protagonist with a few too many layers of trauma, the premiere is unable to connect realistically to a teen audience.
‘The Mandalorian’ Revives Star Wars
The “Star Wars” franchise needs a savior — and it may have found it with “The Mandalorian.” After all, what can be a more unifying force than Baby Yoda?
Everyone Needs to Watch the 'Frozen 2' Documentary
Now, in the most objective opinion of this reviewer (for whom, in the spirit of full transparency, this will be the third “Frozen 2”-related piece he’s written for The Crimson), this is misguided. Animation is serious business.
Want to Watch ‘The Help’? Here Are 36 Things To Do Instead.
Want to watch “The Help?” Enjoy these Black entertainment staples instead.
‘Love, Victor’ Plays It Too Safe
Despite the writers’ best attempts in the first episode, “Love, Victor” never manages to shake off the shortcomings of the original film. It feels too — in a word — safe.
Celebrities and Health Care Workers Come Together for ‘One World: Together at Home’
“Tonight is not a fundraiser, so put your wallets away,” Lady Gaga said to her viewers prior to the start of the World Health Organization and Global Citizen’s “One World: Together at Home” event.
‘Never Have I Ever’ Found a Netflix Series So Endearing
Mindy Kaling has already given us so much. But her new show, “Never Have I Ever,” co-created with Lang Fisher, might be her most meaningful contribution to television yet.
‘Normal People’ Gives a Remarkable Portrait of Class Conscious Love
In a way, Rooney’s unique style makes her characters embody one organism: It is as if they give up their souls to be part of a Sally Rooney Leviathan. In the show, Connell and Marianne are clearly cut from the same cloth, but their individual perspectives are emphasized.
In Its Premiere, ‘Mrs. America’ is the Phyllis Schlafly Nostalgia Piece Nobody Needs
“Mrs. America” is impressively acted and designed. Its competence, however, can’t save it from the filmmakers’ alienating eagerness to find the likable qualities in Schlafly, ignoring the real damage she did.
‘Unorthodox’: A Compelling Bildungsroman
“Unorthodox” is incredibly structurally sound, carefully weaving the past into the present-day story through flashbacks.
An Absolutely Wonderful Thing: ‘Parks and Recreation’ Returns for Quarantine Reunion
For a Parks and Rec virgin, I’m sure the special was reasonably enjoyable. For anyone who’s watched the show in its entirety — or in my case, five times over — it was an endless barrage of nostalgia-tapping references, jokes, and guest appearances.
One Big, Sweaty, Tired ‘Survivor’ Family
Nothing is more thrilling to us, the viewers, than an increasing sense of collective control over the game. It’s less a power struggle than a strong-willed crew of fans, players, and producers growing together into a real “Survivor” family where we get the kids on weekends.
‘Tigertail,’ A Taiwanese American Awakening
"Tigertail" is a story about our parents, born of Yang’s attempt to learn about his own — and in making this film, Yang calls upon us to do the same.
‘Tiger King’: The Too-Crazy-To-Be-True Cure For Quarantine Boredom
With much of the country stuck inside, Exotic, his larger-than-life crew of misfit employees, and his charismatic rivals offer exactly what viewers are looking for: an immersive world that, despite being nonfiction, is even more unbelievable than the one we live in.