Hulu's Bonkers 'Retelling' of the Life of Catherine the Great a Wild, Fun Ride
Just don’t expect too much historical accuracy.
Television
NASCAR and Golf Return to TV, Paving Way for Pandemic-Friendly Sports
Races reopened without fans this weekend, to mostly good reviews. Sports and entertainment are shifting to serve social-distancing needs.
An Absurd Premise and Stellar Acting Anchor TNT's Snowpiercer
Just try not to ask too many questions about what’s happening or why.
Upload Builds an Amusing, Ethically Fraught World Around Virtual Heaven
Transcending consciousness is presented as a consumer good in a sharp new Amazon Prime series.
Mark Ruffalo Shines in Brutal I Know This Much Is True Adaptation
Dual roles highlight harsh, almost masochistic miniseries of twin brothers’ travails.
Ugly Delicious
Is tahini salsa verde an insidious form of cultural appropriation or two immigrants from Oaxaca riffing on food traditions they love?
Bad Writing Blunts Intriguing Penny Dreadful Follow-Up
Talented performances in City of Angels undone by uninspiring scripts.
I Ran for Governor of Oklahoma Against Tiger King's Joe Exotic
Lessons learned from the zookeeper Netflix made famous
Maternal Instincts, for Better and Worse, Drive Little Fires Everywhere
Reese Witherspoon is well on her way to becoming a television mogul.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The focus on seemingly minor everyday questions of propriety makes the show's 10th season as insightful as it is funny.
The Snobbery Is Partly the Point in Downton-esque Belgravia
If you can’t get enough of British class war melodramas, pull up a chair.
Is Quibi the Next Revolution In Small Screen Streaming Video?
The new service was built for a world that no longer exists. Yet it may still end up being relevant to the one we now inhabit.
Broke Is the Perfect New Sitcom for Our Sudden Economic Downturn
You don’t have to wallow at home alone.
Larry David Says People Who Object to COVID-19 Lockdowns Are 'Idiots'
Government-mandated unemployment is "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to "sit on the couch and watch TV," says the wealthy star of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
No, Cuba Is Not Exactly the Cancer Pioneer Nova Attempts to Present
The myth that this authoritarian island provides better medical treatment just won’t die.
The Plot Against America Is Not About Trump, Even If Comparisons Are Inevitable
HBO's adaptation of Philip Roth's novel is much more interesting when viewed on its own merits.
Council of Dads Is a Derivative Dud
New NBC drama is an obvious rip-off of This Is Us, but without any real heart.
Review: Devs
Nick Offerman and Alison Pill in Alex Garland’s wild sci-fi mystery.
ZeroZeroZero Plunges Viewers into the Dark, Gritty, Unglamorous Heart of Narcotrafficking
There’s nobody to root for in this Amazon adaptation, and that’s intentional.
Hunters Wastes Its Cast, Plot on Stupid Frat Jokes
The Holocaust and its fallout can be tackled with humor. But this Amazon show fails at its aims.
Watchmen
The new HBO show explores how systems of authority fail those for whom they are ostensibly responsible.
How Rob Long Went from Cheers to National Review to LSD
The long, strange, and unfinished trip of a sitcom-writing legend who turned right after the Cold War, co-founded a podcast empire, turned on to psychedelics, and got turned off to politics.
Edie Falco Elevates CBS Police Outsider Drama Tommy
Also reviewed: Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene
Briarpatch Offers Pulpy Small-Town Darkness, and Not Much Else
There’s nobody to root for in this USA Network whodunit.
Avenue 5 Is Veep in Space—That Doesn't Make It Great
Also reviewed: Fox’s absolutely awful Outmatched
Adaptation of Stephen King's The Outsider Swings Wildly in Tones
Once the HBO series goes off-book, it goes off-track.
No Adults in the Room: From Election to The Politician
What do hotly contested high school class presidency elections—set 20 years apart—teach us about our attitudes toward politics?
Dick Wolf's Parade of Cookie-Cutter Police Shows Marches On with FBI: Most Wanted
Will this well ever go dry?
Mean Girl Cheerleaders and Outlandish Sheriffs Ring in the New Year of Television
Dare Me and Deputy both have their flaws and their charms.
Glenn Garvin's Top 10 Television Programs of 2019
Some of which did not actually appear on television networks
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The show's abundant laughs lie in the space between the way this group of Philly pubkeepers see themselves and how the world sees them.
HBO's Dazzling Watchmen Was a Show About the Limits and Dangers of Power
Damon Lindelof’s remix of Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel took on race, policing, and political power in an alternate-present America.
Kevin O'Leary Puts His Money Where the Profits Are
"There was a time when the majority of people on Earth were illiterate and starving, and capitalism changed all of that."
Have Yourself a Nasty Little Christmas with Into the Dark
What if A Christmas Carol had a body count?
The L Word Returns, With an Unwelcome New Obsession With Identity Politics
The original lesbian-centric series was groundbreaking. The new generation is exhausting.
There's Nothing Noirish in Hulu's Grating, Hyper, Tiresomely Violent Reprisal
Bloody revenge fantasy draws more from the 1970s than anything cutting edge.
Ignore the Critics and Enjoy a Sour Bite of Apple's Vicious The Morning Show
Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon kill it as troubled television journalists in a changing media environment.
