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.
Television
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.
Mindhunter
The Netflix original series chronicles the origins and development of the FBI's profiling unit and its quest to identify serial murderers.
Dollface Mines Humor from the Loneliness of Single Women
Also: Did anybody actually ask for a Mad About You reboot? Anybody at all?
Post-Prison Dark Humor Animates the Winning Back to Life
BBC production finds U.S. home on Showtime.
Monty Python Meets the Bishop
Friday A/V Club: The 40th anniversary of Life of Brian's British debut—and of a legendary TV debate
Nobody Knows What Television Is Anymore
TV's cultural dominance is unchecked by anything except your own time, and increasingly tailored to your unique interests and obsessions.
The Apollo Documents the Making (and Breaking) of Many an Entertainer
Harlem’s famous incubator of black performers gets a closer look on HBO.
HBO's Catherine The Great Is All Glamour, Little Substance
Screenwriter Nigel Williams seems to have thought he was working on Fast Times At Moscow High.
The Politician Trashes All Sociopathic Office-Seekers, Even High School Ones
Rigged elections, sham marriages, and a faked cancer diagnosis make Ryan Murphy's new series worth a watch.
The Boys
What if the superheroes everyone loved and looked up to were actually awful people?
Ellen DeGeneres Refuses To Be Shamed for Watching Football With George W. Bush
"When I say, 'Be kind to one another,' I don't mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone. Doesn't matter."
China Banned South Park After the Show Made Fun of Chinese Censorship
"You gotta lower your ideals of freedom if you want to suck on the warm teat of China."
Batwoman and Nancy Drew Get Their Gritty TV Reboots
Fall network premiere rollouts end with a weak burst of remakes.
Almost Family Wrings Good Drama Out of Fertility Clinic Scandal
Network primetime premiere week ends with a jump in quality.
Thursday's Cavalcade of Unfunny New 'Comedies' Will Make You Fear the Death of Humor
Did they run out of budget for the jokes?
Look to Tuesdays for New Primetime Shows Actually Worth Watching
Stumptown may be the best new television offering of the season.
Fall's New Primetime Shows Launch with an Inconsequential Whimper
The crumbling remains of network premiere season tumble out of the gate Monday.
V.I. Lenin, Psychedelic Mushroom
Friday A/V Club: A prank from the final days of the Soviet Union
Ken Burns Delves into the Hardscrabble History of Country Music
You don’t have to enjoy the genre to find this 16-hour PBS docuseries fascinating.
Netflix's Unbelievable Turns True Crime Story into Fascinating Character Drama
A police procedural about rape cases that focuses on details without getting tedious
Teen Witnesses to 9/11 Reminisce About the Horrors They Saw That Day
New HBO documentary is moving … until it wanders into our current politics.
The Lavender Scare
In 1953, President Eisenhower ordered a purge of gay federal employees, who were deemed security risks. A new documentary delves deeper into this executive order.
Documentary About Harvey Weinstein More Unsettling Than Any Horror Movie
Hulu's Untouchable is a relentless accounting of the mogul's sexual misdeeds.
Watch Dave Chappelle Eviscerate Cancel Culture
The comedian's new Netflix special deftly skewers woke scolds.
The Revolving Door Between Government and Cable News
Familiar faces move between government office and media slots, rarely questioning the institution that plays a core role in their lives.
