Television

Arts

Netflix And Cord-Cutting Era Complicates Writers Guild Contract Talks

5:12pm April 19, 2017

by Nina Gregory

The Writers Guild of America is in negotiations for a new contract with studios, networks and streamers. Their contract expires May 1, and memories of the last writers' strike hover over negotiations.

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Carrie Coon plays Gloria Burgle in the third season of the series Fargo, which premiers on FX Wednesday.

Arts

'Fargo' And Bill Nye Make Promising Returns To The Small Screen

1:40pm April 19, 2017

by David Bianculli

A botched theft leads to murder in Fargo's third season, and Bill Nye offers up science for adults in his new Netflix series. TV critic David Bianculli reviews both.

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Before Bart, Homer and Marge had their own show, The Simpsons looked a bit different and were segments that were played between The Tracey Ullman Show and commercial breaks.

Arts

30 Years Later, 'The Simpsons' Are A Part Of The American Family

9:54am April 19, 2017

For 30 years Bart, Marge, Homer, Lisa, Maggie and the other citizens of Springfield have entertained people around the world. The Simpsons also created a path for many other animated sitcoms.

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Michelle Wilson and Johanna Day star in Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage.

Arts

Hey You, Prestige Television Fan: Here's Why You Should See A New Play

12:32pm April 18, 2017

by Linda Holmes

While musicals have good pop-culture presence in many cases, plays tend not to. But in an environment that has embraced idiosyncratic and complicated TV, there's no better time to change that.

Lena Dunham in the series finale of Girls.

Arts

In Subdued Epilogue, 'Girls' Finale Leaves New York, Most Of The Cast Behind

8:55am April 18, 2017

by Eric Deggans

After six seasons of subversive self-absorption, and a week past performing a post-mortem on the core friend group, Lena Dunham's HBO show ends with Hannah's flailing lurch into woman- and motherhood.

Books
Arts

'The Epitome Of New York Cool': Letterman Biographer On Late Night Icon

10:31pm April 17, 2017

David Letterman, one of the most famous people in America, is an enigma. Jason Zinoman's new book, Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night, looks at the late night talk show host's long career and the impact it still has on broadcasting today.

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Gary (Tony Hale) and Selina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) are still together as Veep begins its sixth season.

Arts

'Veep' Reinvents Itself In The Shape Of A New Humiliation

10:20am April 17, 2017

by Linda Holmes

Selina Meyer dreamed of being president. Then she was. Now she isn't. With that shift, Veep finds itself, in many ways, back where it began.

Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer on Saturday Night Live.

Politics & Government

On 'Saturday Night Live,' Melissa McCarthy's 'Spicey' Has An Easter Message

8:34am April 16, 2017

by James Doubek

On SNL, Alec Baldwin's President Trump had a reality-show elimination between Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon, while Melissa McCarthy's Sean Spicer had a brief — and inaccurate — history of Passover.

Workers prepare for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest at the International Exhibition Center in Kiev on April 11, 2017.

Music & Culture

Eurovision Again Struck By Controversy As Russia Says It Won't Broadcast

10:26am April 15, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

After a year of tumult, Russia has doubled down, saying it won't broadcast this year's contest after its competitor, Yuliya Samoylova, was denied entry into Ukraine.

Arts

For Christopher Eccleston, Co-Starring On 'The Leftovers' Meant Rethinking His Faith

1:46pm April 14, 2017

by Terry Gross

The British actor plays a reverend in The Leftovers, the HBO series about what happens after 2 percent of the world's population vanishes in a mysterious event. Originally broadcast July 11, 2016.

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