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Melanie McFarland

Melanie McFarland

Salon

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The TikTok tradwife tainted by an Andrew Tate connection

Savanna Stone says women shouldn't vote. A YouTube doc reveals who was really behind her rise

yesterday 1

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Melanie McFarland

The curious, unsolved mystery of “The Black Dahlia”

20 years after Brian De Palma's misfire, let's apply some hindsight to pop culture's hottest cold case

yesterday 0

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Melanie McFarland

Off-color, off-brand: What Kathy Griffin’s and Bill Maher’s gaffes have in common

2 comedians and 2 different gaffes enable us to witness the power of a star's brand

wednesday 4

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Melanie McFarland

Mariska Hargitay’s Emmy hosting is a crime against TV

In award shows, making a notoriously boring telecast worse is considered especially heinous

15.09.2026 6

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Melanie McFarland

The tradwife brand may finally be crumbling

Mormon Wives fatigue and Nara Smith's distancing spell trouble for lifestyle influencers

12.09.2026 5

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Melanie McFarland

#TradWives are not real housewives. “Fargo” shows us the heroic difference between the two

Dorothy Lyon is a stay-at-home mom who takes resourcefulness to heroic extremes. A tradwife would never do that

11.09.2026 90

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Melanie McFarland

Looks like Jimmy Kimmel isn’t done dealing with FCC “nonsense”

The "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host announced his Thursday chat with James Talarico will only be found on YouTube

10.09.2026 6

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Melanie McFarland

The “Ted Lasso” problem Ted Lasso can’t see

Although the feel-good show is regaining its stride, there's one yellow card still flashing in the wings

10.09.2026 7

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Melanie McFarland

“King of the Hill” is the real America, if we allow it to be

Hank and Peggy Hill return to a changed nation that needs their common sense and good hearts

08.09.2026 6

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Melanie McFarland

This disarming Agatha Christie show has great chemistry

"Tommy & Tuppence" tops our guide to a very watchable fall TV season

04.09.2026 9

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Melanie McFarland

Gloria Steinem, equal rights revolutionary, dies at 92

The woman synonymous with the modern feminist movement changed society in ways both highly visible and subtle

03.09.2026 9

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Melanie McFarland

Women’s rage is in season again

Hulu's "Furious" speaks to an ancient anger that the summer's biggest movie missed

03.09.2026 10

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Melanie McFarland

Ripley burns it all down: On “Aliens” and the dangers of dismissing women’s rage

Women's warnings have always been ignored, our trauma dismissed. Ellen Ripley proves men do so to their own peril

02.09.2026 8

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Melanie McFarland

Netflix’s “Bullsh*t: The Game Show” is the trivial pursuit that fits an era dominated by lies

In the age of misinformation and The Big Lie, of course a trivia game rewarding persuasive deceit would be a hit

31.08.2026 8

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Melanie McFarland

HBO’s “Lanterns” illuminates a familiar double standard

John Stewart's origin story mirrors every Black kid raised for greatness, then denied it

31.08.2026 7

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Melanie McFarland

The Dolly Parton covers everyone should hear

5 artists channeled the Queen of Country's spirit through their own

29.08.2026 10

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Melanie McFarland

HBO’s “Watchmen” trolls history and heroic whiteness in the most extraordinary episode yet

Damon Lindelof's take on history meets up with that of the comic books' to tell a true American hero origin story

27.08.2026 10

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Melanie McFarland

Tim Curry’s devilish charm was irresistible

The actor, who died at 80, had a persuasive way of making wickedness look hot

26.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

Dolly Parton’s TV specials showed her sparkle was universal

Her telegenic charm turned TV specials into hits — and made that love feel personal

26.08.2026 40

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Melanie McFarland

Sean Duffy’s Great American Road Grift

Tag along with this YouTube road trip if you want to see America through a boring, MAGA lens

23.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

Even in loud movies, the power of silence is undeniable

Whether in Charlie Chaplin's classics or action films like "Motor City," sometimes the best dialogue is none at all

22.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

Harry and Meghan’s UK return tests a press under fire

The unrelentingly cruel media that the Sussexes moved to America to escape must be hungrily awaiting their return

20.08.2026 10

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Melanie McFarland

Hayden Panettiere lived out TV’s myth of the indestructible girl

The "Heroes" and "Nashville" star lived a demanding life weighed down by unreasonable expectations

19.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

Here’s why we like some superheroes more than others

Maybe it's easier to be chosen than worthy

16.08.2026 10

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Melanie McFarland

What the Ted Lasso Way doesn’t get about women in sports

In women's sports stories, persuading athletes to believe in themselves is only half the game

16.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

HBO’s “Watchmen” takes on white supremacy — Damon Lindelof promises to “troll the white savior”

Damon Lindelof's expansion of the classic comic universe contends with an evil that transcends realities

07.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

Power, respect and conscience: How the women of “Fargo” manage (up) in a man’s world

This season's main women are more alike than the richest of them would like to think, especially now

06.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

“The Shards” is oozing with Bret Easton Ellis vibes

Ryan Murphy’s collab with the American Psycho author brings Gen X's wasted youth back from the grave

06.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

“Watchmen” is a brutally provocative reckoning of alternate history

Damon Lindelof's new vision is more than just a confrontation of white supremacy. It's an indictment of denial

06.08.2026 750

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Melanie McFarland

The end of looking away from violence on social media

Perez Hilton's crisis went out live and unfiltered. That's not an accident anymore.

06.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

This Miyazaki film sees who we really are at heart

"Howl's Moving Castle" is many things, but ultimately it's an honest appraisal of the human spirit

04.08.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

The casting of “The Odyssey” proves Nolan’s muse was star power

The recruitment of Matt Damon and other A-listers to sell a Greek myth makes sense

02.08.2026 10

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Melanie McFarland

“Diarra From Detroit” shows what a media merger could cost TV

A Paramount-Warner Bros. merger will mean less diversity and fewer hidden gems

01.08.2026 30

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Melanie McFarland

The painful cost of bringing “Children of Blood and Bone” to screen

Days after its trailer debuted, Tomi Adeyemi declared she wants nothing to do with the movie version of her book

31.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

Your magical burnout cure is in this Miyazaki film

"Kiki's Delivery Service" is a family movie that holds practical magic for adulthood

30.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

The small-screen seduction of the middle-aged woman

Midlife can be as blissful as "The Five-Star Weekend" or as cathartic as "Ride or Die"

27.07.2026 30

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Melanie McFarland

“President Curtis” is a “Rick and Morty” spinoff to believe in

Keith David's man of action won't make America great again, but he just might save it from itself

25.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

“The Man Will Burn” accidentally shows why people despise Burning Man

Instead of clearing up misconceptions about the annual desert bacchanalia, HBO's docuseries confirms them

24.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

“A Woman of Substance” is a fiercely old-fashioned revenge saga

This soapy Britbox drama trades worshipping high society for good old payback

24.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

On “SNL,” Jesse Jackson proved he knew punchlines have power

In 1984, Jackson used "Saturday Night Live" to take a "last shot at America's mind" and faulty policies with jokes

23.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

“Princess Mononoke” is a warning we didn’t heed

Hayao Miyazaki's gorgeous epic is also his most humanist

22.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

This new “Cape Fear” has me rooting for Max Cady

In a contest between a difficult maniac and an insufferable family, Javier Bardem’s villain is my hero

17.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

Revisiting the quiet joy of “My Neighbor Totoro”

To understand the heart of Hayao Miyazaki, start with this masterpiece

15.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

‘Night, Mee-Maw. “Late Night with Seth Meyers” will miss you

When Lindsey Graham died, Seth Meyers lost one of his best gags: the senator's imaginary, needling grandma

14.07.2026 30

Salon

Melanie McFarland

We’re mature enough to reconsider “Little House on the Prairie”

A new adaptation of the beloved tales maintains the frontier fantasy while looking at who really pays for progress

11.07.2026 30

Salon

Melanie McFarland

It’s not you, it’s the Emmys: Voters have reasons for ignoring your show

Major industry award pageants rarely take our feelings into account, but Emmy voters are predictable in some ways

09.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

How “Spirited Away” inspired “Avatar: The Last Airbender”

Nickelodeon's beloved cartoon saga is one of many modern fantasies inspired by Hayao Miyazaki

08.07.2026 30

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Melanie McFarland

The golden ambition of “Legally Blonde” can’t be tarnished

Regardless of what “Elle” is doing, the 2001 movie still proves a woman’s limitless potential

07.07.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

John Oliver’s killer “General Hospital” turn did not disappoint

Move over, 007. The daytime drama transformed the "Last Week Tonight" host into a new international man of mystery

07.07.2026 30

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Melanie McFarland

It looks like the “redemption” of Louis C.K. is complete

The supposedly disgraced comic's mainstream return proves that expecting true accountability is the real joke

03.07.2026 30

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Melanie McFarland