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Melanie Mcfarland

Melanie Mcfarland

Salon

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Jim Acosta officially signs off from CNN: "Don‘t give in to the lies. Don‘t give in to the fear"

Jim Acosta officially signs off from CNN:

Following reports that CNN intended to exile Acosta to midnight, the longtime journalist's exit was expected

previous day 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The Fall of Diddy" chronicles decades' worth of failures to hold a powerful monster accountable

Versions of this story have been told before, but few demonstrate so well how our celebrity worship got us here

27.01.2025 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The makers of "Star Trek: Section 31" had a difficult mission, so they decided to make it fun

The makers of

Olatunde Osunsanmi, Alex Kurtzman and Omari Hardwick talk about latest film in Paramount 's "Star Trek" universe

24.01.2025 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The Rachel Maddow Show" has begun its 100-day watch. Let's hope the host can bring us through this

“More than ever,” Maddow said in her Monday night broadcast, “this is not a time to pretend this isn’t happening"

23.01.2025 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The Joe Schmo Show" returns with a charming, skeptical mark forged in the age of disinformation

It's tough to make a dupe out of a sweet guy who automatically disbelieves everything that doesn't add up

22.01.2025 2

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Turn the channel on the inauguration with these counterprogramming suggestions

Turn the channel on the inauguration with these counterprogramming suggestions

From "Twin Peaks" to "Chicken Nugget," preserving your sanity on Inauguration Day is just a click away

20.01.2025 40

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

How do we define Lynchian? Look to some of the most audacious TV -- you'll know it when you see it

How do we define Lynchian? Look to some of the most audacious TV -- you'll know it when you see it

David Lynch figured out how to beguile TV audiences with unease. Some of the best shows still follow his lead

19.01.2025 8

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Con-gregation, be seated: "Scam Goddess" is a better podcast than it manifests on TV

Con-gregation, be seated:

Trading co-star chemistry to visit the scenes of scams, Laci Mosley's hit loses something in its TV translation

15.01.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Long live "The Traitors," a killer distillation of American reality TV psychological games

Long live

TV's murderously meta reality competition shows us how fame leads us to assume the wrong things about worthiness

09.01.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

We can all learn something from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" visiting "Abbott Elementary"

We can all learn something from

We get it in our heads that some flavors could never, ever work together — only for their collision to yield something wonderful. Kids make...

08.01.2025 7

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Fights, Camera, Action": How Jerry Springer exposed the beginning of America's decline

Before the man who transformed “The Jerry Springer Show” into a gladiatorial showcase of the worst common denominator took over as its...

07.01.2025 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Nikki Glaser triumphs as the host of a revived 82nd Golden Globes

Last year’s Golden Globes telecast provided its strongest case yet for its retirement from public life. The previous version of the Hollywood...

06.01.2025 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Squid Game 2" fittingly plays a different and still very relevant game for its return

Before Elon Musk effectively bought an American presidency, he mounted a hostile takeover of the attention economy. His initial bulk acquisitions...

03.01.2025 2

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

9 unforgettable moments that made TV great in 2024

You already have your own list of best TV shows, and who am I to disagree? Any show that makes your mood a little lighter or moves you in some...

28.12.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

7 of the most fearless comedy specials you might have missed this year

From the moment the Golden Globes added a category for best stand-up comedy performance, cynics like me had doubts. Globes voters have a...

20.12.2024 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

On "Shrinking" Brett Goldstein models a version of what forgiveness can look like, and it's not easy

Louis Winston’s contribution to “Shrinking” begins like so many of us watching, with a rearview glimpse at his fortunate life. Each day he and...

19.12.2024 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"It was a fearless ending": "What We Do in the Shadows" vamps reflect on laying the show to rest

 “What We Do in the Shadows” was never intended to be the perfect pandemic comedy. In the way of all TV legends, it simply happened to peak at...

18.12.2024 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The "Deadpool & Wolverine" Golden Globe nomination category says a lot about the state of movies now

By now somebody in my position, which is to say those who analyze popular culture for a living, should know better than to write off the Golden...

10.12.2024 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

How the mid "Skeleton Crew" makes us nostalgic for the wretched "Star Wars" holiday specials of yore

Since the first “Star Wars” blasted a hole in popular culture we've been gifted a few unforgettable (and not in a good way) Christmas-adjacent...

09.12.2024 8

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Let nothing you dismay: The "Die Hard" comfort and joy in Netflix's bloody "Black Doves"

Every culture has its bewildering holiday traditions. One that never gets old for Americans is arguing over Christmas movies. Although Netflix's...

08.12.2024 6

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

My shelter cat heist: How "Adopt, Don't Shop" almost became my villain origin story

"Come back in a couple of weeks, and we'll talk then," the woman at the animal rescue chirped.  The short version of this story is my husband and...

06.12.2024 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Wicked" reminds us we'd all better be ready to defy gravity. Especially Black women

The “Wicked” nation is still relatively young, like the musical itself. This year marks its 21st anniversary on Broadway, and the touring version...

02.12.2024 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Conclave" is just "Mean Girls" with priests

Awards season always brings a parade of Very Important Cinema to theaters, most of which have the appeal of roughage. They may be good for us, but...

22.11.2024 9

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

With "A Man on the Inside" Ted Danson sweetly leads us into the mystery of getting old and going on

Mike Schur devised a mostly foolproof formula for the perfect modern workplace sitcom that began with “The Office” and steadily evolved through...

22.11.2024 5

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

HBO's "Dune: Prophecy" is a bold vision up to the task of matching its theatrical counterpart

What “Dune: Prophecy” offers on its face is bound to appeal to women who are sick of everything. Given the present circumstances, who wouldn’t...

18.11.2024 50

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Say Nothing" ambitiously breaks open a story of resistance and disillusionment during the Troubles

“Say Nothing” begins in a state of knotted tension: an introductory voiceover by Lola Petticrew’s resolute Dolours Price lets us know we’re...

14.11.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"What We Do in the Shadows" star Matt Berry is ready to say goodbye to Laszlo Cravensworth. Are we?

Although the troubles of our world never bled into “What We Do in the Shadows,” the story never shied away from politics within its own musty,...

12.11.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

In hindsight, we should have paid more attention to Don Lemon

Throughout this election cycle, Don Lemon has been taking the pulse of the election person by person in cities across the country.  During his...

07.11.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Brian Williams held our hand, giving us a way to check out from cable news – and the election

For a little while on Tuesday evening “Election Night with Brian Williams” was the breaking political news equivalent of a meditation app. As...

06.11.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Jon Stewart said Tony Hinchcliffe was "just doing what he does." That take helped get us here

This may be challenging to consider at a time when clipped-out segments have become the primary delivery system for headlines, information and...

06.11.2024 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell: Not knowing how to cover Donald Trump is still the news' biggest problem

While hosting MSNBC's "The Last Word,"  Lawrence O’Donnell has never held back about the danger Donald Trump poses to our democracy, or how he...

04.11.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

To Chris Coelen, the "Love Is Blind" experiment is not about proving if what the title says is true

Those who know how reality TV works may take issue with Chris Coelen viewing “Love Is Blind” as a documentary. "We just want to know what's the...

02.11.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Grotesquerie": Niecy Nash-Betts on her role and that killer finale — "It scared me on the page"

“Grotesquerie” may have been inscrutable to most of us when it began, but its star and executive producer, Niecy Nash-Betts, knew exactly where...

31.10.2024 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

What did we learn from Donald Trump's "Joe Rogan Experience"? Nothing good

“What is happening with the whales? I've read about this.” Over the years, Joe Rogan has welcomed an array of accredited scientists and nature...

29.10.2024 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"The Penguin": The emancipating, entirely reasonable fury of Sofia Falcone

Gauging Sofia Falcone’s situational anger at any moment in “The Penguin” isn’t tough. Just look at her eyes — not simply the emotions...

27.10.2024 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Farewell to Colin Robinson, the "What We Do in the Shadows" vampire that could very well be us

Energy vampires existed long before “What We Do in the Shadows” introduced Colin Robinson. Healthline posted a 2018 manual on how to spot and...

21.10.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Kamala Harris sparred with Fox News' Bret Baier in a chat meant to sell us on ... the interviewer

In an alternate universe, Vice President Kamala Harris’ first Fox News interview probably would have been conducted by Chris Wallace. A veteran of...

17.10.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Shrinking" returns with a more assured and legitimately therapeutic second season

Therapy rarely begins smoothly. Initial sessions tend to be colored by weeping, hesitancy and half-truths as the clinician and client get a feel...

16.10.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Citizen Nation" shows there's hope for democracy, and our future, in championing civics in schools

PBS could not have wanted for better organic, coincidental advertising for its four-part series “Citizen Nation” than Oakland University...

14.10.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Three Women" from the page to our TV screens: Lisa Taddeo expands our view of desire

We expect stories of first kisses to be singular and unforgettable because that’s what movies and books taught us to expect. “Three Women”...

10.10.2024 4

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

America's need-to-know basis makes "Call Her Daddy" as valuable to Kamala Harris as "60 Minutes"

Over the weekend, a gaggle of media establishment figures lost their collective crackers at the news that Vice President Kamala Harris sat down...

08.10.2024 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"Grotesquerie" slices into our numbing habit of mixing God, American carnage and celebrity skin

If all horror is metaphor, then of course “Grotesquerie” would feature a turducken. The hedonistic holiday feast occasions Det. Lois Tryon (Niecy...

05.10.2024 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

CBS News delivered a veep debate riddled with falsehoods and lacking in fact-checking

Two old statements haunted my thoughts during Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Republican nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota...

02.10.2024 3

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Remembering "Good Times" and "Roots" actor John Amos, dead at 84

John Landis knew exactly what he was doing in casting John Amos opposite James Earl Jones in 1988’s “Coming to America.” The audience related to...

02.10.2024 30

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The prime of Dame Maggie Smith left us a portrait of what it means to be a lady, upper and lowercase

Dame is a term that shifts dramatically in the cross-Atlantic translation between Britain and the United States. Here it’s considered archaic, a...

01.10.2024 1

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"One Person, One Vote": Finally, a film that explains the Electoral College in an engaging way

The last step that “One Person, One Vote” director Maximina Juson needed to complete her documentary on the Electoral College was to film the...

01.10.2024 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Reuniting Daryl Dixon with his soul mate in "The Book of Carol": Lofty aspirations, grounded results

All great stories can be dragged down by fan service. No matter how lofty the concept, regardless of how successfully it launches, the...

29.09.2024 2

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

"How to Die Alone" lets Natasha Rothwell write her own ticket for the role she deserves to play

Natasha Rothwell’s life would be unrecognizable, compared to what we know of her today, if she hadn’t stopped still at a crossroads and changed...

28.09.2024 2

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

In "The Old Man," John Lithgow says he found one of the great challenges of a long, storied career

Days before I sat down for my conversation with John Lithgow, and purely by coincidence, I watched “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the...

25.09.2024 1

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

The challenge of "The Choice"? Figuring out Kamala Harris, fast

One would think “The Choice 2024” would have been, if not easier for “Frontline” producer and director Michael Kirk, perhaps a slightly easier...

23.09.2024 1

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland