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Melanie McFarland

Melanie McFarland

Salon

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What “The Bear” teaches us about human possibility

The FX hit's final season shows that trust, love and sheer will can be the brightest fires in an end-of-days storm

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Melanie McFarland

“The Bear” confronts Carmy’s nightmare: A boss who believes in creating excellence through pain

Bosses like Joel McHale's NYC chef, who haunted Carmy and this show's viewers since the start, are all too common

26.06.2026 70

Salon

Melanie McFarland

Larry David’s sketch series curbs our enthusiasm for American exceptionalism

In HBO's "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness," the comedian makes pettiness all-American

26.06.2026 2

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Melanie McFarland

Without dragons, fantasy wouldn’t have worked on TV

A lot of shows and movies crashed so Targaryens could soar

24.06.2026 5

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Melanie McFarland

Music mogul Clive Davis dies at 94

During his six-decade career, Davis signed and mentored acts that defined the sound of American popular music

22.06.2026 8

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Melanie McFarland

As “House of the Dragon” returns, fire and blood fuel a futile war

Stars Steve Toussaint and Abubakar Salim ponder the lesson of the bloodiest sea battle in Westeros history

21.06.2026 8

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Melanie McFarland

James Burrows, legendary sitcom director, dies at 85

The prolific TV maestro co-created "Cheers" and shaped the modern half-hour comedy as we know it

19.06.2026 7

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Melanie McFarland

The real “Widow’s Bay” curse is all-American

Apple TV’s timely hit is a metaphor for what happens when willful ignorance allows long-buried terrors to resurface

18.06.2026 9

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Melanie McFarland

We scouted “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and can confirm that it’s a veritable treasure

At long last, a D&D movie of which gamers need not be ashamed. Here's our list of its attributes and bonuses

17.06.2026 8

Salon

Melanie McFarland

The coziest TV mysteries have a higher calling

The clergymen detectives of "Grantchester" and "Father Brown" prove some murder cases call for divine intervention

16.06.2026 20

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Melanie McFarland

The immortal thrill of The Vampire Lestat

Anne Rice's seductive antihero made vampires the rock stars of the monsterverse

13.06.2026 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Through its time change, “Interview with the Vampire” examines how war poisons the blood

The TV adaptation returns with a visceral parable of the effect man's inhumanity has on our hearts

12.06.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

Anthony Head made the flawed father figure impossible to hate

From "Buffy" to "Ted Lasso," his roles made us see that no man is beyond redemption

12.06.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

Earth, Wind & Fire’s music is universal

Questlove’s new documentary explores the spiritual magic that makes one of pop's biggest bands among its greatest

07.06.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

Hate “The Phantom Menace”? The Ewok Line theory could explain why

What if a "How I Met Your Mother" hypothesis also applies to our divided opinion about the "Star Wars" prequels?

06.06.2026 9

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Melanie Mcfarland

The NABJ welcomed Trump to insult them and spread lies about Kamala Harris

The organization has hosted controversial speakers before, including one whose long ago speech was a warning

06.06.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

Changing “Interview with the Vampire” made it more alluring while staying true to its spirit

This show's updates to Anne Rice's vampires change the tension in the story, adding potential for longer life

02.06.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“I don’t want to see some glittery vampire”: Why Anne Rice’s undead reigns in a post-“Twilight” era

Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson discuss the ways their eternal love story is more relatable than that other one

02.06.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“The Other Black Girl” peeks into the hidden horrors of being the only person of color at the office

There are no jump scares in Hulu's new thriller, but the dread of being Black in a mainly white industry is real

02.06.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

Amber Ruffin’s hilariously horrifying book about everyday racism shows this is indeed who we are

Salon spoke to the comedian and her sister Lacey Lamar, who co-wrote "You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey"

02.06.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Hacks” finale is a moving tribute to comedy’s power to keep going

In the end, Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels prove that a funnier world is worth fighting for

29.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Hacks”: Deborah Vance is Tom Cruise-approved, joining the list of celebrities with the moist cake

A sure sign that you've made it to the top is that the last great Hollywood star sends you a famous dessert

26.05.2026 20

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Hacks” wonders why saying sorry is rare in comedy

“Never apologize for a joke,” says Deborah Vance, echoing many comedians. This episode challenges that notion

26.05.2026 100

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Hacks” returns with its funny ladies on the mountaintop, but questions the cost of the climb

Returning as 61-year-old Vanessa Williams drops a club track, the show reaffirms it still has legs, and miles to go

26.05.2026 80

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Melanie Mcfarland

“The Boys” bids a grim farewell to America

Eric Kripke's gory superhero satire concludes that the only way to save ourselves is to kill our gods

24.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“The Boys” gives us a grim warning of Trumpism’s endgame

The political assassination plot is a coincidence. Pay attention to the empty unity rhetoric and what happens next

22.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

Finally, “The Man in the High Castle” fascist fantasy ends amidst America’s sobering reality

As Amazon's Nazi-triumphant alternate history ends, we don't need a reminder of how far gone America could be

21.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Fascism that cloaks itself in patriotism”: “The Boys” boss on dangers of strongmen and superheroes

Salon talks to Eric Kripke about how his show predicted our terrible present and his expectations for what's next

21.05.2026 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

What we’re losing as “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” ends

We'll see Stephen Colbert again, but his broadcast exit closes out David Letterman's absurdist TV legacy

21.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

The perks of being Jane Austen’s wallflower

"The Other Bennet Sister" proves it’s the quiet ones we need to be watching

20.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“The Sheep Detectives” cloaks an urgent message in woolly clothing

Underneath its feel-good fleece, this film sounds quiet alarms about forgetting painful history

17.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Amadeus” argues that every great artist needs a nemesis

Out of all the legendary musical beefs, the fable rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri is our greatest hit

16.05.2026 30

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Melanie Mcfarland

If “Succession” is a competition that ends with a winner, we’d be foolish to count out Marcia

Never underestimate the shrewdness of third wife of a dying man who never takes her eye off the prize: his fortune

15.05.2026 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

A devastating end to “Succession” wakes up to the truth about the Roys: “We’re nothing”

In an appropriately desolate ending, the show drives home its original thesis by doing daddy's bidding

15.05.2026 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

“Michael,” Harry Potter and the death of the problematic fave

"Michael" and the Potterverse are booming. Apparently, we're done feeling bad about what that means

14.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

“After Neverland,” R. Kelly’s CBS meltdown, and the insidious patterns we refuse to see

The two specials hosted by Oprah and Gayle King are accidental companion pieces showing how abuse and abusers work

13.05.2026 10

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

How Keith Lee, a TikTok food critic for the new economy, guides us to eat well – and good

Lee has a critic's ethos, just like the late Roger Ebert and the misunderstood Anton Ego from "Ratatouille"

13.05.2026 80

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

“Rooster” ends with women in the lead

Bill Lawrence's latest comedy closes by kicking male wish fulfillment to the curb to spotlight what women want

11.05.2026 20

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Melanie Mcfarland

How Ted Turner went from cinema’s “butcher” to its champion

Turner shocked Hollywood by colorizing classic film gems. Founding Turner Classic Movies cleaned the slate

08.05.2026 10

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Melanie Mcfarland

Turner Classic Movies holds our cinematic past. Does it have a future under Warner Bros. Discovery?

Last week's reports of TCM's death may have been exaggerated but movie buffs, classic and otherwise, should worry

06.05.2026 20

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Battlestar Galactica” had Cylons — We have AI

The beloved sci-fi series coming to Paramount is one of TV’s strongest political and social parables

05.05.2026 20

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Melanie Mcfarland

On “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” and “Euphoria,” the body is the hustle

OnlyFans is just one of the gigs featured on two shows that depict how capitalism extracts its dues from our flesh

04.05.2026 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Bob Ross still helps us paint a better world

The public television icon's legacy is still one of pop culture's happiest accidents

02.05.2026 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

No matter what she does, Megan Thee Stallion can’t win

Sexists always look for a reason to degrade the superstar. Her breakup with NBA player Klay Thompson gave them one

30.04.2026 20

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Melanie Mcfarland

Why Lego is our most powerful art medium

The viral Lego-style Iran War memes are the latest case of the toy being used as a building block for political art

26.04.2026 30

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Beef” grills capitalism’s trap for women

The Netflix hit returns with the idea that at every level of a dog-eat-dog economy, women get chewed up first

23.04.2026 20

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Melanie Mcfarland

What happened to Dave Chappelle: The cruelty of “Sticks & Stones” is a sign of the times

Dave Chappelle is completely attuned to the mean spirit of 2019. That's what's throwing off his old fans

17.04.2026 20

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Melanie Mcfarland

Janet Jackson’s “Nasty” woman’s anthem

Forty years ago, Janet Jackson took "Control"

11.04.2026 40

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Melanie Mcfarland

“Rooster” and the wake-up call that nobody cares

In its way, Bill Lawrence and Steve Carell's comedy interrupts the globally destructive pull of male insecurity

05.04.2026 20

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland

Red Hot Chili Peppers gave us plenty to hate — and one song we can’t quit

You may hate the Chili Peppers, but you'll never escape "Can't Stop"

04.04.2026 30

Salon

Melanie Mcfarland