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NBC War Anxieties Loomed Over SNL
Last night’s episode addressed Ukraine and Russia, but the result was less insightful political satire than proof that the show’s writers read the internet.
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Alison Cohen Rosa / HBO An American Age of Greed Should Have Been Perfect TV Fodder
The Gilded Age, HBO’s new period drama, imitates the novelist Edith Wharton but entirely misses her insight.
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Claire Merchlinsky The Redemption of the Bad Mother
Two recent works challenge the long-standing pact of American motherhood: We give mothers nothing and expect everything in return.
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Rosalind O’Connor / NBC Weird Is Exactly What SNL Needed
The former cast member Will Forte brought eccentric comedy to last night’s show, and it was a relief.
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Gale M. Adler / NBC / Getty / … The Classic ’90s Sitcom That’s Actually Worth Rewatching
Frasier is a time capsule of its era—and yet, has aged remarkably well.
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Showtime The Bloody, Brutal Business of Being a Teenage Girl
Showtime’s Yellowjackets is an addictive and perceptive coming-of-age story cloaked in psychological horror.
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Will Heath / NBC ‘The Timeline You’re All Living in Is About to Collapse’
SNL’s inaugural episode of 2022 turned to dark, and often awkward, absurdity to explain our exasperating moment.
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Kailey Schwerman / Showtime The TV Show for the Age of Conspiracism
Yellowjackets, a feminist update of Lord of the Flies, has created a rich world where everyone—and everything—is a suspect.
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Emma McIntyre / Getty Bob Saget Was Entertainment’s Consummate Father Figure
The late actor and comedian’s gift was his fluency in dad jokes and dirty humor alike.
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CBS Photo Archive / Getty; The Atlantic Survivor Is Deceptive. That’s What Makes It So Real.
The contestants on the show are always performing. But, then again, so are we.
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Netflix / Charlie Le Maignan / The Atlantic The ‘Meta-emptiness’ of Emily in Paris
Can the joyfully escapist Netflix show also argue for the importance of escapism?
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Why Star Wars Keeps Telling the Same Stories
The Book of Boba Fett turns one of the most mysterious characters in the galaxy into a classic savior figure, to watchable but uninspiring effect.
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D Dipasupil / FilmMagic / Getty The Sly Sunniness of Betty White
The actor and producer and host, who died yesterday at 99, spent eight decades poking fun at those who would underestimate her.
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Carole Bethuel / Netflix Emily in Paris Is the Last Guilty Pleasure
The Netflix show, now in its second season, is an argument for the joys of tackiness.
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Zach Dilgard / Apple TV+ The Surreal TV Show That Rewrote Emily Dickinson’s Story
The Apple TV+ period piece Dickinson pushed the boundaries of anachronistic storytelling.
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Will Heath / NBC When Saturday Night Live Tried to Keep the Lights On
The show just aired one of its strangest and bleakest episodes, courtesy of the Omicron variant.
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Pee Wee Pictures / Everett The Magic of Pee-wee Herman in a Dark Year
Every time I’ve needed a little wonder, the character has reemerged to make the mundane feel miraculous.
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Graeme Hunter / HBO / Charlie Le Maignan … Succession Is a Game of Monopoly
Did the finale finally flip over the board?
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David Dolsen / Comedy Central The Holiday-Rom-Com Fantasy Has Nothing to Do With Romance
The ultimate Hallmark film is not about finding love. It is about finding relief from the demanding work of Christmas.
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Graeme Hunter / HBO A Perfect—And Cyclical—Succession Finale
The conclusion to Season 3 was both brilliant television and a patchwork of things the show has already done.
