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Melanie McFarland (page 34)

Melanie McFarland is Salon's award-winning senior culture critic. Follow her on Bluesky: @McTelevision

LeVar Burton attends the Paramount+'s 2nd Annual "Star Trek Day" Celebration at Skirball Cultural Center on September 08, 2021 in Los Angeles (Tommaso Boddi/WireImage)

From “Jeopardy!” to “Trivial Pursuit,” how LeVar Burton’s latest lesson is one to inspire us all

Melanie McFarland
Giuseppe Dell'Anno, Chigs Parmar, Crystelle Pereira and Jürgen Krauss on "The Great British Baking Show" (Netflix/Love Productions)

“Great British Baking Show” was a showstopper, redeemed this season by fantastic contestants

Melanie McFarland
Daniel Kaluuya in "Get Out" (Universal Pictures)

It’s the most wonderful time of year … to not make your loved ones of color visit a sundown town

Melanie McFarland
Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld in "Hawkeye" (Marvel / Disney+)

“Hawkeye” reminds us why Jeremy Renner’s archer is the least Avenger

Melanie McFarland
Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake before the wardrobe malfunction (Getty Images/KMazur/WireImage)

The injustice done to Janet Jackson isn’t only in the past – new film “Malfunction” also falls short

Melanie McFarland
Jennifer Aniston and Mark Duplass in “The Morning Show" (Apple TV+)

“The Morning Show” delivers an empty on-air moment that could take pointers from Amber Ruffin

Melanie McFarland
John Cho in "Cowboy Bebop" (Kirsty Griffin/Netflix)

“Cowboy Bebop” is an off-key adaptation that captures the jazzy color but not soul of the original

Melanie McFarland
Reneé Rapp, Alyah Chanelle Scott, Pauline Chalamet and Amrit Kaur from "Sex Lives of College Girls" (Jessica Brooks/Courtesy of HBO Max)

HBO Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls” is less erotic and more awkward than its alluring title

Melanie McFarland
Paris Hilton poses with her dog at "Extra" at Universal Studios Hollywood on June 28, 2018 in Universal City, California (Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)

Paris Hilton is her own purse dog – why even the socialite struggles with her engineered image

Melanie McFarland
Christina Ricci in "Yellowjackets" (Paul Sarkis/Showtime)

“Yellowjackets” is a fantastic, terrifying plummet into the darkness of female desire and rage

Melanie McFarland
The Morning Show (Apple TV+)

“The Morning Show” looks at how consequences catch up to some people sooner than others

Melanie McFarland
Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell in "The Shrink Next Door" (Apple TV+)

“The Shrink Next Door” is a compelling stranger-than-fiction anchored by Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell

Melanie McFarland
Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson in "Passing" (Netflix)

Thanks to its stars, “Passing” is a masterpiece of subtle expression, rendered in black and white

Melanie McFarland
Michael Brown Sr. holds a painting of Jr. donated by an artist on "Ferguson Rises" (Rafael Roy/PBS)

“Ferguson Rises” explains why America needs its modern civil rights movement through a father’s eyes

Melanie McFarland
Michael C. Hall in "Dexter: New Blood" (Seacia Pavao/SHOWTIME)

“Dexter: New Blood” is less of a revival than another stab at a satisfying closure

Melanie McFarland
Four Seasons Total Documentary (MSNBC)

“Four Seasons Total Documentary” captures the Trump campaign’s emperor-has-no-clothes moment

Melanie McFarland
Jason Sudeikis and Sarah Niles in "Ted Lasso" (Apple TV+)

The “Ted Lasso” way to make shortbread fit for “Biscuits with the Boss”

Melanie McFarland
Jennifer Aniston on "The Morning Show" (Apple TV+)

“The Morning Show” finally finds its raison d’etre as a satire about workplace toxicity

Melanie McFarland
Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang in "Love Hard" (Bettina Strauss/Netflix)

“Love Hard,” a holiday catfish story masquerading as a romance, is a swipe right and a miss

Melanie McFarland
Larry David on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (John P. Johnson/ HBO)

Between “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Succession,” TV presents the fall (and rise) of old white guys

Melanie McFarland
Matt Berry in "What We Do in the Shadows" (Russ Martin/ FX)

“What We Do in the Shadows” proves the first law of thermodynamics with its refreshing cliffhanger

Melanie McFarland
Colin Kaepernick in "Colin in Black & White" (Netflix)

Netflix’s new Colin Kaepernick series is as ambitious but not quite as successful as its subject

Melanie McFarland
Love Life (Sarah Shatz/HBO Max)

“Love Life” resets the rom-com by presenting a Black man’s perspective on what it’s like “out there”

Melanie McFarland
Issa Rae in "Insecure" (Merie Wallace/HBO)

“Insecure” to the end: Issa Rae’s groundbreaking comedy sails into its final season

Melanie McFarland
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