TV Shows
The Lede
What “The Pitt” Taught Me About Being a Doctor
It’s as if the show’s creators absorbed every important conversation in health care today—and somehow transfigured it into good television.
On Television
The Extremely Online Bona Fides of “I Love L.A.”
Rachel Sennott, the HBO series’ creator and star, may be a relative newcomer to Los Angeles, but she’s a native of the show’s true setting: the internet.
On Television
“Landman” Goes Down Like a Michelob Ultra
Taylor Sheridan’s oil-industry drama trades in gender stereotypes, reactionary politics, and blatant product placement. Why, then, is it so damn satisfying?
The Lede
The Most Dangerous Genre
Our obsession with deadly game shows—from “The Running Man” and “Squid Game” to MrBeast’s real-life reënactments—reflects a shift in the national mood to something increasingly zero-sum.
On Television
“Death by Lightning” Dramatizes the Assassination America Forgot
The new Netflix miniseries makes the 1881 killing of President James Garfield feel thrillingly current.
Critic’s Notebook
Why Did We Love “To Catch a Predator”?
A new documentary explores how the show turned troubled individuals’ actions into a quasi-pornographic exhibit meant for an audience’s titillation.
Fault Lines
What “The Paper” Has to Say About Journalism
The new “Office” spinoff is a love letter to newspapers—if not the reporting inside them.
Critic’s Notebook
Our Age of Zombie Culture
Zombies are the least eloquent monster. But they have a lot to say about us.
The Lede
“South Park” Skewers a Satire-Proof President
The new season première goes after Trump as never before—and solves a problem that’s plagued comedians since his first term in office.
Persons of Interest
Do Androids Dream of Anything at All?
We have tended to imagine machines as either being our slaves or enslaving us. Martha Wells, the writer of the “Murderbot” series, tries to conjure a truly alien consciousness.
On Television
“Overcompensating” Is a New Kind of Coming-Out Comedy
Benito Skinner’s Prime Video series about a closeted jock starts off as a satire of toxic masculinity—and lands somewhere surprisingly sweet.
On Television
“The Handmaid’s Tale” Reflects the Exhaustion of Liberal Feminism
What’s most striking about the show, now in its final season, is not its hysteria but its lack of conviction.
On Television
In “Dying for Sex,” Cancer and Kink Are Just the Beginning
The Michelle Williams-led series, about a woman seeking erotic fulfillment amid a terminal diagnosis, starts off as an unorthodox comedy—then deepens into something far better.
Critic’s Notebook
The Flawed Heart of “Adolescence”
The creators of the British miniseries think of the contemporary English boy as a fragile creature, abandoned by society.
On Television
A British Detective Comedy About a Reclusive Puzzle-Maker
In “Ludwig,” David Mitchell tries to solve mysteries—and the problem of being a person in the world.
On Television
Mister Lonely, the New TV Hero
Widowers drive the plots of “Paradise,” “Severance,” and “American Primeval,” to poignant effect.
On Television
The Parental Panic of “Adolescence”
The Netflix series, about a thirteen-year-old killer, attempts to grapple with the crisis facing boys today—but its true sympathies lie with the baffled adults around them.
On Television
How “Severance” Makes a Fetish of the Office
In its second season, the show continues to indict the corporate workplace while secretly longing for it.
Critic’s Notebook
The Cruel Abstraction of “Beast Games”
On a competition show made by the YouTube sensation MrBeast, the people are faceless and the challenges are vicious.