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Melanie McFarland

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

Housing and prison activist Malik Rahim, a resident of Algiers Point on the West Bank of New Orleans (National Geographic)

Hurricane Katrina warned us. We haven’t learned

Melanie McFarland
Kelly Osbourne, Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne and Jack Osbourne (KMazur/WireImage/Getty Images)

How “The Osbournes” derailed reality

Melanie McFarland
Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Tempestt Bledsoe in "The Cosby Show" (Carsey-Werner Television)

Malcolm-Jamal Warner was Gen X’s big brother

Melanie McFarland
Stephen Colbert (CBS)

The cruel joke of CBS ousting Stephen Colbert

Melanie McFarland
Filmmaker Ken Burns speaks during a press conference ahead of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of The Battle of Lexington in front of the Minuteman Statue. (Photo by Joanne Rathe Strohmeyer/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Ken Burns meets America’s latest crisis

Melanie McFarland
Kathy Bates as Madeline Matlock in "Matlock" (Sonja Flemming/CBS)

Kathy Bates’ Emmys nod says a lot about the state of TV

Melanie McFarland
Sarah Jessica Parker in "And Just Like That" (Craig Blankenhorn/Max)

Why won’t “And Just Like That” let Carrie be single?

Melanie McFarland
"Sinners" and "KPop Demon Hunters" (Photo illustration by Salon/Warner Bros. Pictures/Netflix)

“Sinners” and “KPop Demon Hunters”: a double feature that slays through song

Melanie McFarland
Lena Dunham and Megan Stalter (Photo illustration by Salon/Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)

Lena Dunham nailed the messy TV woman. Now she’s in chaos mode

Melanie McFarland
Alexander Skarsgård in "Murderbot" (Apple TV+)

We’d be lucky if AI were like Murderbot

Melanie McFarland
"Squid Game" (Netflix)

What the “Squid Game” baby says about us

Melanie McFarland
Xenomorph in "Alien: Romulus" (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

All the “Alien” movies, ranked from worst to best

Melanie McFarland
Tom Sturridge as Dream in "The Sandman" (Netflix)

Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” ends on a sorry note

Melanie McFarland
A collection of some of our staff picks. (Photo illustration by Salon / Courtesy of Netflix, Apple TV+, Darren Vargas, Penguin Random House)

The best of 2025 . . . so far

Kelly McClure, Natalie Moore, Coleman Spilde, Melanie McFarland, Hanh Nguyen, Erin Keane, Andi Zeisler, Amanda Marcotte, Bennett Taren, Alex Galbraith, Ashlie D. Stevens
Lee Jung-jae in "Squid Game" (No Ju-han/Netflix)

Sadly, “Squid Game” may be right about democracy

Melanie McFarland
Ayo Edebiri as Sydney "Syd" Adamu and Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina Marrero in "The Bear" (FX)

“The Bear” gets it — we’re all burned out now

Melanie McFarland
Noah Wyle and Patrick Ball in "The Pitt" (Warrick Page/Max)

“The Pitt” has a diagnosis for what’s wrong with America

Melanie McFarland
Morgan Spector, Carrie Coon and Harry Richardson in "The Gilded Age" (Karolina Wojtasik/HBO)

Should the billionaire be a fan fave? “The Gilded Age” says yes

Melanie McFarland
American flag-themed pie (vaaseenaa / Getty Images )

“Justice would taste like the best pie ever”: These activists bake a good fight into every slice

Melanie McFarland
Sarah Jessica Parker and Sarita Choudhury in "And Just Like That" (Craig Blankenhorn/Max)

“And Just Like That” is having a fashion crisis

Melanie McFarland
Kevin Bacon as Peter Kell in "Sirens" (Macall Polay/Netflix)

How we learned to love the evil rich

Melanie McFarland
Marc Maron poses in the Getty Images Portrait Studio Presented by IMDb and IMDbPro at SXSW 2025 on March 10, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Robby Klein/Getty Images for IMDb)

Marc Maron’s heart made “WTF” a hit. In the Joe Rogan age, it’s all about shallow brawn

Melanie McFarland
Brian Johnson, also known as the Liver King, is the subject of Netflix's "UNTOLD: The Liver King" (Netflix)

The alpha male era is on its way out

Melanie McFarland
Light Wire perform on "America's Got Talent" (Trae Patton/NBC)

How “Survivor” and “America’s Got Talent” sell the lie that is the American Dream

Melanie McFarland
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