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Melanie McFarland (page 13)

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

Kate Winslet in "The Regime" (HBO)

“The Regime’s” meme-worthy satire can’t compare with Katie Britt or today’s bad political actors

Melanie McFarland
Devon Walker , James Austin Johnson, Mikey Day, and Marcello Hernandez on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC)

“Saturday Night Live” is “a bad thing for comedians” says journalist Seth Simons. He has a point

Melanie McFarland
Toshiro Mifune (1920 - 1997, left), as Yoshi Toranaga, and American actor Richard Chamberlain as John Blackthorne, examine a samurai sword in the TV miniseries 'Shogun', 1980. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

The 1980’s “Shogun” didn’t usher in a decade of Japanophilia by itself. But it played its part

Melanie McFarland
Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in "DUNE: PART TWO" (Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Fear is the mind killer”: The political lesson of “Dune”

Melanie McFarland
The Daily Show (Courtesy of Comedy Central)

How Jon Stewart’s loss helps us listen on “The Daily Show”

Melanie McFarland
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC)

What keeps “The Walking Dead” moving forward? Showrunner Scott Gimple insists “love is the fuel”

Melanie McFarland
Ron Livingston, David Herman and Ajay Naidu in "Office Space". (Getty Images)

25 years later, “Office Space” explains the Gen X worker’s deflated spirit

Melanie McFarland
Utkarsh Ambudkar as King Bumi and Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai in Netflix's "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Netflix)

How “Avatar: The Last Airbender” helps us contextualize the choice between Biden and Trump

Melanie McFarland
Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne and Anna Sawai as Today Mariko in "Shogun" (Katie Yu/FX)

In the age of dragon fantasies, FX’s “Shōgun” defines what it means to be an event series

Melanie McFarland
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC)

“The Walking Dead” returns Richonne’s apocalyptic love to us. Will departed viewers come back too?

Melanie McFarland
Pedro Pascal wins Male Actor in a Drama Series for "The Last of Us" at the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on February 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)

A post-strike SAG Awards lets it all hang out, partying like the Golden Globes used to

Melanie McFarland
Alan Cumming on "The Traitors" (Euan Cherry/PEACOCK)

“The Traitors” and the lying liars who make it the reality treat of our time

Melanie McFarland
Where Is Wendy Williams? (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Tuomas A. Lehtinen/Lifetime/Calvin Gayle)

Wendy Williams won’t be silenced yet

Melanie McFarland
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)

This “Avatar: The Last Airbender” coasts along by improving on M. Night Shyamalan’s mess

Melanie McFarland
Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in "True Detective: Night Country" (HBO)

Nic Pizzolatto’s “Night Country” ire reminds us some “True Detective” mysteries are easily solvable

Melanie McFarland
True Detective: Night Country (Michele K. Short/HBO)

“True Detective: Night Country” leaves us in a place between the truth of crime and feminine mystery

Melanie McFarland
Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" (Matt Wilson/Comedy Central)

Jon Stewart returns “The Daily Show” to old times. His successor may be a retrofit, too

Melanie McFarland
Franklin Armstrong in "Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin" (Apple TV+)

It’s about time the Peanuts gave Franklin a home, and an overdue identity of his own

Melanie McFarland
Dominic Sessa, Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph in "The Holdovers" (Focus Features)

How “The Holdovers” writer was inspired by Michelangelo to create a “broken” holy family

Melanie McFarland
Bobi Wine on top of his vehicle with his wife Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi as they campaigned in Kasanda district, Central Uganda on November 27, 2020. (Southern Films/Lookman Kampala)

Bobi Wine, “The People’s President,” has a message for us: “Be inspired to defend your democracy”

Melanie McFarland
Finn Bennett in "True Detective: Night Country" (HBO)

The children in “True Detective: Night Country” may be the ones who suffer the most

Melanie McFarland
Usher performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation)

Sorry, Swifties: Super Bowl LVIII belonged to Usher and Beyoncé

Melanie McFarland
Taylor Swift reacts during the first half of a game between the Chicago Bears and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri (Jason Hanna/Getty Images)

Will the “Swift Effect” raise Super Bowl ratings to new heights?

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

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” proves that it’s only a matter of time before we all become Larry David

Melanie McFarland
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