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Melanie McFarland (page 29)

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

Actress/honoree Nichelle Nichols attends the 2016 Heroes Of Hollywood Awards Luncheon held at Taglyan Cultural Complex on May 11, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)

Nichelle Nichols completed her “Star Trek” mission so that I’d never know a world without Lt. Uhura

Melanie McFarland
Bob Odenkirk as Gene in "Better Call Saul" (Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)

“Better Call Saul” connects with the inevitability of Gene breaking bad

Melanie McFarland
Steven Yeun as Ricky “Jupe” Park in "Nope" (Universal Pictures)

From “Gladiator” to “Nope”: How Jordan Peele maps our decline into spectacular denial

Melanie McFarland
Comedian Benny Hill performing with a tambourine on set, circa 1971. (TV Times via Getty Images)

Why “Yakety Sax” makes anything funny and has morphed into the soundtrack of political failure

Melanie McFarland
Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

“Jeopardy!” sticks with basic flavors: Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik named co-hosts

Melanie McFarland
Bob Odenkirk as Gene in "Better Call Saul" (Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)

“Better Call Saul” explains what Cinnabon means to Gene Takavic, and to us

Melanie McFarland
Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler on "Better Call Saul" (Joe Pugliese/AMC)

In breaking up with Kim Wexler, “Better Call Saul” maps a noble end to a stellar portrait of a lady

Melanie McFarland
Primal (Courtesy of Adult Swim)

“Primal” may be the most unconventional love story on TV. Just not in the way you think

Melanie McFarland
Shawnee Benton Gibson and Bruce McIntyre III in "Aftershock" (Hulu/Onyx Collective)

“Aftershock” directors on how the anti-midwife campaign wrought the Black maternal mortality crisis

Melanie McFarland
Lance Reddick as Albert and Paola Nunez as Evelyn in "Resident Evil" (Netflix)

“Resident Evil” is the latest show taking on the death of the work/life balance

Melanie McFarland
Baratunde Thurston in "America Outdoors" (Courtesy of Twin Cities PBS)

Baratunde Thurston is making America love the outdoors again: “There’s history in nature for us”

Melanie McFarland
Mark Proksch as Colin Robinson in "What We Do In The Shadows" (Pari Dukovic/FX)

“What We Do in the Shadows” sinks its teeth into a trend of men playing surrogate dads

Melanie McFarland
Natalie Portman as Mighty Thor and Chris Hemsworth as Thor in "Thor: Love and Thunder" (Jasin Boland / Marvel Studios)

Bad romance: The problem with “Thor” is that the MCU is better at thunder than love

Melanie McFarland
Quinta Brunson in "Abbott Elementary" | Selena Gomez in "Only Murders in the Building" | Jung Ho-yeon in "Squid Game" (Photo illustration by Salon/ABC/Scott Everett White/Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu/Noh Juhan/Netflix)

Emmy nominations: The Good, the Bad, and the “Squid Game” of it all

Melanie McFarland
Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler in "Better Call Saul" (Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)

“Better Call Saul” goes deeper into the grey as it accelerates toward the end

Melanie McFarland

“The Anarchists” is HBO’s chaotic examination of an attempted crypto-bro utopia in Acapulco

Melanie McFarland
Brodie, Bettie, Melanie Rose in "How To Build a Sex Room" (Caleb Alvarado/Netflix)

Just the tips: “How To Build a Sex Room” host wants to spice up your life with sensual design

Melanie McFarland
Anson Mount as Pike of the Paramount+ original series "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" (Marni Grossman/Paramount+)

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” boldly takes us where we’ve been. Right now, that’s what we need

Melanie McFarland
Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell) in "Only Murders In The Building" (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

Through Bunny, “Only Murders in the Building” pays tribute to the watchful neighborhood matron

Melanie McFarland
Makena Ann Hullinger as Nanobah and Deanna Allison as Emma Leaphorn in "Dark Winds" (Michael Moriatis/Stalwart Productions/AMC)

Empowering “Dark Winds” Navajo women: “As Native people, our continuing existence is a radical act”

Melanie McFarland
Endeavour (Courtesy of Mammoth Screen and MASTERPIECE)

“Endeavour” creator on drying out the “heroic drunk” detective myth and plans for the series’ end

Melanie McFarland
Chris Pratt attends Marvel Studios "Thor: Love and Thunder" Los Angeles Premiere at El Capitan Theatre on June 23, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

Is Chris Pratt really The Worst Chris, or are we penalizing his averageness?

Melanie McFarland
Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in "Ms. Marvel" | Reva (Moses Ingram) in "Obi-Wan Kenobi" (Photo illustration by Salon/Marvel Studios/Disney+/Lucasfilm)

Let’s all stop ignoring The Fandom Menace. It’s real, and it’s winning

Melanie McFarland
Oliver (Martin Short), Mabel (Selena Gomez) and Charles (Steve Martin) in "Only Murders In The Building" (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

“Only Murders in the Building” returns with a lovable stab at familiarity

Melanie McFarland
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