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Melanie McFarland (page 33)

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

John Cena in "Peacemaker" (HBO Max)

HBO Max’s uproarious “Peacemaker” remembers to have fun in a brooding superhero landscape

Melanie McFarland
Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot in "All Creatures Great and Small"on PBS' "Masterpiece" (PBS/Playground Television Ltd.)

A worthy return for PBS’ “All Creatures Great and Small” celebrates the value of the little things

Melanie McFarland
Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene in "Cobra Kai" (Netflix)

Making “Cobra Kai” great again: The series returns with a parable about the peril of bipartisanship

Melanie McFarland
Adrienne Warren as Marnie Till-Mobley and Cedric Joe as Emmett Till in "Women of the Movement" (ABC/James Van Evers)

“Women of the Movement,” though imperfect, gives life to Emmett Till’s story

Melanie McFarland
Sheryl Lee Ralph and Quinta Brunson in "Abbott Elementary" (ABC/Prashant Gupta)

Amazingly, “Abbott Elementary” finds laughter in the challenge of teaching in underfunded schools

Melanie McFarland
Legendary actress Betty White during portrait session on March 29, 2011 at the Museum of Radio and TV in Los Angeles, California. White talked about her career and her new book called "If You Ask Me". (Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

Remembering Betty White, America’s grandmother and the first lady of television, dead at 99

Melanie McFarland
Joe Rogan, Nicki Minaj and Aaron Rodgers (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Calling out the saddest sacks of 2021, a reckoning by Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend’s … friends

Melanie McFarland
Lee You-mi in "Squid Game" | Danielle Pinnock as Alberta in "Ghosts" | Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack in "Reservation Dogs" | Samantha Hanratty as Teen Misty in "Yellowjackets" (Photo illustration by Salon/Noh Juhan/Netflix/CBS/Ryan Redcorn/FX/Colin Bentley/SHOWTIME)

From ghosts to cannibals, here are the 10 breakout TV performances of the year

Hanh Nguyen, Melanie McFarland, Alison Stine, Joy Saha
Yvonne Orji and Issa Rae in "Insecure" (Merie Wallace/HBO)

“Insecure” no more: The HBO comedy departs with satisfying confidence

Melanie McFarland
Rutherford Falls, Wandavision, Only Murders in the Building and Underground Railroad (Photo illustration by Salon/Marvel Studios/Disney+/Colleen Hayes/Peacock/Hulu/Atsushi Nishijima/Prime Video)

These MVPs of television delivered greatness in a year that almost broke us

Hanh Nguyen, Melanie McFarland, Alison Stine
KEANU REEVES as Neo/Thomas Anderson and CARRIE-ANNE MOSS as Trinity in “THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS” (Murray Close/Warner Bros. Pictures)

No one can say if “The Matrix Resurrections” is good or bad. Either way, it makes you think

Melanie McFarland

“The Witcher” is back to give women a more equal share in its power

Melanie McFarland
Ziwe and Amanda Warren on "Dickinson" (Apple TV+)

A salute to “Dickinson” and its devotion to using notoriety to spotlight other unsung histories

Melanie McFarland
Himesh Patel and Matilda Lawler in "Station Eleven" (Parrish Lewis/HBO Max)

HBO Max’s must-watch “Station Eleven” brings comfort and joy after the eerily familiar apocalypse

Melanie McFarland
And Just Like That... (Craig Blankenhorn/HBO)

Our big issue with “And Just Like That…” has nothing to do with the 911 debate

Melanie McFarland
Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook and Brian Cox in "Succession" (Graeme Hunter/HBO)

In the “Succession” season 3 finale, Roy sibling unity is no match for Daddy

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

Unlike the shows that came before it, “Insecure” has always been about hustling one’s way to success

Melanie McFarland
The Expanse (Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios)

On its final run, “The Expanse” serves a last supper for we who continue fighting for our humanity

Melanie McFarland
Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis in "...And Just Like That" (Craig Blankenhorn / HBO Max)

Like Samantha, divorce yourself from the “Sex in the City” sequel, which has aged but hasn’t matured

Melanie McFarland
Brian Cox as Logan Roy in "Succession" (Macall B. Polay/HBO)

“Succession” presents the “Chiantishire” dog show, starring the well-bred Roys

Melanie McFarland
Chris Cuomo attends the 12th Annual "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" at American Museum of Natural History on December 9, 2018 in New York City (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for CNN)

Chris Cuomo’s unethical blunder isn’t solely his to own. It’s CNN’s “Epic News Bro” fail also

Melanie McFarland
Pauline Chalamet in "The Sex Lives of College Girls" (HBO Max)

“The Sex Lives of College Girls”: Here’s to the girl who tries our patience, but in the best way

Melanie McFarland
Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle in "PEN15" (Hulu)

As “PEN15” draws to a close, we’re left in the hell of seventh grade, exactly as it should be

Melanie McFarland
Harry Connick Jr. as Daddy Warbucks, Celina Smith as Annie, Sandy as Sandy the dog, Taraji P. Henson as Miss Hannigan in "Annie Live!" (Paul Gilmore/NBC)

Bet your bottom dollar that NBC’s “Annie Live!” will usher in a new inclusive era for an old classic

Melanie McFarland
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