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Melanie McFarland (page 33)

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

The Dropout | The Thing About Pam | Super Pumped (Photo illustration by Salon/Beth Dubber/Hulu/Skip Bolen/NBC/Elizabeth Morris/SHOWTIME)

“The Thing About Pam,” “Super Pumped” and “The Dropout” make it official: It’s A–hole Season!

Melanie McFarland
Actress Pamela Adlon attends the 5th and final season celebration of FX's "Better Things" at Hollywood Forever on February 23, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (JC Olivera/Getty Images)

Pamela Adlon on ending “Better Things”: “It hasn’t been a piece of cake — but it’s been a total joy”

Melanie McFarland
John C. Reilly, Quincy Isaiah and Jason Clarke in "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" (Warrick Page/HBO)

HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” knows how to put on a show

Melanie McFarland
Ms. Pat in Ms. Pat: Y'all Wanna Hear Something Crazy? (Quantrell Colbert/Netflix)

Ms. Pat on embracing life’s darkness and friend Joe Rogan using the n-word: “We all make mistakes”

Melanie McFarland
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures as he speaks during a press conference in Kyiv on March 3, 2022. - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the West on March 3, 2022, to increase military aid to Ukraine, saying Russia would advance on the rest of Europe otherwise. "If you do not have the power to close the skies, then give me planes!" Zelenskyy said at a press conference. "If we are no more then, God forbid, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia will be next," he said, adding: "Believe me." (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Politics & performance: Why Zelenskyy succeeds where others fail

Melanie McFarland
Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in "The Dropout" (Beth Dubber/Hulu)

Hulu’s “The Dropout” brings its A-game with Amanda Seyfried’s powerful take on Elizabeth Holmes

Melanie McFarland
Better Things (Suzanne Tenner/FX)

The “Better Things” final season reminds us of how incredible it is that we – and it – exist

Melanie McFarland
Killing Eve (Anika Molnar/BBCA)

“Killing Eve” is back, and misses its calling — despite faint echoes of its past seduction

Melanie McFarland
John Cena in "Peacemaker" (Katie Yu/ HBO Max)

Dear Hollywood: In times of international crisis, speechlessness is always preferable to stupidity

Melanie McFarland
Camryn Manheim, Anthony Anderson and Jeffrey Donovan in "Law & Order" (Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Why “Law & Order” has returned, even if you didn’t ask for it

Melanie McFarland
Frederick Douglass (Courtesy of HBO)

HBO’s “Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches” makes the 19th century agitator the star he always was

Melanie McFarland
Graham Sibley in "Abraham Lincoln" (Joe Alblas/History Channel)

“Abraham Lincoln” and “Lincoln’s Dilemma” clarify a few things about uncomfortable history

Melanie McFarland
Bridget Everett in "Somebody Somewhere" (Photograph by Elizabeth Sisson/HBO)

Bridget Everett on finding herself in “Somebody Somewhere”: “This experience is changing my life”

Melanie McFarland
John Cena in "Peacemaker" (HBO Max)

In the end, “Peacemaker” is the villain-turned-hero worth crossing the TV galaxy for

Melanie McFarland
jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy (Netflix)

If “Jeen-Yuhs” is in the eye of the beholder, this film doesn’t adequately explain Kanye West’s

Melanie McFarland
Jabari Banks as Will and Jordan L. Jones as Jazz in "Bel-Air" (Peacock)

“Bel-Air” may not be fresh, but it has enough going for it to merit an initial investment

Melanie McFarland
David Oyelowo and Jessica Plummer in "The Girl Before" (Amanda Searle/ HBO Max)

“The Girl Before” confirms the villainy of minimalism

Melanie McFarland
Julia Garner as Anna Delvey in "Inventing Anna" (Aaron Epstein/Netflix)

“Inventing Anna” takes a good story, imprisons it in unnecessary excess and robs of us our time

Melanie McFarland
"The Book of Boba Fett" (Lucasfilm Ltd/Disney+)

How to negotiate moving forward from “The Book of Boba Fett” … like a Godfather

Melanie McFarland
Documentary subject Pernilla Sjöholm in "The Tinder Swindler" (Netflix)

Is “The Tinder Swindler” one of those true crime tales that might strengthen relationships?

Melanie McFarland
Rudy Giuliani as the Masked Singer (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Fox)

“The Masked Singer” may not normalize Rudy Giuliani, but it’s a crime to even try to make him cuddly

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

How “And Just Like That” makes its new friends compete for a seat at the table

Melanie McFarland
Former CNN president Jeff Zucker attends the 10th Anniversary CNN Heroes at American Museum of Natural History on December 11, 2016 in New York City (Rob Kim/Getty Images)

Canceling CNN’s Jeff Zucker show – an ignominious career of ruining networks & developing characters

Melanie McFarland
Lily James as Pam and Sebastian Stan as Tommy in "Pam & Tommy" (Erin Simkin/Hulu)

“Pam & Tommy” is the greatest, hugest love story ever told about an unauthorized celebrity sex tape

Melanie McFarland
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