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Melanie McFarland (page 37)

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

Squid Game (YOUNGKYU PARK / Netflix)

The allure of Netflix’s brutal “Squid Game” owes a debt to our predatory upbringing

Melanie McFarland
Jon Stewart on the set of “The Problem With Jon Stewart" (Apple TV+)

“The Problem with Jon Stewart” has a few issues, but nothing that a little tough love can’t fix

Melanie McFarland
Muhammad Ali stands over fallen Sonny Liston, shouting and gesturing shortly after dropping Liston with a short hard right to the jaw in Lewiston, Maine. May 25, 1965 (John Rooney/AP Images via PBS)

Ken Burns on his latest, “Muhammad Ali”: “What’s so interesting is what an avatar of love he was”

Melanie McFarland
Toheeb Jimoh as Sam on "Ted Lasso" (Apple TV+)

OK “Ted Lasso” fans, time to have a conversation about our dear, wonderful Sam Obisanya

Melanie McFarland
Antoinette Robertson competes on "Big House" on "Dear White People" (Netflix)

“Dear White People” visits the “Big Brother” Cookout via a pointed parody of reality show racism

Melanie McFarland
Nadine Ellis and Morris Chestnut in "Our Kind of People" | Dude Hill, Saycon Sengbloh, Laura Kariuki and Elisha Williams in "The Wonder Years" (Photo illustration by Salon/Brownie Harris/FOX/ABC/Erika Doss)

“Our Kind of People” and “The Wonder Years”: Two aspirational visions of Black life and prosperity

Melanie McFarland
Kimberly Guerrero, Paulina Alexis, D'Pharoah Woon-A-Tai and Devery Jacobs on "Reservation Dogs" (Shane Brown/FX)

“Reservation Dogs” creator on evolving the show’s representation & storytelling: “It’s not finished”

Melanie McFarland
Michaela Coel accepting for writing "I May Destroy You" at the Emmys 2021 (Cliff Lipson/CBS)

Michaela Coel makes Emmys history — but “Ted Lasso,” “The Crown” and white actors sweep the night

Melanie McFarland
Muhammad Ali (Photo courtesy of Michael Gaffney)

Ken Burns’ new “Muhammad Ali” docuseries is worth going the distance

Melanie McFarland
Hasan Minhaj and Reese Witherspoon in “The Morning Show” (Apple TV+)

“The Morning Show” shifts to cover the pandemic, but still needs a shot in the arm to find its soul

Melanie McFarland
Andy Samberg, Joe Lo Truglio and Joel McKinnon Miller on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (John P. Fleenor/NBC)

A fond farewell to the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” hero cops, who are ending this ride along just on time

Melanie McFarland
Ben Schnetzer as Yorick Brown in "Y: The Last Man" (Rafy Winterfeld/FX)

“Y: The Last Man” presents a fascinating dystopia that probes the artifacts of our gendered world

Melanie McFarland
Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain in "Scenes From a Marriage" (Jojo Whilden/HBO)

HBO’s anguished “Scenes From a Marriage” is so potent, your own relationship better be rock solid

Melanie McFarland
Jeff Daniels in "American Rust" (Dennis Mong/SHOWTIME)

In Showtime’s small town drama “American Rust,” abandon all hope ye who break down here

Melanie McFarland
"Real Time With Bill Maher" and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Chris Polk/FilmMagic/Scott Gries)

How September 11, 2001 became the borderline dividing two eras of late-night comedy

Melanie McFarland
Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp and Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky in "American Crime Story: Impeachment" (Tina Thorpe/FX)

FX’s “Impeachment” doesn’t acquit itself well, despite a humanizing portrayal by Beanie Feldstein

Melanie McFarland
Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace (Lifetime)

Surprise! Lifetime’s new “Harry & Meghan” movie isn’t a total joke, veering from kind to just weird

Melanie McFarland
Billions (Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME)

“Billions” resumes within a pandemic that made the rich richer, making its cruelty more relevant

Melanie McFarland
Matt Berry as Laszlo, Kayvan Novak as Nandor, Natasia Demetriou as Nadja in "What We Do In The Shadows" (Russ Martin/FX)

“What We Do in the Shadows” revels in the fecklessness of vampires who fail upward

Melanie McFarland
Protesters dressed in The Handmaid's Tale costume, protest outside the hearing room where Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

No, we’re not living “The Handmaid’s Tale” – it’s worse, and a show highlighting how was passed over

Melanie McFarland
Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez in "Only Murders in the Building" (Hulu)

“Only Murders in the Building” bridges Boomer and Millennial sensibilities for a comedy that slays

Melanie McFarland
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in "Candyman" (Universal Pictures)

No sweets for the sweet in new “Candyman,” which neglects the legend’s seductively scary legacy

Melanie McFarland
An aerial view of ground zero burning after the September 11 terrorist attacks. (NIST)

Nat Geo’s “9/11: One Day in America” takes us inside the terror attacks with those who survived them

Melanie McFarland
Vacation Friends (20th Century Studios)

“Vacation Friends” is a happy buddy comedy in a world where race doesn’t matter. That’s a problem

Melanie McFarland
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