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Melanie McFarland (page 42)

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

Trevor Noah from the Daily (Social Distancing) Show, James Corden from the Late Late Show and Samantha Bee from Full Frontal (Photo illustration by Salon/CBS/Comedy Central/TBS)

How late night adjusted – and became weirder and more creative – after a pandemic year

Melanie McFarland
Tina Turner in concert in Versailles, France, 1990 (Getty Images/HBO)

HBO’s celebratory Tina Turner doc gives her the final word on the woman behind the iconic name

Melanie McFarland
Marriage Or Mortgage (Netflix)

Netflix’s “Marriage or Mortgage” invites us to look back at a time when bad decisions were a luxury

Melanie McFarland
Aretha Franklin, played by Cynthia Erivo, recording at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. (National Geographic/Richard DuCree)

Capturing how Aretha Franklin could “alchemize her pain into sonic gold”

Melanie McFarland
Justice League: Snyder Cut (Photo is courtesy of HBO Max)

Oh the humanity! “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” wasn’t necessary, but it brought what Whedon lacked

Melanie McFarland
Q: Into the Storm (HBO Max)

HBO’s QAnon series “Q: Into the Storm” is a bewildering attempt to decode a super-conspiracy

Melanie McFarland
Cynthia Erivo in "Genius: Aretha" (NatGeo / Hulu)

“Aretha” crowns the Queen of Soul in glory, thanks to star Cynthia Erivo’s own genius

Melanie McFarland
Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (Chuck Zlotnick/Disney+)

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” explodes with action and hints at probing America’s identity

Melanie McFarland
The Bachelor (ABC)

Between “The Bachelor” finale and “The Talk,” reality TV has shown us the toll of ignoring racism

Melanie McFarland
Matthew Modine as William "Rick" Singer in "Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal" (Adam Rose/Netflix)

Matthew Modine (and his wig) star in Netflix’s diverting “College Admissions” true crime recreation

Melanie McFarland
The Real World & The Real World Homecoming: New York (Photo illustration by Salon/MTV/Paramount+)

“The Real World Homecoming: New York” is a beautiful suspension bridge between past and present

Melanie McFarland
Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Sharon Osbourne’s meltdown defense of Piers Morgan was a live lesson in misogynoir

Melanie McFarland
South ParQ Vaccination Special (Comedy Central)

The “South ParQ Vaccination Special” fails to be funny – but maybe that’s the point

Melanie McFarland
In this handout image provided by Harpo Productions and released on March 5, 2021, Oprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on A CBS Primetime Special premiering on CBS on March 7, 2021. (Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese via Getty Images)

Only Oprah had the empathy and interview skills to take on the damaging British media – and win

Melanie McFarland
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany as Vision in "WandaVision" (Disney+)

“WandaVision” concludes by giving Martin Scorsese the MCU film he always wanted

Melanie McFarland
Eddie Murphy in "Coming 2 America" (Amazon Prime Video)

“Coming 2 America” takes the crown, delivering a sequel worthy of & less patriarchal than the first

Melanie McFarland
Hadley Robinson in "Moxie" (Netflix)

Amy Poehler’s banal “Moxie” is a dream of a rebel girl made by and for her well-meaning Gen X mom

Melanie McFarland
Capitol Hill police officers featured in "Soul of a Nation" (ABC News)

Reckonings, pain and joy: ABC’s ambitious “Soul of a Nation” explores all of it for all Americans

Melanie McFarland
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler speak via livestream during the 78th Annual Golden Globe (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Hollywood Foreign Press Association)

The Golden Globes’ cringey attempts at diversity signaling was a joke

Melanie McFarland
Ella Hunt and Hailee Steinfeld in "Dickinson" (Apple TV+)

“Dickinson” presents an Emily ablaze, incinerating false male allies

Melanie McFarland
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)

Hulu’s irksome “United States vs. Billie Holiday” is a stunning, soul-wrenching debut for Andra Day

Melanie McFarland
Diesel La Torraca, Brianne Howey and Antonia Gentry in "Ginny & Georgia" (Netflix)

“Ginny & Georgia” isn’t “Gilmore Girls” redux – it’s darker, riskier and far more fun

Melanie McFarland
Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch in "Superman & Lois" (The CW)

The CW’s new Superman series takes on corporate America, which is as unexciting as that sounds

Melanie McFarland
Allen v. Farrow (HBO)

HBO’s wrenching “Allen v. Farrow” builds a damning case against Woody Allen’s credibility & egomania

Melanie McFarland
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