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Melanie McFarland (page 6)

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

Quinta Brunson in "Abbott Elementary" (ABC/Disney/Gilles Mingasson)

“Abbott Elementary” has another lesson for us, and it’s a big swing

Melanie McFarland
Vice President and Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris walks out with former US representative Liz Cheney during a rally at Ripon College on October 3, 2024 in Ripon, Wisconsin. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

America’s need-to-know basis makes “Call Her Daddy” as valuable to Kamala Harris as “60 Minutes”

Melanie McFarland
Niecy Nash and Micaela Diamond in "Grotesquerie" (Prashant Gupta/FX)

“Grotesquerie” slices into our numbing habit of mixing God, American carnage and celebrity skin

Melanie McFarland
US Senator and Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance (L) and Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz participate in the Vice Presidential debate hosted by CBS News at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City on October 1, 2024. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

CBS News delivered a veep debate riddled with falsehoods and lacking in fact-checking

Melanie McFarland
John Amos attends the Althea screening and panel discussion at One Time Warner Center on October 5, 2015 in New York City. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Time Warner Inc.)

Remembering “Good Times” and “Roots” actor John Amos, dead at 84

Melanie McFarland
English actress Maggie Smith holding a copy of the Evening Standard newspaper outside Mcann-Erickson House in Fetter Lane, London, 22nd August 1957. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The prime of Dame Maggie Smith left us a portrait of what it means to be a lady, upper and lowercase

Melanie McFarland
Derrick Wilburn at Freedom Ride Rally in Cortez, Colorado. (Photo courtesy of PBS)

“One Person, One Vote”: Finally, a film that explains the Electoral College in an engaging way

Melanie McFarland
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon" (Stéphanie Branchu/AMC)

Reuniting Daryl Dixon with his soul mate in “The Book of Carol”: Lofty aspirations, grounded results

Melanie McFarland
Melissa (Natasha Rothwell) and Terrance (KeiLyn Durrel Jones) in "How To Die Alone" (John Medland/Hulu)

“How to Die Alone” lets Natasha Rothwell write her own ticket for the role she deserves to play

Melanie McFarland
John Lithgow as Harold Harper in "The Old Man" (Chuck Hodes/FX)

In “The Old Man,” John Lithgow says he found one of the great challenges of a long, storied career

Melanie McFarland
The Choice (WGBH)

The challenge of “The Choice”? Figuring out Kamala Harris, fast

Melanie McFarland
(L-R) Justin Marks, Shannon Goss, and Hiroyuki Sanada accept the Outstanding Drama Series award for “Shōgun” onstage during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on September 15, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

The 76th Emmys made satisfying history while reminding us that TV favors humanity over partisanship

Melanie McFarland
Amber Ruffin speaks at Variety & Rolling Stone's 2024 Truth Seekers Summit on August 15, 2024 in New York City. (Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

“They might be going wild”: “Have I Got News For You” brings “Late Night” star Amber Ruffin to CNN

Melanie McFarland
Melissa (Natasha Rothwell) on "How To Die Alone" (Ian Watson/Hulu)

“How to Die Alone” demonstrates why Natasha Rothwell was born to be the main event

Melanie McFarland
American actor James Earl Jones looking at his reflection in a mirror in a dressing room before going on stage to appear in the play 'The Great White Hope' as 'Jack Jefferson', Broadway, US, 10th December 1968. (Harry Benson/Daily Express/Getty Images)

From “Star Wars” to “Fences,” we’ve lost a universal voice and noble presence in James Earl Jones

Melanie McFarland
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, reflected on a wall, and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during the first presidential debate at National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“She whupped him”: Kamala Harris won the debate by turning a potential disaster into a laugh-in

Melanie McFarland
#UNTRUTH: The Psychology of Trumpism (Photo courtesy of Dark Star Pictures)

“Every single family has been touched by this”: “#Untruth” director Dan Partland diagnoses Trumpism

Melanie McFarland
English Teacher (FX)

“It always has heart”: Why “English Teacher” reminds Enrico Colantoni of “Ted Lasso”

Melanie McFarland
Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli & Vincent Pastore in a publicity still for TV series 'The Sopranos', circa 1999. (Anthony Neste/Getty Images)

Make yourself uncomfortable: Documentary analyzes “Sopranos” by putting its creator through therapy

Melanie McFarland
Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln (Special Occasion Studios)

“Lincoln and Bowie share a lot of the same behaviors”: Filmmaker on the 16th president’s bisexuality

Melanie McFarland
English Teacher (FX)

“English Teacher” instructs by not mocking Gen Z, but our collective struggle to communicate

Melanie McFarland
Bellamy Young, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Uma Thurman (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Prime Video)

From “Scandal” to “Veep,” how likely are TV’s female presidents to aid Harris’ presidential bid?

Melanie McFarland
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime Video)

“The Rings of Power” handsomely returns with an arc about the peril of shiny empty promises

Melanie McFarland
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

“Only Murders in the Building” overkills on the stunt-casting, yet remains one of TV’s best comforts

Melanie McFarland
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