Articles written by the author
The President Bursts Through the Virtual Courtroom Doors
(Critic’s Notebook)
A Tale of 'Irregular Channels,' Playing on Many Channels
(Critic’s Notebook)
A Terrorist Is Defeated. Trump Is Jeered. We've Been Here Before.
(Critic’s Notebook)
Don't Let Sean Spicer Tap-Dance Out of Infamy on 'Dancing With the Stars'
(Critic’s Notebook)
The 'Preppy Handbook' and Me
Somewhere among my family’s mementos there is a photo, which I will make certain you will never see, of me in the early ’80s, wearing a goofy smile, a prodigious bush of hair and a T-shirt with the block-lettered slogan, “ANTI-PREPPIE.”
CNN's Democratic Debates Give Conflict a Reality-TV Boost
(Critic's Notebook)
Asked to Put on a Show, Mueller Wishes You'd Read the Book
(Critic’s Notebook)The Night Democracy Became the Lotto
(Critic's Notebook)'Orange Is the New Black' Taught Us What Netflix Was For
“Orange Is the New Black,” finishing its seven-season run on July 26, was big. Big in its reach (presumably, though actual viewing figures for Netflix series are still an occult mystery). Big in its influence, as one of the first genuinely original programs in the new medium of streaming. Big in its ambitions to represent faces and situations that had been left off TV screens.Donald Trump: The Man Behind the Gold Curtain
(Critic’s Notebook)'Tuca & Bertie': A Fine Feathered Feminist Friendship
(Critic's Pick)Review: 'Gentleman Jack' Finds a Swaggering Woman in Want of a Wife
(Critic’s Pick)Ramy Youssef Takes a Soulful, Funny Leap of Faith
(Critic's Pick)Review: In 'Fosse/Verdon,' a Portrait of the Artist as Problematic Fave
“Fosse/Verdon” looks fantastic. Typographically, I mean. The title, set in a so-’70s sans serif typeface that echoes the poster for the movie “All That Jazz,” announces this FX miniseries, starting Tuesday, as a work with flair and attention to detail, for enthusiasts and connoisseurs.Review: A 'Twilight Zone' Trying to Find Its Dimension
When Rod Serling opened “The Twilight Zone” for business in 1959, it was a single, specific location. He defined it, in his signature Professor Spooky voice-over, as a place between light and shadow, science and superstition — you know the drill.Review: In 'Shadows,' on FX, Laid-Back Vampires Return for Another Bite
A key difference between movies and TV series is their relation to mortality. When a movie becomes a TV series, the creators must adapt a finite story into one that can unfold indefinitely. A movie, as a rule, must complete a world; a series must keep building one. A movie must end (at least until the sequel); a TV series must proceed as if it might never die.Review: In 'Catastrophe,' True Love Is Not Convenient
(Critic’s Pick)'One Day at a Time' and Why Netflix Is Not Your Friend
(Critic’s Notebook)On CBS, R. Kelly Was Trapped in the Camera Eye
(Critic’s Notebook)Review: Gervais' 'After Life' Is the Tearjerking of a Clown
When Ricky Gervais comes out with a new project, the big question is: Which one of him made it? There’s Bad Ricky, the smirking cynic who revels in shock and insult and “<em xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Sorry</em>, did I <em xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">offend</em> you?” And there’s Saint Ricky, the sentimentalist sad clown, who favors pathos and big emotional windups set to Cat Stevens.
