Ian McShane Says Good-bye to Deadwood “This show didn’t do the shit that so many other shows do, the shit that makes actors hate the work.”
Hulu’s Catch-22 Finds Some Humanity in a Classic Satire This George Clooney–produced adaptation works better as a TV show than you might think.
Chernobyl ’s Unsparing Account of Nuclear Disaster Is a Lot to TakeHBO’s five-part mini-series is a philosophical gut-punch, a reminder that there’s no disaster that can’t be made worse through human pettiness.
The Act Ended As It Began, Cloaked in Nearly Impenetrable SadnessHulu’s true-crime mini-series brings the tragic tale of Gypsy and Dee Dee Blanchard to a powerful but somewhat confounding conclusion.
Tuca & Bertie Feels Like a Classic Sitcom Set Inside a Surreal DreamscapeLisa Hanawalt’s new Netflix series may look like BoJack Horseman , but it’s a much lighter, wackier, and more aggressively disorienting experience.
game of thrones
Apr. 29, 2019
Why Was ‘The Long Night’ So Hard to Actually See? Here’s a Theory. The biggest Game of Thrones battle ever felt like one of the most expensive missed opportunities in TV history.
The Red Line Tackles Institutional Racism With a Human TouchThe CBS mini-series about the aftermath of a Chicago police shooting finds a narrative sweet spot at the intersection of The Wire and This Is Us.
Our Planet Is a Beautiful but Punishing Glimpse of Earth’s Worst-Case ScenarioNetflix’s new David Attenborough–narrated nature documentary series feels like the biggest, nicest snuff film ever made.
Sundown on Deadwood David Milch, battling Alzheimer’s, finally finishes his TV Western.
On My Block ’s Second Season Contains MultitudesThe likable Netflix show swings ambitiously and assuredly between seemingly incompatible modes, and sticks the landing more often than not.
Fosse/Verdon Is Made for Hardcore Fans of Showbiz HistoryIt’s hard to imagine more delectable bait for fans of Broadway and Hollywood tales.
The True Love Story of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend This isn’t the happily-ever-after ending Rebecca Bunch moved to West Covina for. It’s better.
Warrior Blends Martial Arts and Hard-boiled Crime in an Arresting American TaleBetween its macho fights, this Cinemax series is about the idea of Americanness and who’s allowed to claim it.
Is Game of Thrones the Last Show We’ll Watch Together? It marks the end of the era of television as an epic, communal journey.
Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone Reboot Is Timeless, Modern, and Political It looks at paranoia, class disparity, xenophobia, and racism from the perspective of an outsider who had to fight for his piece of American pie.
backstories
Mar. 28, 2019
The Ingeniously Nerdy Filmmaking Secrets of Documentary Now! The IFC show’s directors break down, in extreme detail, how they pulled off the visual parodies of season three.
If You Liked What We Do in the Shadows As a Movie, You’ll Love It As a TV Show The FX spinoff of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s vampire comedy is silly, mildly perverse, and appealingly low stakes.
Michael C. Hall on Documentary Now! , Bowling, and Why Alf Is ‘Rude’ In the season finale of IFC’s parody series Doc Now! , the Dexter actor plays “the best bowler in the world.”
Zombie Epic Kingdom Is Remarkable and Resonant This South Korean series, currently streaming on Netflix, is a disturbing parable about a society with a death wish.
Catastrophe ’s Final Season Is Meditative, But Still HilariousAfter 24 episodes and 12 hours, we know Rob and Sharon about as well as we know anyone.
Good Lord, What Happened to American Gods ? With so much behind-the-scenes drama, it’s a minor miracle that season two is watchable at all. But watchable is a far cry from thrilling.
Now Apocalypse Is a Mixed Bag, But at Least It’s an Original Mixed BagGregg Araki’s idiosyncratic look at Hollywood’s margins is far from perfect. But it’s so audacious that even when it isn’t working, it’s working.
Leaving Neverland Is a Chilling Indictment of Michael Jackson’s LegacyThe HBO doc illuminates not just Jackson’s alleged underage sex abuse, but the forces that kept people from talking about it.
The 2019 Oscars Didn’t Need a Host After a stripped-down ceremony that felt more elegantly paced than usual, should the Oscars ditch hosts for good?
Documentary Now! Is So Much More Than ParodyIn its third season, the IFC comedy goes beyond filmmaking karaoke to tell strange, poignant, mesmerizing stories.
Pamela Adlon’s Better Things Returns Stronger Than Ever Even when the characters are making a mess of things, it’s a pleasure to watch because so much care and thought have gone into each frame and line.
The Umbrella Academy Has No Personality of Its OwnYou won’t find anything in this Netflix comic-book adaptation that feels truly original, organic, or personal.
Russian Doll Has No Easy AnswersNatasha Lyonne’s mind-bending Netflix show is an exquisite blend of sci-fi, psychodrama, and parable.
Ray Romano’s Netflix Special Is Stand-up Without Fuss Don’t expect much from Romano’s first special in 23 years.
The Ted Bundy Tapes Examines an Infamous Killer, But Finds Only a VoidThe Netflix doc is brilliantly structured and edited, but it ultimately elides the stories of Bundy’s victims.
no day but yesterday
Jan. 28, 2019
Rent: Live Should Have Made TV History. Instead, It Wasn’t Even Live.Release the actual live performance of Rent , Fox. It’s not too late to make this right.
Star Trek: Discovery Season Two Is More Typical and Less InterestingTurning Discovery into the Trek version of Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t the solution.
What Is True Detective , Really? The third season of HBO’s crime anthology has another bona fide star in Mahershala Ali, but it doesn’t answer this fundamental question.
vulture lists
Jan. 10, 2019
The 10 Greatest Episodes of The Sopranos Twenty years ago, David Chase’s HBO gangster thriller changed television forever.
book excerpt
Jan. 9, 2019
Does Tony Live or Die at the End of The Sopranos? Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall debate TV’s most famous ending.
a final word
Dec. 31, 2018
The Real Louis C.K. Is Finally Standing Up And like Kevin Spacey, he is wholly unworthy of our attention.
backstories
Dec. 26, 2018
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Isn’t Just a ‘Feel-good Show’Creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino dig into the filmmaking, choreography, and themes of season two.
Watership Down Is a Children’s Fable That Doesn’t Shy Away From DeathThe Netflix–BBC adaptation of Richard Adams’s best seller will enthrall and terrify a new generation.
Remembering Penny Marshall, a Hollywood Legend With a Radical Legacy As both a performer and a filmmaker, Marshall stood apart from what women like her were expected to do.
Springsteen on Broadway , Without the Hassle of BroadwayIf you couldn’t get a ticket to Bruce Springsteen’s Tony-winning show, this Netflix special is the next best thing.
best of 2018
Dec. 5, 2018
The 10 Best TV Episodes of 2018 From Atlanta and Better Call Saul to Homecoming and Pose.
best of 2018
Dec. 3, 2018
Matt Zoller Seitz’s 10 Best TV Shows of 2018 Headlined by a defiant tragicomedy about rap, robbery, and Teddy Perkins.
Nightflyers Is a Space PlodysseyThe adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s sci-fi horror novella only delivers in fits and starts.
appreciations
Nov. 27, 2018
SpongeBob SquarePants and the Indestructible Faith of ImaginationAlways hold on to your magic pencil, kids, and remember that mayonnaise is not an instrument.
Dirty John Is a Real-Life Horror StoryThe Bravo drama falls squarely into the “men are trash who might kill you” subgenre of true-crime potboiler.
The Little Drummer Girl Is Dazzling, But BloodlessPark Chan-wook’s adaptation of the John le Carré spy novel is a lavishly produced, intelligent, tasteful mixed bag.
My Brilliant Friend Is an Intimate Adaptation of a Beloved NovelBased on Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan books, HBO’s My Brilliant Friend is a late-breaking candidate for show of the year.
Escape at Dannemora Is an Extraordinary Prison Break Turned HumdrumEven with stellar performances by Patricia Arquette and Benicio del Toro, this Showtime drama is longer than it needs to be.
the vulture transcript
Nov. 14, 2018
How Sam Esmail Directed the Hell Out of Homecoming An in-depth conversation, and video commentary track, on the show’s visual style, music, set design, and aesthetic blueprint.
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