Television

June 29, 2020

Ever Further Below the Decks With ‘Below Deck’

PALMA, Majorca — A provocative theory in vogue among physicists and philosophers suggests that we humans are not experiencing, and have not ever experienced, reality. What […]
June 25, 2020

In Vintage TV Ads, a Curious Fountain of Hope (and Cheese)

At the end of yet another long day indoors, when I want to unwind, I’ll put on the commercial breaks from the 1985 American Music Awards […]
May 15, 2020

Is Marriage a Prize?

The Mrs. Files looks at history through a contemporary lens to see what the honorific “Mrs.” means to women and their identity. Growing up, my parents […]
April 24, 2020

How to Create Screen-Life Balance When Life Has Shifted to Screens

If you’re like most people right now, you are spending a lot of time in front of screens. This makes sense: In a time of social […]
April 16, 2020

Look, America: No Hands!

Carrie Mathison’s very first words on “Homeland” are: “I don’t care where he is. Find him. It’s urgent.” They are shouted in a tone of unvarnished […]
April 13, 2020

As Reality TV Reunions Go Virtual, What About the Fights?

Much like some of your work meetings (if you’re lucky enough to have a job, let alone one that allows you to work from home), most […]
April 2, 2020

The Alternate Aesthetic Realities of ‘Tiger King’

Of all the shocks in the new Netflix true-crime series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” — and they are myriad — few are more singular, […]
March 27, 2020

QVC: Quarantine, Value, Convenience

After Governor Tom Wolf ordered all “non-life-sustaining” businesses in several counties in Pennsylvania to shutter last week — as one of more than a dozen governors […]
March 24, 2020

When Fashion TV Becomes an Anthropological Treasure

There is no live fashion to look at now. No shows; no red carpets; not really any street style. The cruise collections that normally take place […]
March 19, 2020

Policeman. Reality Star. Recent Ex-Boyfriend.

For most of the last two years, Sean Larkin has worked six days a week — four days in the gang unit of the Tulsa, Okla., […]