First impressions are everything — except when they’re not. While most sitcoms that struggle in their first season get the ax, there have been occasions when a network is so invested in the success of […]
Our world exists thanks to a network of roads and ships that move goods in every direction. That means you can get your socks from any of countless suppliers, which is good news if 75 […]
There was an era between the mid-2000s and the mid-2010s when Hollywood was obsessed with dark reimaginings of existing IP. It started with Christopher Nolan’s Batman, spread to just about every other superhero, sank its claws into […]
As of this week, it’s been 30 years since the Simpson family visited the Violent-ist Place on Earth: Itchy & Scratchyland. The Season Six episode is fondly remembered for a not-so-subtle dig at the sordid life […]
Even at their most pixelated, video games have always been narrative-driven. We’ve come a long way from the days when the premise of a video game was usually something along the lines of “two paddles hitting a […]
Saturday Night Live has long been known for its stars’ impressions of everyone from current politicians like Kamala Harris to historical figures like Vincent Price. Saturday Night, the movie set in the moments before its series premiere, isn’t […]
We’ve found a corpse, and it’s your job to determine the time of death. How do you do it? They weren’t wearing an analog watch that conveniently shattered at the relevant moment, and they also […]
While Kate McKinnon has said she’d like to return to Saturday Night Live sometime during its 50th anniversary season (“It’s not too far of a train ride” from her New York home), she doesn’t get back to 30 […]
Pete Rose may have been Major League Baseball’s career hits leader but he’ll never make the game’s Hall of Fame. Rose, who died yesterday at 83, blew that chance by gambling on the game he […]
Last weekend’s season premiere of Saturday Night Live had more misses than hits, but at least it scored with a pre-taped spoof about everyone’s favorite pop-up seasonal retailer, Spirit Halloween. “Since 1983, Spirit Halloween has been helping […]
In its 36th season premiere, The Simpsons employed a brilliant meta gimmick, giving audiences a taste of what an A.I.-generated series finale of the show would look like. On one level, it worked as a surface-level […]
Maybe you’ve noticed when you’ve parked a baby in front of the nearest screen to get even the smallest of breaks, but children’s movies and TV shows don’t tend to be masterpieces. They don’t have to […]
Saturday Night, the highly-anticipated new film from director Jason Reitman, chronicles the frenzied production of the very first episode of Saturday Night Live. Studio 8H was complete and utter chaos on the night of October 11, […]
Television is one of the few forms of narrative media that can extend a story for years without an end in sight. (What else do we have? Podcasts?) That’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, you […]
First season, third season, sixth season — it doesn’t matter. Showing up as a cast member to a new year of Saturday Night Live “just slaps you in the face,” Chloe Fineman confessed yesterday on Late Night […]
Japan has a reputation for weirdness. Maybe it’s because, tired of their reputation for honor and perfectionism, they launched a campaign called Cool Japan to let the outer world know about their crazy pop culture. […]
Ideally, art is supposed to make you feel — and not just the feeling that makes you scream, “Hell, yeah!” There’s a time and a place for lighthearted romcoms and light-brained action-adventures, but sometimes, they’re only good for popcorn […]
There was a time when parents dreaded their small children asking questions, for fear that they’d eventually ask, “Where do babies come from?” This ended with the rise of television, after which all kids knew […]
As Punkie Johnson, Molly Kearney and Chloe Troast know all too well, most departures from Saturday Night Live happen with little fanfare or recognition — a few paragraphs in The Hollywood Reporter during the show’s off-season and you’re gone […]
Ghost are invisible dead people all around us. “Ghosting” is also our word for when someone stops replying to you. Now, suppose we told you that ghosting isn’t named after ghosts, but instead that ghosts […]