Television

New HBO series looks at Vietnam War from Vietnamese perspective

6:03pm April 16, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with actor Hoa Xuande about the new HBO show 'The Sympathizer' — a rare piece of Hollywood entertainment that tells the story of the Vietnam War from a Vietnamese perspective.

Diarra Kilpatrick stars as a school teacher-turned-mystery solver in Diarra from Detroit.

Arts

A first date turns into a whodunit in 'Diarra from Detroit'

2:01pm April 15, 2024

by Tonya Mosley

Growing up, when Diarra Kilpatrick watched murder mystery shows with her grandmother, she never saw Black women driving the narrative. She seeks to change that in her new new BET+ series.

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Arts
Books

Why Patricia Highsmith's most famous creature, Tom Ripley, continues to fascinate

11:07am April 15, 2024

by Carole V. Bell

Sinister and visually stunning, the new Netflix series Ripley reminds us why Patricia Highsmith's book The Talented Mr. Ripley continues to influence popular culture.

Colin Farrell patrols Los Angeles in style as private eye John Sugar in new series, Sugar.

Arts

Colin Farrell unravels mystery of the missing woman and himself in neo-noir 'Sugar'

2:20pm April 13, 2024

NPR's Scott Simon talks with the Oscar-nominated actor about his new Apple TV+ series, Sugar. Like his character, Farrell says he used to play film clips in his head.

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The Evans family in Netflix's Good Times: Jay Pharoah as Junior, Marsai Martin as Grey, Yvette Nicole Brown as Beverly, Gerald Anthony "Slink" Johnson as Dalvin and J.B. Smoove as Reggie.

Arts

Netflix's 'Good Times': An explicit revival which feels calculated to offend

7:01am April 13, 2024

by Eric Deggans

The new animated TV show is packed with the kind of stereotypical characters and imagery that seem sure to anger fans of the original, groundbreaking series.

This Feb. 1978 photo shows Robert MacNeil, executive editor of "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report."

Arts

Robert MacNeil, creator and first anchor of PBS 'NewsHour,' dies at 93

4:26pm April 12, 2024

by The Associated Press

MacNeil, who created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast "The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour" in the 1970s and co-anchored the show for with his late partner, Jim Lehrer, for two decades, died on Friday

Host Conan O'Brien speaking onstage during the 5th Annual NFL Honors in San Francisco, Calif.

Arts

Is Conan O'Brien the best 'Hot Ones' guest ever? Discuss.

3:28pm April 12, 2024

by Glen Weldon

Fans of Hot Ones refer to those celebrities who make it through the sauces without complaint as Spice Lords. This week, Conan O'Brien became a Spice Legend.

Arts

Part satire, part tragedy, 'The Sympathizer' will reward your full attention

1:57pm April 11, 2024

by John Powers

A new HBO series based on Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel takes a surreal look at the Vietnam war, the costs of colonialism and the disillusionments of revolution and immigration.

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Arts

Michael Douglas stars as a flirty Ben Franklin in this Apple TV+ series

2:35pm April 10, 2024

by David Bianculli

Franklin is worth watching — not only for what it reveals about how the U.S. won independence from England then – but also about the complexities of war, and international politics now.

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An average of about 18.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the South Carolina Gamecocks triumph over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball National Championship on Sunday.

Women's NCAA championship TV ratings crush the men's competition

10:38am April 10, 2024

by Vanessa Romo

At its peak, 24 million basketball fans tuned in to watch the women's championship between Iowa and South Carolina, making it the most-watched basketball game since 2019.