Television

Arts

Wanda Sykes Loves Stand-Up: That's Where 'I Can Be Free,' She Says

1:19pm December 13, 2019

by Terry Gross

Before Sykes became a comic, she worked at the NSA and had top security clearance. Now she takes on the president in her Emmy-nominated Netflix special Not Normal. Originally broadcast Aug. 1, 2019.

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Clockwise: Watchmen, Russian Doll, Los Espookys, The Crown, When They See Us and Documentary Now! made NPR critics' list of the best television of 2019.

Arts

NPR's Favorite TV Shows Of 2019

10:30am December 13, 2019

Series such as Fleabag, Watchmen and Succession highlight our pop culture critics' list of the 19 best television and serial streaming programs of 2019.

Arts

'Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend' Is A Joke Name For A Podcast — Sort Of

1:38pm December 11, 2019

by Terry Gross

The late-night host says that hosting a podcast allows him to "mind meld" with guests in a way he can't on TV: "We can just go down a deep, deep, deep well." Originally broadcast Oct. 2, 2019.

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Critic Emily Nussbaum Weighs In On Best TV Shows Of The Decade

6:27am December 11, 2019

As part of Morning Edition's "Best of the Decade" series, New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum talks about her favorite TV shows of the 2010s.

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Letter-Turner Vanna White Hosts 'Wheel Of Fortune'

5:09am December 11, 2019

For nearly four decades, Vanna White has revealed the letters on the game show Wheel of Fortune. For three weeks, White will host the show while Pat Sajak is recovering from emergency surgery.

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Arts

Alex Borstein On 'Mrs. Maisel' And Being Her Family's 'Comic Relief' As A Kid

12:44pm December 09, 2019

by Dave Davies

Borstein's won back-to-back Emmys for playing a tough, street-wise talent manager on the Amazon series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She says the character reminds her of her mother and grandmother.

In Dolemite Is My Name, Eddie Murphy leads the star-studded biopic about Rudy Ray Moore, whose iconic alter ego became a blaxploitation legend.

Arts

Golden Globe Nominations: Netflix Cleans Up As Famous Faces Rule

11:46am December 09, 2019

by Linda Holmes

The Golden Globe nominations are always odd, but this year they may be even odder than usual, particularly on the TV side. But it must be said: The Globes love a star, and now they love Netflix.

Kennedy Center Celebrates 2019 Honorees

9:54am December 09, 2019

by Elizabeth Blair

Among the artists receiving Kennedy Center Honors Sunday night in Washington, D.C., were Linda Ronstadt, Earth, Wind & Fire and actress Sally Field.

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Big Bird And Oscar Puppeteer On 'Sesame Street' Dies At 85

6:14am December 09, 2019

by Andrew Limbong

Caroll Spinney, the Sesame Street puppeteer behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch has died. Spinney started with the PBS children's TV program at its launch in 1969, retiring in 2018.

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Puppeteer Caroll Spinney who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, died Sunday at age 85.

Caroll Spinney, Who Played Big Bird And Oscar On 'Sesame Street,' Dies At 85

4:22pm December 08, 2019

by Laurel Wamsley

The actor and puppeteer performed on the popular TV show from its very first episode in 1969 until his retirement last year.