Television

Arts

A Salute To 30 Years Of 'The Simpsons'

3:06pm May 19, 2017

We listen back to interviews with some of the show's cast members and writer-producers, plus its music composer. Among those featured: creator Matt Groening and Nancy Cartwright, who voices Bart.

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Aziz Ansari and Eric Wareheim play Dev and his friend Arnold on Netflix's Master Of None.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Master Of None' And 'Snatched'

10:34am May 19, 2017

by Linda Holmes

On this week's show, Gene Demby from NPR's Code Switch and NPR TV critic Eric Deggans join us for a conversation about the second season of Master Of None and the very silly film Snatched.

25 Years After 'Twin Peaks,' The Odd Genius Of David Lynch Remains

7:45am May 19, 2017

by Eric Deggans

Director David Lynch likes to weird out audiences. His eccentric style can be unsettling to fans, but they keep coming back for more, as evidenced with the return of the Twin Peaks series.

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In Homecoming King, Minhaj talks about growing up caught between cultures.

Arts

Comic Hasan Minhaj On Roasting Trump And Growing Up A 'Third Culture Kid'

3:16pm May 18, 2017

by Terry Gross

"I'm an Indian-American-Muslim kid," Minhaj says, "but am I more Indian or am I more American? What part of my identity am I?" His new Netflix special is called Homecoming King.

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Actor Daniel Dae Kim attends a cocktail party celebrating dynamic and diverse nominees for the 67th Emmy Awards hosted by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and SAG-AFTRA at Montage Beverly Hills on August 27, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.

Asian Americans In Hollywood Still Waiting For The Spotlight

1:45pm May 18, 2017

by Leah Donnella

In the meantime, some are producing their own shows or creating material for alternative platforms like YouTube.

Arts

TV Networks Unveil Fall Seasons At 2017 Upfronts

4:37pm May 17, 2017

by Eric Deggans

The upfronts are underway in New York. That's where networks show their fall season to advertisers to drum up business. NPR looks at what's coming and what's cancelled.

Conan O'Brien in 2016. He is being sued by a writer who accuses him of stealing jokes. O'Brien says the idea of stealing someone else's comedy makes him physically ill.

National

Can You Copyright Your Dumb Joke? And How Can You Prove It's Yours?

10:34am May 17, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

"Joke theft" sounds funny, but that claim is at the heart of a lawsuit lodged against Conan O'Brien. The case brings thorny questions of humor to the courtroom, a place not always known for jokes.

National

Powers Boothe, Who Appeared In 'Deadwood' And 'Sin City,' Dies At 68

2:05pm May 15, 2017

by Doreen McCallister

The character actor was known for his roles as a villain in TV's Deadwood and in the movies Tombstone, Sin City and The Avengers. Boothe died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Arts

'Fargo' Is A Series About The 'Things People Do For Money'

1:42pm May 15, 2017

Noah Hawley says his FX series, now in its third season, explores the central premise of the Coen Brothers' iconic 1996 film. Hawley is also the creator of the FX series Legion.

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"Spicey" hides in the bushes from reporters during a White House briefing, led by Aidy Bryant's impersonation of Spicer's real-life stand-in last week, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

National

'SNL' Host Melissa McCarthy Brings 'Spicey' Back To Troll An Already Bizarre Week

10:14pm May 14, 2017

by Emma Bowman

In the end, perhaps, the bar was set too high for the Saturday Night Live episode that was to follow an already baffling series of news events.