Television

Justin Theroux (shown with Darby Camp) deals with the grief and mystery of being left behind in season 2 of the HBO series, The Leftovers.

From 'Lost' To 'Leftovers', Show Creators Embrace Ambiguity And The Unknown

2:20pm December 02, 2015

Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of HBO's The Leftovers, says he is drawn to "real-world stories where the supernatural can and often does occur." He and author Tom Perrotta discuss the series.

Arts

'Hollywood Reporter' To End Annual Index Of Powerful Women In Entertainment

2:21pm December 01, 2015

Janice Min, president of The Hollywood Reporter, tells Steve Inskeep why the magazine will stop publishing its "Women in Entertainment Power 100" list as a ranking.

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Arts

Actress Niecy Nash Is 'Getting On' Just Fine

2:13pm December 01, 2015

Perhaps best known for her work on Reno 911, Nash talks to Fresh Air contributor Anna Sale about playing a nurse on HBO's Getting On, a series about an extended care facility for elderly women.

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'Marvel's Jessica Jones' Is About An Ex-Superhero Turned Private Investigator

2:10pm December 01, 2015

by Eric Deggans

The plot of the new Netflix show is something rare in superhero TV or film stories: It's a tale of women banding together to stop the man who abused them. Jessica Jones is played by Krysten Ritter.

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Actor P. Jay Sidney on the set of the television series 'The Phil Silvers Show (You'll Never Get Rich),' on June 11, 1955.

National

The Forgotten Actor Who Battled Hollywood's Whiteness In The 1950s

11:47am December 01, 2015

by Kat Chow

Remember P. Jay Sidney? Probably not, but Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker unearthed the story of this actor and advocate's push to diversify the TV world 50 years ago.

Arts

ABC Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'

6:56pm November 30, 2015

by Eric Deggans

ABC will air "It's Your 50th Christmas Charlie Brown" Monday night. On the classic Christmas cartoon's golden anniversary, NPR explores what makes this ageless special endure.

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Kristen Bell hosts a retrospective called It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown, Monday night on ABC.

Arts

'A Charlie Brown Christmas' At 50

4:52pm November 30, 2015

by Linda Holmes

The Christmas special celebrates 50 years with a retrospective on ABC, and it seems more than ever like something we wouldn't get today.

Project Runway host Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn at the Project Runway Spring 2013 fashion show in New York City. Today, Gunn is comfortable before an audience — but it wasn't always that way.

Arts

From Trembling Teacher To Seasoned Mentor: How Tim Gunn Made It Work

6:16pm November 28, 2015

by NPR Staff

Gunn, the mentor to young designers on Project Runway, has been a teacher and educator for decades. But he spent his childhood "absolutely hating, hating, hating, hating school," he says.

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Books

From A Weirdo Nerd To A Guy Who Plays One On TV

4:32pm November 27, 2015

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with the actor Rainn Wilson about his new memoir, The Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy.

Arts

'Better Call Saul' And 'The Great American Dream Machine' Shine As DVD Box Sets

1:16pm November 27, 2015

by David Bianculli

TV critic David Bianculli shares his enthusiasm for two newly released DVD box sets: season one of Better Call Saul and a four-DVD set of the 1970s PBS variety show, The Great American Dream Machine.

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