TV Reviews

In the miniseries Irma Vep, Alicia Vikander plays an actress who travels to Paris to star in a period recreation of The Vampires.

Arts

HBO's sly new 'Irma Vep' proves there's still no business like show business

12:54pm June 06, 2022

by David Bianculli

HBO's miniseries centers on a group of creatives working on a remake of the 1916 serial The Vampires. Part comedy, part satire of the film industry, Irma Vep is a winning combination.

Adam (Ben Whishaw) in the labor ward of the hospital.

Arts

'This Is Going to Hurt': An honest look at how doctors suffer in a punishing system

5:00am June 03, 2022

by Linda Holmes

A new TV series, based on Adam Kay's 2017 memoir of the same name, depicts the unrelenting stress of a young doctor in the U.K.

'This is Going to Hurt' is a deeply unsettling portrait of modern medicine

1:49pm June 02, 2022

by John Powers

The seven-part British TV series, which centers on a young doctor working in the OB/GYN ward of a London hospital, tells a painful story about the assembly-line nature of modern medicine.

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Arts

Norm Macdonald's 'Nothing Special' gives us one last dose of the late comic

1:40pm June 01, 2022

by David Bianculli

Most of Netflix's special features Macdonald running through his set in one unbroken take. The rest is a small group of comics, including David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, talking about their friend.

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Arts

'Great Performances' goes inside Stephen Sonheim's groundbreaking 'Company'

3:44pm May 27, 2022

by David Bianculli

PBS's documentary details how Sondheim's landmark 1970 musical was adapted to the current Broadway version — pivoting on a gender switch that rewrites the central role as a woman instead of a man.

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Arts

Disney+'s 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' struggles to live up to the storied legacy of 'Star Wars'

3:19pm May 27, 2022

by Eric Deggans

How do you keep up the suspense in a story, when the audience already pretty much knows how it ends?

Finn Wolfhard as Mike, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin.

Arts

Once quaint, 'Stranger Things' is now extravagant in every way

11:45am May 26, 2022

by Linda Holmes

The kids of Stranger Things are no longer kids, and the plot no longer revolves around them.

After 19 seasons, 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' is about to end

5:11am May 26, 2022

by Eric Deggans

After more than 3,000 episodes, the finale one airs Thursday. The longtime talk show host is a pioneering voice who leaves behind a complicated legacy.

National

New documentary shows how comedy legend George Carlin went from genial to cynical

5:17pm May 20, 2022

by Eric Deggans

George Carlin's American Dream, which debuts Friday on HBO, shows how the comedian's persona sharpened over the years, from genial jokester to hardened cynic.

Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Laura Carmichael in Downton Abbey: A New Era.

Arts

'Downton Abbey: A New Era' does not, in fact, represent a new era

2:01pm May 20, 2022

by Linda Holmes

The new Downton film relies on forced plotlines that remind viewers why most stories come to an end eventually.