TV Reviews

All four critics agreed that Michaela Coel's series I May Destroy You was "one of the most exciting of 2020."

Arts

NPR Critics Pick Their Favorite TV From A Strange 2020

7:12pm December 14, 2020

If you could watch it at home in 2020, it's here — four NPR critics give their picks for the best in streaming or broadcast TV in a year when current events turned the industry upside down.

Arts

The Best Of Television In 2020

5:01am December 11, 2020

by Eric Deggans

NPR TV critic Eric Deggans gives us his picks for best the TV programs of 2020 and a few more specific things viewers might want to seek out.

Micheal Ward and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn are strangers who connect on the dance floor in Lovers Rock.

Books
Arts

'Fresh Air' Critic Revisits The TV, Books And Movies That Helped Ease Lockdown

1:39pm December 09, 2020

by John Powers

From Lovers Rock to The Good Lord Bird, the titles on John Powers' year-end list didn't simply distract; they also delved into enduring questions of freedom, dignity and survival.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

'Your Honor' Captures A Horrifying Spiral Of Accidents — And Consequences

1:38pm December 04, 2020

by David Bianculli

Bryan Cranston is a judge whose life is torn apart when his teen son is involved in a car accident with a mobster's son. The legal twists and dramatic turns are nonstop in this Showtime miniseries.

Queue Listen Now

Kaley Cuoco plays the flight attendant in The Flight Attendant, a darkly funny thriller from HBO MAX.

Arts

'The Flight Attendant' Is A Fizzy, Dark And Funny Mystery

5:01am November 28, 2020

by Linda Holmes

Kaley Cuoco plays a messy flight attendant in the HBO MAX series that begins when one very bad night leads to one very rough morning.

The big family in The Happiest Season includes Burl Moseley, Alison Brie, Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Holland, Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen. (Whew!)

Arts

'Happiest Season' Is A Holiday Family Romcom With A Very Merry Cast

7:00am November 27, 2020

by Linda Holmes

Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis play Abby and Harper, a couple headed home to Abby's parents' house for Christmas. Dan Levy, Victor Garber and Aubrey Plaza are among the terrific supporting cast.

Books

HBO Adapts Ta-Nehisi Coates' Best-Selling Book Into A Movie

10:29am November 23, 2020

by Eric Deggans

Our critic says the movie — like Coates' book Between the World and Me — reveals the story of Black survival within the ugliness of America's white supremacy.

Queue Listen Now

Yakko, Wakko and Dot return for a very politically-minded reboot of Animaniacs.

The 'Animaniacs' Reboot Faces a Conundrum

7:32am November 21, 2020

by Aisha Harris

The beloved cartoon is resurrected at a time when real life might be zanier than anything Yakko, Wakko and Dot could conjure up.

'Small Axe' Series Offers A Look At Lives Of West Indian Immigrants In London

5:02pm November 20, 2020

by Eric Deggans

Directed by Steve McQueen, Small Axe is a new five-film anthology series on Amazon Prime about real-life experiences from London's West Indian community in the 1960s and '70s.

Queue Listen Now

"Now THAT's fan-servicing!': L to R: LEGO Finn, LEGO Rey, LEGO Poe, LEGO Rose and LEGO Chewie plan a Life Day party in The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special.

Arts

A Tale Of 2 Star Wars Holiday Specials: 2020 (LEGO) Vs. 1978 (Oh, No)

10:32am November 17, 2020

by Glen Weldon

The new LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special gently satirizes the franchise, but the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special nearly killed it.