Television

A review of this week’s Winning Time, “Pieces of a Man,” coming up just as soon as my weasel watches this… Though Magic Johnson was the flashy new addition to this Lakers roster, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the face of the team. He was perhaps the greatest college basketball player ever, was the first overall pick in the draft a decade before Magic, had already won an NBA title in Milwaukee, and had been in Los Angeles since 1975. He sparred with Bruce Lee both in real life and on the...

Following a three-week hiatus, Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update spent the majority of its segment focused on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, the biggest story of the week and, as Colin Jost said, “one of the craziest things we’ll see in our lives.” Weekend Update pretended to be all newsy by opening up with a story about Vladimir Putin, but it only served as a segue for three minutes of Smith jokes. “Intelligence officials are saying that Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisors about how...

Estelle Harris, who became one of TV’s most beloved characters as George Costanza’s perpetually nagging mother on Seinfeld, died Saturday at the age of 93. Her son, Glen Harris, confirmed the actress’ death to The Hollywood Reporter. “It is with the greatest remorse and sadness to announce that Estelle Harris has passed on this evening at 6:25pm,” Glen said in a statement. “Her kindness, passion, sensitivity, humor, empathy and love were practically unrivaled, and she will be terribly missed by all those who knew her.” Although she only appeared in...

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live pulled an April Fools’ prank on their viewers and in-studio audience as the two Jimmys hosted each other’s late-night show Friday. The surprise gag was two years in the making, Fallon revealed, as the hosts initially had the idea back in April 2020 but it was scuttled due to Covid-19 pandemic. “It’s really strange being here. I feel like somebody opened a late-night multiverse,” Fallon quipped during his Jimmy Kimmel monologue. “It’s Freaky Friday tonight,” Kimmel added from Rockefeller Center...

Marilyn Monroe’s untimely death in 1962, at the age of 36, shocked the world. A new documentary from Netflix, The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, hopes to find the answer to the questions surrounding her overdose. The new film, directed by Emma Cooper and executive produced by Chris Smith, delves into the interviews done during an investigation into her death, 20 years after she died. Monroe’s case was reopened after local station KTLA aired the documentary, The Marilyn Files. “In 1982, Los Angeles reopened the case of Marilyn Monroe’s...

Caitlyn Jenner has parlayed her TV career and flopped California gubernatorial run into a new job as a contributor at Fox News. In her first appearance on Hannity, the former Olympian discussed her intentions in joining the network and what point of view she hopes to bring to Fox viewers. “America has to have a stand up mentality,” she said. “Yes, I have done a lot in my life going all the way back to the Olympics. We had a lot of talks actually, even with you, Sean, and other...

A review of this week’s Atlanta, “The Old Man and the Tree,” coming up just as soon as I make sure Doja Cat isn’t doing the same thing… Late in “The Old Man and the Tree,” Darius gets into a philosophical discussion with one of the few other nonwhite guests at the fancy house party our heroes are attending during a tour stop in London. Darius is confused as to why so many of the party’s performatively woke white guests are so quick to accuse others — in this case,...

The story of Kathleen Peterson’s death is returning to the small screen thanks to HBO Max‘s The Staircase, out May 5. On Tuesday, the streaming service released the true-crime drama series’ first teaser, giving the first glimpse of Colin Firth and Toni Collette in the show. The Antonio Campos-directed miniseries follows Michael Peterson (Firth), a crime novelist who’s convicted of murdering his wife Kathleen (Collette) by allegedly throwing her down the staircase of their home. The film follows Michael as he defends himself in court, all while filming a mystery docuseries,...

House of the Dragon, HBO’s much-anticipated prequel series to their hit Game of Thrones, has set the premiere date for its first season: Sunday, August 21. The new show is based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 book Fire and Blood, a companion to the A Song of Ice and Fire series that inspired Game of Thrones. House of the Dragon — which shared its first teaser trailer in October — is set 200 years before the events of Thrones, focusing on the story of the rise and fall of House Targaryen, the ruling house into which...

Midway through Apple TV+’s new British spy series Slow Horses, veteran intelligence agent Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) studies a dead body at the bottom of the steps to his dingy office. Lamb’s mortified underling Min Harper (Dustin Demri-Burns) insists that he didn’t mean to kill this man. “Of course you didn’t,” Lamb sneers. “If you meant to kill him, he’d still be alive.” Lamb’s contempt for Min extends to all of the agents under his command, and with good reason. The Slow Horses, Lamb included, are all disgraced members of...

The Ozark finale is getting closer and tension is at an all-time high. On Tuesday, Netflix released the trailer for Part Two of Season Four, set to release on April 29. The trailer sees Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) having a heated discussion. “I’m just sick of having blood on my hands, Wendy. It doesn’t bother you?” says Bateman. “You’re so desperate to be the good guy,” says Wendy. Later, she adds: “Why do you choose everyone else over your family? Don’t back out on me when we’re almost...

Midway through the second episode of Disney+’s new Marvel series Moon Knight, mercenary Marc Spector has a heart-to-heart conversation with museum gift shop clerk Steven Grant. This is complicated by the fact that Marc and Steven are two different personalities — both played by Oscar Isaac — of the same man, created by the mental illness known as disassociative identity disorder. Marc lays out the whole Moon Knight premise to Steven, explaining that he serves as the avatar of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu, protecting the vulnerable and delivering justice...

Will Smith has apologized to Chris Rock after slapping him during the Oscars on Sunday. The comedian had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, before Smith jumped on stage and slapped Rock. “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive,” Smith wrote in a statement he posted on social media Monday night. “My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jade’s medical condition was too much for me to bear...

John Oliver knew that the fifth episode of this season of “Last Week Tonight” would air at the same time as the Oscars broadcast, but he might have thought he had a shot at drawing some eyeballs thanks to streaming and… well, the Oscars broadcast. Then Will Smith sauntered up on stage and hit — half-slapped? gently punched? over-tickled? — Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. Oliver was never going to top that. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying, because the main...