Two examples of how Netflix remains light years ahead of every other streamer on the product side: 1.) I watched the (really wonderful) REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES last night, and today, they sent an email linking to a Tudum explainer

@shelleyelwood.bsky.social just saw A TASTE FOR MURDER pop up in my YouTube feed and hadn’t even realized it had debuted on BritBox (and they send me press releases!) Have you watched, and if so, how is it?

From 1984, a documentary about the history of SPECIAL EFFECTS—from the very first silent films through the blockbusters of the 70s and early 80s. youtu.be/UrGIjXLMNOA?...

The folks in 1987 had all five clues and still three out of four players didn’t know this. Only Edwin Newman (yes, the NBC News reporter) knew what @95sports.bsky.social did: It was Ollie North’s shredding secretary….and as of last year, his wife: Fawn Hall.

It’s 1980-something. Can you solve the Super Password puzzle with these three clues?

True Detective: Origins

If loving this Middle Aged Dad Jam Band cover of Heartbreaker is basic, welp… guilty as charged. This is great. youtu.be/ziJoXy5G6CU?...

Soooo… I was informed yesterday I’m out of a job at the end of the month. Been at Pluto TV since September, but it was a contract position and conversion to salary always looked unlikely. So, if anyone’s got a line in on a new gig of any kind, would love to discuss. I’m open to anything you got.

If you want to read about the famous marketing campaign that inspired the new @kvanaren.bsky.social + @sepinwall.bsky.social podcast, here's the WaPo being snarky about it in 1997 (fact is, the campaign was brilliant and ahead of its time.) Gift link: wapo.st/3PA9rcj

TV is good, and I’m betting this podcast will be, too.

It’s like they’re trying to be like the British serials but they’re only like 4 or 6 episodes long! It’s a harder needle to thread with longer seasons and it’s usually not done well. I would LOVE if these shows just stuck to case of the week

I miss truly episodic TV. We didn't need Jonathan & Jennifer to be worried about some corruption at Hart Industries, Kelly looking for her bio family & how she ended up in an orphanage, Ironside hunting down the man who put him in a chair, or Barnaby hunting for his son's killer for multiple seasons

This is true, and yet, I wish Elsbeth made episodes this long to more fully pay homage to Columbo (and to give Carrie Preston more time to interact with each week’s big-name killer).

"Just murder someone and solve it." My point in six words.

I loved the Shonda shows (Scandal, HTGAWM) and Stumptown in season 1 when they were pure case of the week shows. Was so disappointed when that gave way to the overarching plot - that’s not what I want from network tv!

Networks insist on this approach because a.) they’re still chasing the streaming model, and b.) they think it bestows a sense of “prestige” storytelling

Yes. I literally never care about protagonists missing dad/dead mom/long lost brother/haunting unclear memory from childhood/ serial killer to be obsessed with The Team

cc: Craig Erwich and everyone at Disney-ABC

This is about High Potential but it could also apply to shows like Matlock, Elsbeth and RJ Decker. Networks seem insistent on adding serialized components to excellent procedurals. Stop doing that! People love cases of the week; they don’t always need another, bigger mystery to keep track of.

Thematically appropriate Mother's Day movie picks from me. sleepykittypaws.tumblr.com/post/6500831...

The energy of this 1978 PYRAMID episode is so different than what we’d get a few years later when the show moved to LA. It’s a great ep, with Sandy Duncan, Nipsey Russell, and best of all, the original ads. youtu.be/3b-yOwfcyRU?...

Starting now!!!

Presented without comment.

Disney holds its upfront presentation Tuesday. I really hope they use it to announce more MUPPET SHOW specials, starting with one for this Christmas. (I've zero intel on this, btw, and haven't poked around on the possibility of more Muppets since the first special aired a few months ago.)

Another brilliant cold open from #SNLUK that I watched on YouTube instead of Peacock because for some reason NBCU thinks delaying the show a day is better than streaming it live. youtu.be/W0lr8o24RJU?...

Hope you…

ICYMI: Trump keeps trashing women reporters. And I'm going to keep writing about it, because it can never, ever be thought of as normal. Have a look: www.azcentral.com/story/entert...

Look who's back. Back again. Chaney's back. Tell a friend. No, but seriously: I am recapping WIDOW's BAY for Vulture and I'd love to have you join me on this LOST-ish journey.

This really should be Internet famous. It’s also so very Gen X: Even though the kids are all pretty decent lip synchers, most of them really are pretty apathetic about the whole thing (which is what makes it so funny.) The exception: The kids who play Ray Charles and Stevie are *very* into it

"He's a good mimic, too, especially of movie star heavies."

Thanks to everyone who watched! More #RJDecker to come.

lololololol [puke]

I talked to reality TV icon Stephen Lambert, who crafted some of the century's earliest hits (FAKING IT, WIFE SWAP) and thanks to THE TRAITORS, is busier than ever now in the US. He sounds off on another topics, including how shorter eps of TRAITORS might work on NBC. www.vulture.com/article/step...

BOOM! NBC has greenlit FOUR new shows for the 2026-’27— two dramas and two comedies. DRAMAS: The Rockford Files (starring Angel from ANGEL), Line of Fire (Peter Krause) COMEDIES: Newlyweds (Tea Leoni, Tim Daly), Nick Miller P.I. (aka Sunset P.I.)

Good news, R.J. DECKER fans: ABC has renewed the show for a second season.

It’s staggering How swiftly states in the South can still move to stymie Black voters And how ready they were to do so

They were often cruel to celebs and practiced the worst kind of “journalism,” but I will give the old tabloids this: They could be wildly fun. I’d totally read this today youtu.be/VPAaTQdzDVI?...

That clip is from a short-lived effort that ran in 2012. It was a budget version of the show with cheap prizes. I’m surprised that they haven’t tried giving the format another go since. Australian takes on these formats tend to be a bit looser. But, I always find the NZ adaptations are wilder.

Convinced this 2012 version of Australian Price is Right was produced and taped by a team of coked-up chimpanzees. “Dizzying” doesn’t begin to describe it (seriously, don’t watch this if you suffer from vertigo or seizures of any kind). youtu.be/XyAzvpTvtXA?...

With 4.63M same-day viewers, pretty sure Tuesday's S4 finale of ABC's WILL TRENT was the show's most-watched finale ever. Patience (and consistent scheduling) pays off!

Always love to see the Times sane-washing Trump administration policies in real time. First hed is clear and direct: "Trump panel wants FEMA to help less." The sane-washed hed hides that as "FEMA Overhaul," which just sounds like "Hey, making government better!"

"Unlike the legacy-media moguls of 2026 who pay themselves hundreds of millions of dollars as they lay off thousands, Ted Turner actually earned the praise he gave himself and is rightly earning it again in the wake of his death." On Robert Edward "Ted" Turner IV: www.vulture.com/article/ted-...

But they’ll say, “Oh, we can’t cover his every post!” And yet when he and his wife rant about Jimmy Kimmel, it gets big play—which gets the attention of his lackey at the FCC, who then takes political action against ABC, prompting more stories…about how Jimmy Kimmel told a joke Trump didn’t like.

Again and again, the Very Important Journalists at CNN, network news, and the NYT took every chance they got to remind us that the Biden and the WH were out of touch when they (rightly) said inflation would come down. “The people are hurting!!,” they screamed. Trump does this stuff? Nary a peep

“While local TV stations also had reruns, TBS was the first to supersize the idea and nationalize it with two- and three-hour blocks... a trip down memory lane for boomers was how kids of the 1980s first got into shows like Gilligan’s Island, Get Smart, and The Andy Griffith Show.”

We’ve known for decades that CNN would be in the first sentence of Ted Turner’s obituary. But he did far more than start a news channel: He shaped the whole cable business, and with it, a big chunk of our culture. My appreciation of an icon, up now at @vulture.com www.vulture.com/article/ted-...

The future Potsie and James Evans cleaning and singing up a storm. youtu.be/SS_59fjrELk?...

This is such a great interview between two titans of the 20th century media. Johnny asks interesting, smart questions. Ted answers them all directly without an ounce of corporate speak. And I love this exchange: JOHNNY: So where do go from here now? TED: Well, I’m going out to dinner.