HBO
On Television
“House of the Dragon” Still Hasn’t Caught Fire
The HBO show’s latest season finale reaffirms Rhaenyra’s right to rule—but her mode of noble restraint, however admirable in a leader, is lethal in a protagonist.
The New Yorker Interview
Why Jerrod Carmichael Turned His Life Into a Reality Show
The comedian discusses “artists’ lib,” putting a billboard in his home town to get his mother’s attention, and his new effort to “Truman Show” himself.
On Television
A Succession Battle Over America’s Largest Ren Faire
A new HBO documentary series follows King George, the eighty-six-year-old overlord of the Texas Renaissance Festival, and the vicious competition to replace him.
On Television
“The Sympathizer” Has an Identity Crisis
The HBO adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel is part espionage thriller, part war drama, and part Hollywood satire—wild genre shifts that come at the expense of its protagonist’s interiority.
2023 in Review
The Best TV Shows of 2023
The industry faces an uncertain future, but this year’s finest rival those of the Peak TV era.
Cultural Comment
“And Just Like That . . .” Has One Too Many Cosmopolitans
The first season was a pleasant reunion; the second season has some issues.
Postscript
Angus Cloud’s Eyes Said It All
With his limpid gaze and profound stillness, the “Euphoria” star conveyed the soul of a man trapped by circumstance.
On Television
“The Idol” Is All Smoke and Mirrors
The kinky hookups between the protagonists, played by Lily-Rose Depp and the Weeknd, are wince-inducing, but hardly scandalizing in the way that the HBO show intends them to be.
On Television
HBO’s “Burden of Proof” and the Problem of the Passive Mother
The true-crime miniseries paints a frightening picture of a familiar dynamic that it fails to fully explore.
On Television
The Understated Pleasures of HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere”
The loosely autobiographical series imagines how the hypersexual alt-cabaret diva-comedian Bridget Everett might have turned out had she never become Bridget Everett.
On Television
On the “Succession” Finale, the Roy Kids Shit the Deathbed
We see a brief moment of genuine connection between the siblings. But this is Jesse Armstrong’s “Succession,” and nothing gold can stay.
On Television
How “Barry” Went from Hollywood Satire to Existential Epic
The final season of Bill Hader’s HBO series was the most ambitious.
Cultural Comment
Farewell, Kendall Roy
In a role that forms the emotional center of “Succession,” the actor Jeremy Strong never lost sight of Kendall’s undertow of pain.
On Television
Watching “Succession” Amid the Fox News Scandals
The real-life Murdoch drama has supercharged the HBO show’s final season, making its satire feel even more delightfully loaded.
On Television
On “Succession,” Logan Roy Is Living+
Dying, his sons Kendall and Roman agree, is “very un-Dad.”
On Television
Dysfunction Done Right in HBO’s “Rain Dogs”
The London-set tragicomedy about a struggling single mom is less a plea for sympathy than a showcase for flawed humanity and (occasionally outrageous) gallows humor.
On Television
On “Succession,” Everything Is Up in the Air
The heart of “Connor’s Wedding,” as the most recent episode is titled, is a protracted phone call from airplane to yacht lounge.
On Television
“Succession” Finally Moves Forward
The HBO series has been stuck in a frustrating loop. Now, with its fourth and final season, the Roy family saga is finding a more generous palette of feeling and situation.
Shouts & Murmurs
Characters from “Succession” as Members of an Improv Team
The staff of Waystar Royco go off script.