Crime Sells in TV: ‘The Responder’, ‘Shardlake’, and ‘Eric’
For compelling and worrisome reasons, crime sells in our TV entertainment. The Responder, Shardlake, and Eric feed our brutal compulsion in varying ways.
television
‘World of Giants’ Is Cold War Sci-Fi Espionage with a Small Difference
World of Giants is catnip and dog-nip and gopher-nip for connoisseurs of classic sci-fi TV ’50s style, aka, the art of really short half-hour storytelling.
The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums Ever
Explore 50 of the most brilliant, impactful, innovative, and controversial albums of the classic post-punk era, the reverberations of which will be felt for generations.
Does Representation Really Matter?
I don’t need to see my likeness reflected in the world because I am already both “represented” by and reflected in the richness of humanity, and more importantly, I actively “represent” a potential for others too.
Warm and Cool: Thoughts on Television’s Tom Verlaine (1949-2023)
Tom Verlaine’s death symbolizes the continued denouement of a certain period of New York City history, a time when the word “bohemian” still held some meaning.
The Best TV Shows of 2022 (That You May Have Overlooked)
The White Lotus, House of the Dragon, and Stranger Things picked up the hype, but there are more best TV shows to tick off before the new year.
PopMatters Seeks Television Critics and Essayists
We are interested in articles about quality television shows. These TV series challenge prejudices and subvert assumptions, and are as artful in their depiction as the best cinema.
Punk Wouldn’t Have Spread So Far Without the Sh*t Media
Simultaneously inside and outside by either choice or circumstance, punk has always had paradoxical – sometimes hostile – relations with TV, radio, and the internet.
Counterbalance/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music/Pop Past/SAVE/ IGNORE: popular/Sound Affects
Counterbalance 25: Television – ‘Marquee Moon’
Television’s 1977 masterpiece Marquee Moon is the 25th Greatest Album of All Time, but is it too “too too” to put a finger on? Counterbalance sees it all backward.
Eurovision 2020: Staging Political Identity
Eurovision contestants subvert the events' apolitical ethos simply with their identity, which is then subverted by performer and audience subjectivity. So who, ultimately, wins?
‘Blackface: Minstrel Show in Mass Media’ Is a Roadmap to a Peculiar, Disturbing Terrain
Tim Brooks’ Blackface Minstrel Show in Mass Media tells us how blackface didn’t die, but found ways to multiply as the entertainment industry grew.
From the Enterprise to the Discovery: The Decline and Fall of Utopian Technology and the Liberal Dream
Sci-fi TV such as Star Trek and Doctor Who have more in common with Harry Potter’s wand-waving than Gene Roddenberry’s techno-utopian dream.