Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
The opening credits of a beloved television show evoke a certain sense of nostalgia for many. We hear the tune and we instantly connect it to a certain series. How have theme songs changed throughout the years and why do they mean so much to us?
We discuss the new HBO miniseries, co-produced with Sky UK, titled “Chernobyl”. The show follows the chronological events of the 1986 nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union and captures the confusion and terror in the days, months and years following the accident.
Binge-watching several seasons of a TV show all at once might not be the best idea after all. For some lighter shows like Stranger Things it may make sense, but it can be cumbersome and brain draining to get through all eight seasons of Game of Thrones in a matter of weeks. We discuss an alternate route that avoids the fatigue.
We examine how television series have grown to be more diverse and inclusive in the Peak TV era. One such show is Ramy, a new Hulu original, which candidly follows the life of a young, first-generation Muslim man and the challenges that arise with the melting pot of cultures.
The wildly popular TV show Game of Thrones is set to wrap up its story with six episodes this season, yet its fans may be unsatisfied. The TV show has departed the path of the books.
Streaming services are multiplying, and none of them carry everything. Many people are finding that satisfying their TV viewing desires through streaming services is getting as expensive as cable.
Sometimes you want to watch an expertly written and produced hour of television with central themes and a commentary on modern life… and sometimes, you just want to shut your brain off and watch something easy. This is about those latter experiences.
Anecdotal evidence and some real data science both suggest that we never grow out of the things we loved at 15.
Netflix’s new show, Russian Doll is an ethical, mysterious, funny drama modeled after the Groundhog Day “waking up in the same moment” plot. It’s an especially great binge-watch.
Superhero franchises have spent a decade carefully laying plans for big, expanded universes. But we look at “Veronica Mars” and “Breaking Bad,” two TV shows that have broadened their universes in their own ways.
There is so much new TV content being made that it can be easy to fall behind or forget to check out a show you meant to watch. We look at a few of these overlooked gems, like Showtime’s There is so much new TV content being made that it can be easy to fall behind or forget to check out a show you meant to watch. We look at a few of these overlooked gems, …
Tonight marks the long-awaited, sometimes excitedly and sometimes with dread, but long-awaited, return of True Detective. The TV phenomenon of 2014 and possibly the biggest letdown of 2015 is back for its third season, and the early reviews suggest this should be more like the incredible first season and not like the dud of a season two.
It used to be that when you were watching sports, you were only watching with the people in the same room as you. Now, sports have become the gold-standard for entertainment that demands a second-screen.
Director Sam Esmail has taken Gimlet’s hit podcast Homecoming and infused it with a whole lot of cinematic flair in his new Amazon Prime series that serves as a throwback to classic thrillers and a trailblazer for the brave new world of 30-minute dramas.
Earlier this month, Netflix released The Haunting of Hill House, a 10-episode horror series loosely based on the novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson. The series follows the Crain family; two parents and five children, over the course of multiple timelines. We watch their time spent decades earlier in the Hill House, a creepy old mansion they moved into …
One of the traditional ways that TV shows have kept these shock-and-awe moments coming is by moving things along quickly. As soon as some incredible act of deceit takes place, the show starts speeding toward that next signpost.
That’s where Better Call Saul, AMC’s Breaking Bad spin-off, differentiates itself. The show often moves at a glacial pace. It’s a …
Two years ago, NBC debuted a strange new comedy show called The Good Place. It was written by Michael Schur, a writer on The Office and the creator of Parks & Recreation, so people were willing to get it a change… but it’s logline was pretty out-there. It’s a half-hour comedy about people who died in the afterlife and, specifically, about Eleanor …
Fall is upon us. September is underway and with it comes the apex of the sports calendar. Last weekend, the NFL season kicked off and all month, the MLB’s pennant races and Wild Card hunts are shaking out. Then will come the MLB playoffs and the dawn of new seasons in both the NBA and NHL. Plenty of sports intrigue abounds this time of year- Four divisions …
In recent years, you’ve probably noticed a boom in TV revivals- old series brought back for new episodes. Fans of Gilmore Girls, Prison Break, Will and Grace, and more have all been gifted with new seasons and with reboots of Murphy Brown, Veronica Mars, and others in the works, this isn’t a trend that seems to be going anywhere.
There’s another brand of TV that’s easy to overlook, what I call junk food TV. In this comparison, those prestige shows are your nice dinners out: they’re prepared with care by professionals. This junk food TV is what you reach for when you just need something easy and fast and delicious.
Streaming networks have opened up the length an episode of television can run. Gone are the days when writers needed to accommodate advertisements. But episodes that run long often present a new slate of problems – namely, staying interesting.
Fox’s hit sitcom New Girl ended this month after 7 seasons. We take a look back at the show’s run and what makes sitcoms so special to us.
Westworld, the show that mystified audience when it stormed onto the scene in 2016, is back tonight. We discuss the show and take a look at the perils of reading fan theories online.
TV theme songs: they’re the soundtrack to our childhoods. But have you ever stopped to think about their evolution or how many of them you’ve grown fond of?
Subscribe to get the latest from Viewpoints Radio directly in your inbox.
