Television Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/tag/television/ a magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship Sat, 17 Jan 2026 02:16:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.publicbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-favicon-2-300x300.png Television Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/tag/television/ 32 32 Pre-Recession Bliss, or Ignorance: “Laguna Beach” @ 20 https://www.publicbooks.org/pre-recession-bliss-or-ignorance-laguna-beach-at-20/ Tue, 05 Nov 2024 16:00:20 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=58011 There’s a connection between Laguna Beach’s lush close-ups of LC’s face and its recurrent, luxuriating shots of Orange County mansions.

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]]> Addiction’s Bestiary: “BoJack Horseman” @10 https://www.publicbooks.org/addictions-bestiary-bojack-horseman-10/ Tue, 06 Aug 2024 15:00:58 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=57105 BoJack’s alcohol and drug use are played for laughs as typical vices of a Hollywood has-been... at first.

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]]> Payback: Korean Revenge Dramas Will Do It for You https://www.publicbooks.org/payback-korean-revenge-dramas-will-do-it-for-you/ Tue, 30 Jan 2024 16:00:10 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=55028 South Korean media excels at the revenge plot. Here are seven shows you can stream right now to get your fix.

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]]> Twitter Ethics Swarm “Euphoria” https://www.publicbooks.org/twitter-ethics-swarm-euphoria/ Thu, 09 Nov 2023 16:00:08 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=54108 The most tweeted about show of the decade, “Euphoria” provoked viewers to gossip about its teenage characters. What did they say?

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]]> We Want Our Catastrophe TV https://www.publicbooks.org/we-want-our-catastrophe-tv/ Tue, 07 Nov 2023 16:00:52 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=53960 “We can ask why Squid Game was so popular. But really we should be asking how any show becomes a global success at all.”

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]]> Name Drop, No Exit https://www.publicbooks.org/name-drop-no-exit/ Mon, 23 Oct 2023 15:00:25 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=53911 “The Other Two” and a spate of recent comedies claim to mock celebrities while juicing their star power for references and cameos.

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]]> Reboot, Squared https://www.publicbooks.org/reboot-squared/ Fri, 22 Sep 2023 15:00:10 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=53324 TV can’t reboot its way out of its past errors, any more than an individual can fix their past trauma by reliving it, over and over again.

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]]> And Just Like That… the Viewer Cringes https://www.publicbooks.org/and-just-like-that-the-viewer-cringes/ Thu, 21 Sep 2023 15:00:14 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=53564 The show’s white, middle-age, upper-class liberals clumsily realizing their privilege are an accurate mirror of some of its viewers.

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]]> Fixing Nostalgia: “Star Trek” Boldly Goes to Less Utopian Futures https://www.publicbooks.org/fixing-nostalgia-star-trek-boldly-goes-to-less-utopian-futures/ Tue, 19 Sep 2023 15:00:05 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=53506 “Picard” is perhaps the least utopian of any “Star Trek” media. But’s that because its political pragmatism shows how to build a better reality.

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]]> The Reboot Will Be Televised https://www.publicbooks.org/the-reboot-will-be-televised/ Mon, 18 Sep 2023 15:00:45 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=53558 “Star Trek: Picard,” “And Just Like That…,” “Bel-Air,” “Reboot”: even within our age of the reboot, old stories offer new insights.

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