Which Limited Series Will Dominate Year-End Awards?

By Abe Friedtanzer

There are more limited series than ever before on the air, though that classification is in itself complicated because of all the anthology series that introduce new characters and storylines each season. As we approach year-end awards that will, unlikee the Emmys, pull from both halves of 2020, which of the buzzy shows we talked about around Emmy time will still be in the running? What other offerings from the last few months will zoom ahead of them?

It’s worth remembering that the overall Emmy nominations leader this past season was a limited series, albeit not one that was considered as such at the end of 2019. Before its staggering 26-nomination haul at the Emmys, Watchmen competed as a drama series, landing four bids and two wins from the Critics Choice Association, a stunt ensemble nod from SAG, and absolutely nothing at the Golden Globes...

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"The Crown" S4: An(other) Acting Showcase

by Cláudio Alves

As a staunch antimonarchist and someone who despises Thatcher and her legacy, watching The Crown's fourth season was an oft-frustrating, sometimes fascinating, exercise. Peter Morgan and his team haven't shied away from looking at the dark side of British history and this latest series is no different. However, time constraints, an episodic structure, and attempts at historical ambivalence often result in a lackluster, superficial, occasionally rushed, experience.

Still, the production values are always immaculate, and the dramatization of the 80s features some of the best costumes the program has ever shown. Nevertheless, what always brings me back to The Crown isn't its analysis of politics, its melodrama, or pretty clothes. The show's greatest strength is its cast, with the actors excelling even when their material is lacking. When faced with some of the royal family's most tumultuous years, the performers upped their game and delivered a masterclass in screen acting…

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Streaming Review: "A Teacher" on FX/Hulu

by Christopher James

A Teacher is an odd little show. Hannah Fidell’s adaptation of her 2013 feature once again explores an illicit relationship between a female teacher and her male high school student. The miniseries sometimes feels like an Adrian Lyne movie by way of a 2013 indie film. It’s both muted and salacious. This makes for an odd viewing experience, given the subject matter. However, at less than 30 minutes a pop, A Teacher is still a quick and satisfying binge.

Kate Mara plays Claire, a thirtysomething English teacher in Austin, Texas. Her home life feels incredibly familiar. She has a nice, if distant, husband (Ashley Zukerman), a lovely suburban home and is in the process of trying to start a family. Still, there’s something in Claire that chafes against this life she’s built for herself. When she reads Dylan Thomas’ poem “Race against the dying of the light” to her senior AP English students, she captures the eye of Eric (Nick Robinson), a golden boy senior.

It all begins seemingly innocent enough...

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Have you seen "Legendary" on HBOMax? Let's celebrate its best contestants

And now for something completely random. Word of mouth is everything in streaming culture since we're all on different timetables. Please welcome guest contributor Allen Nguyen (of the beautiful Oscar site Statuesque) to discuss a show we meant to watch this summer but didn't get around to. Now just might be the time!

by Allen Nguyen

In case you haven’t already heard, HBO Max’s glorious ballroom competition show Legendary is now casting for its second season. I was turned on to Legendary a few months after its debut, my interest piqued partly by way of its ecstatic word of mouth and partly because I was in desperate need of queer quarantine content after enduring the five month bender that was RuPaul’s Drag Race, Secret Celebrity Drag Race, and All Stars 5. What I wasn’t expecting with Legendary was the return of that same enthralling high I felt when I first watched Drag Race a decade ago. Think of Legendary as the show Drag Race fans didn’t know we’ve been waiting for — the natural next step in the venn-diagram that intersects these two queer worlds... 

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Nicole in HBO's "The Undoing"

by Eric Blume

There are few things in life more exquisite than watching Nicole Kidman unravel.  And she does so with her usual panache in the new HBO miniseries The Undoing, from director Susanne Bier.  

HBO is releasing the six episodes week by week, so we're currently only two episodes in, but what we have on our hands with The Undoing is a genuine potboiler!  The program slowly lays out its icy upper east side NYC terrain with careful deliberation, only to end the initial episode with a fun corker that sets Nicole into a fiery actressy spiral...

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