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Jared M. Gair
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Jared M. Gair

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Wednesday

Why the 'Fast and Furious' franchise is still speeding

Michelle Rodriguez and Vin Diesel in F9: The Fast Saga. Universal Pictures hide caption

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Universal Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Why the 'Fast and Furious' franchise is still speeding

The Fast & The Furious debuted as a scruffy car-culture movie, and it was a hit. The franchise, fronted by Vin Diesel, has become a blockbuster machine. In anticipation of Fast X, we're encoring our episode about the legacy of the Fast & Furious franchise.

Why the 'Fast and Furious' franchise is still speeding

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Monday

Will you dig 'Cowboy Bebop'? Anime-be so, anime-be no

John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda in Netflix's Cowboy Bebop. Geoffrey Short/Netflix hide caption

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Geoffrey Short/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Will you dig 'Cowboy Bebop'? Anime-be so, anime-be no

The new Netflix series Cowboy Bebop is a live-action remake of the wildly popular Japanese anime about bounty hunters in a neo-noir future. Stylish and satirical, violent and cynical, the show is a bold mashup of genres – western, crime, science-fiction, buddy comedy, melodrama, thriller, and martial arts. It stars John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda as bounty hunters with dark pasts. But does the series hold up to the original?

Will you dig 'Cowboy Bebop'? Anime-be so, anime-be no

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Tuesday

In 'Below Deck,' life on a yacht meets reality TV

Captain Sandy Yawn leads the crew on Below Deck Mediterranean. Laurent Basset/Bravo hide caption

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Laurent Basset/Bravo

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Below Deck,' life on a yacht meets reality TV

If you've always wondered what it would be like to see the world while making espresso martinis for the super-rich, you might already be watching the Below Deck franchise. For the past eight years, the Bravo reality series and its many spinoffs have been showing viewers the world of deckhands and chefs, housekeeping and party planning, as young hot people work on luxury yachts chartered by people who have too much money.

In 'Below Deck,' life on a yacht meets reality TV

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Tuesday

'The Harder They Fall' is a fun romp in the Wild West

Zazie Beetz and Jonathan Majors star in The Harder They Fall on Netflix. David Lee/Netflix hide caption

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David Lee/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Harder They Fall' is a fun romp in the Wild West

Netflix's The Harder They Fall is the latest modern take on the movie western, with nods to real-life Black cowboys and cowgirls. In it, an outlaw and his gang seek revenge for a horrific crime committed many years ago. Gunfights and showdowns ensue, of course. The film boasts an impressive cast, including Jonathan Majors, Regina King, Idris Elba, and LaKeith Stanfield. Does this revisionist tale live up to the incredible talent involved?

'The Harder They Fall' is a fun romp in the Wild West

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Monday

Noir films you can't miss

Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney in the 1944 film noir classic, Laura. Donaldson Collection/Getty Images hide caption

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Donaldson Collection/Getty Images

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Noir films you can't miss

Your calendar might say it's November, but among movie buffs, this month is also known as Noirvember. It's a time to settle in and enjoy an old movie that features a washed up detective, a sultry femme fatale, or hardened criminals. And whether you're familiar with the genre or looking for great places to start, we're here to help by recommending a few great noirs.

Noir films you can't miss

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Monday

The scary movies and books that still haunt us

Horror author Stephen King has been scaring audiences for generations. Jim Spellman/WireImage hide caption

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Jim Spellman/WireImage

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The scary movies and books that still haunt us

A lot of us are about to have the experience of opening our front doors to find witches, goblins, ghosts, and those guards from Squid Game standing on our porches. Why? Because it's almost Halloween. We decided this would be a good time to talk about what kinds of entertainment scared us when we were kids, and maybe even whether they still scare us now.

The scary movies and books that still haunt us

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Monday

As 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Winds Down, It's Time To Assess Its Complicated Legacy

Stephanie Beatriz as Rosa Diaz, Andy Samberg as Jake Peralta in the final season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. NBC hide caption

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NBC

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

As 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Winds Down, It's Time To Assess Its Complicated Legacy

This week, the police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine will end its eight-season run. Starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher, among many other gifted comic actors, the show has enjoyed a devoted following and strong reviews. It's also survived shaky ratings and a change in networks, and its last season is airing against a backdrop of more intense conversations around real-life police violence that can't be laughed off or swept aside.

As 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Winds Down, It's Time To Assess Its Complicated Legacy

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Wednesday

A Subdued Nic Cage Truffle-Shuffles In 'Pig'

Nicolas Cage stars in the film Pig. Neon hide caption

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Neon

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

A Subdued Nic Cage Truffle-Shuffles In 'Pig'

In the film Pig, Nicolas Cage plays a once-famous Portland chef who's now a recluse, living in a cabin in the woods with his beloved truffle-hunting pig. When some nefarious types kidnap said pig, Cage comes out of seclusion to hunt down those who did it. It's at once a critique of bougie food culture, a melancholy character study, and a showcase for what Nicolas Cage can do when he's not dialed up to 11.

A Subdued Nic Cage Truffle-Shuffles In 'Pig'

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Monday

Native Voices Tell The Story Of 'Reservation Dogs'

Paulina Alexis, Devery Jacobs, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Lane Factor in Reservation Dogs. Shane Brown/FX hide caption

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Shane Brown/FX

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Native Voices Tell The Story Of 'Reservation Dogs'

The new series Reservation Dogs follows four Indigenous teenagers who live in Oklahoma, but are scheming and saving to get to California. It's a loose and dry-witted comedy that has notes of countless teenager hangout stories. And it's made by an entirely Indigenous group of writers, directors, and actors, who bring a level of detail and specificity to these kids and their experience that American television has practically never had.

Native Voices Tell The Story Of 'Reservation Dogs'

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Tuesday

What Makes A Good—Or Bad—Cover Song?

William Shatner performed a number of covers on his debut album The Transformed Man. Santiago Felipe/Getty Images hide caption

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Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

What Makes A Good—Or Bad—Cover Song?

Great songs often come around more than once. They're re-interpreted, reimagined, reconsidered. In fact, sometimes cover versions bring out new qualities even in songs we think we know well. Today we bring you an encore episode all about cover songs.

What Makes A Good—Or Bad—Cover Song?

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Wednesday

Billie Eilish Looks Inward On 'Happier Than Ever'

Billie Eilish's album Happier Than Ever is out now. Kelia Anne MacCluskey/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Kelia Anne MacCluskey/Courtesy of the artist

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Billie Eilish Looks Inward On 'Happier Than Ever'

Billie Eilish's first album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, was a sensation in 2019 — it swept the major categories at the Grammys and established the singer as a huge pop star. Eilish is back with a follow-up called Happier Than Ever. It's a quieter, subtler collection that examines the singer's relationships, reputation, and place in the world.

Billie Eilish Looks Inward On 'Happier Than Ever'

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Friday

You've Ridden This 'Jungle Cruise' Before

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt star in Disney's Jungle Cruise. Frank Masi/Disney Enterprises, Inc. hide caption

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Frank Masi/Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

You've Ridden This 'Jungle Cruise' Before

What do you get when you take one part The African Queen, one part Raiders of the Lost Ark, two parts Pirates of the Caribbean, a pinch of the Fast and Furious series, and every Disney movie trope ever? You've got Jungle Cruise. Emily Blunt and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson team up to play a researcher and a riverboat skipper on a quest to track down a highly coveted object in the Amazon. But of course, they must face some adversaries along the way, including a scenery-chewing villain played by Jesse Plemons.

You've Ridden This 'Jungle Cruise' Before

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Wednesday

No Laughing, All Crying: The Sitcom Reconsidered In 'Kevin Can F**k Himself'

Mary Hollis Inboden and Annie Murphy star in Kevin Can F**k Himself. Jojo Whilden/AMC hide caption

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Jojo Whilden/AMC

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

No Laughing, All Crying: The Sitcom Reconsidered In 'Kevin Can F**k Himself'

What would life as a sitcom wife really be like? That's the premise of the AMC series Kevin Can F**k Himself. Annie Murphy plays a woman who exists in a sitcom when she's with her husband, but lives in a moody drama whenever he's not around.

No Laughing, All Crying: The Sitcom Reconsidered In 'Kevin Can F**k Himself'

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Thursday

'Blindspotting' Evolves From The Big Screen To The Little Screen

Jasmine Cephas Jones stars as Ashley in Blindspotting, on Starz. Patrick Wymore/Starz hide caption

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Patrick Wymore/Starz

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Blindspotting' Evolves From The Big Screen To The Little Screen

In 2018, Blindspotting was one of the buzziest movies to come out of the Sundance Film Festival. Now, it's has been spun off into a series on Starz, offering a fresh and more expansive take on the movie's themes around incarceration and race. Jasmine Cephas Jones plays Ashely. She had a supporting role in the film, but now she is story's central focus. And there's a colorful cast of new characters and musical set-pieces to boot.

'Blindspotting' Evolves From The Big Screen To The Little Screen

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Monday

Why The 'Fast & Furious' Franchise Is Still Speeding After 20 Years

Vin Diesel stars as Dominic Toretto in F9. Universal Pictures hide caption

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Universal Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Why The 'Fast & Furious' Franchise Is Still Speeding After 20 Years

In 2001, The Fast and the Furious debuted as a scruffy car-culture movie, and it was a hit. it was followed by two sequels that didn't quite satisfy, so they regrouped. Since then, it's become the blockbuster machine some love, some hate, some love to hate, and some hate to love. When you do this much business for this many years, it's hard not to have an impact.

Why The 'Fast & Furious' Franchise Is Still Speeding After 20 Years

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Tuesday

'We Are Lady Parts' Rocks With Bracing Honesty And Nuance

Lucie Shorthouse, Faith Omole, Anjana Vasan, Juliette Motamed, and Sarah Kameela Impey star in the Peacock series We Are Lady Parts. Laura Radford/Peacock hide caption

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Laura Radford/Peacock

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'We Are Lady Parts' Rocks With Bracing Honesty And Nuance

The Peacock series We Are Lady Parts is a bold, bracing and very funny comedy series about an up-and-coming London punk band called Lady Parts, and the young, awkward and extremely anxious microbiology PhD student who reluctantly becomes their lead guitarist. The members of Lady Parts, and its manager, are all young Muslim women, from various racial and ethnic backgrounds.

'We Are Lady Parts' Rocks With Bracing Honesty And Nuance

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