Pop Culture Happy Hour : NPR

A Fun But Familiar Story Of Making Yourself Over In 'Brittany Runs A Marathon'

In her first starring role on the big screen, comedic actress Jillian Bell of 22 Jump Street and Rough Night plays Brittany, an unhappy and directionless ticket-taker who decides to make a change — by running a marathon. Amazon hide caption

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Amazon

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A Fun But Familiar Story Of Making Yourself Over In 'Brittany Runs A Marathon'

August 22, 2019 • Jillian Bell and the supporting cast are charming in this underdog story about a young woman who goes from hating exercise to running a marathon. But don't expect too much that's new.

In The Brisk Horror-Comedy 'Ready Or Not,' Bluebloods Are Out For Blood

Come out, come out, wherever you are! In Ready or Not, a bride takes on her new husband's wealthy, murderous family in a twisted game of hide and seek. Eric Zachanowich/Fox Searchlight hide caption

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Eric Zachanowich/Fox Searchlight

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In The Brisk Horror-Comedy 'Ready Or Not,' Bluebloods Are Out For Blood

August 21, 2019 • The film, about a wealthy clan who play a deadly game of hide-and-seek with a young woman (the fantastic Samara Weaving) marrying into the family, is fast, fun and not for the squeamish.

'This Way Up' Deserves A Spot On Your Crowded Viewing List

Aisling Bea stars as Aine in This Way Up, a new series available on Hulu. Channel 4/Hulu hide caption

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Channel 4/Hulu

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'This Way Up' Deserves A Spot On Your Crowded Viewing List

August 21, 2019 • It can be hard not to miss lower-profile streaming shows. But This Way Up, a comedy created by Irish actress Aisling Bea and streaming on Hulu, has a sweet and funny story to tell.

'The Righteous Gemstones' Takes Aim At Megachurch Millionaires

Adam Devine, John Goodman and Danny McBride are all members of the family megachurch business in HBO's The Righteous Gemstones. Fred Norris/HBO hide caption

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Fred Norris/HBO

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'The Righteous Gemstones' Takes Aim At Megachurch Millionaires

August 19, 2019 • In the HBO comedy created by and starring Danny McBride, a powerful preacher and his adult children are very poor examples to their flock.

True Medical Mysteries Get The TV Treatment On Netflix's 'Diagnosis'

Angel Parker, the subject of the first episode of Diagnosis, rests at the hospital with her boyfriend. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

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True Medical Mysteries Get The TV Treatment On Netflix's 'Diagnosis'

August 16, 2019 • The Netflix series is like true crime with diseases instead of murderers, and it's even better when it pauses to consider the real challenges of health care shortfalls.

'Succession': Mogul Money, Mogul Problems

Brian Cox plays Logan Roy, the patriarch of the powerful Roy family. Peter Kramer/HBO hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Succession': Mogul Money, Mogul Problems

August 14, 2019 • Of all the TV shows about monstrous rich people, the HBO series Succession might be one of the most cutting. It follows heartless media mega-mogul Logan Roy and his ruthless children as they try to outmaneuver each other. And while the family is awful, the show is great. And if you're not watching it, you're missing out on a lot of high-quality scheming.

'Succession': Mogul Money, Mogul Problems

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'Legion' Ends Its Three-Season-Long Strange Trip

David (Dan Stevens) got his groove on, in more ways than one, in the final season of Legion. Suzanne Tenner/FX hide caption

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'Legion' Ends Its Three-Season-Long Strange Trip

August 13, 2019 • FX's surreal, gorgeous, not-quite-a-superhero-show concluded with neither a bang nor a whimper, but instead with time travel, Pink Floyd, forgiveness and an outpouring of empathy.

'Succession': Back To The Pit Of Vipers For Another Season Of Discontent

Kendall (Jeremy Strong, right) is back in season 2, still dealing with members of his father's staff, like Karolina (Dagmara Dominczyk). Craig Blankenhorn/HBO hide caption

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Craig Blankenhorn/HBO

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'Succession': Back To The Pit Of Vipers For Another Season Of Discontent

August 12, 2019 • Succession should be too bleak to work, but the combination of strong writing and especially excellent performances across the board keep it going strong as it enters its second season on HBO.

'Veronica Mars' Returns With Melodrama And A New Mystery

Kristen Bell returns to the titular role in the new season of Veronica Mars. Michael Desmond/Hulu hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Veronica Mars' Returns With Melodrama And A New Mystery

August 9, 2019 • Back in 2004, Veronica Mars was a high school student working for her private-eye father on the side. After three seasons on the air and a crowdfunded movie in 2014, Veronica is back. Now an adult and still a detective, Veronica tackles a fresh mystery in a set of new episodes available on Hulu. She still works with her father, she's still in love with reformed bad boy Logan Echolls, and she still has a one-liner for nearly every occasion.

'Veronica Mars' Returns With Melodrama And A New Mystery

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The Old Gang Is Back Together In 'BH90210,' Sort Of

Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling play themselves in BH90210, which both is and isn't a Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot. It's complicated. Shane Harvey/Fox hide caption

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The Old Gang Is Back Together In 'BH90210,' Sort Of

August 7, 2019 • There's certainly no need to revisit the characters from Beverly Hills, 90210. So to fill what they hope is an appetite for nostalgia, the stars are playing themselves in a showbiz story.

'Hobbs & Shaw': Muscles! Wisecracks! Muscles! Car Chases! Muscles!

Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham joke, flex, and beat up bad guys in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Frank Masi/Universal Pictures hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Hobbs & Shaw': Muscles! Wisecracks! Muscles! Car Chases! Muscles!

August 7, 2019 • The new film Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham. The two play their characters from the Fast & Furious franchise, spun off into a fresh adventure. They race a mechanically enhanced super soldier played by Idris Elba to recover a deadly virus before it can melt the entire population of the planet into a series of small puddles.

'Hobbs & Shaw': Muscles! Wisecracks! Muscles! Car Chases! Muscles!

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'Four Weddings And A Funeral' On TV Can't Live Up To A Classic Romcom

Nathalie Emmanuel is the best thing about the ultimately disappointing television adaptation of Four Weddings and a Funeral. Jay Maidment/Hulu hide caption

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Jay Maidment/Hulu

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'Four Weddings And A Funeral' On TV Can't Live Up To A Classic Romcom

August 3, 2019 • Four Weddings And A Funeral, a new Hulu series inspired by the film and co-created by Mindy Kaling, squanders an appealing central performance on a series of bad ideas.

In 'The Farewell', Awkwafina Grapples With A Family Secret

In The Farewell, Billi (Awkwafina) and her father Haiyan (Tzi Ma) return to China to visit Billi's sick grandmother. A24 hide caption

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A24

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'The Farewell', Awkwafina Grapples With A Family Secret

August 2, 2019 • In The Farewell, Akwafina plays Billi, a young woman whose beloved grandmother back in China is diagnosed with lung cancer. The family decides not to tell the grandmother that she's got only months to live — a decision that Billi strongly disagrees with. The Farewell was written and directed by Lulu Wang based on a piece she did on This American Life.

In 'The Farewell', Awkwafina Grapples With A Family Secret

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Gina Rodriguez and Justin Baldoni as Jane and Rafael, whose wedding was the centerpiece of the finale of Jane The Virgin. Kevin Estrada/The CW hide caption

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'Jane The Virgin' Ends On A High Note

July 31, 2019 • It's hard to end a show as beloved as Jane The Virgin, but the Wednesday night finale was funny, sad, silly and ultimately hopeful.

'Jane The Virgin' Ends On A High Note

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'Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood': Tarantino's Fairy Tale Turns Grim

Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood. Andrew Cooper/Sony Pictures Entertainment hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood': Tarantino's Fairy Tale Turns Grim

July 31, 2019 • Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood is writer-director Quentin Tarantino's ninth film. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a fading western actor named Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt as his loyal stuntman Cliff Booth. It's set in the changing Hollywood of 1969, and in many ways, it's a breezy romp through studio backlots and makeup trailers — but hanging over every frame is the threat of violence, in the form of a very real historical tragedy — the brutal Manson family murders in the Hollywood Hills. It's glossy L.A. nostalgia laced with grisly violence — it's peak Tarantino, but does it work?

'Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood': Tarantino's Fairy Tale Turns Grim

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Superhero Satire 'The Boys' Doesn't Have Much New To Say, But Says It Loudly

From left: Butcher (Karl Urban), Frenchie (Tomer Capon), Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) and Hughie (Jack Quaid) conduct some supersurveillance in The Boys. Jan Thijs/Amazon hide caption

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Jan Thijs/Amazon

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Superhero Satire 'The Boys' Doesn't Have Much New To Say, But Says It Loudly

July 26, 2019 • "What if superheroes were evil?" isn't the rich fodder for storytelling the series thinks it is, but some compelling performances keep the show from descending into depressing nihilism.

Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski and Tan France. Christopher Smith/Netflix hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Queer Eye

July 26, 2019 • Queer Eye is back for a fourth season, so we figured it'd be interesting to review our first impressions of the series, back when it premiered last year. We talk about the show's broader mission statement, the new Fab Five, and how thoroughly the world has changed since the first iteration of the show went off the air. (This episode originally aired on February 21, 2018.)

Queer Eye

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Rainbows, Frogs, Dogs And 'The Muppet Movie' Soundtrack At 40

Kermit the Frog plays his banjo in 1979's The Muppet Movie. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Rainbows, Frogs, Dogs And 'The Muppet Movie' Soundtrack At 40

July 25, 2019 • The Muppet Movie is an unusually silly and unusually profound musical. At 40 years old, the music still astounds, provokes and entertains.

Alex Trebek on the set of the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational Tournament on April 17, 2010. Amanda Edwards/Getty Images hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Jeopardy!'

July 24, 2019 • Jeopardy! has been in the news a lot this year, both for James Holzhauer's historic championship run and for Alex Trebek's recent cancer diagnosis. But when we talked about the long-running game show last year, it was just an eternal juggernaut. (This episode originally aired July 11, 2018.)

'Jeopardy!'

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The Crowd Fundeth, And The Crowd Taketh Away: The 'Veronica Mars' Problem

Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell as Logan and Veronica in the new season of Veronica Mars on Hulu. Hulu hide caption

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Hulu

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The Crowd Fundeth, And The Crowd Taketh Away: The 'Veronica Mars' Problem

July 23, 2019 • A 2013 crowdfunding campaign brought the beloved detective series back from the dead for a movie. But it also boxed in the show, and the fourth season shows some of the risks of fan-driven work.

'The Lion King' Is Like A Nature Documentary With A Backbeat

James Earl Jones returns as Mufasa, and JD McCrary plays Young Simba in Disney's remake of The Lion King. Disney Enterprises hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Lion King' Is Like A Nature Documentary With A Backbeat

July 19, 2019 • For the last few years, Disney has been turning its beloved animated films into live-action revamps . But this revamp isn't live-action — even though it looks like it is. The digital animation is ridiculously advanced, bringing Simba, Mufasa, Scar, Nala, Timon and Pumbaa to eerie, ultra-realistic life. The voice cast is full of ringers — Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Oliver, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, Donald Glover and Beyoncé. But do the changes they make to the story — and the songs — improve on the original?

'The Lion King' Is Like A Nature Documentary With A Backbeat

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'The Lion King' Had The Perfect Villain Song. This Time, 'Be Prepared' For Less

Chiwetel Ejiofor and his onscreen counterpart in 2019's The Lion King, the power-hungry villain Scar. Kwaku Alston/Disney Enterprises, Inc. hide caption

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'The Lion King' Had The Perfect Villain Song. This Time, 'Be Prepared' For Less

July 17, 2019 • We know it sounds sordid, but there's something missing in the 2019 version of Scar's bad-guy anthem — and it's the very thing that made the mustache-twirling original so iconic.