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'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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Peter Kramer/HBO

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Succession': Mogul Money, Mogul Problems

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

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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'Veronica Mars' Returns With Melodrama And A New Mystery

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

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

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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'Jane The Virgin' Ends On A High Note

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

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

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

"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.

Queer Eye

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

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Queer Eye

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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'Jeopardy!'

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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Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

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'Jeopardy!'

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

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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We Visit The Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera's Rigoletto moves the setting from the sixteenth century to 1960 Las Vegas. Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera hide caption

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We Visit The Metropolitan Opera

What has music, neon signs, classic cars, and Vegas gangsters in a dramatic story of love and death? Believe it or not, it's the Metropolitan Opera's production of Rigoletto, which we recently checked out in New York. Not only did we see the show, but we went backstage to see how they make the show happen.

We Visit The Metropolitan Opera

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'Los Espookys' Is Good And Weird

Cassandra Ciangherotti, Bernardo Velasco, and Julio Torres star in the new HBO show Los Espookys. Jennifer Clasen/HBO hide caption

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'Los Espookys' Is Good And Weird

Los Espookys is a very odd HBO comedy series about a group of horror-loving friends who start up a business that provides scary experiences for their clients.The six-episode series, which is now four episodes into its run, is co-written by two of its stars — comedians Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega. Its biggest-name co-star, Fred Armisen, also co-wrote the pilot.

'Los Espookys' Is Good And Weird

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It's a Cruel (Cruel!) 'Midsommar'

Florence Pugh stars at Deni in Ari Aster's new film Midsommar. Gabor Kotschy/A24 hide caption

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It's a Cruel (Cruel!) 'Midsommar'

In the film Midsommar, writer-director Ari Aster follows up his cult horror hit Hereditary with a film about a literal cult. Florence Pugh plays a young woman who tags along with her awful boyfriend and his pals to a remote Swedish village as they enact their bloody rituals. We discuss the sun-drenched Scandanavian creepiness.

It's a Cruel (Cruel!) 'Midsommar'

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