culture
television
television April 11, 2020
Bluey creator Joe Brumm’s dog days
Inspired by the interactions between his young daughters, Joe Brumm created a one-minute pilot that would become the kids’ television juggernaut Bluey. Here, he discusses the challenges of writing the show and reminisces about the blue heelers of his childhood. “Each episode has a number of components to make it good … It’s not just about coming up with a funny game.”
television April 4, 2020
With today’s sequels and spinoffs often eclipsing their source material, Westworld, now entering its third season, takes the trend to a whole new level – presenting a futurist world of automatons with staggering richness and intricacy.
television March 28, 2020
HBO’s The Plot Against America, based on the Philip Roth novel, brings together Winona Ryder and John Turturro in a reimagining of America’s World War II history. Now the slickly produced series is more pertinent to current times than the creators could ever have imagined.
television February 22, 2020
As a co-creator of the new ABC series Stateless, Cate Blanchett hopes to challenge Australian attitudes towards asylum seekers, particularly as the climate crisis threatens to displace many more people. “The rhetoric of protection and the language has separated Australians from their humanity, and encouraged the public through a lack of transparency in information to tolerate or ignore human rights abuses that are going on offshore.”
television February 15, 2020
After charming both critics and viewers with Please Like Me, Josh Thomas made the move to Los Angeles. He speaks about the series he made in his new city, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay – a show that breaks ground in its portrayal of young autistic women. “I think having teenage girls in a show forces you into sweeter territory. The conceit of the show is so sweet, so I guess the story and the characters and the situation kinda made that decision for me.”
television June 22, 2019
By focusing on the human stories of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, HBO’s Chernobyl offers a portrait of ordinary heroism – and a vision of how we might deal with climate catastrophes to come.
television June 15, 2019
Beyond the thrills, the glamour and the sexual tension, Killing Eve’s second season asks viewers to confront their own ambiguous morals – and therein lies the series’ greatest strength.
television May 25, 2019
The many facets of Zindzi Okenyo’s world
Zindzi Okenyo is asserting herself through her art – on stage, on screen and in the recording studio. Here, the singer-songwriter and actor talks about growing up in different parts of Australia, travelling to her father’s birth country, and being comfortable in her own skin. “The older that I’ve gotten, the more it seems to me the way to be better is to know yourself as much as possible and then relax into it.”
television May 18, 2019
The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones generated enormous controversy among fans. Why has the HBO series provoked such strong feelings?
television May 4, 2019
In the second season of Netflix’s series The OA, its creators question the relentless technological progress of our time, but the result is somewhat scattered.
television April 27, 2019
Miracle Workers’ heavenly charms
In Miracle Workers, the latest program about the afterlife, the crisis on Earth is taken to extremes with Steve Buscemi in charge of Heaven Inc.
