Nico Santos, Ben Feldman, Kaliko Kauahi, and panicked shoppers in an early scene from this season.
THIS PAST MARCH, the people who make Superstore were staring down a series of problems. Some were similar to those facing many American TV shows last spring. “By the time this airs, are we ready to laugh?” Superstore star Ben Feldman recalled wondering. “Or is covid something we expect to see?” But the show had a unique set of challenges, too. While hangout sitcoms and comedies about precocious children do not demand the intrusion of a global health crisis, it’s much harder to ignore covid on a series about frontline workers. “Going escapist just didn’t make sense,” Superstore writer Owen Ellickson told me. “Our characters would be people in a very interesting, tough spot.”
The past few months have given network-TV viewers the chance to witness a huge, inescapable narrative experiment. Every series set in contemporary life had to make a choice about how to deal with the pandemic. Grey’s Anatomy, a medical show, went all in, building the whole season around the crisis. Some justice procedurals, such as Bull and Law & Order: SVU, included indifferent masking and covid protocols but otherwise clung to familiar narrative structures. Several sitcoms, including CBS’s The Unicorn and Bob Hearts Abishola, chose to ignore covid entirely.
Denne historien er fra February 1-14, 2021-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra February 1-14, 2021-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A Wonk in Full- Ezra Klein, glowed-up and post-coup, was almost a celebrity at the convention.
Ezra Klein, glowed-up and post-coup, was almost a celebrity at the convention. Ezra Klein, who is known to keep his passions in check, did not have the right credentials to get into the arena. The Secret Service didn't recognize the New York Times' star "Opinion" writer and podcaster, but eventually he was able to figure out how to get in to where he belonged. This was, after all, as much his convention as any journalist's, since its high-energy optimism turned on the fact that President Joe Biden was no longer leading the ticket and, starting early this year, Klein had led the coup drumbeat.
The Afterlife of Donald Trump - The presidential hopeful contemplates his campaign, his formidable new opponent, and the miracle of his continued existence.
Donald Trump raised his right hand and grabbed hold of it. He bent it backward and forward. I asked if I could take a closer look. These days, the former president and current triple threat-convicted felon, Republican presidential nominee, and recent survivor of an assassination attempt-comes from a place of yes. He waved me over to where he sat on this August afternoon, in a low-to-the-ground chair upholstered in cream brocade fabric in the grand living room at Mar-a-Lago.
Danzy Senna Can't Stop Thinking in Black and White
Her latest novel holds diminishing returns.
Live, Laugh, Love
Dick jokes meet sentimentality in a wily Sandler-Safdie collab.
Tim Burton Is Great Again
A long-awaited sequel revels in gore and nostalgia.
In the Shack With Robert Caro
The Power Broker is turning 50. The final LBJ book is almostwell, he won't say exactly, but he's trying for 900 words a day.
24 Comedians You Should Know RIGHT NOW
THE COMEDY industry is undergoing a metamorphosis in 2024. Name-brand venues like the Second City and UCB are opening or reopening in New York, beloved local spots are being bought out by megacorporations, and streaming-service-helmed comedy festivals are usurping the old-fashioned ones. Post-WGA strike, TV-development execs are growing green-light-shy, Hulu is entering the stand-up fray, and YouTube specials are becoming just as worthy of watching as Netflix specials, if not more so.
Leading Lady
Anna Sawai could take home the Emmy for her performance in Shogun. But she's keeping her cool.
RESTAURANT REVIEW: Le Même Veau
The Frenchette crew has taken over the 87-year-old restaurant, and the snails are as garlicky and the duck as pink as ever.
DESIGN HUNTING: A LOFT WITH A HIGHER PURPOSE
Ali Richmond, co-founder of the nonprofit Fashion for All Foundation, has lived in this Brooklyn loft for almost 20 years with his archive of designer clothing.
