There’s a history in television of outgoing showrunners – the person or people who are the last word in the narrative flow and character development within a TV show – ending their run on the series with a major revelation or cliffhanger, thus forcing the new showrunner to figure a way out of a seemingly […]
TV
Last Chance U: Basketball Review
Last year, I wrote about how Netflix has found a niche in the college sports documentary corner of the documentary game, churning out the excellent Cheer and the Last Chance U series (along with the less popular, but still compelling, QB1). Which, for someone like me who adores a good college sports documentary, has been […]
Pop Culture Maniacs Podcast #16: Film, TV, and Politics
Kieran Freemantle and Jean Henegan discuss the links between film, TV, and politics
Escape to LA: Oprah’s Interview with Meghan & Harry Highlights a Royal Mess
She is portrayed as a woman locked in a house, unable to make her own decisions, travel freely, or calm the fire from the tabloids outside. And often, she has no one (save fans) to protect her. I typed that opening a few weeks ago after watching The New York Times Presents Framing Britney Spears. […]
Pop Culture Maniacs Podcast Episode #15: WandaVision
Kieran Freemantle and Jean Henegan discuss and review the hit Disney+ show WandaVision P
WandaVision – The Series Finale Review
Finales are notoriously difficult to execute successfully when a show is just a simple procedural drama or episodic sitcom. That degree of difficulty grows exponentially when the series has a rabid fan base and has presented a quasi-puzzle box tale throughout its run (and if the show is all of that, plus years of waiting […]
The F1rst Team Season One Review
The F1rst Team is the latest sitcom made by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, the mind behind The Inbetweeners and White Gold. They have moved on from suburban teenagers and 1980s Essex to a struggling Premier League team. The F1rst Team focuses on three young players at the club. There is Mattie Sullivan (Jake Short), a new signing from the […]
Pop Culture Maniacs Podcast Episode #14: Physical and Digital Media
Kieran Freemantle and Jean Henegan discuss the current state of physical and digital media.
Pop Culture Maniacs Podcast Episode #13: Brooklyn Nine Nine
Kieran Freemantle and Jean Henegan discuss the popular sitcom series Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
WandaVision – Previously On Review
What a tour de force performance from Elizabeth Olsen in “Previously On,” the WandaVision that attempts to fill in all the gaps (and boy, were there a ton of gaps) in Wanda’s MCU history. But Wanda wasn’t the only character getting some backstory in the penultimate episode of the series. We also learned a bit […]








