Adam Epstein

Sorry to bother you. Don’t worry, he won’t get far on foot. I think we’re alone now.

Donald Trump is set to give his first State of the Union address as US president on Tuesday night (Jan. 30) at 9pm ET. All major US broadcast networks and cable news channels will carry the speech live, so it may feel like there’s no escaping it if you’re an American who’s usually plopped down by the TV at that time. But I assure you, there are other options.

Waco, the new miniseries on the recently re-branded Paramount Network (previously Spike TV), covers a lot of rich thematic ground: religion, a government’s relationship to its citizens, and our fascination with cults and their charismatic leaders.

Meryl Streep will star in the second season of Big Little Lies, HBO announced today (Jan. 24). In related news, the race for the 2019 Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama series is over before it could begin.

The 2018 Oscar nominations were announced yesterday (Jan. 23), and for the most part, there weren’t too many surprises. Awards season leading up to the Oscars is a long slog, increasingly narrowing the field of films, actors, and directors as it goes on. Outside of one or two films (namely Phantom Thread), pundits predicted most of the nominees in many of the major categories.

Jordan Peele made history today, becoming the first African-American nominated for directing, writing, and producing Oscars in the same year.

It’s officially Oscar season. Girls Trip actress Tiffany Haddish and War for the Planet of the Apes actor Andy Serkis announced the Oscar nominees live today (Jan. 23) from the film academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California—and there were a few major surprises.

You’ve seen the Odessa Steps even if you’ve never actually seen the Odessa Steps.

This is the first entry in Watch This, a Quartzy recommendation series that will spotlight one unusual film or television show to check out. You’ll find all subsequent entries here.

On this day 10 years ago, Walter White’s dad khakis drifted in the breeze, a hilariously peculiar sight against the bright blue New Mexico sky, then plunged to the ground like a bird shot out of the air. TV was never the same.

We’re in the home stretch of “awards season,” which means that the Oscars—the crown jewel of award shows—will soon be upon us. Rejoice, for there is great cinema to be enjoyed, and even more to discuss and dissect in the remaining days of what’s been an uncharacteristically hazy season.

Less than three years ago, amid speculation that Apple was eyeing a move into Hollywood content production, iTunes boss Eddy Cue said definitively that the tech giant wasn’t doing that.

Many have commented on how Woody Allen has so far largely escaped the #MeToo movement, getting a free pass from an industry that has closely guarded the prolific filmmaker’s reputation for decades, despite accusations of child sex-abuse from his adopted daughter and ex-wife.

Fox Searchlight, 20th Century Fox’s arthouse film division, is responsible for two of the top Oscar contenders this year: The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. In the wake of Disney’s attempted $52 billion takeover of Fox, some of Fox Searchlight’s collaborators are deeply concerned that those kinds of films will soon cease to exist.

Five women have accused the actor and filmmaker James Franco of “inappropriate or sexually exploitative” behavior while he was their acting teacher or mentor, the Los Angeles Times reported today. In addition to highlighting how cruelly difficult being a young actress can be, the accusations reveal how abuse in Hollywood takes many forms, including some that are disguised as “art.”

In a sentence that would not have made any sense a decade ago, former US president Barack Obama will make his first TV talk show appearance since leaving office on David Letterman’s new monthly Netflix series.

If you haven’t seen Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech yet, what are you waiting for exactly?

There won’t be a better speech made in 2018 than the one Oprah Winfrey just made at the Golden Globes.

Christopher Nolan was 7 years old when he first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, and look where he is now: one of the most famous and important filmmakers in the world. So maybe you shouldn’t laugh at his idea that all young children would benefit from watching Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic.

Film and TV stars will pack the International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday (Jan. 7) for the 75th annual Golden Globe awards, hosted by comedian and talk show host Seth Meyers.

Good comedy has no expiration date. Great comedy, meanwhile, tends to become even more perceptive as time goes on. George Carlin was a purveyor of the latter, and a routine he performed almost 26 years ago proves it.

From House to Dexter, the “quirky psychopath” is a surprisingly popular trope across mainstream television. So it only makes sense that Netflix, the omnipresent streaming service with a show for every genre, would give it a go.

Another year in entertainment, come and gone. As exciting and diverse as any year in recent memory, 2017 gave us gorgeous, moving films such as Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird, and thrilling, topical TV dramas including the debut of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Leftovers series finale. But now it’s time to look ahead to see what awaits us on screen in the new year.

2017 may be remembered mostly for its tumult and polarization, but it was also an amazing year for television montages.