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'Hacks' stars Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder and Paul W. Downs reflect on their Max hit

As Hacks returns for its fourth season, we listen back to archival interviews with stars Smart and Einbinder, and with series co-star and co-creator Downs. Originally broadcast in 2021 and 2024.

'Hacks' stars Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder and Paul W. Downs reflect on their Max hit

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Bruce Vilanch is proud of all the awful TV he made

Photo: Daniel Speer Daniel Speer/Maximum Fun hide caption

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Daniel Speer/Maximum Fun

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Bruce Vilanch is proud of all the awful TV he made

Bruce Vilanch wrote for countless TV variety shows dating back over 50 years. Sometimes, those shows turn out great! Think of Billy Crystal at the Oscars! The stuff that's not so great, you can read about in his new book: It Seemed Like A Bad Idea At The Time: The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote. Vilanch tells Bullseye stories from behind the scenes of the Oscars, The Brady Bunch, and the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Bruce Vilanch is proud of all the awful TV he made

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Dr. Michael Robinavitch — Robby (Noah Wyle) — in the season finale of The Pitt.

Dr. Michael Robinavitch — Robby (Noah Wyle) — in the season finale of The Pitt. Warrick Page/Max hide caption

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Warrick Page/Max

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

15 hours later, a grueling ER shift ends in 'The Pitt' season finale

The first season of The Pitt focused on the toll that work takes on doctors and nurses. It's also been a stellar season of TV.

15 hours later, a grueling ER shifts ends tonight in 'The Pitt' season finale

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Jon Hamm stars in Your Friends & Neighbors

Coop (Jon Hamm) loses his job and embarks on a series of burglaries in Your Friends & Neighbors Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Review

TV Reviews

Jon Hamm puts a twist on his Don Draper swagger in 'Your Friends & Neighbors'

Wealth comes lined with rage and melancholy in a new Apple TV+ series about a hedge-fund hotshot who loses his job and begins to steal from his suburban friends.

Jon Hamm puts a twist on his Don Draper swagger in 'Your Friends & Neighbors'

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Black Mirror's seventh season includes a sequel to season four's "USS Callister"

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Netflix

'Black Mirror' creator pulls from reality in dystopian season 7, out now

Black Mirror season 7 is out now on Netflix. Charlie Brooker, the show's creator, says he's "worrying in what I hope is an entertaining way" in an interview with NPR's A Martínez.

‘Black Mirror’ creator pulls from reality in dystopian season 7, out now

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Pop culture that changed our minds

Regina King in Watchmen. Mark Hill/HBO hide caption

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Mark Hill/HBO

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop culture that changed our minds

At a certain point, most of us settle into a groove with our pop culture consumption. We know what we love and what we're not into. But sometimes, all it takes is one great outlier or a willingness to step outside our comfort zone to make us reconsider what we don't like. Today we're talking about our pop culture revelations, including Friday Night Lights, Train to Busan, the poetry of Mary Oliver, and Watchmen.

Pop culture that changed our minds

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A still image from Pop the Balloon Live.

A still image from Pop the Balloon or Find Love. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

A live version of 'Pop the Balloon' is now on Netflix. We spoke to its creators

Pop the Balloon Live debuted on Netflix this week. Its creators says the series can be superficial — but so is dating online.

The dating show 'Pop The Balloon Or Find Love' is coming to Netflix

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In 'Dying For Sex,' pleasure and grief collide

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Sarah Shantz/FX

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Dying For Sex,' pleasure and grief collide

The premise might be a tough sell: a young woman attempts to finally own her sexuality following a terminal diagnosis. In the new show Dying For Sex, Michelle Williams stars as a cancer patient confronting the unsatisfying relationships in her life. The series is also a raunchy sex comedy that suggests it's never too late to insist on your own happiness. And it's got a stellar cast, including Jenny Slate, Rob Delaney, and Sissy Spacek.

In 'Dying For Sex,' pleasure and grief collide

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Members of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective in 1970.

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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Movies

'You know it when you feel it': A new documentary explores the roots of funk

"Once you get the funk out there, it's not going back. You can't put it back in the box," says filmmaker Stanley Nelson. His new Independent Lens documentary is out now.

WE WANT THE FUNK - George Clinton and Stanley Nelson

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Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick and co-host Sprout are on a mission to inspire young children to learn about and take action on climate change.

Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick and co-host Sprout are on a mission to inspire young children to learn about and take action on climate change. Rose Trimboli hide caption

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Rose Trimboli

Culture

This YouTube show explains climate change to the kids who have to live with it

Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick is an up-and-coming educator and TV host with a YouTube series tailored to kids ages 4 through 8.

This YouTube show explains climate change to the kids who have to live with it

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Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks at Maximum Fun HQ. Daniel Speer hide caption

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Daniel Speer

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks joins us this week to talk about the new Hulu series Good American Family. She also chats with us about her time as a model and a ballet dancer, and what life's been like for her after starring on one of the biggest shows ever – Mad Men.

Christina Hendricks

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'The White Lotus' season 3 ends with several bangs

Walton Goggins in The White Lotus. Fabio Lovino/HBO hide caption

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Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The White Lotus' season 3 ends with several bangs

Season three of The White Lotus just wrapped up, but not before serving up a tropical buffet of sex, betrayal, violence, revenge, privilege, incest, drugs, death, and spirituality. We finally found out whose dead body was floating in the pond way back in the season premiere. From creator Mike White, this season stars Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, Natasha Rothwell, Aimee Lou Wood, Parker Posey, and Lisa of BLACKPINK fame.

'The White Lotus' season 3 ends with several bangs

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Marking 20 years of 'The Office,' with Steve Carell, Ricky Gervais and others

We celebrate the NBC mockumentary by listening back to archival interviews with Carell, Gervais, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Mindy Kaling and executive producer Greg Daniels.

Marking 20 years of 'The Office,' with Steve Carell, Ricky Gervais and others

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'Daredevil: Born Again' delivers street level justice

Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again Giovanni Ruffino/Marvel hide caption

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Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Daredevil: Born Again' delivers street level justice

In Daredevil: Born Again, Charlie Cox returns as everyone's favorite blind-but-with-heightened-senses Marvel superhero. This time out, he hangs up his horns and throws himself into his career as a lawyer. At the same time, the criminal mastermind Kingpin (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) decides to go straight and run for mayor of New York City. The two men declare a truce, but will it last?

'Daredevil: Born Again' delivers street level justice

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Michelle Buteau's winsome 'Survival of the Thickest' is a natural selection

Michelle Buteau in the second season of Survival of the Thickest. Vanessa Clifton/Netflix hide caption

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Vanessa Clifton/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Michelle Buteau's winsome 'Survival of the Thickest' is a natural selection

The delightful Netflix series Survival of the Thickest is about an up-and-coming stylist whose professional and personal ambitions go sideways when she finds herself newly single. With the help of her best friends, she recalibrates her life and steps outside her comfort zone to varying results. It stars the charming comedian Michelle Buteau, who also co-created the show. Survival of the Thickest just returned for a second season, so today we are revisiting our conversation about the series.

Michelle Buteau's winsome 'Survival of the Thickest' is a natural selection

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