https://collider.com Exploring your favorite TV shows both past and present through deep dives, retrospectives, recaps, and more. Mon, 25 Dec 2023 21:46:17 GMT en-US hourly 60 In the 1960s, the United States was in a period of tumultuous change. Cold War politics introduced a new battleground, one played out between superpowers. The push for civil rights was growing in the Black American community. Assassinations of high-profile figures, like President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. shook the populace to the core. Women sought equal rights and a new lease on life outside the home. But on TV, ABC's The Donna Reed Show, named after its headliner Donna Reed, embraced a simpler time, bringing the tales of a happy housewife with a happy family doing happy things to living rooms across the nation. On the surface, the sitcom and its star were a step backward for women. Yet a deeper look reveals the truth — one that makes it clear how The Donna Reed Show was, and is, much more feminist than the haters would care to admit.

]]> Sun, 24 Dec 2023 11:01:16 GMT https://collider.com/the-donna-reed-show/ The pods may need to close permanently on Netflix's controversial dating series, Love Is Blind if production doesn't make changes immediately. The social experiment based on testing singles' ability to fall in love solely on the tonality of a person's voice and their conversation is a long shot in today's culture, which is based heavily on physical appearance and the perception of perfection. Although most viewers would agree that they wouldn't be up for the challenge, it's entertaining to tune in and watch the train wreck of singles talking to each other through a wall and then being visually disappointed when they are introduced to their voice crush in person.

]]> Mon, 25 Dec 2023 15:00:18 GMT https://collider.com/netflix-love-is-blind-corrections/ In the early aughts of reality television, a show premiered on Bravo that may have very well changed the network forever. Being Bobby Brown premiered in 2005 and only lasted for one season. The show kept things all too real for its viewers, and one thing that Bobby was not shy about was his legal troubles. Bobby Brown was dealing with multiple court cases when the series began filming. The very first episode was filmed the day he was released from a brief prison stint and followed him as he waited for his wife, Whitney Houston, to pick him up. He reflects on his legal issues, and eventually, some footage of the trial is shown. It’s there where a familiar face pops up alongside Bobby in his legal team: future RHOA favorite, Phaedra Parks. Phaedra, before her days as a Bravo staple, was Bobby's lawyer, and was present for many of his cases at that time.

]]> Sun, 24 Dec 2023 14:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/being-bobby-brown-whitney-houston-real-housewives-of-atlanta-phaedra-parks/ While banning television episodes is a rare occurrence, there are many complex reasons why networks and censors might work to shield viewers from the imagination of showrunners. Between content issues or cultural and political sensitivities, the subject can sometimes induce inflammatory conversations that don't align with political ambitions, like the British sci-fi series, The Prisoner, which upset U.S. censors in the late '60s. The first season of the ITV series premiered in the United States in 1968 – a year after its debut in the United Kingdom. But one episode, titled most pleasantly "Living in Harmony," did not air in the U.S. due to its contentious nature.

]]> Mon, 25 Dec 2023 12:30:17 GMT https://collider.com/the-prisoner-living-in-harmony-western-episode/ The continued popularity of films like Die Hard and Home Alone shows that there is a sizable group of viewers who enjoy stories that blend holiday themes with violent action. Many action-adventure television series attempt to appeal to this taste by producing holiday-themed episodes, but few have done so as effectively as Arrow did. In particular, the Arrow Season 1 midseason finale, which was released shortly before the winter holidays in 2012, managed to deliver both a relatable Christmas story and spectacular superhero action, while also revealing several key plot twists that made the series’ narrative more complex and compelling.

]]> Sun, 24 Dec 2023 03:45:19 GMT https://collider.com/arrow-years-end-episode/ Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for What If...? Season 2, Episode 4.

]]> Mon, 25 Dec 2023 08:30:19 GMT https://collider.com/what-if-season-2-episode-4-recap/ Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for The Crown Season 6 Part 2.

]]> Sat, 23 Dec 2023 20:30:18 GMT https://collider.com/the-crown-season-6-william-kate-romance/ On Yellowstone, the Dutton family always gets the best stories, the most interesting lines, and the most to do narratively. Given that the series centers around John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and his broken family, it makes sense that others would generally take a back seat. Unfortunately, that means some of Yellowstone's most interesting characters are often tossed to the wayside in favor of another Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Jamie (Wes Bentley) tumble. The chief among these often maligned characters is none other than Gil Birmingham's Thomas Rainwater, who deserves much more than Yellowstone has to offer him.

]]> Sun, 24 Dec 2023 16:15:19 GMT https://collider.com/yellowstone-thomas-rainwater/ Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for What If...? Season 2, Episode 2.

]]> Sat, 23 Dec 2023 08:31:18 GMT https://collider.com/what-if-season-2-episode-2-recap/ The X-Men have been a staple of television for a very, very long time. Even before they helped kick-start the superhero movie boom, Marvel's mighty mutants appeared in various animated series, including Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and X-Men: Pryde of The X-Men. Most fans will point to X-Men: The Animated Series as the pinnacle of these shows; after all, it managed to introduce the X-Men to a wider audience. With X-Men '97 slated to continue the series next year, that point of discussion is more than likely to make a return (as well as appreciation for its iconic theme song.) But there's another X-Men series that deserves just as much recognition, if not the title of "best X-Men series" ever. That series happens to be X-Men: Evolution.

]]> Mon, 25 Dec 2023 21:46:17 GMT https://collider.com/x-men-evolution-better-than-x-men-the-animated-series/