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Rapid Insights: English Teacher Rewrites the Rules of School-Based Comedies

Last week, FX released a hilariously provocative new comedy series that tackles hot-button issues through the lens of a dysfunctional public high school. Created by its star Brian Jordan Alvarez, the series focuses on the trials and tribulations of overwhelmed educators in an Austin, Texas suburb as they grapple with wily students, entitled parents, and […]

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Rapid Insights: Bad Monkey Injects Dark Comedy and Danger into Crime Drama

A quirky new dark comedy that premiered recently on Apple TV+ has already become the surprise hit of the summer thanks to its fun, humorous approach to the crime genre. From the creator of Shrinking and Scrubs, the series stars Vince Vaughn as a disgraced homicide detective-turned-restaurant health inspector who embarks on his own investigation after a tourist […]

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Rapid Insights: Time Bandits Balances a Cinematic World with TV Character Depth

Cult classics are quirky, offbeat, often subversive films that live off the mainstream grid but attract a die-hard following that keep their legacy alive. In recent years, a number of these niche movies have been successfully reinterpreted for TV, and Apple TV+ recently premiered a fun new fantasy adventure series that joins their illustrious ranks. […]

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Rapid Insights: The Decameron Thrives on Dark Comedy and Medieval Mayhem

Netflix recently premiered a hilarious new limited comedy series and it’s already climbing the service’s Top 10 list. Loosely based on a bawdy and irreverent medieval short story collection, the show follows a group of nobles and their servants in 1348 Florence as they attempt to hide from the deadly Black Plague in a wine-soaked […]

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Rapid Insights: Agatha All Along and The Penguin Explore the Magic and Mayhem of Evil

This September, a pair of diabolical villains will take center stage in two much-anticipated new series set within their respective superhero cinematic universes. Marvel baddie Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) will attempt to regain her powers in Disney+’s Agatha All Along, a spin-off from 2021’s WandaVision, while HBO’s The Penguin will track the rise of DC crime lord and Batman […]

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Rapid Insights: Lady in the Lake Doubles the Impact with Dual Protagonists

Last week, Apple TV+ released a buzzy new period crime drama that’s based on a popular, critically acclaimed novel of the same name. The limited series stars Moses Ingram as a Black woman bartender in 1960s Baltimore, whose murder becomes the obsession of Natalie Portman’s character, an investigative journalist. Here’s what you need to know […]

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Rapid Insights: Those About to Die Thrills with To-the-Death Gladiatorial Battles

This coming Thursday, Peacock will be premiering a much-anticipated new epic drama inspired by the same 1958 book that gave rise to the Oscar-winning film Gladiator. Directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Anthony Hopkins, the new series explores the violent, corrupt world of bloody, do-or-die gladiatorial competition in Ancient Rome. Here’s what you need to know […]

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