Editorials
Liz Shannon Miller’s Favorite TV Shows of the Last 15 Years
It’s Consequence’s 15th anniversary, and all September long we’ll be publishing a series of retrospective pieces encompassing our publication’s own history — and the entertainment landscape in general. Today, Senior Entertainment Editor Liz Shannon Miller runs down her favorite television shows of the last 15 years. I enjoy all forms of entertainment, but my first love was television, a medium I became obsessed with back in the days when there were no DVRs, no streaming services, no DVD box sets — just your butt in front of a TV tuned to the right channel at the right time. Stressful, but also magical in its own way. It’s a good thing watching television has gotten a lot easier in the 21st century, because there is now a lot more than there used to be. Thus, when faced with this assig...
Clint Worthington’s Favorite Films of the Last 15 Years
It’s Consequence’s 15th anniversary, and all September long we’ll be publishing a series of retrospective pieces encompassing our publication’s own history — and the entertainment landscape in general. Today, Senior Writer Clint Worthington runs down his favorite movies of the last 15 years. As I write this, it’s the day after my seven-year anniversary of writing for Consequence. That’s nearly half of its 15-year existence, spanning hundreds of reviews, interviews, features, news items, listicles, rankings, and scores of other pieces. Film critics age in dog years; every year feels like seven. There’s always more to watch — something new to evaluate, something old to celebrate. I have a great deal of affection for this place, even as editors, managers, and fellow writers come and go w...
Wren Graves’ Favorite Songs of the Last 15 Years
It’s Consequence’s 15th anniversary, and all September long we’ll be publishing retrospective pieces informed by our publication’s own history — and the entertainment landscape in general. Today, News Editor Wren Graves runs down his favorite tracks of the last 15 years. A good song is a good song, but a favorite song is a moment in time: The number one track on a cross-country road trip; the first dance at a wedding; the long hospital playlist that still didn’t cover 19 hours in labor. I’ve changed a lot over the last 15 years, and music has been there every step of the way, melody and memory hand in hand. Critics sometimes put on a mask of objectivity, but I can’t pretend that this collection of songs has anything to do with words like “greatest” or “best.” As someone who lives thei...
Awards Are Bullshit, But It Would Still Be Nice If Better Call Saul Could Win Some
After last night’s Emmy Awards ceremony, Better Call Saul can lay claim to a remarkable achievement: 46 Emmy nominations and zero wins over the course of its six-season run. Forty. Six. Forty-six chances to recognize one of the best shows on television for its remarkable achievements, and 46 failures to do so. It feels mean to keep harping on that number, but 46 is staggering. This TVLine list showcases 25 great shows that also never won an Emmy, but most of the shows on that list only received a few token nods during their run — they weren’t playing the game as hard as Saul has done over the past six years. And yet 46 losses. It’s a lot! Upon its initial premiere, the genre-defying crime drama may have been an immediate part of the Emmys race as a spinoff of Breaking Bad, which had a much...
How Do We Reckon with Great Music by Terrible People?
It’s Consequence’s 15th anniversary, and all September long we’ll be publishing a series of retrospective pieces encompassing our publication’s own history — and the entertainment landscape in general. Today, we’re opening up a discussion about how we decide to cover artists and their music — or not — when it all goes wrong. When it comes to language around acceptable behavior, there’s a tendency towards binary thinking, as if breaking a taboo were the same as flipping a switch — “yes” to “no,” “politically correct,” to “politically incorrect,” “uncanceled” to “canceled.” But that’s not exactly what happens. Let’s say, for example, that a great songwriter — a songwriter we all love — has been accused of something that a lot of people think is terrible. It could be violence or prejudic...
2022 Emmys Predictions: Our Best Guesses As to Who Will Win Big This Year
Like all awards ceremonies, every year the Emmys recognize a wide range of inspiring, hilarious, complex, and/or heartbreaking shows and performances in its nominations, and like all awards ceremonies, the actual winners sometimes feel a little disappointing, if only because the winner was the predictable choice. So, in that spirit, here is a humble effort to try to guess what and who the TV Academy will choose to recognize this Monday, when the 74th annual Emmy Awards are handed out. One word to describe the predictions below? Pragmatic is probably the most politically correct term to use. For, sometimes the Emmys can be truly exciting and innovative in their winners, but other times, the awards basically go to the same three shows. Advertisement These picks aren’t as single-minded as tha...
2022 Emmys Predictions: Our Best Guesses As to Who Will Win Big This Year
Like all awards ceremonies, every year the Emmys recognize a wide range of inspiring, hilarious, complex, and/or heartbreaking shows and performances in its nominations, and like all awards ceremonies, the actual winners sometimes feel a little disappointing, if only because the winner was the predictable choice. So, in that spirit, here is a humble effort to try to guess what and who the TV Academy will choose to recognize this Monday, when the 74th annual Emmy Awards are handed out. One word to describe the predictions below? Pragmatic is probably the most politically correct term to use. For, sometimes the Emmys can be truly exciting and innovative in their winners, but other times, the awards basically go to the same three shows. Advertisement These picks aren’t as single-minded as tha...
Why We Need a Fifth (and Final) Season of Westworld
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 4 finale of Westworld, “Que Será, Será.”] The 2022 television landscape feels, sometimes, a little bit like the Wild West, as the chaos being experienced by the rest of the world trickles into the business decisions being made by men in Patagonia vests. This is why it’ll be exceptionally ironic if, after consistently keeping viewers on their toes for four seasons, Westworld never gets a chance to bring its cyberpunk Western story to its planned conclusion. The twisty mindfuck of a show, a riff on the 1973 Michael Crichton film created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, wrapped its fourth season this month by literally ending the world — or, at the very least, the end of humanity. Advertisement Season 4 began with most of human...
How Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal Affirms My Experience with Autism
In a 2017 Rolling Stone profile, comedian Nathan Fielder discussed researching Asperger’s syndrome to shape his character on the popular Comedy Central program Nathan For You. Although Fielder did not disclose that he personally identifies on the autism spectrum, his latest project — HBO’s fascinating and deceptively moving docu-comedy The Rehearsal — reflects an experience that many autistic individuals such as myself have dealt with: masking, a survival mechanism in which autistic individuals suppress their neurodivergent traits in order to adapt to their surroundings. The Rehearsal initially follows Fielder helping people practice difficult conversations and momentous life events by designing intricate simulations for them. To do this, he hires actors to inhabit these sets, and crafts d...
How Whitney Houston and Brandy’s Cinderella Changed the Way We Think About Movie Musicals
In 1997, Whitney Houston materialized on our television screens in a shimmering, golden gown fitting for the peerless superstar and told us all something very important: “It’s possible.” For many millennials, members of Gen Z, and parents of both, Wonderful World of Disney‘s spectacular interpretation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella quickly became a staple. The telecast aired in 60 million households, making it the most-watched television musical in decades, and earned a second life on home video when it became the highest-selling home video release of any made-for-television film to date. In the 25 years since Cinderella, the project, which was co-produced by Houston, has taken on an almost mythic quality. Many things about the production felt revolutionary: The first ...
Olivia Newton-John Was a Classic Hollywood Star Born at the Wrong Time
The passing of Olivia Newton-John on August 8th at the age of 73 after a long battle with cancer, inspired a rare moment of social media unity in her memory. While the Australian singer, actress, and activist had a decades-long career that resulted in her being one of the best-selling music artists from the second half of the 20th century, she is forever iconic thanks to her performance as Sandy in Grease. A major hit in the ‘70s and a nostalgic beacon during its ‘90s revival, Grease was a knowing pastiche of ‘50s teen comedies that loved the genre it mocked so mercilessly. Populated by a cast of tax-paying adults playing high-school kids who sing about sex and yearning, it’s a giddy mess that has stuck around long after the fads it parodied. What holds it together, amid the dirty gags and...
Fan Chant: ENHYPEN Interview, ATEEZ EP Breakdown, and More
Hello and welcome to Fan Chant, a new weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. I’m a Contributing Editor here at Consequence, and while I have the joy of getting to write about so many things — pop and indie music, festivals, and even film and TV — one of my most favorite parts of my job is getting to write about K-pop. I love how passionate K-pop fans are; it’s genuinely rewarding as a writer to get to share my work with people who pay attention to every word choice and turn of phrase in a piece. The first piece of writing I ever had published here at Consequence was about BTS (way back in 2020, in the “Dynamite”...
