Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

What Chinese streaming services censor from American TV shows

Sep 9, 2022
A journalist's side-by-side comparison of 100 episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” on Chinese and U.S. streaming sites.
Foreign TV shows on Chinese streaming websites like Youku must be approved by regulators. Journalist Manyun Zou analyzed 100 episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” to figure out what was censored.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

With "Reservation Dogs" and "Rutherford Falls," a new era of TV centers on Native people, stories

Aug 3, 2022
The new wave of shows created for and by Indigenous people shows Native storytelling is worth investing and reinvesting in, fans say.
The second season of the dramedy "Reservation Dogs" premiers Wednesday night on Hulu.
Araya Doheny/Getty Images

Hollywood can't keep up with TV screen tech

Aug 1, 2022
As the TV in your living room gets better, the special effects in big-budget Hollywood films are starting to look worse. Lane Brown of New York magazine discusses.
Lots of films were designed to appear on theater screens or high-definition television. On 4K TVs, some special effects may look fuzzy.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

There's a new spate of working-class sitcoms, and they're not sold on the American dream

Jul 25, 2022
"They're sort of poking fun at the idea of upward mobility, of the American dream being something that's attainable," said Vulture's Roxana Hadadi.
Craig Robinson, left, and Rell Battle star in the new working-class comedy "Killing It."
Amy Sussman/Getty Images

For "Young Rock" co-creator, even a pandemic won't make comedy go away

Feb 18, 2021
Nahnatchka Khan, co-creator of the NBC series "Young Rock," talks TV production and how a tough year can be translated into amusing entertainment.
Sitcom writer and producer Nahnatchka Khan. "I think we'll be able to laugh at the way that we adapted to our lives being turned upside down," she says.
Annie Tritt

Hollywood is betting big on animation in 2021

Feb 17, 2021
Steaming platforms are investing heavily in new original cartoons, as well as building libraries of older favorites.
Streaming services like HBO Max and Disney+ are investing more and more into animation like "The Simpsons," streaming on Disney+.
Angela Papuga/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Why TV revivals are lucrative for networks

Jan 11, 2021
Reboots of popular shows don't need to be a critical success to be a commercial one.
The original cast of "Sex and the City." The reboot of the hit show won't include the character Samantha, played by Kim Cattrall, second from left.
Paramount Pictures

How the television industry is getting back to work

Oct 26, 2020
"It has been a real tough puzzle for Hollywood to figure out," Hollywood Reporter's Bryn Sandberg says.
Reality TV productions got back to work before most scripted projects.
David McNew/Getty Images

How will reality TV work now that reality feels unreal?

May 14, 2020
Shows have been doing remote production, and for many of them that works. But for how long?
Kris Jenner, left, her daughter Kim Kardashian and bocce ball instructor Jackie Savitt film an episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" in 2008.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Caesars Palace