Film & TV
June 27, 2023
‘SpongeBob’ Fans Believe Sandy Cheeks Is From Houston. They’re Wrong.
H-Town is the cartoon character’s alleged hometown, but she seems more like a Conroe gal to me.
Television
Latest
1-50 of 346 Articles
Film & TV
June 20, 2023
For One Special Year, America’s First LGBTQ Cable Show Aired in Texas
'TV Montrose,' the lightning-in-a-bottle production that aired from 1998–1999, is being digitized by the University of Houston Special Collections Library.
Sponsored
May 25, 2023
Episode 7: “Sssshh” with Elizabeth Olsen, Lesli Linka Glatter & Michael Hall
Host Nancy Miller sits down with Elizabeth Olsen in the final episode of the series to take a deeper look at who Candy Montgomery was in the aftermath of her trial.
Sponsored
May 18, 2023
Episode 6: “The Big Top” with Tom Pelphrey & Mike Hall
Host Nancy Miller speaks with Tom Pelphery, who brings to life the scene-stealing lawyer Don Crowder. Pelphery explains how he got the part and how much effort went into the role, including the tan.
Film & TV
May 12, 2023
Tami Taylor, Mother of Texas
Connie Britton’s tough yet compassionate Friday Night Lights character remains one of our most inspirational depictions of Texas womanhood.
Sponsored
May 11, 2023
Episode 5: “The Arrest” with Patrick Fugit, Audrey Fisher & Emily McCullar
Host Nancy Miller sits down with Patrick Fugit, who plays Pat Mongomery, and takes a deep dive into the psyche behind the character. Series costume designer Audrey Fisher talks with Miller about her experience of turning the series actors into their 1970s and 1980s characters. Texas Monthly senior editor Emily
Film & TV
May 4, 2023
How Elizabeth Olsen and Holly Hunter Captured the Not-So-Quiet Desperation of Texas Women
What makes the Texas woman unique? What makes her distinct from the demure Southern belle or the rugged, rifle-toting frontierswoman of the American West? As the novelist and Texas Monthly contributor Sarah Bird suggests in her 2016 essay collection, A Love Letter to Texas Women, maybe
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April 29, 2023
Episode 3: “Stepping Stone” with Jeff Russo, Krysten Ritter & Mimi Swartz
Host Nancy Miller turns the beat around in Episode 3 with composer Jeff Russo to better understand the task of creating the musical backdrop for a compelling drama. Miller also speaks with Kyrsten Ritter, who attributes her Aunt Sharon to the inspiration behind her character, Sherry Cleckler. Texas Monthly executive
Film & TV
March 14, 2023
Why 1980 Was the Year Texas Went Worldwide
The current Yellowstone-fueled “Westerncore” aesthetic is little more than a cultural blip compared to what Dallas and Urban Cowboy unleashed in 1980.
BBQ
February 1, 2023
How ‘Poker Face’ Re-created an East Texas BBQ Joint for TV
The third episode of the Peacock series starring Natasha Lyonne heavily features Texas barbecue, and gets a surprising amount of detail right.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
“Wouldn’t People Like Some Good News?”: The Lasting Popularity of ‘Texas Country Reporter’
Host Bob Phillips reflects on how fifty-year-old ‘Texas Country Reporter’ became a state institution.
Film & TV
November 11, 2022
‘Love Is Blind’ Is Ludicrous, But So Is Marriage
Season three of the Netflix reality series wrapped up in Dallas, but between the gossipy fun and the occasional eye roll, there is insight into the nature of twenty-first-century relationships and marriage.
Film & TV
October 6, 2022
‘Walker: Independence’ Tries Reinventing the Western, With Familiar Results
The CW drama is set in nineteenth-century Texas but strives for twenty-first-century relevance.
Film & TV
September 2, 2022
Martha Kelly Says She’s Not an Actor. The Emmys Beg to Differ.
Martha Kelly, the former “Funniest Person in Austin,” is nominated for her deadly serious role in HBO’s ‘Euphoria.’
Film & TV
August 24, 2022
What Netflix Needs: Some ‘Mo’ Houston
In the new Netflix series ‘Mo,’ created by Houston comedian Mo Amer, Bun B is a priest and Paul Wall is a security guard. But it’s not all laughs.
By Katy Vine![Katy Vine's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
June 14, 2022
Deep in the Heart of Beavis & Butt-head
Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head return for a new movie and series that find them older but far from wiser. Is Texas finally ready to claim them as our own?
Film & TV
May 19, 2022
Sissy Spacek Is Among the Stars in Amazon’s ‘Night Sky’
The 72-year-old Oscar winner and East Texas native takes her small-town ethos to the small screen—and across galaxies.
Film & TV
May 12, 2022
There Are No Glass Ceilings Left for Cristela Alonzo
After a four-year hiatus from comedy, the Rio Grande Valley native has a new Netflix special and a new approach to her career.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
February 11, 2022
The Dallas Mortuary Accused of Producing the Worst Funerals Ever
Seventeen families are suing the Golden Gate Funeral Home for allegedly desecrating their loved ones' bodies.
Film & TV
February 2, 2022
‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ Turns the Texas Ice Storm Into Cold Exploitation
The Austin-set firefighter show devotes four episodes to the 2021 freeze while ignoring all of the real-life drama.
Film & TV
January 25, 2022
Are Chip and Joanna Gaines Too Big to Flop?
Magnolia Network, helmed by Waco’s First Family, has already weathered its first scandal. Viewers will keep tuning in.
Books
January 21, 2022
Texas Monthly Recommends: A True-Crime Tale of Two Murders
‘Blood and Money’ has it all: new oil money, an equestrian heiress, a handsome plastic surgeon, River Oaks mansions, and gossip-worthy trials.
Film & TV
January 19, 2022
Edi Patterson Is the Holy Terror of ‘The Righteous Gemstones’
The Texas City native and star of the hit HBO comedy series talks Judy Gemstone, ham slices, and why there’s nothing worse than someone trying to be funny.
Film & TV
January 18, 2022
‘How I Met Your Father’ Is a Casualty of the Nostalgia Machine
The gender-swapped sequel will be an easy watch for sitcom fans, but the callbacks and in-jokes tip into the saccharine.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
January 13, 2022
Goodbye to ‘Search Party,’ the Show That Satirized a Generation
Comedies must choose whether to punch up or punch down; watching ‘Search Party’ has always made me feel like I’m punching myself.
Film & TV
January 6, 2022
The New ‘Queer Eye’ Season Is a Healing Work of Pandemic Art
Can the Fab Five help a society ravaged by grief recover? The answer is yas.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
January 5, 2022
‘Yellowstone’ Is the Country’s Biggest TV Sensation. Why Are Critics Shrugging?
The Yellowstone prequel series ‘1883’ was a smash hit—and just the beginning for Taylor Sheridan’s western empire. Only viewers seem to care.
Film & TV
December 21, 2021
Ten Notable Performances From Texan Actors in 2021
From newcomers to reliable veterans to a pop star remaking her TV career, these were the actors worth watching this year.
Film & TV
December 17, 2021
HBO and HBO Max to Get First Dibs on Texas Monthly Stories
The premier entertainment brands are entering a three-year deal with the National Magazine of Texas that gives them a “first look” at articles and podcasts they’re interested in adapting as TV series.
By Dan Goodgame![Dan Goodgame's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
December 9, 2021
Texas Could Sure Use a Man Like Hank Hill, I Tell You What
Twenty-five years later, Mike Judge’s ‘King of the Hill’ still captures something essential about Texans and Texas life. But are there any Hank Hills left?
Film & TV
December 8, 2021
‘The Chosen’ Is Christian TV That Even Heretics Can Get Behind
The streaming phenomenon, produced just outside of Dallas, is winning converts with its ‘Friday Night Lights’ spin on faith.
Film & TV
December 8, 2021
Skip ‘The Freak Brothers,’ and Read the Original Comics by Its Texan Creator Instead
The new show has a strong premise that’s derailed by cheap laughs. But cartoonist Gilbert Shelton’s counterculture strips are still great.
Film & TV
November 19, 2021
Season Two of ‘Love Life’ Has Nothing New to Say
Dallas native William Jackson Harper is a romantic lead who's prone to repeating mistakes and slow to mature.
Libations
November 19, 2021
Escape to the Tropics at Austin’s Tiki Tatsu-Ya
Indulge in over-the-top cocktails like the Skeleton Cruise, which comes in a boat with dry ice and activates bar-wide light and sound effects.
Film & TV
October 7, 2021
Apple’s ‘Foundation’ Is Dull, but Lee Pace Is Our Intergalactic Emperor Daddy
The Houston-raised actor shines as a pompous space tyrant in the otherwise dreary Isaac Asimov adaptation.
Film & TV
September 28, 2021
NBC’s ‘La Brea’ Is Silly, but It Gives Natalie Zea an Overdue Spotlight
The Monahans-bred actor elevates this loopy, Lost-like sci-fi drama about a mom fighting her way out of a mysterious primeval world.
Film & TV
July 15, 2021
‘Dr. Death’ Condemns Christopher Duntsch, but the Real Culprit Is Texas’s Broken Health-Care System
I helped break the story on the convicted surgeon, but Peacock’s dramatized series made me reconsider how I wrote about the case.
Film & TV
July 13, 2021
Nava Mau Shines (and Subverts Transgender Stereotypes) on HBO’s ‘Genera+ion’
“When stories about trans people are created by trans people, it opens up a world of possibilities,” says the San Antonio–raised actress.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Books
June 22, 2021
Texas Monthly Recommends: An Engrossing East Texas Novel
Stacey Swann's ‘Olympus, Texas’ is the read of the summer. Plus: a so-bad-it's-good reality show and Megan Thee Stallion on ‘Legendary.’
Film & TV
June 4, 2021
Texas Monthly Recommends: A Farm-to-Table Fredericksburg Restaurant
Plus, a really good lemon cookie and an upbeat musical on Netflix.
Film & TV
May 29, 2021
Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson Has Taken Over Daytime TV
The Burleson native will inherit Ellen DeGeneres’s time slot, and the future of daytime talk.
Film & TV
May 26, 2021
‘High on the Hog’ Rewrites Food History On-screen
The new Netflix documentary series reclaims African American culinary and cultural contributions to the U.S. with the utmost care.
Film & TV
May 6, 2021
Selena Deserves More Than Netflix Kitsch
Part two of Netflix's Selena series delivers a more confident version of the Tejano icon than part one, but fails to portray the late singer as the nuanced person she was.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
May 3, 2021
HBO Max Orders ‘Love & Death’ TV Series Inspired by Texas Monthly Articles
The limited series, from Lionsgate Television, will star Elizabeth Olsen and be written by David E. Kelley.
Film & TV
April 20, 2021
What ‘Cruel Summer’ Gets Right About Texans
The soapy teen drama takes place in a fictional Texas town that—aside from an extravagant kidnapping plot—looks like home.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
March 23, 2021
Alan Tudyk Is Ready to Be Taken Seriously
After decades of playing goofy sidekicks, the El Paso–born, Plano-bred actor finally has a leading role.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Music
February 26, 2021
Matthew McConaughey and Beyoncé Did More for Texas Than Ted Cruz
Plus: Taylor Kitsch gets back in the TV game, Travis Scott manages to get people excited about magazines, and Megan Thee Stallion does her best ‘Mean Girls.’
Film & TV
February 12, 2021
Oliver Stone’s New JFK Movie Already Faces Concerns Over Fact-checking
Plus, Pedro Pascal and Renée Zellweger land plum TV roles, Sandra Bullock pairs up with Brad Pitt, and GameStop movies continue to be a bullish investment.
Film & TV
January 29, 2021
Robert Rodriguez Readies a Reboot of ‘Spy Kids’
Plus, Demi Lovato returns to TV, Gary Clark Jr. joins Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis movie, and Matthew McConaughey will flatten himself for some Doritos.
Film & TV
January 22, 2021
Just How Many Texans Are in the Marvel Universe Now, Anyway?
Plus, Luke Wilson coaches Fort Worth’s most famous orphans, another JFK assassination drama heads to TV, and McConaughey goes to the dogs.