In the past 30 years, reality tv has become its own genre, filled with its own cliches & character types. The best reality TV is made from the same ingredients, from the lies to the villains to the drama. Today we're breaking down the most essential tropes & characters in reality TV.

Modern Family's Phil Dunphy may not be cool, but he is a cool dad. Here are Phil's seven lessons on how to ace parenting.

Black Mirror's “Joan Is Awful” suggests Netflix’s style of content is making people today… kind of miserable. So, how, exactly?

It seems like we’re finally moving out of the “friend zone” tropes of the past and seeing more positive platonic relationships between men and women on screen.

What are the worst and weirdest movie and TV tropes about careers? Here are the most commonly misrepresented professions in TV and movies – and why they’re so off-base.

Succession has a knack for finding Shakespearean drama & dark hilarity in an honest reflection of today’s billionaires & media ecosystems. But how much of it is directly inspired by specific facts?

Jules Vaughn is just one of the many magnetic characters in HBO’s Euphoria – so why does everyone seem to be obsessed with her?

Did Ted Lasso lose its way? And is the problem that it changed... or we did?

Barry’s harrowing final season was a bleak genre-defying story that was ultimately about how the stories we tell ourselves matter.

You may have noticed a look being celebrated among many female characters and actors in movies and TV––the “wide-eyed girl” look. And it’s not just you; people have been doting on the look for ages. I

Looking back on The Wire now, we can see how Marlo Stanfield’s ability to make a very bad state of affairs even worse conveys an important, timeless message: just because things feel like they can’t get worse, doesn’t mean that’s true.

Anna Nicole Smith is getting the Marilyn and Pamela treatment – the once-vilified voluptuous blonde is now getting reframed to embody the 'glamorous yet tragic' arc. But, why do we keep repeating this tragic revolution, and is there any lesson in Anna Nicole's story about how to stop the deja vu?

Netflix’s Bridgerton and spin-off Queen Charlotte blend of fact and fiction to tell an engaging story about then and now... So what’s the real history behind the fascinating Queen Charlotte and how does it line up with the series?

Succession's final showdown is coming into sight: it’s Kendall versus Shiv for the crown, while Roman completes his spectacular self-destructive fall.

Rob Marshall’s 2023 The Little Mermaid has been met with resistance from audiences who complain of an uneasy “uncanny valley” feeling from watching too-realistic CGI sea creatures singing and dancing, and dark cinematography that’s hard to see... However, The Little Mermaid has also sparked positive buzz due to its casting charismatic actors like Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle. So, looking closer at the details, what’s different between these two stories of Ariel?

No, it’s not just you. TV and movies are getting darker. So…why?

Nepotism doesn’t always flow from parent to child – there are nepo parents, nepo partners, even nepo friends. While we’re quick to point out nepotism, are we forgetting about the importance of collaboration, & the inspiration that creators derive from their close ones?

At first, Unforgiven might just look like another old-school Western, but it also challenges the genre of the Western and the black-and-white idea of a Western hero. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you’ve probably seen modern neo-Westerns that stand on the shoulders of the revival this movie kicked off.

Fashion today is veering in one of two directions: on one end of the spectrum is "hobocore," and on the other is the "old money" aesthetic. Here’s why these class-crossing fashion trends are so in right now, what their histories are, and their biggest problems.

Scandoval: It’s got fan theories. It’s got lawsuits. It’s got brawls. And it’s got everyone’s attention. What makes this Vanderpump Rules scandal different from the endless reality tv gossip flooding social media?

In our post-truth age, have conspiracy theories got more power than ever? Here’s our take on the current climate of conspiracy theories, how the lines between fact and fiction have become more blurred than ever, and the danger of living in a culture where trust is hard to come by.

Daniel Radcliffe has pretty much defied all expectations people had for him as a child star. He's grown into a mature dad and respected actor by embracing his weird side.

In the aftermath of the Coronation, do Harry and Meghan need to repair their relationship with the Royals, go full Hollywood, or take an Entrepreneur route?

For nearly two decades the seemingly invincible MCU has dominated the cinematic release schedule, but some cracks are showing in their audience response... So what's really going on?

Are our standards for celebrity-privacy that low, that we’re shocked if a celebrity has *anything* in their life they're not broadcasting to the paparazzi? Today we’re so primed to expect famous people to share everything, we get blindsided when they still have secrets. But a striking celebrity “trend” today is the subtle clawing back of privacy.