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In the novel A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag by the Canadian author Gordon Korman, the protagonist writes a political science report on the governmental structure of [...]

Nostalgia is driving the 'newest' crop of TV shows and movies. That, and the bottom line. Any time someone complains that TV shows and movies are too reliant on rehashes, [...]

It can be hard living next to history's greatest cultural, military and economic superpower. But that doesn't mean the United States is best at everything. As Canada celebrates its 146th [...]

2015 was the year 'political correctness,' formerly a leftover catchphrase from the 1990s, came back into the mainstream. From Jonathan Chait's widely shared New York magazine article 'Not a very [...]

Kids still We Jungle Book; the rest of us quote its author constantly. So why does Kipling get no respect? 'Do you think Kipling will live?' asks a character at [...]

That iconic theme was old-fashioned even in 1977. Can Star Wars revive orchestral score--again? It's the highlight of every trailer or teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens--that unmistakable theme. [...]

We've hit 'peak TV,' with 400 scripted shows on the air. Everyone ready for the bubble to burst? Why does the TV fall season even exist? Certainly not to get [...]

In 2004, Jon Stewart went from a somewhat popular comedian to a media oracle, but he didn't do it on his own show. The host of The Daily Show was [...]

And, once, so did a lot of people. How did such a flawed sci-fi flick become an unassailable cultural force of our times? One day in the 1970s, George Lucas [...]

When David Letterman ends his career of hosting late-night talk shows in May, there will be more tributes to him than any retiring host has gotten since Johnny Carson. He [...]

He sings, he jokes, he makes things disappear. Will the Oscars launch him as a variety-show superstar? What exactly does Neil Patrick Harris do? Well, he's hosting the Academy Awards [...]

The 75-year-old teen gets a serious makeover. But is it wise to mess with a beloved comic book icon? Archie is cool now. Yes, the 74-year-old teen-humour comic book, which [...]

When sitcom king Norman Lear released his autobiography in the fall, he was upfront about the biggest influence on the classic shows he created, such as All in the Family [...]

When you buy a Batman or Captain America T-shirt, they look cool. Things are different with Wonder Woman. In September, an officially licensed shirt appeared with a picture of the [...]

John Mulaney is a likable young comedian with a seemingly charmed life. At only 31, he's been a successful standup, a major writer on Saturday Night Live, and he has [...]

When How I Met Your Mother premiered in 2005, some people thought it would be a good sitcom, but virtually no one thought it was going to be an important [...]

Can pop song lyrics be great art? When Bob Dylan was announced as the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, it made that old question more urgent than [...]

Philip Roth is one of North America's most acclaimed writers, and also one of its most unsuccessfully filmed writers. So far 2016 has brought not one but two movie adaptations [...]

TV shows and movies that tap into rock V roll nostalgia used to be a sure thing. Not any more. Rock 'n' roll will never die, but rock 'n' roll [...]

More than a decade ago, Jonathan Safran Foer was tagged as the next great American novelist. Then came the drought. Few novelists have had as promising a youth as Jonathan [...]

The TV shows we remember from the 1980s aren't Emmy-winning dramas; they're shows like MacGyver. The lighthearted series is being revived by CBS this September, with Lucas Till (X-Men) taking [...]

Sometimes it seems like people are more interested in the world's worst opera singer than in any of the best ones. The new movie Florence Foster Jenkins, opening Aug. 12, [...]

Christian filmmaking is having a moment, eclipsing even movies about superheroes. Next, a devout remake of Ben-Hur There have been many film versions of Ben-Hur, but there's never been one [...]

In theory, this is a great time for Steven Spielberg. The director's movies almost always make money, and his new film, The BFG, doesn't seem likely to be an exception. [...]

When a cultural product is chosen as a vehicle to try out a risky technology, it's usually a hit with worldwide name recognition. But on June 30, a company called [...]

What's the hot new animation that young people are talking about on social media? Oh, just a cartoon from 1942, taking place in the 1890s and parodying a children's book [...]

Jane Bond, the female equivalent of James Bond, isn't a character who has ever appeared in books or movies, but she's already more popular than most characters who have. With [...]

The rise of Donald Trump has made strange things happen. One of the strangest is the revival of CNN. The cable news network has spent years losing to its flashier, [...]

Captain America: Civil War is the latest in the endless line of Marvel superhero movies, and its May 6 opening could be a turning point for people who are burned-out [...]

The Good Wife shouldn't have happened in this day and age. The drama series, whose last episode airs on Global on May 8, belongs to a genre that was already [...]

Orphan Black may have found an answer to TV's woman problem. That's one reason for its success The fourth season of Orphan Black, beginning April 14 on Space, continues the [...]

There are two kinds of children's shows: the ones childless people have heard of, and the ones that are truly for children. Paw Patrol is the second kind. A computer-animated [...]

People who have seen commericals for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice might recognize Ben Affleck's Batman from somewhere. The film, out March 25, portrays the Caped Crusader as a [...]

MSNBC is thought of as the most liberal U.S. news network, so why is one of their stars often accused of being in the tank for Donald Trump? Joe Scarborough, [...]

On Feb. 17, Jimmy Fallon will take over as the host of The Tonight Show. But the bigger news may be that a whole new city is taking over the [...]

The story of Dorothy is the ultimate all-American fairy tale. That's just one reason it's still so popular. HOW MANY 75-YEAR-OLD movies remain popular enough to get an expensive theatrical [...]

THE UPCOMING 50TH anniversary of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech will confirm its status as one of the most famous orations of all time: anniversary celebrations are [...]

Star Wars movies, Marvel toys: Is this Disney? The decline of one of the world's most iconic brands. WHEN THE LONE RANGER came out July 3, it was a rarity: [...]

SUPERMAN HAS DONE just about everything a superhero can do in 75 years. Brian Cronin, author of Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? recalls the time he 'was hit by [...]

GREG DANIELS, DEVELOPER and executive producer of the U.S. version of The Office, speaks to Maclean's from the show's own offices, where he's one of the few people left. 'They're [...]

GIUSEPPE VERDI, THE Italian composer who was born in 1813, will never be a forgotten man of music, since his works are in the repertory of every opera company in [...]

MANY PERFORMERS HAVE hosted the Academy Awards, but Seth Maclane, host of the 85th annual show, is something different: he's not known for performances where he's actually seen. As a [...]

NETFLIX WANTS House of Cards, its new direct-to-streaming television drama, to get a lot of buzz and positive attention-and that may be more important than how many people actually watch [...]

WE USED TO know a TV story was almost over when there were only 10 minutes left in the episode. Today most shows aren't over until the series is cancelled. [...]

A NEW KIND of reality TV is taking over our small screens: fictional shows in real historical settings. Thanks to series like Downton Abbey and Mad Men, actors are appearing [...]

'WHAT'S GOING ON in the real world of politics is really nutty,' says Greg Berlanti, co-creator of the new show Political Animals. 'That allows us in the fictional world to [...]

NOTHING COULD STOP Robert Lepage--except Wagner's Ring. The Quebec director has received great reviews for his plays, his opera productions and his spectacular shows for Cirque du Soleil. But then [...]

DAVID CRONENBERG'S next project is called Knifeman, described by his production company as the story of a surgeon who 'goes to extraordinary and unorthodox lengths to uncover the secrets of [...]

'IN L.A., YOU sometimes hear coyotes eating cats--to me, that's the sound of a laugh track. I hit the wall. I just couldn't take another minute of it.' That's why [...]