Judy Berman

Judy Berman is the TV critic at TIME. Along with reviewing current television, she writes about the ways in which entertainment and pop culture intersect with our larger social and political realities. Her TIME essay on Ted Lasso and modern masculinity won a New York Press Club award in 2022.

Recent Articles

'Say Nothing' Is a Must-Watch Thriller

FX's adaptation of the book by Patrick Radden Keefe isn't just a gripping crime drama—it's an urgently timely work of political art.

By Judy Berman

'Bad Sisters' Chose Violence

The second season's two-part premiere ended with a shocking death. Here's why the twist works so well.

By Judy Berman

Stanford Prison Experiment, Revisited

A new docuseries challenges half a century's worth of received wisdom about the influential social psychology study.

By Judy Berman

Colored Television

Ever since her 1998 debut novel, Caucasia, made her a standout author of her generation, Danzy Senna has been known for interrogating the experiences of mixed-race people like herself. Twenty-six years later, her trenchant, self-aware,...

By Judy Berman

Rebel Girl

Kathleen Hanna was barely an adult when, in 1990, she formed Bikini Kill, the punk band that would become the flagship act of the third-wave feminist riot grrrl movement. But at that young age, she...

By Judy Berman

Beautyland

To understand people the way a perceptive author like Marie-Helene Bertino does, it helps to be, at once, an active participant in and a shrewd, outside observer of human society. Adina Giorno, the heroine of...

By Judy Berman

The Safekeep

Yael Van Der Wouden’s debut novel, set in a 1960s Netherlands scarred by the Second World War, confounds expectations. Every time you think you know where it’s going, it shifts course. What looks at first...

By Judy Berman

'St. Denis Medical': TV Review

'Superstore' creator Justin Spitzer's latest NBC sitcom does for health care what Quinta Brunson's show has done for education.

By Judy Berman

HBO's 'Like Water for Chocolate': Review

Passion and politics come together in this maximalist six-episode adaptation of the classic novel.

By Judy Berman

The 5 Best New TV Shows of October 2024

From 'Sweetpea' to 'Where's Wanda?' to 'Rivals'

By Judy Berman

The Rise of Gentle Masculinity

From Andrew Garfield to Adam Brody, the gentle man is taking over pop culture. In an election that is a referendum on gender, can he conquer American politics, too?

By Judy Berman

Billy Crystal's 'Before' Is a Total Bust

Billy Crystal's goofy Apple TV+ project is the year's most disappointing show—a psychological thriller that offers neither psychological insight nor thrills

By Judy Berman

Bridget Everett on 'Somebody Somewhere'

The comedian, actor, and singer talks about ending her beloved HBO series, being honored by her hometown, and what's next.

By Judy Berman

'Hysteria!' Is an Ideal Halloween Binge

Peacock's fun, insightful, occasionally scary horror series follows a teen metal band during the height of the satanic panic

By Judy Berman

Thriller 'Sweetpea' Is a Twisted Delight

'Yellowjackets' and 'Fallout' star Ella Purnell is riveting in this Starz series about a meek young woman who snaps and starts killing.

By Judy Berman

Welcome to Goth Girl Autumn

From 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' to 'Agatha All Along,' this year’s goth revival is grounded in '80s and '90s girl-power nostalgia.

By Judy Berman

'Love Is Blind' Gets Real About Politics

In its seventh season, the controversial Netflix series spotlights the kind of nuanced debate we almost never see on reality TV

By Judy Berman

Most Haunting Moments on 'Love Is Blind'

From the wine-drinking dog in Season 1 to a post-breakup jet ski ride in Season 6

By Eliza Berman , Mahita Gajanan , Meg Zukin , Rachel Sonis , Judy Berman and Cady Lang

What the Yellowjackets Season 1 Finale Reveals About the Show’s Wild Teen Matriarchy

Because adolescence is a gauntlet, and because women are still the second sex, almost every story pop culture tells about teenage girls is also a story about the horrors society inflicts on them.

By Judy Berman

Yellowjackets, The Power & TV's Matriarchies

At a dark moment for feminism, creators keep dreaming up societies where women rule. But these visions aren't utopian.

By Judy Berman
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