Eric Deggans

The drama Empire features Terrence Howard as a ruthless music mogul building a worldwide company. But NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says the show works best when focused on the black family at its core.

Like many devoted fans, I jumped on the release of newly reconfigured, high-definition versions of HBO's classic cop series The Wire, binge-watching much of the show's five seasons on the HBO GO streaming service over the holidays.

And what I discovered — along with the sharper visuals — was the ...

The most important TV events coming in 2015 include new voices in late-night, big goodbyes, online platforms picking up old shows and, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says, more of everything.

It is, perhaps, the worst nightmare for those of us constantly trying to get a white-dominated Hollywood to widen its doors of opportunity for people of color: All those executives who say the right things in public and give to the right causes, just might think something much less admirable ...

Advisory: Videos on this page contain imagery that may be disturbing.

Here's a truism about our modern media culture: Sometimes the most interesting things on TV aren't actually created for television.

Viral videos have long been an important part of the savvy pop culturist's media diet. But this year, such ...

Both Stephen Colbert and Craig Ferguson end their late-night TV shows this week. Colbert is getting a boatload of attention as he moves to succeed David Letterman, but Ferguson deserves some too.

When I was a kid, I loved reading Gene Siskel's movie reviews for the Chicago Tribune.

Not because I agreed with him (friendly rival Roger Ebert's brainy populism was really more my style). But Siskel's tastes were so well-defined and sharply argued, after reading a piece I knew whether or ...

As the CIA and Senate Intelligence Committee clash over whether so-called enhanced interrogation techniques are considered torture, another question arises: Have depictions of torture on TV and film helped convince us that it works?

Consider this warning that recently greeted viewers of ABC's political soap opera, Scandal:

"The following drama ...

For TV writers, "enhanced interrogation" are just one more storytelling device. But has its surefire success in shows like 24 influenced how and when real-life interrogators employ torture?

FX's biker drama Sons of Anarchy airs its final episode tonight, capping a seven-season run. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says cable's most macho series succeeded by finding strong roles for women.

Now more than ever, America needs productive conversations about race, stereotyping, police, crime and social justice. And too often, our national media continues to fall short.

After many years of dissecting how race works in media, I was both disappointed and but, sadly, not surprised by much of the coverage ...

TV critic Eric Deggans debriefs with Audie Cornish about Thursday night's live performance of the musical, Peter Pan, on NBC.

NBC's Peter Pan Live! production seems to be utterly in earnest — but TV critic Eric Deggans wonders if the show will need a viewership boost from critics snarking on Twitter to really succeed.

AMC's hit zombie drama The Walking Dead airs its midseason finale Sunday. It's now one of TV's most diverse shows, but critic Eric Deggans says it hasn't always served non-white characters well.

Note: The audio in this story incorrectly identified the actor in a scene from “The Birdcage.” It was Luca Tommassini, not Hank Azaria. We apologize the error.

One of the most honored and successful directors in entertainment has died. Mike Nichols, director of “The Odd Couple” on Broadway, “The ...

Mike Nichols has a long string of classic films and plays to his credit as a director and producer, including The Odd Couple on Broadway, The Graduate on film and Angels in America on TV.

He died Wednesday night of a heart attack at age 83, acknowledged as one of ...

Nielsen, the company that measures broadcast and cable ratings, will begin using its technology to calculate the viewership of streaming services like Netflix. Also, Bill Cosby projects are canceled.

There was more fallout for actor comedian Bill Cosby on Wednesday, following renewed allegations about sexual misconduct. NBC said it was cancelling plans for a comedy it was developing with Cosby.

President Obama will unveil his executive actions on immigration Thursday, but Republicans aren't waiting for the announcement to criticize the move.

This may be the first time in a long while that Bill Cosby can't control the public conversation about Bill Cosby.

Read the recent biography Cosby: His Life and Times, and you see a portrait of a talented performer who took control of his business and career interests early on, ...