The Other Two; The Vampire Diaries; Parts Unknown. Max, the streaming service named after the Netflix character who loves Kate Bush, had a messy introduction. The streamer formerly known as HBO Max changed to just “Max” overnight in the middle of a week in May, forcing us to download yet another app (annoying). While the name still does not make sense, the streamer, now filled with Warner Bros. Discovery’s entire library, has a lot to offer in every category, the ultimate capitalist-empire streamer.

Dog groomer Kenichi and Tinkerbell. Let’s be clear: Every dog in the Netflix series Dogs is a special blend of hungry eyes, wagging tails, and flapping tongues. But some of the dogs in this six-part documentary series stand out above the others. So I decided to make like a Westminster Kennel Club judge and rank the show’s top 18 dogs. This is, obviously, a subjective process. The following bundles of slobbering joy are the ones I deemed the best boys and girls, in order, as of this writing.

The Big Bang Theory The Celebration Reverberation Season 11 Episode 11 Editor’s Rating 3 stars *** Previous Next» « Previous Episode NextEpisode » The Big Bang Theory The Celebration Reverberation Season 11 Episode 11 Editor’s Rating 3 stars *** Previous Next» « Previous Episode NextEpisode » It’s Amy Farrah Fowler’s birthday, and she’ll hurl if she wants to. The bad news is that it’s a gift from Sheldon that leads Amy to spend her birthday eve giving her regards to ol’ Broadway, if you know what we mean.

42-70262093 I was enamored of Cynthia Lennon from the moment I met her in the fall of 1980. It was in Ruthin, Wales, where she was running a bed and breakfast, and I was there to interview her for a book I was writing with Peter Brown, the former chief operating officer of Apple Corps, the Beatles’ parent company.  Peter had introduced me to all four Beatles and their inner circles — friends, family, wives, and ex-wives — but Cynthia was the only one with whom I felt really simpatico.

What do the Chicago Tribune, Netflix, and Rolling Stone have in common? They all used the event of Bart Simpson’s birthday last week to promote themselves. Normally, I have no problem with Simpsons-related tweets, even for selfish reasons (I’ve posted almost 3,000 of them myself), but the thing is, Bart’s birthday wasn’t last week. All three of the above tweeted a Bart birthday post, and in doing so, they helped propagate a lie.

Can the right song result in a scene that’s way more than the sum of its audiovisual parts? Don’t stop believin’. Consider the band T-shirt. A wearable way to advertise your musical taste, these garments nonetheless have their good uses and their not-so-good ones. Everyone knows the shibboleth against wearing a band’s T-shirt to their own concert: It’s a bit obvious, a bit on-the-nose, a bit too much of a good thing.

Superlatives A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers. Superlatives A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers. “If you only listen to AM radio, you’re going to consider us soft rock. I don’t consider us soft rock. We have a broad spectrum.” The shadow of “Don’t Stop Believin’” looms large, quite literally, over the “funky little office” in Neal Schon’s home.

Roxana Hadadi is a TV critic who also writes about film and pop culture, with the closed captions on and motion smoothing off. Roxana Hadadi is a TV critic who also writes about film and pop culture, with the closed captions on and motion smoothing off. There is an episode of The Office in which Michael Scott — influenced by The Godfather film series and The Sopranos, and at his core, an idiot — tries to order “gabagool” at an Italian restaurant without actually knowing what it is (capicola).

This is not that scene. Spoilers for Black Panther below. Every gaffer and best boy should write a thank-you note to Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige. His Marvel Cinematic Universe enterprise has probably increased attendance during filmic credits sequences by 5,000 percent since the advent of Iron Man ten years ago. You always gotta wait to see if there’s a mid-credits scene, and if there’s yet another scene after the credits!

Sean Thor Conroe lost his fiercest advocate before he published his first novel. Now he’s facing the hype without him. Photo: Marie Tomanova Sean Thor Conroe is outlining what he calls the “four pillars” of fuckboy-hood — the different ways you can be a self-aggrandizing, duplicitous, and otherwise distasteful man. First, there’s what he calls the classic spineless, “bitch-ass dude,” whom other men look down on because they’re not living up to the “masculine standard of toughness and integrity.