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      ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Returns One Last Time

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      One of TV’s few great funny ha-ha comedies begins its sixth and final season this week on FX and Hulu.One of my absolute favorite shows, FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows,” is back for its sixth and final season, with three new episodes now streaming on Hulu. The show, set within a household of vampires on Staten Island, remains goofy and grotesque, full of warped zingers and silly asides.Only the first three episodes of the season were made available to critics, and they introduce a few new facets, including a long-dormant additional roommate, Jerry the Vampire (Mike O’Brien). His fellow vampires were supposed to wake him in 1996, and he’s peeved to discover that not only did they let him oversleep for so long, but they also haven’t achieved any of the world-conquering goals they’d all set. Elsewhere, Guillermo, the lovable familiar, has re-entered the regular human work force — first at Panera and then at a financial firm (where they keep odd hours … hmm…).In the wake of Jerry’s disapproval, Laszlo (Matt Berry) feels motivated to get back to the lab and take another crack at one of his hideous experiments. Colin (Mark Proksch) tags along, and lo, he too has a knack for freaky discoveries. “Another young scientist inspired,” Laszlo crows. “First Mr. Oppenheimer, and now Colin Robinson.”“Shadows” faces the most vexing question for both vampires and sitcoms: Does anything change? It’s the curse and comfort of immortality and comedy alike, that everything tends to — has to? — reset and reset and reset to the norm. Even when “Shadows” stretches itself with format, as in Season 4’s brilliant HGTV episode, or in season-long surprise arcs, as with Colin’s gleefully bizarre death and rebirth, everything finds its way back to how it always was.My fondest hope is that “Shadows” has a few final tricks up its sleeve, but even its waning fifth season brought me plenty of joy last year. At a time when funny ha-ha comedies are rare, losing one of our jokiest shows stings extra hard. More

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      Mark Proksch, of ‘What We Do in the Shadows,’ Gets Into the Swing of It

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      As an “energy vampire,” the comic actor has been the most relatable menace in the FX comedy, which begins its final season.On a recent evening, the actor Mark Proksch watched as a pirate ghost cavorted on a video monitor. “I love their idea of what counts as haunted,” he said.Proksch, 46, a star of the FX supernatural comedy “What We Do in the Shadows,” knows a thing or two about haunting. He plays Colin Robinson, a vampire who shares a crumbling Staten Island mansion with three undead roommates and one human minion. Unlike his friends, Colin is a day walker, an energy vampire who feeds off others, mostly by droning on about zoning ordinances or car insurance. (Proksch, who has a gift for tedium, mostly improvises these speeches.) Onscreen, he plays blandness with such intensity that he makes apparent normalcy seem very, very weird.Proksch, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the TV writer Amelie Gillette, was in town to promote the comedy’s sixth and final season at New York’s Comic Con. (The first three episodes premiere Monday on FX and Tuesday on Hulu.)On a free night, he had come to the home of the pirate ghost, Shipwrecked, an ostensibly eerie mini-golf course in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. At the first hole, he hefted his club and swung at his bright green ball. A hole in one.“Well, that was thrilling,” he said dryly.Raised in a small city in Wisconsin, Proksch never planned on a career in performance. (As a child, he appeared in a community theater production of “The Music Man”; he had no lines.) Pale and unassuming, he has a way of blending into the background of any given room. “It’s that Midwestern charisma,” he joked.On the fourth hole, his ball veered around a tropical plant then was caught by a sand trap. “There’s a reason I haven’t done this in 20 years,” he said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      For Niecy Nash-Betts, the Fear Was Motivating

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      Niecy Nash-Betts is serious about finding “stolen moments” in life, she said, as a balance to her busy acting schedule. And she is quick to nudge others to do the same. During a recent lunch at an Italian restaurant in Calabasas, she fired off a few date-night suggestions for a reporter who had lackluster birthday plans — maybe a couples ceramics class?“If you need to put a battery in your back, you’re talking to the right one!” she exclaimed. Indeed her battery always seems charged. Just last month, she wrapped production on a leading role in the FX horror series “Grotesquerie,” premiering Wednesday, her latest collaboration with Ryan Murphy — and then hopped immediately on a flight to the Amalfi Coast, in Italy, where she and her wife, the musician Jessica Betts, celebrated their fourth anniversary.Back home barely a week, she was already gearing up to film with Murphy again this month, this time as comic relief in the Hulu legal drama “All’s Fair.” A year-end Mexico vacation was already in the works, as well.“You got to wring life out like a dirty rag,” she said as she sipped ice water, looking polished in a pink cotton gauze pantsuit, seemingly unfazed by the triple-digit temperatures scorching the San Fernando Valley. “You got to get every inch of it.”As a detective in “Grotesquerie,” Nash-Betts (with Micaela Diamond, left) must investigate a series of grisly, potentially supernatural murders — and reckon with her internal demons.Prashant Gupta/FXIn the past year, Nash-Betts also hosted her third season of the latest revival of “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!,” a weekly game show on Fox, and played a kindhearted confidant in the Ava DuVernay film “Origin,” her third collaboration with DuVernay after a minor part in “Selma” and her Emmy-nominated lead role in the Netflix series “When They See Us,” about the so-called Central Park Five.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez’ Premieres on FX and Hulu

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      The buzzy FX series delves into the N.F.L. star who murdered a friend less than a year after playing in the Super Bowl.The saga of Aaron Hernandez has riveted the sports world and beyond for more than a decade. An N.F.L. star on one of football’s best teams killed a man in 2013 even as he chased fame and glory on the field.Two years after his conviction in 2015, Hernandez hanged himself in prison, leaving unexplained his descent into crime, rumors about his sexuality, and how he was able to hide his off-field life while thriving at America’s most popular sport.Hernandez has been the subject of multiple books, true crime podcasts and documentaries. But his story is getting the Ryan Murphy treatment in a new 10-part anthology series, “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” premiering on Tuesday on FX and Hulu. Its showrunners are trying a playbook similar to one used for dramatizations of other well-known scandals like “The People v. O.J. Simpson” and “Impeachment,” about former President Bill Clinton’s sexual improprieties. But this time, they’re grappling with new terrain: pro football.Nina Jacobson, an executive producer of “American Sports Story,” said showrunners hoped to offer viewers a “more subjective experience,” rather than a rehashing of previously reported events.“I think we try, in all of these shows, to find a way to put people in the shoes of the characters and put themselves in the eye of the storm — not in a way to excuse anybody’s voices or behaviors,” she said, “but to give people a chance to maybe see them in a different light.”Ahead of the first installment, here are the key points to know about Aaron Hernandez’s football career and murder case, and the TV drama that will depict them.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Shogun’: Here’s What to Know About the Record-Breaking Emmy Hit

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      The FX epic ruled TV’s top honors, racking up 18 Emmys for its first season. Here is a brief guide to this saga of samurai warriors and star-crossed lovers.The Emmys have crowned a new overlord.“Shogun” ruled TV’s top honors, racking up a record 18 Emmy Awards for its first season — the most ever for a show in a single year — including wins on Sunday for best drama and for best actor and actress in a drama (Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai). This makes “Shogun,” created for FX by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, the most acclaimed TV show of 2024. But amid all the streaming platforms and shows out there, you can be forgiven if it flew under your radar.“Shogun” is streaming on Hulu. Wondering what all the award-winning fuss is about? Here is a brief guide to this historical epic of samurai warriors and star-crossed lovers. Soon you’ll be ready to stage an all-out assault on your next binge-watch.Where have I heard of ‘Shogun’ before?The FX series is an adaptation of the 1975 novel of the same title by James Clavell. Based on a true story and set in feudal Japan at the beginning of the 17th century, this best-selling work of historical fiction has been adapted into live-action formats twice before: first as a widely watched 1980 NBC television mini-series, then as a short-lived 1990 Broadway musical. Residents of the New York tristate area may remember this commercial for the musical; as for the book, nearly everyone has likely seen it on a family member’s bookshelf.What is ‘Shogun’ about?The first season of “Shogun” — more are in the works — centers on three characters whose relationships will determine the fate of Japan. The first is John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), a shipwrecked English Protestant and ship’s pilot, or “anjin” in Japanese. He reveals the existence of a global schism in Christianity to the island’s rulers, who have been deliberately kept in the dark by their avaricious Portuguese Catholic trading partners.Richard Chamberlain and Yoko Shimada in the 1980 version of “Shogun,” a ratings hit that was centered on Chamberlain’s character.NBCIn order to survive and to alter the balance of power in Europe, Blackthorne must make his case to Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), the man in command of the region. A member of a five-man council that has governed Japan in the name of its child ruler, Toranaga is at odds with its most powerful member, Lord Ishido (Takehiro Hira, who was a nominee for best supporting actor in a drama). The anjin and the weapons aboard his ship may provide Toranaga with the edge he needs to survive his power struggle.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      “Shogun” Emmy Win Lifts FX Past Bigger Rivals

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      The network has been a darling among critics for years. But it hit a new high on Sunday, with “Shogun” winning best drama and “The Bear” picking up several awards as well.When the “Shogun” writer and producer Justin Marks stormed the Emmys stage after his show won best drama on Sunday night, his first order of business was to pay tribute to the people who helped bring him there: the executive team at FX.How, he wondered aloud, did the network approve a show that was extremely expensive, and would be mostly subtitled in Japanese?“I have no idea why you did that, but thank you for your faith in this incredible team,” he said.For roughly two decades, that team at FX has been a darling to television critics with series like “American Horror Story,” “The Americans,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Atlanta.” But the network, with less money at its disposal than rivals such as Netflix and HBO, had never won television’s most prestigious prize, best drama, until Sunday.And that’s not all it won.“Shogun,” an adaptation from a 1975 best-selling book centered on 17th century feudal Japan on the brink of civil war, had a dominant night at the Emmys. It set a record for most Emmys won by a show in a single year, winning 18 in all. It was also the first time a foreign language show (roughly 70 percent of the show was in Japanese) had taken the best drama award that is normally the domain of shows that take place in the United States, the United Kingdom or Westeros.Hiroyuki Sanada in a scene from “Shogun.”Katie Yu/FX, via Associated PressAnother FX show, “The Bear,” won several major Emmys on Sunday night, including three acting awards. But in an upset, Max’s “Hacks” defeated “The Bear” in best comedy series.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jeremy Allen White, of ‘The Bear,’ Wins Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy

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      Another Emmy? Yes, Chef.Jeremy Allen White, who plays a chef always on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the FX series “The Bear,” won the Emmy for best actor in a comedy on Sunday.In the show, White plays Carmen Berzatto, known as Carmy, a high-profile chef in New York who comes home to Chicago to take over an Italian beef sandwich shop, after his brother dies by suicide. In Season 2, which was under consideration in Sunday’s ceremony, Carmy tries to transform the spot into a Michelin-worthy destination. This was his second nomination and win for the role.“My heart is just beating right out of its chest,” White said in his acceptance speech before professing his love for his castmates.“This show has changed my life,” White said. “It has instilled a faith that change is possible. If you are able to reach out, you are really truly never actually alone.”White beat Steve Martin and Martin Short of “Only Murders in the Building,” Matt Berry of “What We Do in the Shadows,” D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai of “Reservation Dogs” and Larry David of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”“The Bear” was a heavy favorite heading into the 76th Emmy Awards, as the show made Emmy history in July when it notched 23 nominations for its second season, setting a record for most nominations for a comedy series in a single year. (The record belonged previously to “30 Rock.”) White was also widely favored.In an unusual quirk of timing, this is the second time this calendar year that White has won an Emmy for playing Carmy. For his work in Season 1, he accepted the best lead actor award in January, when the 75th Emmy Awards aired because of delays caused by the writer and actor strikes. More

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      Review: On ‘English Teacher,’ School Is a Battlefield

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      A new FX sitcom handles the educational culture wars with a light touch.The culture war often doesn’t have a physical frontline; it’s fought in op-ed columns, through social-media memes and inside people’s heads.Public schools are an exception. There, the state infantry of teachers, enlisted to handle potentially explosive ideas, face wave after wave of challenging students, backed by air support from helicopter parents.“English Teacher,” which begins Monday on FX, is a deft, brutal trench comedy of this battle. Brian Jordan Alvarez, the creator and viral-video comic, stars as Evan Marquez, a high school teacher in suburban Austin, Texas, struggling to get through each day with his ideals intact and his shirts unstained.His students are wily shape-shifters, a tech-enabled alien species whose ways and attitudes keep their handlers off-balance. “The kids this year, I feel like they’re less woke,” Evan tells his best friend, the history teacher Gwen Sanders (Stephanie Koenig), who concurs. One student, she said, told her she needed to teach “both sides” of the Spanish Inquisition.Evan’s real troubles begin, however, when he learns that he’s under “investigation” after a rich, influential parent reported him for having kissed his ex-boyfriend (Jordan Firstman) in front of students.His principal, Grant Moretti — a walking anxiety attack played wonderfully by Enrico Colantoni — admits that Evan shouldn’t have to deal with this, but he’s too beaten and besieged to do anything but plead with Evan to help him make the problem go away. One of Evan’s students suggests he claim discrimination as a gay Hispanic, but another says, “Gay doesn’t count anymore, and he talks like a straight white guy.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More