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      Loved ‘Couples Therapy’? Read These 11 Books

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      These stories of relationship dramas and evolving partnerships will fill the “Couples Therapy”-sized hole in your life with wisdom, schadenfreude and humor — and sometimes all of the above.It can be hard when shrinks go on summer vacation — especially in a summer when each news cycle seems to bring more upsetting developments to process. And it doesn’t help that the fourth season of the cult favorite Showtime docuseries “Couples Therapy” has just wrapped, so even affordable, vicarious therapy is off the table. Without our weekly fix of Dr. Orna Guralnik’s deep nods and cathartic sympathy crying — and with the good doctor’s own much-anticipated book still months off — what are we to do?The series, which started airing in 2019, did not seem to have the makings of a hit: real couples, sitting on a Brooklyn sofa, telling a therapist their problems. At worst, thought skeptics, it sounded voyeuristic and upsetting; at best, boring and contrived. Long before Annie and Mau were a twinkle in my eye, or I’d wept over Season 2, or I’d had wildly differing feelings about different strangers named Josh, I, too, was one of those people. “Watch it,” said a co-worker. “Nothing you thought will ever be the same.” Forty-five minutes in, I was hooked.There are many reasons “Couples Therapy” has broken through: the happy surprise of seeing our perceptions change, the age-old distraction of other peoples’ problems, the actual applicable advice, Dr. Guralnik’s glossy mane and teeny tiny braids (a major discussion point on message boards).But even if you aren’t a fan of the show, these shoulder-season reads will get you through August with wisdom, schadenfreude, dysfunction, pain and humor — and sometimes all of the above. It’s not a spoiler that most of these couples could use a session or 10.Desperate Characters, by Paula Fox (1970)Otto and Sophie Bentwood are a childless couple in their early 40s living in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn (they’re the gentrifiers). Life seems comfortable — until Sophie is bitten by a feral cat and their carefully ordered existence begins to crumble. There’s even a kitchen renovation in this sharply observed, humane classic of New York marriage. (Read about the book’s legacy.)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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      James B. Sikking, Actor Best Known for ‘Hill Street Blues,’ Dies at 90

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      His natural rectitude landed him roles on hundreds of TV dramas and comedies, including the beloved “Car Pool Lane” episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”James B. Sikking, an actor who specialized in comically and threateningly stern men, died on Saturday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 90.The cause was complications of dementia, a spokeswoman, Cynthia Snyder, said in a statement.Mr. Sikking combined a soldier’s leanness and square jaw with a gentleman’s horn-rimmed spectacles and neatly combed hair. As a Federal Bureau of Investigation director involved in high-level power players in the 1993 movie “The Pelican Brief,” he looked the part.“I have that professional, intelligent look in my eye that hires me as doctors, lawyers, professional people,” he told The New York Times in 1988.Among hundreds of roles on television, Mr. Sikking was best known for playing Lt. Howard Hunter on the police drama “Hill Street Blues” (1981-87). The show won 26 Emmys, a record for a drama until “The West Wing,” which ran from 1999 to 2006, reached the same total. The show “paved the way for today’s golden era of TV drama,” The Los Angeles Times wrote in 2014, a claim that many other commentators have made as well.Mr. Sikking’s character, who appeared in every episode, was a pipe-smoking disciplinarian and weapons expert who, when alone at home, might whisper lovingly to a puppy.He based the character’s persona and even dress on a drill instructor he had during a stint in the Army. “He was so ‘army’ that it was maddening,” Mr. Sikking told the entertainment and lifestyle publication Parade in 2014. “And he had just gotten his second lieutenant bars and he worked our butts off and he was totally unbending.”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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      ‘UnPrisoned’ Depicts the Burden of Incarceration With a Light Touch

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      Delroy Lindo and Kerry Washington discuss their series, which finds humor and struggle in a father and daughter repairing their relationship after a long prison term.“UnPrisoned” on Hulu is the rare show to focus on the aftermath of incarceration and its ongoing effects on families rather than on imprisonment itself.Created by Tracy McMillan and loosely based on her 2011 memoir, “I Love You and I’m Leaving You Anyway,” the series stars Delroy Lindo and Kerry Washington as Edwin and Paige, a father and daughter trying to repair their relationship when Edwin comes back into Paige’s life after serving 17 years in prison.The first season explored the emotional injury that Edwin’s long absence inflicted upon Paige, an avid Instagrammer, therapist and single mother who struggles with a string of unhealthy romantic partners. Season 2, premiering Wednesday, delves deeper into how the issues of abandonment, anxiety and mistrust have been passed down through three generations, and it depicts the hard work it takes for the family to break the trauma cycle and begin to heal.Though the show spotlights a serious societal problem — mass incarceration — it does so with a light touch, finding humor as well as difficulty in the challenges of re-entry. Such nuance is what drew both Lindo and Washington to this story about, as Lindo put it, “the problems of families that have been decimated by the penal system and their trying to reconnect.”“Shining light on that process and on one individual who has been imprisoned for as long as my character was, while also doing it somewhat comedically, was genuinely very, very interesting to me,” he said.Washington helped develop “UnPrisoned” through her production company, Simpson Street. She said Lindo was her only choice for Edwin because she needed someone who could handle the comedy while also being able to convey the complexity and charisma of McMillan’s father, who inspired the character.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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      Trump Returns to RNC With a Different Look, but Some Things Were Familiar

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      The first night of the Republican National Convention sought to strike a new note. But some of the lyrics were familiar.Donald J. Trump, a former reality-TV star, has always been conscious of his set dressing as a presidential candidate. At the 2016 Republican National Convention, he made a pro-wrestling-style walk-on in front of blinding lights. In 2020, he used the White House itself as the backdrop for his acceptance speech.But on the first night of the 2024 convention, Mr. Trump — in a way that he could not have anticipated before Saturday — was his own biggest prop.Just as the major networks’ prime-time coverage began, Mr. Trump entered the V.I.P. box in Milwaukee with a large white bandage on his injured right ear, the result of a close call on Saturday with a would-be assassin’s bullet at a rally in Pennsylvania. A reminder of mortality, a badge of survival — it was a blank rectangle on which the crowd could read what it wished, and that made it the most potent placard in the hall.Mr. Trump’s rallies and appearances have always been about firing up big feelings: rage, fear, grievance, defiance. This, as Mr. Trump walked out to the sounds of Lee Greenwood performing “God Bless the U.S.A.,” was something a little different.The mood of the moment was emotional and warm. Much of the night felt like a merger of political rally and gospel service, full of exhortations for divine protection, not simply for the country but also for the party’s returning leader.And Mr. Trump, who has said in interviews that he does not cry, looked as close to misty as I can remember in decades of seeing him onscreen.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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      What to Expect From Wednesday’s Emmy Nominations

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      The top nominees are announced at 11:30 a.m. ET. “Shogun” and “The Bear” are poised to have a big day.Just six months after a strike-delayed ceremony, the Emmys are back.Nominations for television’s most prestigious award show will be unveiled on Wednesday morning. “Shogun,” the lush period drama, and “The Bear,” the anxiety-inducing comedy, are poised to have a big day. Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” is expected to stand out among limited series.There is a considerable cloud hanging over Emmy nomination day this year. Last year’s double strikes, along with several years of cost cutting, have put the industry in the throes of a contraction. The Peak TV era is now firmly in the rearview mirror. To wit, the number of shows submitted for Emmy consideration this year plummeted.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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      A Somber Late Night After the Attack on Donald Trump

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      Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers offered sober reflections about democracy. So did Anthony Anderson, though he found some humor in the reaction to the shooting.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Not FunnyLate night was more subdued than usual on Monday, two days after a gunman tried to kill Donald Trump at a rally.“The Daily Show” canceled its plans to cover the Republican National Convention from Milwaukee, skipping its Monday show. Jimmy Fallon avoided the topic altogether on “The Tonight Show,” while Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers addressed it with solemnity at the top of “The Late Show” and “Late Night.”Colbert expressed “horror at what was unfolding, relief that Donald Trump had lived, and, frankly, grief for my beautiful country.”“So as we’ve done many times in the past when some tragic event has shocked the nation, I’m starting the show tonight talking at the desk. Though I could just as easily start the show moaning on the floor, because how many times do we need to learn the lesson that violence has no role in our politics? That the entire objective of a democracy is to fight out our differences with, as the saying goes, ballot not a bullet?” — STEPHEN COLBERTSeth Meyers said it was “worth saying that there is no autopilot for democracy.”“Every generation before us has had to do the difficult work of safeguarding this cherished enterprise, and now we’re called upon to do the same.” — SETH MEYERSAnthony Anderson, guest-hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” said he hoped that “we can all take a step back from the hatred and vitriol in our politics.” He was the only host who attempted a few jokes around the incident.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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      In ‘Beverly Hills, 90210,’ Shannen Doherty Redefined Teen TV Drama

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      As Brenda Walsh, Doherty was the engine of the series that set the template for what a modern teen drama would look like on television.If you liked watching TV on Thursday nights in 1990, you could have spent your spring with Audrey Horne and Donna Hayward, in “Twin Peaks,” and your fall with Brenda Walsh in “Beverly Hills, 90210.” And Brenda, as played memorably by Shannen Doherty, who died on Saturday, knew who her peers were. When she dons a (hideous) hat in Season 1, she is met with derision. “Hippie witch is out,” sneers Kelly (Jennie Garth).“It’s not hippie witch; it’s ‘Twin Peaks,’ and it’s very in,” Brenda snaps back. Ah, back then we were so rich in pouty, put-upon brunettes with brooding motorcycle boyfriends, fraught taste in companions and a desire to listen to the same song over and over.No, Brenda’s outfit is not “Twin Peaks” in any way, but her affection and affectation create a fun hall of mirrors. Brenda herself was a character whose style many sought to emulate, though sadly, God blesses so few of us with such magnificent bangs. Still, it was far easier to incorporate a Walshian choker or silver belt buckle than to pull off an arch “Twin Peaks” saddle shoe.Teens were all over prime-time in 1990. “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” also debuted that season, and shows like “Growing Pains,” “Who’s the Boss,” “A Different World” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.” were already airing.But it was “Beverly Hills, 90210” that established the blueprint for what a modern teen drama would be: glossy, aspirational, tackling the topics of the day but bending inexorably — if they lasted — toward soapiness. It was a template followed by series like “Dawson’s Creek,” “One Tree Hill,” “Gossip Girl” and “The O.C.,” among many others.And of all the young beautiful people who populated West Beverly Hills High, it was Brenda who made the show go. As she went from naïf to vixen, from humble Minnesotan to globe-trotting romantic, her transformations transformed the show itself. Grander tragedies befell other characters, but no one suffered heartbreak or betrayal with more intensity than Brenda, the show’s most authentically teenage character. In Doherty’s hands, Brenda was both vulnerable and vituperative, delivering the sharpest insults but in the most pain.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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      Anthony Hopkins on Playing a Roman Emperor in ‘Those About to Die’

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      In an interview, the actor discusses his new series, humble origins and the freedom age brings. “That gives me a tremendous amount of energy to move forward,” he said.Anthony Hopkins has advice for any aspiring actor: Speak clearly.“If you whisper, you sound sexy,” he said during a recent video call. “But I can’t hear you. What’s the story? Tell the story. Stop mumbling.”Though Hopkins, 86, has won two Oscars (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Father”), a pair of Emmys and a Laurence Olivier award, he still insists that acting is mostly just enunciating. “It’s just showing up,” he said. This summer, he can be heard, clearly, in “Those About to Die,” a 10-episode series set amid the blood and sand of a Roman amphitheater. It premieres on Peacock on July 18. Hopkins plays Vespasian, a general-turned-emperor who ordered the construction of what would become the Roman Colosseum.“Those About to Die” allowed Hopkins to return to Cinecittà, the famed Italian studio where he filmed “The Two Popes.” And it continues his interest, demonstrated in projects such as “Freud’s Last Session,” “The Father,” “Westworld” and even as far back as “Nixon” and “The Remains of the Day,” in playing men in the waning of their power.Though Hopkins appears in few scenes of “Those About to Die” (anyone familiar with the ancient Roman timeline can guess why), he is fully in command of his own capacities. His Vespasian is infirm of body, not purpose. Facing down his legacy, Vespasian scolds his sons (played by Jojo Macari and Tom Hughes), dismissing their advice and praise.“I had to be tough on them and no nonsense,” Hopkins said.Roland Emmerich, the show’s director, wanted Hopkins for that sternness. “He plays a little bit like a gruff guy,” Emmerich said in a recent interview. He also suspected that Hopkins could play Vespasian’s canniness as he contends with both the aristocracy and the people. And that he could make that realpolitik pleasurable.“He has this likability,” Emmerich said. “He played Hannibal Lecter and was still lovable.”During the video call, Hopkins was only occasionally gruff and, yes, often lovable. (A man who has a way with a twinkle, he has amassed millions of followers on TikTok.) These days, he views his career, he said, “with a sense, not of self-congratulation, but a sense of fun.”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