PEN15
‘Euphoria,’ ‘PEN15,’ ‘Reservation Dogs’ and ‘Yellowjackets’ Costume Designers on Dressing With Teen Spirit
The costume designers for these teen-centric comedies and drama captured their characters’ adolescent angst with style.
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Why the Cathartic Release of Female Rage Dominated 2021’s TV Plotlines
During one of the most hilariously tragic moments of Succession‘s third season, we witness Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook), the scion of a global media empire, down a drink at a blowout birthday bash and unleash herself on a half-filled dance floor. She writhes and rollicks in a kind of danse macabre, letting out all the […]
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This Week in TV: ‘Money Heist’ and ‘PEN15’ End, ‘Annie Live’
One of Netflix’s bigger series comes to an end this week as the final batch of Money Heist episodes is released. Hulu’s critically hailed PEN15 is also finishing its run. NBC returns to the live musical game with a rendition of Annie, and ABC mounts its third Live in Front of a Studio Audience sitcom re-creation. […]
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‘PEN15’ Ending With Season 2 on Hulu
The end of Hulu’s Emmy-nominated comedy hit PEN15 has arrived. The breakout comedy, created by and starring Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, will end Dec. 3 when the second half of season two drops on the Disney-backed streamer. The decision to end the series was made by Erskine and Konkle, who play 13-year-old versions of […]
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From ‘Mare of Easttown’ to ’The Queen’s Gambit’: Books to Read Based on Emmy Nominees
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, we may receive an affiliate commission. As the best in television will be celebrated during Sunday night’s Emmy Awards, readers may recognize some of the Emmy-nominated series are adapted from books including Shrill, Bridgerton, The Queen’s Gambit, The Flight Attendant and The Undoing. […]
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Experts Weigh In: Who Should Win — And Who Will Win at the Emmys
BEST DRAMA SERIES WILL WIN: The Crown (Netflix) The Handmaid’s Tale has one more acting nomination (10), The Mandalorian the same total (24), and this is the last chance to honor Lovecraft Country and Pose, but Netflix will snag its first series win for season four of Peter Morgan’s show about the British royals. — […]
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‘PEN15’ Co-Creator Maya Erskine on Producing Animated “Jacuzzi” Episode During Pandemic, Pregnancy
Hulu “traumedy” PEN15 is already in the business of stretching the imagination, thanks in part to its grown creators and stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, who perfectly encapsulate two awkward, angsty middle-schoolers during 2000. That’s part of what makes the show — which is celebrated by critics for its hilarious depiction of the cringey horrors […]
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Script to Scene: ‘PEN15’ Co-Creator and Star Details “Tough Episode” Where Maya and Anna’s Friendship Is Tested
“This was kind of a tough episode,” admits PEN15‘s Maya Erskine of “Play,” for which she has earned an Emmy nomination for writing. In the second season of the Hulu comedy, in which Erskine and co-star/co-creator Anna Konkle play fictionalized teenage versions of themselves, Maya and Anna see their friendship tested when the former is […]
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‘PEN15”s Anna Konkle on Drawing From “a Treasure Trove of Untold Stories” to Play a 13-Year-Old
Middle school — that “gray world of dealing with adult feelings before you have the capacity to deal with them” says PEN15 co-creator Anna Konkle — is a chapter of life that most people prefer to forget about and move on from. But one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and it’s in the traumatic […]
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Hulu’s New Head of Scripted Explains the Streamer’s “Curatorial Function”
Disney+ has Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and National Geographic. And as Hulu’s recently promoted head of originals Jordan Helman sees it, his platform is a home for other curated content from across the Disney fold — including FX on Hulu, ABC and Freeform — as well as its own with awards players The Handmaid’s Tale […]
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‘Bridgerton,’ ‘Lovecraft Country’ and ‘WandaVision’ Among Shows to Earn ReFrame Stamp
A record number of television shows have earned the ReFrame Stamp, a distinction doled out to productions that have achieved gender-balanced hiring. Among the newly stamped shows are Bridgerton, The Handmaid’s Tale, WandaVision, Lovecraft Country, The Flight Attendant, Hacks, Pose, Black-ish, PEN15, The Underground Railroad and I May Destroy You. The news was announced today by […]
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Maya Erskine on Boundaries, Asian American identity, and Overcoming Her Inner Critic
This article was created in paid partnership with SK-II While Maya Erskine might not be a household name (or at least, not yet), many people would recognize Erskine as Maya Ishii-Peters in the hit Hulu series PEN15 — a shy 13-year-old girl with a bowl cut, navigating the treachery of seventh grade with her best friend. Co-created […]
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