Lili Loofbourow

Oakland, Calif.

Education: University of Southern California, BS in psychobiology; USC, BA in English; USC, BA in music; University of Alabama, MFA in creative writing

Lili Loofbourow is the television critic for The Washington Post. She previously worked at Slate, where she wrote about news, politics, comedy, gender and internet culture. Before that, she was the Week's staff culture critic. She was a special correspondent for the Los Angeles Review of Books and has written for venues including the New York Times Magazine, the New York Review of Books, the New Republic, the Guardian, PMLA, the Virginia Quarterly Review and the Cut. Loofbourow is based in Oakland, Calif.
Latest from Lili Loofbourow

Last night’s Emmy Awards felt like a rerun

After “Shogun” broke records at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier in the week, there wasn’t much suspense going into the 2024 Emmy Awards.

September 16, 2024
"Shogun" stars Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada won the top acting awards for a drama series.

On TV this fall, stars crop up where you least expect them

The season’s television highlights include Disney Plus’s “Agatha All Along,” HBO’s “The Penguin,” “English Teacher” on FX and “Disclaimer” on Apple TV Plus.

September 5, 2024

FX’s ‘English Teacher’ is an improbable, radically playful triumph

One feature that makes “English Teacher” unusual is its resistance to the hyperbole we’ve perhaps come to expect from American sitcoms.

September 2, 2024
Brian Jordan Alvarez as Evan Marquez in FX's “English Teacher,” which premieres Sept. 2.

‘The Rings of Power’ improves in its second season. But not enough.

The second season of “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is better than the first. But it still feels like homework.

August 29, 2024
Sam Hazeldine in Season 2 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”

In its fourth season, ‘Only Murders in the Building’ doubles down

Not since “Arrested Development” has a comedy been this self-referential. Some of “Only Murders in the Building’s” best jokes come at its own expense.

August 27, 2024
From left, Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage, Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora and Martin Short as Oliver Putnam in Season 4 of Hulu's “Only Murders in the Building.”

The Democratic National Convention made an impossible job look easy 

At the DNC, Democrats faced the daunting narrative task of honoring Joe Biden, elevating Kamala Harris and keeping (almost) everyone happy. It worked.

August 23, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris waves to supporters following her speech on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

HBO’s ‘Industry’ used to know bankers aren’t interesting. It forgot.

In its third season, the drama has won the coveted Sunday-night spot HBO has historically reserved for shows such as “Succession” and “Game of Thrones.”

August 10, 2024
Myha’la as Harper Stern in HBO's “Industry.”

Biden the anti-icon

President Biden’s reluctance to use television has been one of the stranger features of his presidency.

July 25, 2024
President Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday.

‘The Decameron’ is the best apocalyptic ensemble comedy since ‘Clue’

Kathleen Jordan’s piquant take on the 14th-century masterpiece by Giovanni Boccaccio is joyfully unfaithful to its source material.

July 25, 2024
From left, Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Misia, Jessica Plummer as Filomena and Tony Hale as Sirisco in Netflix's “The Decameron.”

Moses Ingram and Natalie Portman spar in ‘Lady in the Lake’

In Alma Har’el’s stylish riff on ’60s-era Baltimore, two women clash over how to spin two deaths.

July 19, 2024
Natalie Portman as Maddie Schwartz, left, and Moses Ingram as Cleo Johnson in Apple TV Plus' "Lady in the Lake."