Ben Travers Writer Indiewire

Ben Travers

TV Critic

Ben Travers is the New York-based TV Critic and Deputy Editor at IndieWire, where he’s been writing reviews, analyzing industry trends, and interviewing key figures since 2014. He is the 2021 winner for Best Entertainment Commentary at the Southern California Journalism Awards, and a 2020 finalist for Best TV Critic at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. Ben helped launch IndieWire’s Consider This series, which advocates for each year’s most deserving awards contenders, and he was on set for “Veep’s” final day of filming. (Seeing Julia Louis-Dreyfus eviscerate another human being live, in person, changed him forever.) A lifelong student of Sylvester Stallone and more-recent scholar of “The Leftovers,” “Better Things,” and “BoJack Horseman,” he is also an experienced moderator, having led conversations for the Television Academy, Screen Actors Guild, PaleyFest, SXSW, ATX TV Festival, and San Diego Comic-Con (at Hall H, in front of 6,000 screaming fans). Prior to joining IndieWire, Ben served as an editor and critic at PopMatters, as well as a production assistant on major motion pictures. He holds degrees in journalism and cinema from the University of Iowa. He loves puns, baseball, black coffee, and soft sweatshirts. Follow him on Twitter @BenTTravers and Instagram @BenTravers5

Latest by Ben Travers
(L-R): Teen (Joe Locke), Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) star in Marvel Television's AGATHA ALL ALONG
Based on the Danish series 'WandaVisdysen'
A game cast and musical treats guide the "WandaVision" spinoff through a clunky start, but "Agatha" is yet another Marvel series satisfied to tease what's coming rather than conjure purpose in the present.
American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez stars Josh  Rivera as Aaron Hernandez, shown here wearing his Patriots uniform next to his NFL locker
Baseball Is the Only Good Sport
Mired by Wikipedia-like plotting, clunky dialogue, and an exorbitant runtime, FX's latest "Story" hits its stride whenever it centers the perils of sports culture.
Dan Levy and Eugene Levy host the 76TH EMMY AWARDS, shown here standing on stage wearing black tuxedos
Emmys
Surprise winners and solid speeches can't spice up a telecast that felt more perfunctory than celebratory, let alone entertaining.
Eita Okuno as Saeki Nobutatsu, Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko, Hiromoto Ida as Kiyama Ukon Sadanaga sit on the floor of a large room, legs folded, robes worn, in 'Shogun'
Emmys
Heading into the Primetime ceremony, Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks' first season had already won the most Emmys for any single TV season. Now, they're raising the new record even higher.
Shogun stars Anna Sawai, shown here wearing a white robe with red flowers
Emmys
Only the second actress of Asian descent to be nominated in the category, Sawai triumphed in a heated race against Hollywood and onscreen royalty.
Hiroyuki Sanada stares contemplatively into the light in a scene from 'Shogun'
Emmys
The actor behind Lord Toranaga — who's also an executive producer on the series — won an Emmy for his performance, as "Shogun" continues to dominate the Drama categories.
Jodie Foster in "True Detective" Season 4 Episode 5, "Night Country"
Emmys
The two-time Oscar winner landed her first Emmy Award after previously being nominated as a director ("Orange Is the New Black") and producer ("The Baby Dance").
Shailene Woodley in 'Three Women,' a new series where she plays Gia, based on author Lisa Taddeo, shown here sitting with a cocktail, wearing a black suit jacket
TV Review
A character study that's subtle strengths are undermined by glaring flaws, Lisa Taddeo's adaptation of her own book follows four women (not three) navigating the ways desire steers their lives.
The Penguin, an HBO series, stars Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb, shown here grimacing
Childless Catwoman To the Rescue
HBO's eight-episode spinoff of "The Batman" doesn't deepen Colin Farrell's waddling mobster as much as it underlines the con-artist appeal of his callous villainy.
Nicole Kidman in a three-picture collage of her roles in 'Lioness,' 'The Perfect Couple,' and 'Expats'
Never Stop Working, Our Sad, Rich Queen
Leading eight new series in eight years (and three new seasons in 2024 alone), the A-lister has become a constant presence in modern television. But is her ubiquity a feature, a bug, or something in between?
Nicole Kidman in 'The Perfect Couple,' a Netflix murder-mystery about a rich family throwing a wedding weekend, but someone dies
'Nobody's getting married today. Somebody died.'
Part "White Lotus," part "Big Little Lies," and wholly forgettable, Jenna Lamia's six-episode adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's 2018 beach-read captures the enviable summer vibes of a wedding weekend on the Nantucket waterfront, but it can't wring any suspense or substance out of its starry cast.
The Perfect Couple. (L to R) Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury, Nicole Kidman as Greer Winbury in episode 103 of The Perfect Couple. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
From a real indie TV show to a rabbi-led romantic-comedy, Netflix's September TV lineup feels... full? Enticing? All of the above? I guess it's finally fall!
Top of The Line Weekly
A weekly digest that captures the best of our Top of the Line coverage.

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