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Jen Chaney

TV Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@chaneyj
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Vulture and New York TV critic Jen Chaney previously worked for the Washington Post and has bylines at the New York Times and Vanity Fair. She also wrote As If: The Complete Oral History of Clueless.

  1. tv review
    Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale Is Your Must-Watch Show This SpringThe adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel is intense and instantly engrossing.
  2. close reads
    Why Lena Dunham Is Such a Great Actress on GirlsHannah Horvath has been a maddening, compelling, and memorable character. Lena Dunham’s unapologetic portrayal of her is a big reason why.
  3. the vulture tv podcast
    The TV Theme Songs We Have to Sing Along to (and the Ones We Have to Skip)And the ones long enough you can get up to get a snack.
  4. tv review
    Veep Is Back to Make America Hilarious AgainThe new season isn’t explicitly about Trump or the aftermath of the election. But it still feels right for these times.
  5. girls talk
    Shoshanna on Girls Is ‘Adulting,’ But Has She Really Grown Up?Kudos for being honest with your friends and everything, but what is up with your new insta-life?
  6. close reads
    How Girls Breaks the Traditional Rules of the Friendship ComedyThe HBO series was always about what happens when young women grow up and grow apart.
  7. tv review
    The Son Is Such an AMC SeriesIt’s well-acted and solid and, like the bulk of AMC dramas, probably not going to generate much buzz.
  8. chat room
    The Americans’ Margo Martindale on Playing Ruthless Women“I hope I get to cut somebody else’s throat.”
  9. the vulture tv podcast
    The Silence of the Big Little Lies FinaleTune into our discussion of the show on the Vulture TV Podcast.
  10. girls talk
    To Root or Not to Root for Adam and Jessa on GirlsShould they be together? Because I’m not sure they should be.
  11. close reads
    Big Little Lies Was, Above All Else, a Commentary on Gender BiasEven the Greek chorus was a reminder of the way all of us prejudge women.
  12. close reads
    Let’s Talk About the Ending of Big Little LiesWe know who died, and we know who did it. How do we feel about it?
  13. gross things
    Why Is Everyone Projectile Vomiting on TV?In every binge-watch, apparently there must be a purge.
  14. On Viceland’s Jungletown, It’s the Messes That Make for Compelling TVFind out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real.
  15. chat room
    Darby Camp of Big Little Lies on Playing Reese Witherspoon’s Daughter“I thought it was really fun to call Reese ‘woman.’ That seemed really sassy.”
  16. tv review
    TV Land’s Nobodies Isn’t Totally Fresh, But It’s Still FunShowbiz gets squirmy in the Melissa McCarthy-produced series.
  17. girls talk
    A Follow-up Open Letter to Marnie Michaels of GirlsWhat happens to Marnie when a pawn shop owner gets real.
  18. close reads
    The Rise of Elijah on GirlsGive him his spinoff now.
  19. listen
    The Vulture TV Podcast: This Is Us, Rupert Grint, and MortalityWhy watching Rupert Grint grow up is making Matt Zoller Seitz feel weird.
  20. tv review
    Shots Fired Is an Ambitious Yet Accessible Look at Police ShootingsOnly in the current TV landscape would a show like Shots Fired qualify as very good rather than great.
  21. tv review
    The Amazon Spring 2017 Pilots, Ranked From Strongest to WeakestThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a shoo-in to get a full season order.
  22. girls talk
    An Open Letter to Marnie Michaels of GirlsDo you ever actually hear yourself, Marnie?
  23. Iain Armitage on Big Little Lies, David Bowie, and the Big Bang Theory Spinoff“This show got me into David Bowie and now I know virtually all of his songs.”
  24. the vulture tv podcast
    What Show Should Fill the Game of Thrones-Sized Hole in Your Life This Spring?May we suggest The Handmaid’s Tale?
  25. Why the NCAA Tournament Is Great TVLike the current TV landscape, the first rounds of March Madness are overwhelming and full of twist endings.
  26. vulture lists
    The 20 Most Satisfying Cries on This Is Us, RankedYou watched. You wept. We ranked.
  27. close reads
    Why This is Us Is More Popular Than Friday Night Lights and Parenthood Ever WereUnlike those shows, This Is Us reassures its audience that everything happens for a reason.
  28. tv review
    Trial & Error Tries Very Hard to Be FunnyThe new NBC comedy is guilty of a few too many forced jokes.
  29. girls talk
    Why Elijah on Girls Needs to Apologize to HannahIs it too late now to say sorry?
  30. chat room
    Becky Ann Baker on Girls, Eating Too Many Gummies, and Hannah’s Pregnancy“I had a good-sized bag of gummies, which I didn’t know until a little later was not that good for you.”
  31. close reads
    Why Big Little Lies Shouldn’t Be Dismissed As Escapist FareIt’s so much more than that.
  32. In Season Two, Love Gets ComplicatedYour relationship with this Netflix series may veer from love to hate and back again.
  33. the vulture tv podcast
    Ryan Murphy’s Ever-Expanding TV EmpireOn this week’s Vulture TV Podcast, we explore the Murphyverse.
  34. close reads
    Why The Americans Premiere Feels Like an ’80s Teen MovieDon’t you, forget about Paige.
  35. the americans
    The Americans Showrunners on Paige’s Love Life and That Gravedigging SceneDigging a hole in the ground, even for scripted TV purposes, isn’t easy.
  36. The Americans Showrunners on Philip and Elizabeth Memes, Season 5“I don’t know if anyone’s giving an award for best Philip and Elizabeth meme, but someone should do that.”
  37. girls talk
    What Should Hannah Horvath Do?She has a major decision to make. We have some thoughts.
  38. tv review
    Making History and Time After Time: Which Time-Travel Show Should I Watch?The TV time-travel market has gotten very crowded lately.
  39. the vulture tv podcast
    Our Favorite Drunken TV MomentsPlus, processing that big episode of Girls.
  40. close reads
    Reese Witherspoon’s Big Little Lies Performance Is the Best of Her CareerIt comes back to Tracy Flick. But it also goes deeper.
  41. tv review
    National Treasure Examines the Mystery and Murkiness in a Celebrity Rape CaseThe four-part series asks: Is this famous man guilty of rape?
  42. tv review
    When We Rise Is a Flawed But Still Vital Mini-seriesThe fight for LGBTQ rights never really ends.
  43. girls talk
    Some Advice for Chuck Palmer, the Lecherous Author on GirlsThis week’s installment of our advice column for Girls characters.
  44. Carrie-Anne Moss on Humans, Electromagnetic Waves, and Coping With Technology“We don’t understand the ramifications of what we’re doing. And our children are the guinea pigs.”
  45. oscars 2017
    Oscars’ Last-Minute Surprise Highlights What’s Wrong With the Bloated Award ShowMoonlight beating La La Land was a great TV moment. How many people turned off the Academy Awards before it happened?
  46. close reads
    Girls: How the Patrick Wilson Episode Compares to the Matthew Rhys Episode“One Man’s Trash” and “American Bitch” reveal a lot about Hannah Horvath.
  47. close reads
    TV’s Newest Genre: Beautiful People Behaving Badly by the SeaWhy Big Little Lies is the latest and greatest example.
  48. the vulture tv podcast
    The TV Villains You Love to Hate, Plus Big Little LiesAll on this week’s Vulture TV Podcast.
  49. Advice for Shoshanna on Girls: Forget the WEMUN, Be Your Own Woman!Some gentle suggestions for Shoshanna “Get out of my face!” Shapiro.
  50. chat room
    Todd Grinnell on The Young Pope, Becoming the New Schneider on One Day at a Time“This guy kind of sees himself as a mix between Keith Richards and Richard Branson.”
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