Jen Chaney Author Archive
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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. profile
    Ken Marino Will Do Anything for ComedyDead rats, discouragement, the shame of farting in front of his colleagues: Nothing can stop this man.
  2. wambsgans watch
    What’s Tom’s Deal in This Week’s Succession?Let’s assess, on the fuck-or-get-fucked spectrum, exactly how things are going for Tom at the end of season-four premiere ‘The Munsters.’
  3. chat room
    Melanie Lynskey Has Never Been on a Set as Overwhelming as The Last of Us“It was disgusting, honestly.”
  4. vulture quiz
    Can You Guess What Actually Happens in 80 for Brady?80 for Brady is one of the weirder comedies to arrive in theaters lately — so weird that describing it might make you think I am lying.
  5. tv review
    Shrinking Desperately Wants You to Like ItThe new Apple TV+ comedy starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford is as needy as its protagonist.
  6. emergency discussion
    Velma and the Case of the Condescending RebootThree new TV revamps of varying quality offer a lesson in how to wield nostalgia responsibly.
  7. tv review
    The Golden Globes Got Drunk on a Tuesday, and It Was Great Live TVFor the 2023 ceremony, the HFPA left self-importance to the less embattled awards shows and leaned into farce.
  8. tv review
    The Last of Us Will Invade Your PsycheThe HBO video-game adaptation is a reminder of how effective postapocalyptic storytelling can be no matter how well trod the territory.
  9. golden globes 2023
    Who’s Going to Win at the Comeback Golden Globes?This newly reformed awards show feels harder to predict than ever — not just who’s going to win but who’s going to show up.
  10. finale thoughts
    Fleishman Is in Trouble Feels Like Being Inside Lizzy Caplan’s Head“I have friends that ask themselves these questions and we talk about it. I don’t know if there is a solution.”
  11. close read
    Fleishman Is in Trouble Does What the Book Couldn’t DoThe episode “Me-Time,” adapted by Taffy Brodesser-Akner from her own novel, is a prime example of the potency of stories told onscreen.
  12. best of 2022
    The Standout TV Performances of 2022Individually and collectively, these 14 performers embody what made this year’s television interesting and special.
  13. close read
    The Real Cost of The White LotusThe best things — really all things — in life? They definitely are not free.
  14. golden globes 2023
    The Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2023 Golden Globe NominationsWas Women Talking silent, or was it silenced?
  15. don’t stop him
    Bono Takes the ‘Highway to Hell’ in the Middle of the National CathedralLook, the guy really loves AC/DC, okay?
  16. best of 2022
    In 2022, Good TV Was a Gut FeelingOur critics break down what goes into naming the best of the year.
  17. toasts and roasts
    At the Kennedy Center Honors, George Clooney and U2 Get Their FlowersGladys Knight, Amy Grant, and Tania León were also celebrated during one of Washington’s most star-studded events of the year.
  18. 2022 kennedy center honors
    Borat Showed Up at the Kennedy Center Honors to Make the Bidens UncomfortableSacha Baron Cohen, in the guise of the journalist from Kazakhstan, paid tribute to honorees U2.
  19. best of 2022
    The Best TV of 2022Television’s future looks hazier than ever, but these shows make a clear case for optimism.
  20. tv review
    Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain Make George & Tammy SingThe stars take what could have been a run-of-the-mill music biopic and infuse it with passion.
  21. remembrance
    Christine McVie’s Perfect VoiceShe was Fleetwood Mac’s most reliable songwriter, but the ache in her voice was just as important as her words.
  22. the vulture transcript
    Welcome to Chippendales Is More Than Tearaway Pants and Butt CheeksKumail Nanjiani, Annaleigh Ashford, and EPs Rob Siegel and Jenni Konner unpack the scandals at the heart of the Hulu miniseries.
  23. exit interview
    ‘Can We Do It One More Time?’Dead to Me creator Liz Feldman on saying good-bye with an ellipsis …
  24. movie review
    Disenchanted Can’t Conjure the Magic of the OriginalThe title tells you how you’re going to feel after you watch it.
  25. the vulture transcript
    Going West with the Cast of Tulsa KingThe Paramount+ series showrunner and stars break down the mechanics of dropping a mobster in the middle of Oklahoma.
  26. close read
    Serena’s Journey Has Become the Heart of The Handmaid’s TaleSeason five raises a loaded question: Is it possible for oppressors to see the error of their ways?
  27. tv review
    The Crown Wades Into a Royal MessThe choppy but absorbing fifth season of Netflix’s monarchical saga feels divorced from what came before.
  28. book review
    In Surrender, Bono Embraces His ContradictionsThe U2 frontman does not shy away from blunt self-reflection in his poetic and very Bono memoir.
  29. exit interview
    ‘There Are a Fairly Limited Number of Ways This Could End’The Patient’s creators, Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, unpack that brutal series finale.
  30. finales
    A Few Questions for That House of the Dragon FinaleExposition, dragons, and more excruciating childbirth leaves us with the promise of bigger and bloodier things to come.
  31. exit interview
    Bad Sisters’ Sharon Horgan Wanted You to Root for MurderThe co-creator and star on building a despicable husband and acting out that finale confession: “I would find a little corner and just curse myself.”
  32. tv review
    Surrender to the Batshittery That Is The WatcherThis gleefully over-the-top limited series doesn’t always make sense, but it also embraces the fact that it doesn’t always make sense.
  33. 657 boulevard
    The Cast of The Watcher on What They’d Do If They Were Being WatchedJennifer Coolidge has given this some thought.
  34. emergency discussion
    What Is Time on House of the Dragon?The series’ frantic rush forward tests the efficacy of the TV time jump — and viewers’ ability to keep up.
  35. let the right one in
    We’ve Drunk This Blood BeforeTwo vampire remakes are currently competing for TV audiences’ attention. Surprisingly, they both have teeth.
  36. movie review
    You Need This Pinhead Like You Need, Um, Pins in Your HeadHulu’s Hellraiser, the remake of Clive Barker’s 1987 horror classic, plays it way too safe.
  37. close read
    The Sax Man’s Tribute to Reservation Dogs’ Lost BoyThe season-two finale’s closing Tim Cappello performance is both a sly wink and a poignant eulogy.
  38. tv review
    The Problem With DahmerThe series states its aim to humanize those affected by the serial killer’s crimes, but it can’t resist a base attraction to its central monster.
  39. you let this prick in?
    The Joyfully Perfect Mad Men Reunion in *Checks Notes* Confess, FletchDon Draper and Roger Sterling are together again (sort of), and it is the closest thing I have known to peace since 2015.
  40. emmys 2022
    The Emmys Really Tried Some ThingsLike TV itself, the Emmys were a little too much too fast. But within that chaos were some unexpected, truly sublime moments.
  41. predictions
    What Will and Should Win at the 2022 Emmy AwardsIt could be a big night for The White Lotus and Ted Lasso … maybe.
  42. darling we’re worried
    Where Were You When Harry Styles (Allegedly) Spit on Chris Pine?And will we ever get to the bottom of the most important mystery of our time?
  43. movie review
    Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. Could Use Your PrayersThe best thing about this limp satire is Regina Hall’s performance.
  44. tv review
    The Patient Is All Killer, No FillerSteve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson deliver strong performances in a thought-provoking thriller that succeeds by keeping its focus narrow.
  45. close read
    Who Did It Better — House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones?A side-by-side analysis of premiere episodes “The Heirs of the Dragon” and “Winter Is Coming.”
  46. let’s do it again
    The 102 Best Movie Sequels of All TimeWho in the world wanted a Top Gun sequel? Not even Tom Cruise, but that didn’t stop Maverick from getting made and soaring in our ranks.
  47. a long talk
    Kim Wexler’s Curtain CallBetter Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn looks back on six seasons spent getting inside ‘an extremely inscrutable character.’
  48. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About the End of Better Call SaulAs it turns out, the Breaking Bad prequel turned sequel is also TV’s best time-travel show.
  49. whodunnit
    Who Killed Bunny Folger on Only Murders in the Building?An assessment of the ten likeliest suspects.
  50. wexler watch
    How Is Kim Doing After the ‘Waterworks’ Episode of Better Call Saul?It’s Kim Wexler as we’ve never seen her before.
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