Kathryn VanArendonk Author Archive
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Kathryn VanArendonk

Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@kvanaren
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Kathryn is a critic who writes about TV and comedy. She gets mad when people say TV is a 10 hour movie.

  1. a long talk
    ‘If You Need to Throw Anyone Under the Bus, Let It Be Me’Kelli Giddish joined SVU in 2011 as Olivia Benson’s new partner. She departs a beloved figure in her own right.
  2. cancelations
    TV Has Always Disappeared. This Feels Different.When titles disappear without warning, the whole streaming space starts to seem less stable.
  3. finale thoughts
    Jennifer Coolidge Tried to Get Mike White to Change The White Lotus’s Ending“Mike likes to stick to reality.”
  4. best of 2022
    In 2022, Good TV Was a Gut FeelingOur critics break down what goes into naming the best of the year.
  5. emergency discussion
    How Is His Dark Materials Going to Pull This Off?The series’ final season takes on the difficult task of translating many heady, absurd, and arguably heretical elements from The Amber Spyglass.
  6. best of 2022
    The Best Comedy Specials of 2022The year’s best releases had some urgency behind their existence: capturing this thing at this moment.
  7. best of 2022
    The Best TV of 2022Television’s future looks hazier than ever, but these shows make a clear case for optimism.
  8. comedy review
    Matt Rogers Makes the Yuletide GayThe comedian’s special, Have You Heard of Christmas?, is the gift that keeps on giving.
  9. the essay
    Lee Pace Stays Just Out of ReachThe recipient of this year’s very official Vulture Honorary Degree is a master at making us want more of him.
  10. the interview
    The Lee Pace MethodWhether he’s playing a bashful pie-maker or the emperor of a galaxy, Pace says he always leaves a bit of himself onscreen.
  11. comedy review
    Lil Rel Howery Is So Happy to Be HereI Said It. Y’all Thinking It. isn’t a special about genre-defining narrative precision. It’s about feeling very, very good.
  12. finales
    The Good Fight Carries OnAfter six seasons spent toying with escapism, the frequently surreal legal drama ends with its feet on the ground.
  13. emergency discussion
    Does The Crown Like the Royals or Not?A season about the Diana and Charles divorce would seem like a prime opportunity to tear into the monarchy. And yet …
  14. role call
    Lee Pace Answers All Our Questions About Pushing Daisies“When I got cast in The Hobbit, Peter Jackson said, ‘We loved you in Pushing Daisies. That’s why you’re here.’”
  15. emergency discussion
    Where Does For All Mankind Go From Here?We have some humble suggestions/demands for season four.
  16. network tv
    Checking In on This Year’s New Network DramasLinear television’s fall freshman class has arrived, and we’re predicting which hour-long series are in it for the long haul, and which will burn out.
  17. 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.
  18. comedy review
    With the Return of Inside Amy Schumer, at Least We Still Have FartsThe new season reflects the comedian’s intense anxieties about Now — sometimes too directly.
  19. close read
    The Fantasy-Prequel ProblemHouse of the Dragon and The Rings of Power have been presented as shining new jewels in the streaming pantheon. They also belie a lack of imagination.
  20. 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.
  21. comedy review
    Welcome to Hasan Minhaj’s Inspirational School AssemblyIn The King’s Jester, the comedian’s boldness gets packaged into a too-slick presentation.
  22. fire and blood
    Why Did That Episode of House of the Dragon Look So Bad?Possible explanations, not excuses, for why you couldn’t see anything.
  23. exit interview
    Sterlin Harjo Is Not Afraid to Sacrifice a Good IdeaThe Reservation Dogs showrunner leads by instinct: “There are a lot of first ideas out there. You have to break through that for it to be good.”
  24. comedy review
    At His Best, Nick Kroll Is a Mischievous Little DemonIn Little Big Boy, Kroll excels when he leans into the juvenile.
  25. close read
    House of the Dragon’s Brutal Birth Obsession Isn’t Realism. It’s Cruelty.In three separate instances, the Game of Thrones prequel reduces a birthing woman to the limits of her body.
  26. endings
    C’mon, Industry, Whisper Sweet Nothings to MeThe HBO series wields financial jargon like a magic spell. In its second-season finale, Harper’s sorcery runs out.
  27. comedy review
    Patton Oswalt Leaves His New Special Half-FinishedWe All Scream checks the comedy-special box, but as a demonstration of the comedian’s impressive skill set, it falls flat.
  28. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2022 Emmy AwardsWhy was Zedd in charge of interrupting and playing off the best of TV?
  29. comedy review
    Kate Berlant’s Mirror MazeIn her Off Broadway show Kate, the comedian begs you to ignore her.
  30. profile
    ‘I Need to Tell You This’Kate Beaton captured the aesthetic of a late-aughts internet. Her new memoir is a monumental synthesis of politics, history, and her own life.
  31. royals
    Queen Elizabeth Was the First Monarch We Thought We KnewCrowned at the dawn of the TV age, she was defined by her distance as much as her ubiquity.
  32. comics to watch
    The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 202224 comics who industry insiders predict will be tomorrow’s superstars.
  33. emergency discussion
    Welcome to Wrexham Is Kind of Bizarre, Right?It may present as a feel-good sports docuseries, but there’s something oddly unpleasant going on in this elaborate piece of branded content.
  34. tv review
    The Rings of Power Is Too Big to FailPrime Video’s much-anticipated Lord of the Rings series is a best-case scenario for storytelling by monetary brute force.
  35. comedy review
    This Fool Is What Streaming Comedies Should BeAnd a just world would give us several more years of it.
  36. tv review
    A League of Their Own Pulls Off an Awkward Double PlayThis imperfect but captivating series adaptation of the 1992 film is both a correction and a celebration.
  37. stonks!
    Industry Is the Best Show to Listen ToWho knew money-flavored white noise could be so soothing?
  38. vulture vegetables
    Consider the PepperOne fleeting moment in The Rehearsal explains the entire Nathan Fielder project, the entire entertainment industry, and the entire world.
  39. it’s joni mitchell
    At Least We Have Joni MitchellJoni singing in 2022 is an uninterrupted conduit to every good and powerful and terrible feeling from the past few years.
  40. tv review
    Only a Star Could Make The Last Movie StarsEthan Hawke’s docuseries about Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman unearths a potent portrait of celebrity.
  41. emergency discussion
    The Final Moments of The Rehearsal Premiere Test Reality’s LimitsNathan Fielder’s genius and K. Todd Freeman’s acting chops deliver pure mindfuckery.
  42. comedy review
    Nathan Fielder’s Dazzling, Horrifying Trial Run of RealityThe Rehearsal lays bare the assumptions and expectations of social conventions. The more naked they become, the queasier it feels.
  43. awards season
    The Good, the Bad, and the Weird of This Year’s Emmy NominationsAbbott Elementary domination: good! Reservation Dogs snub: bad, bad, bad.
  44. comedy review
    Bill Burr’s Exhausting, Frustrating, Fascinating Battle With HimselfIn Live at Red Rocks, the stand-up has mastered the art of his act. There are also hints that he’s ready to master a new one.
  45. exit interview
    ‘This Show Is a Lot of Things, But Subtle Is Not One of Them’Showrunner Eric Kripke is clear about whose side The Boys is on.
  46. buffering
    Bad Design, Good Comedies, and Severance: Our TV Critics Rate the Streamers“The homepage is so busy, the search function is awful, and I am not particularly compelled by much of its original programming.”
  47. anonymous in hollywood
    ‘I Don’t Know How My Show Is Doing!’Streamers like Netflix run on data, but showrunners say they’re not seeing it. For some, that’s a recipe for serious anxiety.
  48. [ranks wetly]
    Stranger Things 4’s Best Descriptive Captions, RankedWhat more truthful statement about life’s eternal pain could there possibly be than [distant screaming, struggling]?
  49. comedy review
    Welcome Back to John Early and Kate Berlant’s Absurd DuetWould It Kill You to Laugh? is a monument to surrealist queer pettiness, standing high atop a foundation of incredible comedic harmony.
  50. comedy review
    Joel Kim Booster Mocks (and Craves) RelatabilityIn Psychosexual, the comedian goes meta. But he’s still a hot gay comedy goof.
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