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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. comedy review
    Joel Kim Booster Mocks (and Craves) RelatabilityIn Psychosexual, the comedian goes meta. But he’s still a hot gay comedy goof.
  2. tv review
    Damn It, Players, You Got MeBehold, an esports mockumentary that improbably works despite the viewer’s utter ignorance of esports.
  3. endings
    Let’s Discuss Borgen’s Unsurprising Surprise EndingOn paper, Power & Glory’s final move is the least shocking twist the revival season could’ve offered. So why does it feel so unreal?
  4. emergency discussion
    Hooray, Star Trek Feels Like Star Trek AgainStrange New Worlds is the best the franchise has been in decades. Two lifelong fans break down why it works so well.
  5. tonys 2022
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2022 Tony AwardsBig night for two Michael Jacksons.
  6. tv review
    For All Mankind Season 3 Navigates Heady Highs and Cavernous LowsA race to colonize Mars brings out the alternate-history series’ best qualities amid some maddening missteps.
  7. emergency discussion
    Let’s Disagree About HacksThe beloved HBO Max series submits to interrogation: effortless comfort watch or lazy depiction of stand-up?
  8. comedy review
    Norm Macdonald’s Final Hour Makes the Best of NecessityNothing Special is caught between what it had to be and what it could’ve been.
  9. exit interview
    ‘Reality Never Gives You the Perfect Narrative’In We Own This City, David Simon and George Pelecanos argue police corruption has never been worse.
  10. summer preview
    Summer TV Used to Mean Something, Damn ItOnce upon a time, television programming mirrored the rhythms of life. Now it’s become the calendar version of the endless scroll.
  11. appreciations
    The Standard-Setting Beauty of Live in CrenshawLil Rel Howery’s 2019 stand-up special shows that when a special looks distinctive, the comedy feels that way too.
  12. decisions decisions
    Everything to Consider When Making a Comedy Special SpecialAside from what jokes to tell.
  13. yikes
    A Warning From the Future About The Time Traveler’s WifeA time-traveling TV critic considers Steven Moffat’s strangely chintzy, tonally odd adaptation of the 2003 novel.
  14. tv review
    The Kids in the Hall Make a Head-Crushing ReturnAgainst all odds, the sketch comedy’s Amazon revival is almost miraculous.
  15. exit interview
    Julia’s Writers See Julia Child As a Fable“We are making a piece of fiction about a real person.”
  16. tv review
    Mike Myers Returns, Cautiously, With The PentaverateThe Netflix series feels way too timid — except for all the poop jokes.
  17. all the pieces matter
    We Own This City Asks Us to Look BackwardWhile David Simon and George Pelecanos’s new series has plenty to say on its own, considering it as a sequel to The Wire enriches the experience.
  18. tv review
    Under the Banner of Heaven Scratches the True Detective ItchAndrew Garfield finds fresh empathy in the FX on Hulu series’s tired true-crime patterns.
  19. tv review
    The Flight Attendant Returns, Dizzy and Fizzy As EverSeason two turns melodramatic-thriller fodder into background noise. That’s because it’s foregrounding a much more compelling set of tensions.
  20. spoilers
    Anatomy of a Scandal’s Final Line Achieves GreatnessGreatness in the category of ‘Most Absurd Ending.’
  21. tv review
    Okay, I’d Like to Escape Russian Doll’s Time Loop NowWhen everything everywhere all at once backfires.
  22. small stories
    The Diamond Desk, Surveillance Shots, and 7 Other Stories About Making SeveranceVoices from onscreen and behind the scenes break down the small details shading in the series’ enigmatic world.
  23. emergency discussion
    Why Are We Still Watching Law & Order?Halfway through its 21st season, the revived crime procedural is missing something. Could it be a genuine reason to come back in the first place?
  24. close reads
    Bridgerton Needs to Decide Whose World It’s Living InThe Netflix series fashions itself as a Regency theme park, but its historical fantasy is built on shaky ground.
  25. comedy review
    In Rothaniel, Jerrod Carmichael Tells Us Who He IsThe special is a deliberate breakdown of performance, a set that reverses the burden of giving and receiving. It’s also so much more.
  26. tv review
    Cozy Up With Julia, a Warm and Welcoming TreatThe new HBO Max series is much like the version of Julia Child it wants to portray: imperfect yet charming — and in love with feeling good.
  27. oscars 2022
    The Oscars Needed More Jokes, ActuallyJokes could have relieved the ceremony’s unbearable tension. Why didn’t the Oscars make more?
  28. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2022 OscarsIn a year when the Oscars pitched themselves as a grand return to normalcy, Hollywood felt more unnatural than ever.
  29. backstories
    Behind the Scenes of Severance’s ‘Very Creepy’ Office Dance PartyStrobe lighting, soldier-marching, and a blood-splotched cashmere sweater: How “Defiant Jazz” captured the chill inherent in corporate-mandated joy.
  30. tv review
    Starstruck Conjures the Magic of Everyday RomanceThe second season of Rose Matafeo’s delightfully off-kilter rom-com carries a distinctive thrill of emotional realism.
  31. knives out
    Let’s Make Is It Cake More ChaoticNetflix’s new meme-based competition series could really benefit from having more people run around blindfolded with knives.
  32. tv review
    Pachinko Builds Epic Family Drama on an Exquisitely Intimate ScaleApple TV+’s adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s generational saga finds satisfying poignance in the space between the remarkable and the ordinary.
  33. tv review
    Amy Schumer’s Life & Beth Feels Like a Prestige-Comedy Hallmark MovieIn the best possible way.
  34. exit interview
    The Baby-Sitters Club Wasn’t Enough for Netflix AnymoreThe show was critically acclaimed and widely watched. The algorithm didn’t care.
  35. tv review
    Minx Is Almost a Good TimeA great setup, vivid porn-world building, Jake Johnson’s leather pants: This show has everything it needs, if only its protagonist would get onboard.
  36. comedy review
    Catherine Cohen’s Destabilizing TwistThe ground is always slipping around underneath Cohen’s Netflix special, playing with which emotions are real and which aren’t.
  37. money can buy you cars
    F1: Drive to Survive Is Just a Secret Real Housewives FranchiseMary Cosby’s cult has been replaced by a weird obsession with Ferrari.
  38. profile
    Taylor Tomlinson’s Off-Trend ComedyHer old-school act is a hit onstage and on TikTok. And she’s only getting bigger.
  39. emergency discussion
    Does Winning Time Really Need to Look Like That?A constant-motion visual offense makes sense for this story, but whether it elevates or undermines the viewing experience is up for debate.
  40. tv review
    The Dropout Hits the Scammer Sweet SpotAmanda Seyfried’s take on Elizabeth Holmes taps into the compelling mess that many scam shows promise but few manage to deliver.
  41. i have nobu reservations
    Love Is Blind’s Creator Answers Our Burning Season-Two Finale Questions“There are moments where the air sucked out of that entire room and nobody saw it coming. It’s like I’m at the Super Bowl.”
  42. trends
    The Limits of the Women’s Redemption PlotYou know the story: A previously maligned public figure gets an eight-episode empathy tour.
  43. comedy review
    Ali Wong Embraces UnrelatabilityIn Don Wong, the stand-up is still a master of sex and money jokes. The new challenge is fame.
  44. comedy review
    Ms. Pat Knows You’re ShockedThe stand-up creates fascinating discomfort, but her own special undermines her.
  45. winners and losers
    Who Won and Lost And Just Like That …?Winner: Che Diaz. Loser: Comedy.
  46. tv review
    Murderville Is So Silly, and Doesn’t That Sound Nice Right Now?Turns out Sharon Stone and Marshawn Lynch are very good at wacky improv crime-solving.
  47. tv review
    Pam & Tommy Reveals the Story You Don’t Know — But Also Kind of DoHulu’s miniseries about the internet’s first viral sensation is a satisfying but familiar entry in the expanding genre of ’90s-set redemption tales.
  48. comedy review
    Aziz Ansari’s Empty AuthenticityIf at any point his material reached for the same goals as the look of the special, Nightclub Comedian might be a different experience.
  49. tv review
    The Gilded Age Rings HollowJulian Fellowes’s newest historical confection has ample surface appeal, but when it comes to reasons to care, it comes up short.
  50. small stories
    Snowplow Man, ‘La Campanella,’ and 7 Other Stories About Making Station ElevenOn making a show about a pandemic during a pandemic, caring about each detail, and bringing your tooth to set when the showrunner asks.
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