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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. exit interview
    How Station Eleven Arrived at Its Final 10 MinutesCreator Patrick Somerville on honoring the show’s much-loved source material while adjusting its core preoccupations.
  2. tv review
    Somebody Somewhere Is a Confident Tale of an Unconfident WomanThe new HBO series from comedian and cabaret singer Bridget Everett asks whether you can find yourself without leaving home.
  3. overnights
    The Bachelor Recap: Nobody Puts Shanae-nae in a CornerShanae versus Elizabeth may be the most inane nonsense to grace this franchise since Corinne’s cheese pasta.
  4. together again
    Is Week-to-Week TV Winning After All?In an era when shows and movies must fight to break through, Yellowjackets has sustained a conversation while airing weekly on Showtime.
  5. overnights
    The Bachelor Season-Premiere Recap: Everybody Hates ClaytonThe premiere creates a strong impression that some women just look at Clayton and say, “Yeah, no thanks.” Kind of an interesting move, Bachelor.
  6. vulture recommends
    Why Golden Girls Is the Perfect Show to WatchIn honor of the late, great Betty White, stream the series on Hulu right now.
  7. the year in tree-view
    The Best TV Trees of 2021Pretty trees, violent trees, fake trees, symbolic trees — they’re all great trees!
  8. meta analysis
    2021 Was the Year of Too Much MetaverseWhen everything is a part of something else and nothing ever ends, it all feels so much cheaper.
  9. best of 2021
    The Best Comedy Specials of 2021This year’s most notable releases expanded our definition of what a comedy special can be.
  10. it was tom-atha all along
    Tom Wambsgans Finally Becomes a Real Person, InvolvedThe Roy family’s biggest outsider has turned his chief weakness to his advantage.
  11. best of 2021
    The Best TV of 2021As the television landscape keeps expanding outward, these are the shows that are pushing it forward.
  12. best of 2021
    What Made a TV Show Great in 2021?Our critics break down what goes into naming the best of the year.
  13. hello & goodbye
    The Arrivals and Departures of And Just Like That …Farewell to those who were written out of the Sex and the City revival series, and hello to those who have arrived to fill their places.
  14. backstories
    Deconstructing Station Eleven’s Lush ApocalypseThe series envisions a post-pandemic future that isn’t a total downer.
  15. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About the Last 30 Seconds of This Week’s SuccessionThank you to Kendall Roy for this unimpeachable feeling of doom that will hang over us for the next week.
  16. comedy review
    Drew Michael Gets in His Own WayIn Red Blue Green, the stand-up returns to the audience — but even he is not sure if he should.
  17. reality check
    Maybe Wheel of Time Doesn’t Need to Look So RealisticThe series’s elaborate, expensive fantasy world is gorgeous to behold and boring to spend extended time in.
  18. baldy connick jr.
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of Annie Live!So much kicking, several endings, and one very good dog.
  19. close reads
    The Unbearable Sadness of Tom WambsgansAs Succession explores increasingly baroque ways to make nothing happen, one character is poised to break the cycle.
  20. the vulture transcript
    KY Jelly and Lard Ice Cream: Getting Intimate With the Cast of The GreatElle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult dissect all the gory details of the farcical costume dramedy’s second season.
  21. the vulture transcript
    Keeping Up With the Solomons: A 3rd Rock From the Sun ReunionGetting John Lithgow, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kristen Johnson, and French Stewart — plus special guests — together for the first time in 20 years.
  22. tv review
    The Brutal, Bloody, Bawdy, Beautiful Return of The GreatSeason two of Hulu’s “occasionally true” drama about the Russian monarch takes its characters to a place of implausible but fully convincing humanity.
  23. tv review
    Dr. Brain Gets Trapped in Its HeadApple TV+’s first South Korean series is at its best when it gets weird and owns its nightmarish horror spectacle.
  24. a long talk
    Eliza Clark Sees a Future for Y: The Last ManThe showrunner on that surprise cancellation, Nora’s finale reveal, and her vision for an “expansive and queer” season two.
  25. comics to watch
    The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2021These are the 22 comics who industry insiders predict will be the superstars of tomorrow.
  26. comedy review
    Watching Roy Wood Jr. Feels So GoodImperfect Messenger is a perfect introduction to the underrated stand-up.
  27. emergency discussion
    What the Hell, The Morning Show?The big event that closes this week’s episode highlights how much of this season’s storytelling has been bewildering, bizarre, or just plain bad.
  28. profile
    Matt Berry Has a TypeThe actor is known for playing ridiculous characters with a straight face — the stupider the better.
  29. tv review
    Invasion Made Me Root for the AliensIn the Apple TV+ series, characters across the globe bumble around in their own misery, resentful that aliens keep interrupting their tragic lives.
  30. tv review
    You Is the Best It’s Ever BeenSeason three of Netflix’s dark, stalker-narrated murder drama shifts into an exciting new gear.
  31. tv review
    Squid Game’s Apocalypse Is NowThe blockbuster South Korean series is at its best when it’s at its bleakest — which says a lot about its current global cultural dominance.
  32. q&a
    Eliza Clark on Exploding Y: The Last Man’s Definition of Gender“I understand the criticism of the book. I understand the criticism of even making this idea.”
  33. stand-up
    The (Unfortunate) Rise of the Docucomedy SpecialComedians keep taking all the wrong lessons from Gary Gulman’s masterful The Great Depresh.
  34. the great british baking no
    The First Minute of This Season of Bake Off Will Achy Break Your BrainThere must’ve been a dozen points where someone could’ve stepped back and reconsidered, but no one did.
  35. tv review
    Foundation Is a Very Beautiful Sci-Fi ScreensaverThe big-budget science-fiction adaptation from Apple TV+ is stunning to watch, even when it fails to stick emotionally or narratively.
  36. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2021 Emmy AwardsA deafeningly bland, very white return to normalcy.
  37. tv review
    The Morning Show Is Silly, Melodramatic, and Undeniably CaptivatingIn season two of the Apple TV+ series, characters make choices that make no sense whatsoever, with a regularity that’s half the show’s appeal.
  38. tv review
    LuLaRich Is Another Perfectly Adequate Docuseries About Scam CultureThe new four-part Amazon series is LuLaReliable and LuLaRewarding, but not LuLaRadical.
  39. theranos
    A Deeply Creepy GIF Guide to HBO’s Elizabeth Holmes DocumentaryNot for the faint of heart. Or anybody who’s afraid of needles.
  40. tv review
    Impeachment Asks Us to Gaze Upon Our Own DiscomfortThe newest American Crime Story is imperfect but transfixing, pushing the familiar tale of presidential scandal into the realm of American myth.
  41. tv review
    Only Murders in the Building Is a Joyful True-Crime Parody RompThe new Hulu series co-created by Steve Martin sometimes works better in concept than in execution, but its flaws do not make it any less charming.
  42. fall preview 2021
    33 New and Returning Shows to Watch This FallNo matter what, when, or how you like to watch, TV’s got you covered.
  43. the discourse
    Why a Christmas Episode Supercharged the Ted Lasso DebateThat’s serial storytelling for you!
  44. a long talk
    Mike White Accepts the CriticismThe White Lotus creator understands if you feel conflicted about that ending. So does he.
  45. emergency discussion
    WTF Happened to Gossip Girl?It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
  46. tv
    TV’s White Guys Are in CrisisThey’re no longer the main characters, but they’re still around. So what happens to them?
  47. tv review
    Heels Can Be Clunky But Also WinningThe new Starz wrestling drama about brothers-in-well-toned-arms is a show that knows itself but doesn’t trust its audience to figure it out.
  48. tv review
    With A Little Patience, Reservation Dogs Will Enchant YouThis series about a quartet of Indigenous friends in a tiny Oklahoma town operates at its own deliberate pace and on its own distinct wavelength.
  49. highs and lows
    The Best and Worst of the 2021 Olympics So FarBecause in a pandemic Olympics, there’s room for celebration and deep concern.
  50. comedy review
    Tig Notaro Makes the Perfect Cartoon ComedianAn animated stand-up special wouldn’t work for every comedian. Thankfully, Drawn has an ideal star.
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