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. close reads
    Framing Britney and the Empathy of a Simple TimelineWhat now stands out as a central, fundamental event in Britney’s life might’ve remained a footnote if not for the doc’s chronology.
  2. golden globes 2021
    Can Anyone Explain Why the Golden Globe Nominations Livestream Was So Weird?From top to bottom, the live event was almost as bizarre as the nominations themselves.
  3. comfort tv
    I Just Want to Go Live Inside All Creatures Great and SmallIn these wild and disorienting first weeks of 2021, the PBS Masterpiece series has been a cozy haven of competence and compassion.
  4. tv review
    The Investigation Will Frustrate You (on Purpose)HBO’s Danish true-crime series reveals a different way of telling a murder story, as well as why so few murder stories are told this way.
  5. stonks!
    I’m Sorry, What Is Going on With GameStop and AMC?An answer for idiots, by idiots.
  6. covid storytelling
    How Superstore Leaned Into a Pandemic It Couldn’t Ignore“Going escapist just didn’t make sense.”
  7. vulture bets on berry
    A Hopeful America Deserves Matt Berry As Cranberry SpokespersonThis is the only path forward for us as a country and for the world.
  8. snl
    The One Thing All Great SNL Political Impressions NeedThe show’s take on Joe Biden won’t be funny until it makes an argument.
  9. extremely online
    It Makes Total Sense We’re All Into Sea Shanties Now“Wellerman” is a great, boisterous bop of a song in any century.
  10. close reads
    The Key to Dickinson Season Two Is a Woman Named Lola MontezA legendary and scandalous figure from the 19th century is only a tiny part of the plot, but she plays a major role in the season’s central theme.
  11. 2021 preview
    48 TV Shows We Can’t Wait to See in 2021There’s still a whole lot of TBD ahead, but also some definitive promise of great things to come.
  12. this exists!
    So, Uh, There’s a Danish Kids’ Show About a Man With a Giant Prehensile PenisYes, John Dillermand is a show about giant, uncontrollable genitalia, but it’s also a story about hope.
  13. backstories
    Sex on Bridgerton Is All About Keeping Everyone From Rolling Off the Tiny BedsA chat with the show’s intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot.
  14. our streaming future
    Is It a Movie or Is It TV? And Does Anyone Really Care?After nearly a year of watching everything on the same damn screen, four critics attempt to talk through an unkillable debate.
  15. comedy review
    Death to 2020 Is a Failure of ImaginationThe Black Mirror creators’ special is a limp recap of a year that few viewers need help remembering.
  16. disney+
    Disney Confirms The Mandalorian Spinoff The Book of Boba Fett Is HappeningThat post-credits scene had a point.
  17. tv review
    Bridgerton Is a Heady, Inviting Fantasy of Pleasure and True LoveThe Shondaland Netflix series will make you want to whisper obscene gossip, pop Champagne, and run giddily through a hedge maze.
  18. space parenting
    The Mandalorian Let Baby Yoda Be a Baby, and It Was GoodGrogu’s appetite for destruction (and frog eggs) was much more than comic relief. It was essential to season two’s emotional payoff.
  19. bless the child
    The Continuing Adventures of the Artist Formerly Known As Baby YodaAre you there, Force? It’s me, Grogu.
  20. best of 2020
    The Best TV of 2020These aren’t just very good TV shows. These were our escapes from despair.
  21. best of 2020
    The 10 Best Comedy Specials of 2020Our favorite hour-long specials of the year featuring Maria Bamford, Leslie Jones, Hannibal Buress, and more.
  22. the quarries
    The First (And Dear God, It Better Be the Last) QuarriesIn which we award the most original, absurd, scrappy, and ingenious works that shaped our year in quarantine.
  23. tv review
    Selena the Netflix Series Is Remarkably Uninterested in Selena the PersonIt’s infuriating, really.
  24. vulture bets on berry
    All We Want for Christmas Is Matt Berry to Play Santa ClausPlease give us a Berry little Christmas.
  25. comedy review
    Nate Is the Most Astonishing Special of 2020It’s endlessly rich, uncomfortable, and also there’s an enormous rubber dick.
  26. hammer time
    We Have Many Questions About That The Undoing FinaleMost of them are about dishwashing hammers.
  27. docuseries
    How John Wilson Made the Perfect COVID-Era TV FinaleThe documentarian discusses the unexpectedly moving episode of his HBO series.
  28. close reads
    What the Hell Is Happening With Masks on Network TV?This is what the middle ground of COVID-19 storytelling looks like, and it’s both unsatisfying and distracting.
  29. tv review
    The Flight Attendant Is a Goofy-Sad Escapist Caper for Our TimesIt feels odd to call a thriller a romp, but that’s about where this snappy, Kaley Cuoco–starring HBO Max series lands.
  30. how everything works
    How The Crown Made Gillian Anderson Look Like Margaret ThatcherThat wig was as hard, and as hard to make, as it looks.
  31. comedy review
    Kevin Hart Desperately Wants Your AttentionIn his great new Netflix special, the stand-up gives plenty of f**ks.
  32. backstories
    How Emma Corrin Became The Crown’s Princess DianaFidgety hands, a voluminous fringe, and other details that made the people’s princess click into place.
  33. royal order
    So, You Want to Start Watching The CrownCan you dive into the Netflix series for the first time with season four? Sure! But there are some things you should know first.
  34. tv review
    Industry Trades On Known QuantitiesAt this point, the new HBO drama feels defined more by its influences than its characters.
  35. tv review
    The Crown Has Finally Gotten to the Good StuffThe fascinating trio of Elizabeth (Olivia Colman), Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), and Diana (Emma Corrin) make the series’ fourth season its best yet.
  36. close reads
    The Bachelorette Is Best When It Breaks All the RulesIt should’ve broken a few more.
  37. election 2020
    Watching CNN on Election Night Felt Like Being Dipped in Boiling OilBelieve it or not, it doesn’t have to be like this.
  38. vulture bets on berry
    What the World Needs Now Is Matt Berry to Play BatmanIntroducing our new column, “Vulture Bets on Berry.”
  39. sweet jesus
    Hot Damn, Timothy Olyphant in The MandalorianHis hair is perfect.
  40. viewing guide
    Which NXIVM Docuseries Is Right for You?Fear not: Keith Raniere’s strange obsession with volleyball will show up regardless of which of these three docuseries you pick.
  41. cameos
    I Can’t Stop Thinking About These 14 Seconds in How to With John WilsonWait, is that Kyle MacLachlan?
  42. comedy review
    Everything’s Fine Is a Frantic Hour of Hot PotatoSarah Cooper has her own Netflix special, but she can’t quite hold her own.
  43. tv review
    The Great How to With John Wilson Defies ExpectationIt’s incredibly poignant with a surprising number of dicks.
  44. qui-bye
    Did 2020 Kill Quibi? Or Did Quibi Kill Quibi?Name aside, the upstart streamer actually had a lot of things going for it — and it failed in spite of all of them.
  45. book excerpt
    How the Sitcom Mirrored, and Shaped, Your Idea of New York CityAn excerpt from The Encyclopedia of New York.
  46. chat room
    T’Nia Miller Is Happy She Was Wrong About Bly Manor Episode 8“I thought, Nah, babe, this is Netflix. Just keep it real. But oh my God, they know what they’re doing.”
  47. movie review
    What the Constitution Means to Me Film Unleashes a Boiler Full of FlamesWhen everything feels too overwhelming to watch at home, Heidi Schreck’s Broadway show (streaming on Prime Video) hits the right chord of anger.
  48. tv review
    Thank God Social Distance Is SadNetflix’s new coronavirus anthology series doesn’t offer any answers, but unlike so much COVID-era entertainment, it does offer honesty.
  49. docusoaps
    How Nyle DiMarco Made Deaf U the Messy Teen Drama of His Dreams“I didn’t want to make a PSA. I wanted something that would draw hearing people into our world.”
  50. hello fellow wimps
    A Scaredy-Cat’s Guide to The Haunting of Bly ManorEndure the terror with the help of our episodic breakdown of all of this season’s jump scares, alarming dolls, and weird cracks in the wall.
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