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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. tv review
    The Great Is Nasty, Brutish, and Long — and Very, Very GoodHulu’s “occasionally true” period satire skillfully balances empathy for its royal protagonist with an impulse to slice her to shreds.
  2. overnights
    Run Recap: Is the Badger Okay?A rocky installment of Billy and Ruby’s journey sneaks in a fan-service-y gift, albeit a poorly wrapped one.
  3. tv review
    Upload Is Bleak As HellIt’s an afterlife comedy that asks, “What if Jeff Bezos could add heaven to Amazon Prime?”
  4. comedy review
    Seinfeld’s 23 Hours to Kill Is Great (and Also Sucks)At his best, Seinfeld’s comedy teeters in between magic trick and dad joke. But not every magic trick is surprising.
  5. overnights
    Run Recap: We’re on a Train!Fiona clearly wants to mess with Billy, and something about her makes her want to do it in exceptionally weird, intrusive ways.
  6. tv review
    Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood Is a Dreamland, for Better or (Mostly) WorseThe Netflix limited series imagines an alternate-history Hollywood predicated on the same inequalities and gatekeeping that fuel the current one.
  7. tv review
    Never Have I Ever Made Me Happier Than I’ve Been in WeeksI mainlined every episode of Netflix’s pitch-perfect teen rom-com, co-created by Mindy Kaling, and instantly wished for more.
  8. overnights
    Run Recap: Enter FionaThe outside world was going to have to intrude on Billy and Ruby’s story eventually.
  9. close reads
    Superstore Is the Only Show I Trust to Tell a Coronavirus StoryDozens and dozens of TV shows will tell pandemic stories. Let’s hope that Superstore is one of them.
  10. quibi
    Yep, Quibi Is BadI spent two weeks watching Quibi shows, but I still can’t tell you exactly what Quibi is.
  11. finales
    David Simon on the End of Plot Against America (and Democracy)“Every day you’ve gotta get up and kill snakes. Every fucking day.”
  12. overnights
    Run Recap: An Amtrak 10Despite being peel-the-paint-off-the-walls hot for each other, Billy and Ruby keep finding ways to accidentally hurt the other.
  13. rants
    Let Me Screenshot Your Quibi Show, CowardsYou can’t control the way that people talk about TV shows online. So why is Quibi trying anyway?
  14. tv review
    Too Hot to Handle Is Your New Trashy Netflix Reality ObsessionIt’s a social experiment run by a talking metal cone, but it’s also a fishbowl full of hot people being controlled by bored producers.
  15. overnights
    Run Premiere Recap: Strangers on a TrainWe embark on a mysterious train journey powered almost exclusively by the chemistry between Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson.
  16. tv review
    Can Making the Cut Scratch That Project Runway Itch?The similarities between the new Amazon series and Tim and Heidi’s former show are undeniable, but some key changes alter the viewing experience.
  17. tv review
    I Worried The Good Fight’s New Season Would Feel Out of Touch. I Was Wrong.How does a show so uncannily attuned to our current moment function with a massive chasm between it and our new reality? As it turns out, very well.
  18. the jokes must go on
    At Home (Where Else?) With Jimmy FallonThe late-night host makes a quarantine comeback, with an assist from his wife and kids.
  19. set visits
    Leaving Schitt’s CreekOn set with the Roses, in a place that existed outside of any world, where people became better versions of themselves.
  20. vulture guides
    So, Which Quibis Are Worth Your Time?Just because an episode is under 10 minutes doesn’t mean it’s time well spent.
  21. outlander
    This Month Has Changed My Mind About OutlanderThe world is different now, and suddenly, I can appreciate Claire Fraser as the public-health hero she is.
  22. we needed this
    Your Daddy Elliot Stabler Is Coming Back to TVYes.
  23. but is it good?
    A Debate About Tiger King Between Me and MyselfNetflix’s buzzy true-crime series about big cats and the criminal weirdos who keep them is undeniably absorbing. Is that enough?
  24. stand-up
    79 Comedians to Check Out Based on Ones You Already LikeWhether you’re a Mulaney, Chappelle, or Bamford fan, we know who you should check out next.
  25. tv review
    One Day at a Time Is Back and Helping Me Process the WorldThe family sitcom returns on a new network but otherwise unchanged, making it perfect for a time when the world is full of frightening unknowns.
  26. bachelor nation
    We Need to Talk About BarbPeter Weber may have been the Bachelor, but his mother Barb turned out to be the real driving force of this season.
  27. comedy review
    Marc Maron at the End of the WorldIn End Times Fun, an amazing stand-up comedian does his version of the Book of Revelation.
  28. coronavirus
    Why Is Pandemic Fiction So Comforting Right Now?The coronavirus crisis is terrifying. Contagion is a surprisingly soothing way to grapple with that fear.
  29. vulture recommends
    Babylon Berlin Is the Best Show You’re Not WatchingIf you’re not already obsessed with Netflix’s stylish, seductive German noir series, its third season will change that.
  30. the future
    What Comes After TV?Snapchat is making hypercondensed shows specifically to watch on a smartphone. It’s harder than you’d think.
  31. spoilers
    For Better and for Worse, Love Is Blind Will Never Be This Messy AgainThe Netflix reality dating series’s perfect, disastrous climax is a distinct kind of magic that future seasons won’t be able to replicate.
  32. comedy review
    Pete Davidson’s New Comedy Special Is Alive, BarelyAlive From New York is proof the SNL star is still a comedian and not a punch line. It’s too bad it still feels like a rough draft.
  33. explain yourselves
    Sanditon’s Creators Know You’re Devastated About That EndingCharlotte and Sidney’s fate is not the ending any Austen fan would’ve hoped for, nor is it the ending producers wanted for the show.
  34. close reads
    Every Good Show Needs a Good Stand-alone EpisodeIn different ways, High Fidelity and Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet show how taking a break from the main characters can make a series stronger.
  35. chris harrison would never
    What’s the Bare Minimum of Reality-TV Hosting?Because Nick and Vanessa Lachey don’t clear that bar in Love Is Blind.
  36. performance
    Put a Mustache on It: Working Out the Genre-Bending in NateTwo critics try to get at the core of Natalie Palamides’s comedy-theater-clowning-drag hybrid.
  37. tv review
    A Show Called Briarpatch Shouldn’t Be This SlickThe new USA mystery crime series from Andy Greenwald and Sam Esmail boasts a proudly weird, stylish exterior that obscures a hollow center.
  38. close reads
    The Good Place’s Final TwistEverything ends, we don’t know exactly what that looks like, and that’s okay.
  39. comedy review
    For Maria Bamford, Weakness Is GreatnessIn her new special, the comedian refuses to slice away at others without also turning the knife back on herself.
  40. close reads
    The Weekly’s Endorsement Episode Was a FailureAnd not just because the Times endorsed two candidates.
  41. tv review
    We’re Lucky to Have Little AmericaThe new Apple TV+ anthology series about the immigrant experience in America is a small, modest show that packs a big emotional punch.
  42. comedy review
    Leslie Jones, Ebullient Time TravelerIn her Netflix special, the SNL alum makes a careful performance feel wildly combustible.
  43. close reads
    How Can The Witcher Be So Fun and So Incoherent?This show makes absolutely no sense, which is why it’s so enjoyable.
  44. tv review
    Does AJ and the Queen Know It’s Terrible?The new Netflix series starring RuPaul might be aiming for high camp. Or maybe it’s just really bad.
  45. tv review
    Sanditon Delivers Everything You Expect of an Austen Adaptation—Until it Doesn’tPBS Masterpiece’s miniseries version of Austen’s unfinished novel is exquisite, thoughtfully adapted, and, in its final moments, extremely perplexing.
  46. coming attractions
    50 TV Shows We Can’t Wait to See in 2020From BoJack Horseman and Schitt’s Creek to The New Pope and Succession.
  47. the gold rush
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2020 Golden GlobesFrom Stellan Skarsgård’s lack of eyebrows to Phoebe Waller-Bridge thanking Obama to Quentin Tarantino thanking himself.
  48. close reads
    The Mandalorian Doesn’t Care About DiapersA series uninterested in the details of parenting indulges a very particular image of fatherhood: the guy who doesn’t have to sweat the small stuff.
  49. gif recap
    Just the Baby Yoda Parts of The MandalorianA GIF recap of the cutest li’l baby in the galaxy.
  50. what were the 2010s?
    The Literal Peaks of Peak TVFrom mountains to cliffs to steep hills, peaks were all over TV this decade.
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