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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. lists
    Who Has the Most Damning Appearance on Who Is America?No one comes out of a Sacha Baron Cohen show looking good.
  2. close reads
    The Handmaid’s Tale Sabotaged Itself With a Single SongThe very end of season two swaps a grueling parable about power for a rah-rah myth of resistance.
  3. gripes
    TV Dramas Are Too QuietIt’s not just Sharp Objects. Has extremely hushed dialogue become the new hallmark of serious TV?
  4. close reads
    GLOW Isn’t a 10-Hour MovieThank God.
  5. close reads
    Where Are All the Celebrities in The Handmaid’s Tale?I have so many questions about Oprah Winfrey’s cameo.
  6. sitcoms
    Is There Any Way for the Roseanne Spinoff to Succeed?Even without Roseanne, The Conners may not be a thoughtful and insightful sitcom.
  7. close reads
    Please Love Yourself Enough to Ignore The Proposal I promise you it’s not worth watching ABC’s new reality show.
  8. close reads
    The Fourth Estate Takes on #MeToo and the New York TimesBut does the Showtime documentary go far enough?
  9. Why American Vandal Season Two Will Be ‘Completely Different’A conversation with co-creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Lagana and showrunner Dan Perrault.
  10. Can You Recognize These Very Dark TV Dramas?A surprisingly tough quiz.
  11. 2018 atx festival
    Scott Foley Has No Idea What Happened at the End of Felicity “Hold on, I died?!”
  12. Anthony Bourdain Wrote the Recipe for Food TV, But There’s No Substitute for HimHis television shows were the result of an irreducible, alchemical, absolutely irreplaceable personality.
  13. close reads
    The Beauty and Banality of Motherhood Stories OnscreenThe best of these stories use a distancing lens to capture the transformative, magical, grinding exhaustion of motherhood.
  14. The Bachelorette Spoiled ItselfWhy the Garrett Yrigoyen scandal is a big problem for the reality franchise.
  15. vulture quiz
    Which TV Couple Said It: Philip and Elizabeth or Philip and Elizabeth?The Crown or The Americans?
  16. Was Renee a Russian Spy on The Americans?Actress Laurie Holden says there’s definitely a correct answer.
  17. Roseanne’s Cancellation Is a Sudden Cultural ShiftIt’s a swift and shocking decision. Was it also inevitable?
  18. Why Comedies Make the Best Binge-WatchesThe drama binge is so often a fling. A comedy binge can feel more like a real relationship.
  19. adaptations
    How Does Amazon’s Picnic at Hanging Rock Compare to the Movie and the Book?The new mini-series is much, much bigger than Joan Lindsay’s original novel or Peter Weir’s classic movie.
  20. The 100 TV Comedies Everyone Should WatchFrom the classics to the total weirdos.
  21. The Roseanne Season Finale Is a Fairy TaleWith the most heavy-handed deus ex machina imaginable, Roseanne sidesteps the connection between politics and family.
  22. infographics
    Where Are All the Working-Class Sitcoms? Here’s a TimelineFrom The Flintstones to Atlanta.
  23. How Killing Eve Gets Its Killer CostumesAn interview with Phoebe de Gaye, the costume designer responsible for instant-classic looks like Villanelle’s bubblegum princess dress.
  24. ‘Riddle of the Sphinx’ Is the Best Episode of Westworld YetIt’s an example of what the show can be when it leans deep into a few characters rather than spreading itself wide.
  25. Is the Arrested Development Season 4 Remix Good?The more things change, the more they stay the same.
  26. An Ode to Brooklyn Nine-NineThe outpouring of grief at its cancellation has been evidence there is an intense need for shows like this.
  27. Overly Long Episodes Are the Manspreading of TVIt’s time to stop the scourge.
  28. How Jane the Virgin Pulled Off Its Fantastic Surprise“I didn’t know for sure that I was going to do it until the end of season three.”
  29. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: OMFGNothing could have prepared me for the final seconds of “Chapter Eighty-One.”
  30. Jane the Virgin’s Finale Twist Is BreathtakingSeason five cannot come soon enough.
  31. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: It Does Get Harder“Chapter Eighty” is the darkest that Jane the Virgin has gotten for Xo’s cancer diagnosis.
  32. Tim Allen Is Not a Working-Class HeroPlease do not reboot his shows to appeal to “the heartland.”
  33. overnights
    Rise Recap: Curtain CallYou win, Mr. Mazzu.
  34. Why Roseanne Can’t Be Reduced to a Single EpisodeIts perceived failures have a lot to do with our incomplete understanding of how a sitcom works.
  35. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: The Cancer Card“Chapter Seventy-Nine” leaps ahead to the aftermath of Xiomara’s mastectomy.
  36. backstories
    How Jane the Virgin’s Cancer Story Came TogetherAnd the endgame of the show.
  37. overnights
    Rise Recap: Friday Night LightsJust let the kids be in the musical, Rise!
  38. vulture lists
    The 7 Best Food Shows to Match Your MoodFrom Top Chef to Ugly Delicious, there’s a food show for you.
  39. The Best TripAdvisor Reviews of the Sex Cult From Wild Wild CountryThe Osho International Meditation Resort and Guesthouse is still very much an operational meditation center and tourist destination!
  40. overnights
    Rise Recap: It’s Your Fault, Mr. MazzuLet’s do a pro/con list, shall we?
  41. How the Roseanne Premiere Handled Donald TrumpDo the jokes run deep enough?
  42. What Should We Do With Season 9 of Roseanne?The revival is hoping we forget the whole thing ever happened.
  43. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Good-bye, LeftyOof, Xiomara does indeed have breast cancer.
  44. overnights
    Rise Recap: Totally EffedHow is this show on Mr. Mazzu’s side?
  45. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: A Visit From the Tooth FairyWhen this show wants to get serious, it doesn’t mess around.
  46. pleas
    Why One Day at a Time Deserves to Get a Third SeasonIts existence will always be a benchmark for how I think about what TV can be in 2018.
  47. overnights
    Rise Series Premiere Recap: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Josh RadnorJustice for Miss Wolfe!
  48. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Everyone’s a CriticRogelio’s mustachioed inner critic is amazing.
  49. Why Are TV Detectives Always So Sad?If the premise of a TV show is that a detective searches for justice, it follows that the detective will be almost unbearably sad.
  50. It’s Time for Chris Harrison to Retire From The BachelorIf Harrison is a puppet for the franchise, the strings are now way too visible.
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