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MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Kathryn VanArendonk

Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@kvanaren
[email protected]

Kathryn is a critic who writes about TV and comedy. She gets mad when people say TV is a 10 hour movie.

  1. way too close read
    Three Seasons of Bridgerton Culminate in One Ecstatic Line Reading“There is only one way to deliver that, and that is with urgency.”
  2. post-carriage comedown
    Bridgerton Just Can’t Pull Off a ClimaxBut it almost doesn’t matter when the foreplay is this good.
  3. a bad idea worth considering
    It’s Not Too Late to Fix House of the Dragon’s Color WarsIt should be Team Gold versus Team Red.
  4. to the pods
    The Love MachineLove Is Blind creator Chris Coelen drops a new group of singles into his strange experiment — and wrestles with all the lawsuits against the series.
  5. best of 2024
    The Best TV Shows of 2024 (So Far)Couples (and a throuple) working through their issues, feudal lords on the brink of war, and a comedian we’d follow anywhere.
  6. behind the scenes
    COUPLES THERAPY
    How Couples Therapy Put Therapy on TV (Without Ruining the Therapy)“Every week you’d go in knowing that there’s cameras somewhere, but three minutes into the session, you forget.”
  7. couples therapy
    108 - "Episode 8"
    Couples Therapy Built the World’s Most Convincing Reality-TV SetHow the Showtime docuseries filmed inside a fake therapy office without participants ever seeing any cameras.
  8. summer preview 2024
    22 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This SummerBooks that will transport you from the beach to a road trip with messy friends or a Round Table with Arthur’s knights.
  9. oh no! a balloon!
    A Minute-by-Minute Breakdown of the Nightmarish Bridgerton Balloon DisasterIf these Regency hotheads weren’t so hopped up on sexy swelling metaphors, this never would’ve happened.
  10. he’s an alien
    Tell Your Friends That John Sugar Is an AlienApple TV+’s Sugar would be 40 percent better if we knew the twist from the start.
  11. experiments
    Doing It Live Cuts Both WaysWhat lessons should Netflix take from its live Katt Williams special and Tom Brady roast?
  12. finales
    Shōgun Won the Attention WarWhen so much of the battle for TV viewership is getting audiences to watch a single screen, translation is Shōgun’s not-secret weapon.
  13. for sale
    Bluey Gives Us a SignThis episode of the beloved children’s series could be its first misstep. Or a perfect ending.
  14. tv
    How Bluey Became the Best Kids’ Show of Our TimeNo other series gets the strange, hilarious magic of play.
  15. tears of dog
    The Bluey Method of Reducing Grown-ups to TearsIn its most disarming episodes, child and adult experience blend into something beautiful — and sob-inducing — in under seven minutes.
  16. tv review
    Grad School Was Never This FunPark Chan-wook’s HBO adaptation of The Sympathizer is a captivating senior seminar on postcolonial theory.
  17. comedy review
    Jerrod Carmichael Makes the Camera His GodIn his HBO series, the comedian needles at whether the spectacle of his own personality and pain eclipses his ability to care about others.
  18. tv review
    3 Body Problem Is Not Afraid to Be TVAn unadaptable novel invites a perfect attempt at adaptation — if not a perfect TV show.
  19. where’s kate
    The Royals Are So Bad at ThisFirst rule of the internet: Why believe a boring, simple explanation when there’s so much more pleasure in rampant speculation?
  20. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2024 OscarsIs this a show for everyone or just the diehards? Is Hollywood back and better than ever, or has it lost its sense of identity?
  21. love is blind club
    Clay’s Parents Are Love Is Blind at Its BestThe season six finale gives us something much rarer than shock or emotion: legitimate insight.
  22. tv review
    If Only Someone Had Overthrown The RegimeHBO’s latest limited series is desperate to say things about fascism but can only get as far as noticing them.
  23. dun done
    Just to Clarify, Sam Waterston Is Not RetiringAs he says good-bye to Law & Order (again), the former Jack McCoy has a message for casting directors: Call him!
  24. definition
    What Is a Bottle Episode?The people on the internet are wrong. Or are they?
  25. love is blind club
    14 Moments That Made Love Is BlindSeason six is here, so we’re looking back at the most jaw-dropping scenes from our favorite social experiment.
  26. american nightmare
    True Crime’s ACAB Playbook Is Falling Into PlaceA new crop of docuseries turns the typical explanation for law-enforcement failure on its head.
  27. tv review
    An Architectural Digest Home Tour Turned Spy ShowIn Prime series Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Donald Glover and Maya Erskine achieve their dreams through some truly terrible work-life balance.
  28. books
    Sarah J. Maas Is the Mortal Queen of Faerie SmutHer massively popular series, including “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” mix fantasy lore with soft-core romance — and a whole lot of trauma.
  29. vulture guides
    12 Romantasy Authors to KnowHere are some of the most popular creators of sexy fantasy worlds.
  30. convince me
    Sex and the City Is Coming to Netflix. So What?A hallmark of HBO prestige headed to the Starbucks of streaming doesn’t herald the end-times — yet.
  31. whodunnit
    Which January Detective Is Right for You?Grizzled sad-sack detectives, committed-to-the-greater-good detectives, animated parody detectives … The gang’s all here!
  32. 2023 emmys in 2024
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2023 Emmys Held in 2024The ceremony kept things tight: FX, speech times, Anthony Anderson’s latex.
  33. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2024 Golden GlobesAre we having fun yet? Honestly, not really!
  34. stand-up
    11 Signs You’re Watching an Edgy Comedy SpecialNone of them will shock you.
  35. comedy review
    A Slam Dunk From Gary GulmanBorn on 3rd Base shows the vast possibilities of observational comedy — and how an “important” topic can also be delightfully petty.
  36. notes on camp
    11 Brief Meditations on Why I Love The Gilded AgeEven though it’s inarguably bad.
  37. endings
    The Crown Says the Quiet Parts Out LoudPeter Morgan’s final word on Elizabeth’s reign hits with all the subtlety of a two-by-four to the face.
  38. cliffhangers
    The Buccaneers Couldn’t Leave Well Enough AloneThe last 30 seconds of the season finale chose (narrative) violence.
  39. stand-up
    Maria Bamford: The Artist Is a Comedian BearLocal Act explores what the stand-up values most in her work: being onstage and making fun of what’s important to her.
  40. remembrance
    Norman Lear’s TruthHe depicted the American experiment, one family at a time.
  41. best of 2023
    The Best Comedy Specials of 2023The best hours reached for transcendence — through gravity and sheer goofiness, often at the same time.
  42. best of 2023
    All About the AlgorithmTV in 2023 explicitly and subliminally cast doubt on the sparkling future of streaming television.
  43. best of 2023
    The Best TV Shows of 2023Shows may come and shows may go, but great TV will never leave us.
  44. 25 days of reality
    Reality TV Finally Crashed Into RealityThere is life before Scandoval, and there’s everything that followed.
  45. comedy review
    Mike Birbiglia’s Existential ExercisesIn his Broadway show The Old Man and the Pool, the comedian dives into the anxieties of aging.
  46. emergency discussion
    The Crown Made a Haunting ChoiceWe need to talk about Ghost Diana and Ghost Dodi.
  47. comedy review
    Matt Rife Works a Crowd of His Own MakingHe’s 28, it’s his first Netflix special, and he’s already on the defensive.
  48. tv review
    The Curse Damns ItselfNathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s Showtime series will plunge you into doom-filled unease. Then it gets stuck there.
  49. finales
    Wheel of Time Found Its GrooveIn its second season, Amazon’s other epic fantasy series figured out what kind of show it wants to be.
  50. comics to watch
    The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 202325 comics who industry insiders predict will be tomorrow’s superstars.
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