MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Kathryn VanArendonk

Staff Writer
@kvanaren
kathryn.vanarendonk@nymag.com

  1. trauma
    Last Chance U’s New Season Takes an Unexpected, Sad DetourThe episode “Greyhaven” is about football, sure, but it’s more about the trauma echoing through the family of fantasy author Marion Zimmer Bradley.
  2. nasty
    The ‘Clean’ Version of ‘WAP’ Is Actually So Much FilthierIt’s much more detailed in a sensory way.
  3. trope patrol
    Death to the Sardonic Needle DropHow many incongruously cheerful songs playing over a violent montage is too many? Ask The Umbrella Academy.
  4. comedy review
    The Audacity of Sam JayIn her Netflix special, the comedian locates power in the places where it is often overlooked.
  5. best of 2020
    The Best TV of the Year (So Far)Never Have I Ever, I May Destroy You, and The Baby-Sitters Club are some of the brightest bright spots among 2020’s televisual offerings.
  6. emmys 2020
    What We Do in the Shadows Writer Stefani Robinson on Jackie Daytona, Ghost Sperm“It’s liberating but also a little terrifying to write this episode that’s stupid and funny for the sake of being stupid and funny.”
  7. tv review
    The Umbrella Academy’s Second Season Takes a Trip to NonsensevilleWhat the new season lacks in internal logic or consistent stakes, it makes up for in violent fight scenes set to peppy, ironically cheerful pop songs.
  8. chat room
    Shira Haas on Her Unorthodox Nomination And Her Love For Carmela Soprano“It was such a major part in the developing of me as a person and as an actor.”
  9. emmys 2020
    The Best, Worst, and Weirdest Emmy-Nomination SurprisesThe biggest surprise of this year’s Emmy season is that we’re somehow still doing the Emmys, but these are all a close second.
  10. best of 2020
    The Best Comedy Specials of the Year (So Far)Featuring Dave Chappelle’s 8:46, Leslie Jones’s Time Machine, and Ted Alexandro’s DIY quarantine release.
  13. tv review
    Brave New World Is Worth the Price of Admission (Which Is Free)Peacock’s centerpiece original series offers an attractive, straightforward, and unnervingly comforting adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel.
  14. synergy
    The 30 Rock Reunion Is Advertisements All the Way DownIn the original run of the show, the ads were usually jokes. In NBC’s one-off reunion special, most of the jokes are ads.
  15. character study
    How Guillermo Found His Power on What We Do in the ShadowsMaking Staten Island’s sweetest and most loyal vampire assistant (who’s secretly great at killing vampires).
  16. emmy insider
    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.
  17. emmy insider
    We’re Living in an Era of Peak Comfort TVThe pandemic was the final death knell of “prestige” as a meaningful indicator of anything at all, and I’m glad to see it go.
  18. stand-up
    The Most Joyful Live Comedy Right Now Is Inside Animal CrossingJenny Yang’s comedy showcase may be the cutest stand-up has ever been.
  19. tv review
    The Baby-Sitters Club Is a Welcome Surprise and Utter DelightI was dubious about Netflix’s new adaptation of the middle-grade book series, and I am thrilled to be proved wrong.
  20. animation
    Fixing Your Color-blind Casting Problem Is Actually Very EasyRecasting animated voices is no harder than any other part of making a TV show.
  21. tv review
    The Politician Can’t Triumph Over Its Own CynicismThe Netflix series’s fundamental emptiness was easier to stomach when it was about high school and not real-world politics.
  22. tv review
    In Love, Victor, a Spinoff Pushes Back Against Its Origin StoryOn its own, Hulu’s new teen coming-out series is pleasant TV. As a frankly resentful follow-up to Love, Simon, it’s something much more interesting.
  25. tv review
    What We Do in the Shadows Is the Best Comedy on TV Right NowWhy aren’t you watching this show yet?
  26. vulture lists
    21 TV Procedurals to Watch That Aren’t About PoliceFrom Murder, She Wrote to No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, there’s a whole world of cop-free procedurals out there.
  27. dun dun
    SVU Showrunner Says Cop Shows Are ‘Miscontributing’ to SocietyHe has also spoken against police brutality on Twitter this week.
  28. comedy review
    Yvonne Orji Can Turn Punchlines Into ChorusesMomma, I Made It! works best when Orji’s material speaks for itself.
  29. dun dun
    Dick Wolf Fires Law & Order Spin-off Writer for Violent Facebook PostsHe had captioned a photo of himself with a large firearm “Curfew…”
  30. close reads
    Cops Are Always the Main CharactersTV perfected the cop show, metastasized it, and then franchised it into ubiquity. How does that affect the way audiences think about police?
  31. tv review
    Central Park Could Be Great If It Gets Out of Its Own WayThe Apple TV+ animated musical from Loren Bouchard and Josh Gad is working out the kinks, but has the potential to become an extremely endearing show.
  32. tv review
    Ramy Is Best When It’s Not About RamyMahershala Ali joining the cast is a big plus, too.
  33. sesame street
    Chatting With Elmo About His (Not Too) Late Night DebutA very special Zoom call with Sesame Street’s newest talk show host.
  34. comedy review
    In Douglas, Hannah Gadsby Strives to Manage Your ExpectationsNanette is the “Why I’m Leaving New York” essay of comedy specials, and Douglas is the “Actually I’m Still Here” next chapter.
  37. overnights
    Where Did Run Go Wrong?The finale is an illustration of how little the show has managed to communicate what we, the audience, should even be rooting for.
  38. first person
    I Am Obsessed With a Tragic Hidden Backstory in Animal CrossingSable is the only character in the entire game that gives you access to an actual story.
  39. comedy review
    Patton Oswalt Paints Hilarious Portraits of WeirdnessReviewing the comedian’s new Netflix comedy special, I Love Everything.
  40. summer 2020
    The 20 Best and Biggest TV Shows to Watch This SummerDirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, The Good Lord Bird, I May Destroy You, and more worth seeing during the Great Indoor Summer.
  41. overnights
    Run Recap: The Things We Do for a ShagAt long last, Run has some secondary characters who actually feel meaningful to the story.
  42. chat room
    Mark Hamill Is the World’s Biggest What We Do in the Shadows FanAnd he’s an amazing guest star as Jim the Vampire, too.
  43. 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.
  44. 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.
  45. tv review
    Upload Is Bleak As HellIt’s an afterlife comedy that asks, “What if Jeff Bezos could add heaven to Amazon Prime?”
  46. 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.
  49. 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.
  50. 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.
  51. 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.
  52. overnights
    Run Recap: Enter FionaThe outside world was going to have to intrude on Billy and Ruby’s story eventually.
  53. 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.
  54. quibi
    Yep, Quibi Is BadI spent two weeks watching Quibi shows, but I still can’t tell you exactly what Quibi is.
  55. 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.”
  56. 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.
  57. 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?
  58. 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.
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