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MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Kathryn VanArendonk

Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@kvanaren
kathryn.vanarendonk@nymag.com

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

  1. better than sliced bread
    One Line Says Everything You Need to Know About This Season of The DiplomatNothing else on TV could pull this off.
  2. tv review
    One Abominable Day, Two Incomplete TV SeriesIsraeli productions One Day in October and Red Alert omit more than they show.
  3. tv review
    English Teacher Assumes We’re All on the Same PageBrian Jordan Alvarez’s sitcom is nostalgic for an imaginary time when everyone could take a joke.
  4. red white and royal blue
    Prince William Very Cool and Normal Guy According to Eugene LevyIf the royal’s appearance on The Reluctant Traveler isn’t carefully orchestrated image rehabilitation, then what is it, exactly?
  5. best of 2025
    The Best TV Shows of 2025 (So Far)Great television will not be confined nor defined by genre.
  6. comics to watch
    The Comedians You Should and Will Know of 2025We surveyed more than 200 industry insiders to determine these 21 comedy stars of tomorrow.
  7. close read
    Bertha Was RightThe Gilded Age is determined to punish her. She doesn’t deserve it.
  8. best of 2025
    The Best Comedy Specials of 2025 (So Far)Established comics contemplating their own mortality and a rapturous ode to other elements of human debasement.
  9. comedy review
    The Anxiety KingWhen the sky is falling, there’s no better comedian than Marc Maron.
  10. parenting
    Let Your Kids Watch TV. It’s Fine.A no-guilt screen-time guide.
  11. awards szn
    The Biggest Snubs and Surprises From the 2025 Emmy NominationsGood for Meghann Fahy!
  12. tv review
    The Gilded Age Puts the Status in Status QuoAnd reaches the heights of its potential in season three.
  13. ‘reality’ tv
    Back to the Frontier Will Remind You of SomethingBut it will not remind you of being on the frontier.
  14. america decided
    Love Island USA Gave Viewers All the PowerAnd turned a boring season of TV into a phenomenon.
  15. definition
    What Is a Bottle Episode?The people on the internet are wrong. Or are they?
  16. tv review
    When You’re The Bear, You’re FamilySeason four is basically an Olive Garden commercial, but who doesn’t love Olive Garden?
  17. close reads
    ICE TV Is EverywhereSocial media is flooded with videos of immigration raids. They tell a very different story depending on where you’re looking.
  18. i don’t like this
    Why Does SmartLess Mobile Feel So Grim?Please, celebrities, just make more tequila.
  19. tv review
    Stick Is Stuck on the Trauma PlotThe Owen Wilson golf comedy is feel-good TV built on a feel-bad foundation.
  20. tv review
    Hacks Stopped Being About ComedyAnd became a better but more familiar show.
  21. comedy review
    Jerrod Carmichael Takes Off the ArmorDon’t Be Gay is surprisingly free of high-concept artfulness. Without it, what’s left?
  22. way too close read
    5 Ways to Overthink The Secret Lives of Mormon WivesThere are several potential graduate theses tucked away inside this lifestyle reality program/Poppi sponsorship deal.
  23. gold rush
    The Emmys Can’t Ignore TV’s Spy Obsession Much LongerWigs, guns going pew-pew, the total destruction of the self: What more could you ask of an Outstanding Drama Series?
  24. tv review
    Murderbot Is Almost the Real ThingAlexander Skarsgård brings the sci-fi series to life.
  25. exit interview
    ‘Before Anyone Else Defines It, I’m Going to Define It’Andor creator Tony Gilroy reflects on five years inside the Star Wars universe.
  26. imagined communities
    Everyone Knows #MomTok Is a LieThat’s what makes The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives such compelling reality TV.
  27. tv review
    A Forever for Right NowMara Brock Akil’s masterful Judy Blume adaptation finds the timeless in a contemporary teen couple’s sexual awakening.
  28. buffering
    Are You Happy With How You Watch TV?We asked 2,000 people about their streaming habits. Here’s what we make of the findings.
  29. tv review
    The Baldwins Almost SucceededSometimes you nearly forget this exercise in crisis management was a wild miscalculation.
  30. tv review
    The Last of Us Grows UpThere will always be infected, but this series excels when its characters consider how to be human.
  31. exit interview
    ‘We Try to Keep the Sensationalism to a Dull Roar’As The Pitt shuts down season one, the next shift is taking shape for creator R. Scott Gemmill.
  32. tv review
    The White Lotus Didn’t Earn ItLaurie’s monologue teaches a lesson season three failed to grasp.
  33. tv review
    PULSE
    Pulse Is DOATime of death: end of the first scene.
  34. cheat sheet
    Which New Medical Show Is Right for You?It’s not just The Pitt; we’re in the midst of a medical-show boom.
  35. close read
    Severance Talks to ItselfOne sublime finale scene cuts through all the season’s noise.
  36. set piece
    John Mulaney’s PlayhouseIn his new live talk show, the comedian is allowed to do whatever he wants. What exactly is that?
  37. backstories
    EP 111 SC 17
    It Takes Two Puppeteers and a Custom Rig to Birth a Baby on The PittTV’s most realistic birth sequence required an orthopedic chair, a silicone vagina, and some piano wire.
  38. love is blind club
    20 Moments That Made Love Is BlindAfter five years of LIB, we’re looking back at the most jaw-dropping scenes from our favorite social experiment.
  39. tv review
    Meghan Markle Pioneers New Frontiers in UnrelatabilityWith Love, Meghan desperately wants your approval and playacts normalcy to try to get it.
  40. close read
    Love Is Blind Can’t Keep Up With the DiscourseSeason eight is stuck in the same superficial relationship to social media it finds so concerning for its participants.
  41. what am i lemon a father?
    The Baldwins Is Grimmer Than You ImaginedEveryone involved with this should be ashamed.
  42. tv review
    The White Lotus Knows What You’re Here ForSeason three finds Mike White’s series in full franchise mode, most defined by what came before.
  43. surprise?
    Let’s Discuss Severance’s Big ‘Twist’If you can even call it that.
  44. tv review
    Clean Slate Goes All in on Feel-GoodLaverne Cox’s sitcom protagonist doesn’t operate in our world. Honestly, good for her.
  45. tv review
    Wildcat Is Down
    It’s a Smooth-Brained Dystopia, and I Feel FineThis may shock you, but things on Paradise are not what they seem.
  46. theater review
    Gary Gulman Clings to GrandiloquenceIn his Off Broadway show, the comedian too often confuses attention for acceptance.
  47. comedy review
    Roy Wood Jr. Comes Into FocusLonely Flowers is a reminder that we should all just pick up the phone and call.
  48. vulture lists
    Julianna Margulies and George Clooney in "ER" ("A Hole In The Heart").
    The 27 Best ER Episodes to Stream If You’ve Never WatchedIf you want to binge-watch the granddaddy of all medical dramas, we’re here to help.
  49. tv review
    Bury Me in The PittI powered through Max’s not-an-ER reboot with so much delight that I was annoyed when I had to pause to watch something ostensibly better.
  50. tv review
    It Was Worth the WaitSeverance season two delivers answers. But its greatest pleasure is returning to this world and finding it still exists.
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