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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. (un)endings
    Foundation Has Immortality IssuesSeason two pushes up against the edge of how long characters can hang around without breaking the stakes.
  2. comedy review
    Michelle Wolf Dodges SpecialnessTaping a stand-up set doesn’t have to look like a big important hour.
  3. emergency discussion
    The Backlash Came for Drew BarrymoreThe View did it. The Talk did it. But after Barrymore crossed the picket line, the daytime TV host faced a unique wave of scrutiny. Why?
  4. best of 2023
    The Best TV Shows of 2023 (So Far)It’s certainly one of the more interesting TV years in recent memory.
  5. a long talk
    ‘This Is Not a Blip’Dallas Goldtooth considers the post–Reservation Dogs future, for himself and for an industry that’s finally making space for Native creators.
  6. emergency discussion
    Justified Giveth and City Primeval Taketh AwayImagine if this ending had been the whole show.
  7. fall preview 2023
    Fall TV Can’t Stop Looking BackwardThis season, streaming embraces a model that makes it safer to tell stories about the past.
  8. emergency discussion
    And Just Like That … Can’t Let Go and Neither Can WeNo matter how hard this season tried to push us away with unhinged coat choices and olive-slurping, we kept smashing that play button.
  9. comedy review
    What Fresh Hell Is This?Chris Fleming’s new special is the kind of comedy that dares to ask, “Would you buy a Driscoll’s or a gerbil?”
  10. the outsiders
    Bethennys All the Way DownThe RHONY reboot remixes one of the franchise’s most compelling archetypes. But who will claim the mantle?
  11. exit interview
    ‘We’re Up to Try Anything’Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ co-showrunner on a season that swings from war epic to musical and back again
  12. tv review
    Heartstopper Can’t Stop Asking If You’re Okay With ThisAs the tender teen romance series extends outward, it starts to feel notably careful, like it’s been written from a defensive stance.
  13. in memoriam
    Watching Christmas at Pee-wee’s Playhouse Is Like Being in on a Remarkable PrankPaul Reubens’s special was full of winking subversion, all framed inside the relative safety of a big sparkly Christmas extravaganza.
  14. exit interview
    ‘We Can Choose to Not Create More Damage’The creators of docuseries Last Call use a true crime frame to uncover the cycle of hate and violence that stalked queer communities in ’90s New York.
  15. tv review
    Twisted Metal Runs on EmptyPeacock’s adaptation of the car-combat video-game series says “yes” to guns, wisecracks, and shit that looks dope, and “no” to thinking too hard.
  16. vulture investigates
    Untangling the Mystery Behind Dennis Quaid’s Full Circle Braid“I mean, it’s fabulous,” says hair-department head Adenike Wright. “But it’s just like … I can’t believe he made me do that.”
  17. merkin at work
    Minx Unleashes a Tantalizing PairNow on Starz, the erotica-mag workplace comedy gets a fluff from two standout secondary performances.
  18. endings
    Project Greenlight Is Great TV About Making a Not-Great MovieOnce again, an attempt to show off young Hollywood talent becomes an unwitting document of deep and pervasive fractures across the industry.
  19. awards season
    The Good, the Bad, and the Weird of This Year’s Emmy NominationsGOOD: Scandoval! Bad: No Reservation Dogs AGAIN. WEIRD: James Marsden for … being James Marsden?
  20. tv review
    Last Call Sees What Most True Crime MissesLoving yet full of palpable fury, HBO’s docuseries will make you deeply sad, then even sadder that more true-crime stories aren’t told this way.
  21. best of 2023
    The Best Comedy Specials of 2023 (So Far)Featuring pointed personal reflections, unflashy collections of jokes, and snow globes.
  22. definition
    What Is a Bottle Episode?The people on the internet are wrong. Or are they?
  23. tv review
    The Bear Is a Different AnimalGood-bye to the restaurant known as the Beef. Hello to a looser, lighter season two.
  24. comedy review
    More Like John EnnuiJohn Early’s solo special is a beautifully dumb, exquisitely articulated cover of the millennial mood.
  25. deep thoughts
    All the Things I Learned Watching SmartLess: On the RoadI am now, perhaps, a little less smart.
  26. endings
    Ted Lasso Wanted to Do It AllThe show tried to be everything to everyone at once without settling down to be any one thing in particular.
  27. endings
    Succession Made You Decide“Who will win?” is a question as appealing and empty as Tom and Shiv’s apartment. The much harder one has always been “What kind of show is this?”
  28. emergency discussion
    Actually, Yellowjackets Did Bite Off More Than It Could ChewThere’s ambiguity and then there’s aimlessness.
  29. giddy-up
    All Them Newfangled Ways to Watch Yellowstone Are a MessLet’s wrangle in season five.
  30. close read
    Succession’s Song of Ice and FireA trio of eulogies negotiate the final word on Logan Roy.
  31. tv review
    Let Primo Fill the Feel-Good Comedy Void in Your LifeJust in case other formerly feel-good comedies are no longer working for you!
  32. endings
    Mrs. Davis Wasn’t Really About AI After AllAre you satisfied?
  33. backstories
    ‘They’ve Taken a Toy and Broken It’Succession director Andrij Parekh channeled the energy of Adam McKay’s 2016 Election Night party into “America Decides.”
  34. ted talk
    Ted Lasso Has a Major Character FlawIn the spirit of “Be curious, not judgmental,” we’re curious whether the show remembers why we cared about these people in the first place.
  35. spoiler vibes
    Bupkis Doesn’t Come Hard EnoughPeacock’s Pete Davidson comedy opens with an interrobang followed by an extended shrug.
  36. close read
    Tom Wambsgans Said “If”Of course Succession’s most honest moment comes wrapped inside a conditional.
  37. tv review
    Queen Charlotte Is Bridgerton’s Diamond of the SeasonThe rumors are true: Netflix’s newest addition to the prequel set is a gem.
  38. vulture food
    How to Prepare and Eat The Little Mermaid CastThese new character posters don’t look good, but with the right recipe, they have the potential to be great.
  39. profile
    Roy Wood Jr. Doesn’t Know EitherThe Daily Show veteran’s career has brought him to this moment. If only there were the perfect job opening.
  40. comedy review
    John Mulaney’s John Mulaney TrapIs Baby J a show of vulnerability? Does it want to be?
  41. workplace sitcoms
    American Auto Ruins Everyone EquallyThat’s a compliment!
  42. emergency discussion
    Love Is Blind Failed to LiveTechnical difficulties were just the start of the Netflix reality series’ reunion problems.
  43. yelling
    There Is No Such Thing As a Faithful AdaptationWhat if adaptations had to have original ideas? What if that was a good thing?
  44. close read
    Succession Did It in Episode Three“Connor’s Wedding” is a triumph of anticlimax.
  45. exit interview
    Bill Lawrence Is Still Figuring It OutDespite a rapidly shifting TV landscape, the Shrinking and Ted Lasso co-creator hasn’t abandoned his earnest worldview.
  46. comedy review
    Mae Martin’s Campfire HourSAP is mysticism all the way through. It’s about marveling at the strangeness of being a person.
  47. tv review
    Succession Still Has a Few Surprises LeftIn its final season, the HBO juggernaut keeps redefining itself, charting new business battlefields and emotional terrain.
  48. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2023 OscarsJenny the Donkey! David Byrne hot-dog fingers! An Oscar for Michelle Yeoh! What more could you want? (An Oscar for Angela Bassett.)
  49. exit interview
    A (Now Unredacted) Interview With You Co-creator Sera GambleBreaking down all the details of season four’s whodunit, that big twist, and the long arc of Joe Goldberg.
  50. exit interview
    Rian Johnson Wants Poker Face to Break Expectations Without Breaking FormThe creator of Peacock’s howdunit discusses the virtues of episodic structure and the challenges of keeping it satisfying week after week.
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