MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Kathryn VanArendonk

Staff Writer
@kvanaren
kathryn.vanarendonk@nymag.com

  1. how mysterious!
    Emergence’s Showrunners on How to Build a Puzzle-Box ShowStep 1: Don’t be afraid to answer your mysteries.
  2. close reads
    Every Succession Episode Is a Contained ExplosionThe series turns each hour into a distinct battleground, where characters vying for their own self-interest are also inextricably linked.
  3. spoilers
    A GIF Journey Through Succession’s Glorious, Shocking FinaleIt was everything I could have possibly dreamed, and more.
  4. tv review
    Looking for Alaska Is the Rare Adaptation That Improves on the OriginalHulu’s long-gestating miniseries adaptation of John Green’s 2005 YA novel moves the story closer to what it perhaps should’ve been in the first place.
  5. tv review
    The Great Depresh Is Proof That Comedy Doesn’t Have to WoundGary Gulman’s HBO special is equally happy, sad, dark, and hilarious.
  6. honk!
    The Creators of Untitled Goose Game Just Wanted to Make a Funny GameSomehow it became so much more.
  7. tv review
    Bless the Harts Shakes Up Animation DominationThe promising new series from Emily Spivey is suggestive of what Fox’s Sunday night animation block has been, and what it could be in the future.
  8. legacies
    Transparent Changed TV As an Art FormIt defined an entire genre of TV comedy and opened new avenues for TV storytelling.
  9. behind the scenes
    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.”
  10. shopping
    Jennifer Lawrence Thinks You Need a Copper Fondue Set [UPDATED]The actress has posted a wedding registry on Amazon.
  13. close reads
    The Doctors Made ER Great. The Nurses Made It Radical.County General’s nursing staff represented a reconsideration of who matters most in a hospital, and which stories are worth telling.
  14. tv review
    A Little Late With Lilly Singh Is a Promising BeginningThe first week suggests that Singh is charismatic and original enough to pull this off.
  15. emmys 2019
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of a Deeply Chaotic Emmy AwardsWithout a host, there were bumps and awkward moments aplenty, but the scattershot ceremony still hit a few bull’s-eyes.
  16. emmys 2019
    Natasha Lyonne’s Claps Are Expressive and RadiantGive her an Emmy for this hand work.
  17. predictions
    Who’s Gonna Win at the 2019 Emmys? And Who Should Really Win?Our expert predictions.
  18. emmys 2019
    Stop Giving Game of Thrones Emmys AlreadyAt this point, giving the era-defining series an award feels more like a shrug than a cause for celebration.
  19. hidden treasures
    Someone Just Found John Milton’s Copy of Shakespeare, Which Is Absolutely NutsThis is a big f*cking deal.
  20. encounter
    A Walk With a Miserable Merritt WeverThe new Netflix drama Unbelievable proves she’s a star. She’s still getting used to that.
  21. tv review
    Bill Burr’s New Stand-up Special Is So Much Better Than Its First 4 MinutesPaper Tiger is a thoughtful and surprising set on shame and emotional repression.
  22. tv review
    Good Talk With Anthony Jeselnik Is Part Talk Show, Part Sparring MatchThe series’ sincere-ish conversations about comedy live and die by how well guests can navigate the spiky trap of Jeselnik’s persona.
  25. tv review
    The Spy Feels Like a Memorial Plaque Turned Into a MiniseriesNetflix’s six-part miniseries is a functional but inert take on the story of Eli Cohen, played with unblinking straightness by Sacha Baron Cohen.
  26. comedy review
    Dave Chappelle Hopes You’re OffendedIn his Broadway show and Netflix special, the comedian aligns with perspectives of the powerful.
  27. spoilers
    Let’s Talk About the Mindhunter Season-Two FinaleIt’s a story about failure, but it’s still a story about hoping the hero will catch the bad guy.
  28. close reads
    Is Succession a Comedy?The Roys’ lives might be tragic, but their whole world is laughable.
  29. comedy review
    Julio Torres’s My Favorite Shapes Will Change the Way You See a Happy Meal ToyThe SNL writer shows off his unwavering commitment to the bit in his new HBO special.
  30. speeches
    Listen to Toni Morrison’s Remarkable, Transcendent Nobel Prize Lecture“Look. How lovely it is, this thing we have done — together.”
  31. tv review
    Derry Girls Is Teen TV at Its BestThe Channel 4/Netflix series resists the easy traps that so often hinder teen shows.
  32. close reads
    Jane the Virgin Was a Fantasy, That’s Why It Felt So RealThe telenovela twists were preposterously silly, but they clarified all the messy complexity of ordinary life.
  33. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Series-Finale Recap: The End.There are no secrets left. Just an ending and happiness.
  34. finales
    After Years of Telenovela Twists, Jane the Virgin’s Mastermind Says Good-byeTalking with showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman about Jane’s lovefest finale.
  37. close reads
    This Time, the Winner of The Bachelorette Was the BacheloretteDon’t mess with Hannah Brown.
  38. tv review
    The Boys Transcends the Dark, Gritty Superhero SlogThe new Amazon series’s cynical, superpowered world is nothing new, but some of its points about that world are.
  39. welcome (back) to neptune
    Breaking Down Veronica Mars Season 4 With Showrunner Rob ThomasThe series creator discusses returning to Neptune sans nostalgia, where he’d like to see Veronica go from here, and, yes, that ending.
  40. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: The Tail EndThe series’s penultimate episode wraps up loose ends in ways both emotional (Michael!) and absolutely bonkers (Sin Rostro!).
  41. tv review
    Orange Is the New Black’s Final Season Sticks the LandingThe show that helped launch a new era of TV goes out on a brutal, unambiguous, and surprisingly emotional note.
  42. bachelor nation
    The 6 Biggest Moments of The Bachelorette’s ‘Men Tell All’If Luke is going to crash Hanna’s rose-ceremony set, she will move the set somewhere else.
  43. spoilers
    Why Veronica Mars Had to Blow Itself Up In the EndShowrunner Rob Thomas knows the ending of the revival season will be hard for fans to accept, but for him it was the only possible way forward.
  44. burning qs
    So, What Is Cats About?We’re glad you asked.
  45. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Sin Rostro Returns!The seasons-long Rose story line finally makes its way toward something like a conclusion but not before throwing out one last red herring.
  46. tv review
    Veronica Mars Returns to Neptune, Seedy and Seductive As EverThe Hulu revival succeeds by returning to what made the series great, while sidestepping the perils of easy nostalgia.
  49. star market
    Who Won Game of Thrones (the Pop Culture Phenomenon)?The fantasy series was gold for nearly every person, place, and broadcaster involved. But who came out on top?
  50. tv review
    Love Island Is Boring, But Hard to EscapeOne week in, the new CBS version of the U.K. reality franchise remains unknowably vague — and strangely comforting.
  51. persistence
    Dave Chappelle Reveals How Bradley Cooper Convinced Him to Be in A Star Is BornIt involves a barn in Ohio.
  52. overnights
    Jane the Virgin Recap: Just Like a Telenovela!As Jane heads into its endgame, the two biggest unresolved matters are questions the series has been playing with from the first episode.
  53. highlight reel
    The 15 Best GIFs From the Love Island PremiereEven at this early stage, there are encouraging signals that this could be a worthy U.S. iteration of the great U.K. franchise.
  54. stranger things
    What Will the Stranger Things Kids Write About in Their College Essays?Their scariest challenge yet.
  55. tv review
    Aziz Ansari Reckons With HimselfAnsari’s Netflix special is intentionally full of contradictions, and he has no interest in trying to resolve them.
  56. spoilers
    How Should We Feel About the End of Stranger Things 3?Let’s talk about the implications of that credits scene.
  57. big mood
    What Do the Most GIF-able TV Shows Have in Common?SpongeBob and The Office are racking up millions — and even billions — of views on Giphy, and for good reason.
  58. reality tv
    Marianne Williamson Is Every Weirdo Bachelor ContestantThe first Democratic debates were like the early episodes of a dating reality show.
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