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Jen Chaney

TV Critic
@chaneyj
[email protected]

Vulture and New York TV critic Jen Chaney previously worked for the Washington Post and has bylines at the New York Times and Vanity Fair. She also wrote As If: The Complete Oral History of Clueless.

  1. tv review
    Diagnosis Is Not Your Typical Medical Mystery ShowThe moving and nuanced Netflix docuseries, based on the New York Times Magazine column, is a mix of genres: reality, detective, and emotional drama.
  2. tv review
    The Family Puts a Secret Group In the Spotlight, But Needs Stronger WattageThe Netflix docuseries connects some dots regarding the religious right and American politics, but it doesn’t add up to more than a basic outline.
  3. close reads
    On the Troubling Subtext of Once Upon a Time in HollywoodYes, that ending is part of it.
  4. tv review
    GLOW Goes Deeper and Gets Even Better in Season ThreeThere’s more introspection than spandex in the new season. But don’t worry: There’s definitely still spandex.
  5. tv review
    BH90210 Has Its Nostalgia Both WaysThe weird, compulsively watchable reboot earnestly indulges viewers’ affection for the original series with a highly meta wink.
  6. tv review
    Euphoria’s Finale Was Visually Stunning, But What’s Beneath the Sheen?The first season of HBO’s messy teen drama ends on an ambiguous but compelling note.
  7. tv review
    A Black Lady Sketch Show Is Pure, Funny FireRobin Thede’s new HBO comedy half-hour is hilarious and surprising.
  8. tv review
    Four Weddings and a Funeral, I Think I Don’t Love YouThe new Hulu series inspired by the film seems more interested in tipping its hat to rom-coms past than building a unique love story of its own.
  9. cancellations
    A Wake for Tuca & Bertie, Which Should Not Have Been CanceledCan’t two bird-women have more of a moment, Netflix?
  10. the mueller hearings
    Robert Mueller Is Not Your TV Hero or VillainThe former FBI director may have been the protagonist of The Mueller Hearings, but he conducted himself more like a respectable side character.
  11. summer tv
    Holey Moley and Blown Away Should Be Your Go-to Summer Reality CompetitionsFinally, reality TV has made room for miniature golf and glassblowing.
  12. follow-ups
    What to Expect From Hannah Gadsby’s New Show, DouglasHer meta-comedy is still very meta, and it’s still working beautifully.
  13. vulture tv awards
    The Best Show on TV Is FleabagNo movie or TV show is perfect. But then along comes something like season two of Fleabag.
  14. vulture tv awards
    The Best Writing on TV Is on BoJack HorsemanNo other show managed the same tricky combination of comedy, drama, and #MeToo commentary.
  15. tv review
    How Big Little Lies Lost Its Way in Season TwoAfter a promising start, season two’s increased focus on Celeste’s custody battle ended up undermining what made the first season so compelling.
  16. vulture tv awards
    The Best Supporting Actor on TV Is One Day at a Time’s Rita MorenoShe’s such a pro that she makes what she’s doing look easy. It isn’t.
  17. close reads
    Stranger Things 3 Is Basically One Big Back to the Future HomageWhat the many allusions to the 1985 blockbuster tell us about this season — and what hints they might provide about the series’ future.
  18. 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?
  19. 2019 emmy awards
    Emmy Nominations 2019: The 24 Biggest Surprises and SnubsYay, Fleabag! But really, no Rhea Seehorn?
  20. chat room
    Michaela Watkins on Improvising Alongside Marc Maron in Sword of Trust“This was kind of fun to turn my brain over and try to cook the other side and just be totally free to improvise.”
  21. close reads
    Why Is Hopper Such a Jerk-Ass in Stranger Things 3?So. Much. Yelling. But is there a reason for it?
  22. chat room
    Stranger Things 3’s Priah Ferguson on Erica’s Expanded Role and Salty Language“I was like, Oh wow, I get to cuss?”
  23. tv review
    In Stranger Things 3 the Horror Is Messier, But the Thrills Are FamiliarThe highly anticipated season edges into some new territory, but mostly leans hard on what’s worked before.
  24. tv review
    The Loudest Voice Is All Bluster and Little InsightRussell Crowe plays Fox News mastermind Roger Ailes with zeal (and awkward prosthetics) in a Showtime series that’s more about the what than the why.
  25. close reads
    Toy Story 4 Is a Movie About Getting Older and Getting Out of the WayYou see another nice Pixar movie about sentient playthings. We see a story about baby boomers and presidential candidates.
  26. emmy insider
    Our 2019 Emmy-Nomination PredictionsIt’s gotten harder than ever to forecast the field of nominees, but that’s not going to stop us from trying!
  27. tv review
    Euphoria Review: Freaks and DicksThe bleak, nudity-filled HBO teen series is no-holds-barred, for better and for worse.
  28. chat room
    Rhea Seehorn Talks Better Call Saul, Veep, and Kim Wexler’s Ponytail Secrecy“It still makes my heart beat out of my chest because I’m just like, What is happening? What is she thinking?”
  29. tv review
    Younger Is Still a Fizzy, Guiltless Pleasure in Season 6The TV Land series may have lost some urgency around the matter of Liza’s Big Secret, but it’s still as smart and fun as ever.
  30. close reads
    The Rise of the Female Buddy DramedyDead to Me, Booksmart, Tuca & Bertie, and other recent movies and TV shows prove that this is a golden era for female duos.
  31. 2019 tony awards
    The Highs and Lows of the 2019 Tony AwardsCynthia Erivo!!!!
  32. tv review
    Big Little Lies Season Two Is Worth the WaitI thought a second season might be overkill. I was very wrong.
  33. tv review
    In The Handmaid’s Tale Season 3, Gilead’s Still Gonna GileadThe third season of the Hulu series explores the limitations of systemic reform while feeling a bit stuck in place.
  34. tv review
    When They See Us Is an Intimate, Sensitive Look at the Central Park Five TragedyThe famous rape case and wrongful convictions are revisited in this thoughtful, well-acted Netflix miniseries from Ava DuVernay.
  35. tv review
    Running With Beto Says More About the Political Climate Than About Beto O’RourkeThe HBO documentary sidesteps mythologizing its subject in favor of capturing a flash point in Texas political history.
  36. summer preview
    10 Great TV Shows to Stream Before They’re Back This SummerThe returning shows you should catch up with ASAP.
  37. tv review
    Vida’s Latinx, Queer Perspective Is More Distinctive, and Vital, Than EverWhat makes the Starz series groundbreaking TV is also what makes it very good TV.
  38. tv review
    ABC’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons Live Special Was a Retro DelightNot just another shallow attempt to wallow in television nostalgia.
  39. tv
    Games of Thrones, Lost, and the Problem With Knee-jerk Finale RageNo show, not even Game of Thrones, should be entirely defined by its ending.
  40. game of thrones
    Game of Thrones and the Function of Finale CallbacksLike many contemporary TV finales, “The Iron Throne” nodded to the series’ history as a means of providing closure for the story and fans alike.
  41. spoilers
    Tyrion Lannister Was the Real Winner of the Game of Thrones FinaleIn the end, everything happened because of Tyrion.
  42. tv review
    Barry Season Two Saved Its Biggest Surprise for the Very EndBill Hader’s HBO show was great in its first season. This time around, it’s been exceptional.
  43. tv review
    Better Things Season 3 Tackled Aging With Warmth and HonestyIt was Pamela Adlon’s ode to the messiness of turning 50.
  44. tv review
    Fleabag Season Two Is PerfectPhoebe Waller-Bridge’s Amazon series retains everything that made its first season great, and then throws in a hot priest for good measure.
  45. close reads
    Cersei Lannister Deserved BetterSo that’s really it for one of the best villains on television?
  46. veep
    How to Write a Jonah InsultWriting comedy is not a scientific or mathematical endeavor — except, perhaps, when it comes to devising ways to insult Veep’s Jonah Ryan.
  47. backstories
    The Story Behind Veep’s Final Joke on SelinaHow a flash-forward sequence came to include Tom Hanks.
  48. legacies
    Selina Meyer Was Awful. That’s What Made Her Great.For seven years, she was the best kind of nasty woman.
  49. set visits
    Veep Is Over. Is America Next?A behind-the-scenes look at the series finale.
  50. callbacks
    The 9 Best Easter Eggs in the Veep FinaleDid you catch all these callbacks to previous episodes?
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