Podcast Summary: "TV To Help Get Through The Winter"

Podcast: All Of It [WNYC]
Host: Alison Stewart
Guest: Katherine Van Arendonk (Vulture TV Critic)
Date: February 12, 2026

Overview

This episode, hosted by Alison Stewart and featuring Vulture TV critic Katherine Van Arendonk, explores the concept of "guilty pleasure" TV and offers a curated playlist of binge-worthy shows for getting through the winter months. Through listener call-ins, text messages, and thoughtful television critique, the conversation covers everything from the shifting landscape of streaming releases to the nuance of rewatching old favorites and grappling with problematic creators. The episode is warm, insightful, and chock-full of recommendations for every kind of TV watcher — whether you're after comfort, social buzz, or a marathon-worthy mystery.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Winter as the Golden Season for Binge-Watching

• Alison introduces the show with a nod to the tradition of "six more weeks of winter" per Punxsutawney Phil, reframing the cold as prime time for TV enjoyment.
  • "The bright side means six more weeks to stay inside, get cozy, and watch a series or two. Two or three." (01:07)

2. What Makes a "Guilty Pleasure" TV Watch?

• Katherine Van Arendonk urges listeners to interrogate why a show might be considered a "guilty" pleasure, especially in the context of genres often dismissed as unserious, like romance or reality TV.
  • "I will stand on a mountaintop and be like, let's not talk about heated rivalry or Bridgerton, honestly, as like a guilty pleasure for the reasons that like, you know, it feels, it feels trashy or low." (02:41)
• Alison and Katherine both note that for many, guilt comes from watching TV instead of being productive, not from show quality.

3. The Enduring Appeal of Reality TV

• Katherine breaks down why reality TV is such a comfort: regularity, high episode counts, and consistent returns — a throwback to network pace and companionship.
  • "Reality television is there for you. It is always there. They are making two seasons of Love is Blind a year. Those seasons have 12 or 13 episodes." (04:37)
  • "There's something really powerful to knowing that you get to turn on your stories and they're still going to be there for you..." (05:25)

4. The Streaming Model: Binging vs. Weekly Releases

• The episode delves into the strategy behind splitting seasons (using Bridgerton as an example) to extend cultural relevancy and engagement.
  • "If you give us all of Bridgerton in one day, people will watch all in one weekend. And the length of that sort of conversation window... is very intense and very, very short." (07:19)
  • "And so yes, so then they on purpose make you just absolutely enraged that you do not have the rest of the season." (08:37)

5. Bridgerton Season 4: A New Take on Class, Character, and Stakes

• Katherine spotlights how this season’s romance (between Benedict and Sophie) uses class differences to create meaningful stakes, praising Yiren Ha’s standout performance as Sophie.
  • "For Benedict and Sophie, they are much more direct about this being a significant, meaningful barrier... She is a maid, she works. She is perpetually rolling her eyes at him because he cannot do anything like light a fire." (09:28)
  • "Yiren Ha plays Sophie... I think she's truly so great in this season. It's one of those performances that you watch and you think like, oh, oh, this person will have... a long and great career because they're so good." (10:37)

6. Listener TV Recommendations and Interactions

• Audience shares their binge-watching picks:
  • Shetland on BritBox
  • Hell on Wheels
  • Deadlock
  • The West Wing ("Interesting to know how world problems are exactly the same as they were back when the show was made.") (05:51)
  • Beauty (new series by Ryan Murphy) and Nip/Tuck
  • Henry Danger (discussion extends to complicated feelings due to the producer's misconduct allegations)
  • 30 Rock and the new Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan, Daniel Radcliffe)

7. Complicated Legacies: Enjoying Problematic Art/Culture

• Katherine discusses the tension between loving a show and disliking its creator, reflecting on Harry Potter as an example.
  • "There are lots of things that I have loved and have been really influential to me. And then you have to wrestle with how you feel about those creators and the legacy that they have left..." (12:22)
  • "You can't let yourself just brush whatever it is under the rug. You have to sort of sit and think and, and make sure that you are remembering all the elements of how that work came into the world and what it is doing now." (12:55)

8. Spotlight: 'Glitter and Gold' Ice Dancing Docuseries

• Katherine admits it's “a puff piece” and dodges thorny topics but praises it for making the real-life skating championship more engrossing.
  • "I cannot in good conscience recommend this docu series as a high quality piece of documentary filmmaking... It is very, very, very good at introducing the idea of these, these teams as characters." (13:54)
• Clip: Madison Chalk and Evan Bates’ adorable recollection of their partnership. (15:39)

9. Unconventional Viewing Orders & Psychological Thrillers

• Listener describes watching Ugly Betty in reverse order; Katherine shares similar “backward watching” stories.
• Katherine compares The Beast in Me and All Her Fault — recent mystery/thriller series centered on motherhood, marriage, and gradual revelation via flashbacks.
  • "From a viewing experience, I think [they are] very similar in the sense that you're introduced to these central characters... You're finding out more information about them. And then there are going to be these big surprises..." (18:08)
  • Katherine notes overused “flashback” tropes—frustrating yet sometimes comforting structures.

10. Comedy, Nostalgia, and Rewatches

• Listeners mention:
  • All Creatures Great and Small
  • Veep, The Sopranos, Shrinking, Schitt's Creek
• Katherine recommends Schitt’s Creek (especially in tribute to Catherine O’Hara), announces upcoming revivals:
  • Scrubs ("A really interesting sort of early 2000s comedy...") (19:56)
  • The Comeback with Lisa Kudrow on HBO ("I think it’s going to be about AI and so I think that will be a, a fun time on television.") (21:38)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On guilt and pleasure in TV:

  • "The word guilt implies this sense of something that you know that you should not be doing. And I, I always think it's worth just asking yourself, like... what is it about this show that I think is bad?" – Katherine Van Arendonk (02:19)

• On the new structure of streaming releases:

  • "Netflix... [is] attempting to split the difference between the all in one season binge... and that longer extended engagement that I think there's a lot of reason to believe has, has value." – Katherine Van Arendonk (06:57)

• On problematic creators:

  • "For me the answer... is to continue to engage with those cultural works because they had an impact on us for a reason. But... you can't let yourself just brush whatever it is under the rug." – Katherine Van Arendonk (12:55)

• Listener, on comfort TV:

  • "I watched 30 Rock in its entirety five times and have never told anyone that." (11:24)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Theme Setting: 00:39–02:12
• Defining Guilty Pleasure: 02:14–03:48
• Reality TV as Comfort: 03:56–05:51
• Listener TV Picks: 05:51–06:57
• Bridgerton & Split Release Strategy: 06:57–08:52
• Class & Character in Bridgerton S4: 08:52–10:55
• Listener Calls/Text Round: 10:55–12:22
• Reconciling Enjoyment of Problematic Shows: 12:22–13:54
• Docuseries 'Glitter and Gold': 13:54–15:39
• Clip from 'Glitter and Gold': 15:39–16:25
• Reverse Order TV Viewing: 16:54–17:42
• 'Beast in Me' & 'All Her Fault' Discussion: 17:42–19:11
• Bingeable Comedy Recommendations: 19:11–21:47
• Closing Remarks & Goodbye: 21:47–21:57

Final Thoughts

With thoughtful critique, playful banter, and participatory energy from listeners, "All Of It" delivers a warm and engaging winter-watchlist episode that reflects on what we seek from TV: comfort, connection, challenge, and catharsis. Katherine Van Arendonk’s blend of advocacy for “pleasure without guilt,” coupled with her sharp cultural analysis, makes this episode a satisfying guide for anyone seeking their next great series—or their next rewatch.