Podcast Like It's ... 85: Best in Show with Kathryn VanArendonk
Mar 13, 2026
Kathryn VanArendonk, critic and writer known for cultural criticism, joins to discuss Christopher Guest’s Best in Show. They explore Guest’s improvisational filmmaking, the film’s ensemble cast and standout performers, and how the dog-show world fuels its comedy. Conversation touches on mockumentary history, tonal differences across Guest’s films, and the movie’s enduring cult appeal.
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Mockumentary Became A TV Storytelling Tool
- The mockumentary form became a comedic style that television fully absorbed, evolving from documentary pastiche to an easy narrative device.
- That familiarity removed viewers' curiosity about the 'why' of the documentary camera and made talking heads a storytelling shortcut.
Talking Heads Let Characters Grow Over A Film
- Guest uses talking-head reticence to let characters gradually reveal themselves, a device films exploit better than TV's weekly cadence.
- That arc turns eccentrics into sympathetic people, e.g., characters evolve from surface jokes into unexpected life changes.
Best In Show's Plot And Cult Status Summarized
- Phil summarizes Best in Show's plot: five eccentric dog owners travel to the Mayflower Dog Show, satirizing obsession and ego.
- He notes its modest box office ($20M on $10M), critical praise, and festival play at TIFF.