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THE BEST: The stunning, silly and head-scratching moments that gave us life in lockdown
THIS year felt like it lasted 20. And while much of it was terrible, it’s good to remember the bright spots. True, we never got the new James Bond movie or Marvel’s “Black Widow,” or to leave our apartments, but there were many memorable moments in pop culture and entertainment. Here now are the year’s highs — and a few lows.
Best abdication
Harry and Meghan bolted the royal family in March, giving up any opportunity for their private lives to be savagely laid bare in future seasons of “The Crown.”
Best use of water
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion (pictured) unleashed the dirtiest musical acronym since “OPP” with their August hit “WAP.” Apple Music said the song finished the year as the “most-read lyrics.” Not sure if that’s because people didn’t know what WAP stood for — or because they did.
Best get-together
In February, HBO Max announced that a long-awaited “Friends” reunion was coming. And you said Matthew Perry wouldn’t work again.
Best gift to the publishing industry
The year’s nonfiction list was dominated by Trump tell-alls, including his niece Mary L. Trump’s “Too Much and Never Enough,” John Bolton’s “The Room Where It Happened” and Bob Woodward’s “Rage.” Which begs the question — will the next chapters be written by a court stenographer?
Best “Lights” show
The Weeknd nabbed the trophy for the year’s most popular song on Spotify, as
“Blinding Lights” racked up more than 1.6 billion streams. Maybe now he can afford that missing E in his name.
Best reality in a reality show
During a pandemic and a divisive election, only one thing proved powerful enough to bring America together: a 57year-old pistol-toting, gay country music-singing tiger trainer with a mullet. Netflix’s “Tiger King” and Joe Exotic were the only things (besides COVID-19) anyone was talking about in the spring.
Best breakthrough
At February’s Oscars, South Korean film “Parasite” became the first non-English-language film ever to win Best Picture. Maybe there’s hope for other non-English speakers — like mumbly Tom Hardy.
Best use of cranberry juice
After Idaho resident Nathan Apodaca’s truck broke down in September, he decided to skateboard to work. The TikTok video he shot, in which he rolls while chugging Ocean Spray and lip-syncing Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” became a viral sensation, inspiring 100,000 tributes and parodies.
Best revenge
Movie producer and professional bully Harvey Weinstein was sentenced in March to 23 years in prison for sexually abusing multiple women. In October, his lawyer pleaded with an appellate court that Weinstein’s “chances of surviving in prison are rather low.” Say it ain’t so?
Best use of downtime
While you were busy during lockdown binge-watching movies, Taylor Swift was hard at work recording music. In July, the superstar dropped new album “Folklore,” and it has sold more than a million copies. She celebrated by putting out “Evermore,” a full-length follow-up, this month. You could have at least learned to bake sourdough.
Best memoir mike drop
What is . . . unexpected? As revelations in celebrity autobiographies go, it’s hard to beat the late Alex Trebek’s admission from his July book, “The Answer Is . . .,” that he once accidentally ate four or five pot brownies at a party.
Best run
After 11 seasons, ABC’s “Modern Family” signed off in April. The popular series was credited with revitalizing the family sitcom and for bravely portraying diverse family units, including two gay dads and a husband many, many decades too old for his hot Colombian wife.
Best use of a pole
A 50-year-old Jennifer Lopez, joined by Shakira, took the stage at February’s Super Bowl halftime show and let loose with a display of pole dancing, twerking and belly undulating. The FCC fielded more than 1,300 complaints from outraged viewers. She’s still got it!