Welp. Another year has come and almost gone. And with it: much excellent television, some very fun blog posts, and so many lists and listicles. Some questions: Will they ever get old? Is there even a difference between a list and a listicle? Which ones should I read? Should I write a couple of my own? Is there anything I should last-minute-watch/make sure to include so I can seem in with the zeitgeist?*
It’s easy to get lost in a sea of Top Ten Lists. It can be really overwhelming! Like, comments section on Taylor Swift’s Instagram overwhelming. But, fear not! I am here to help. As such, I have compiled the ultimate pop culture end-of-year survival guide: The Tube Top Ten Top Ten Lists of 2014!**
My Top 10 Songs of 2014 All Come from 1989.
10) Grantland’s Top 10 Movie Fighters of All Time List written for the anniversary of Kung Fu Hustle. A warning to potenatial readers: this one is mad thorough/lengthy.
9) Glamour’s Top 10 Quotes That Prove Jennifer Lawrence is The Best!
Because it’s cool to like J. Law for things besides her boobs, which I still haven’t seen, because I refuse to look at those photos for solidarity reasons.
8) The Onion’s Top 10 Apps of 2014
Featuring Sweet LOLs like “FitFace” and “Soyuz Flight Finder – a handy app for space travelers!”
7) NPR critic Stephen Thompson’s Top 10 Albums of 2014. Although I personally would have put Beyonce at #1 and 1989 at #2, this list is otherwise pretty tasteful and fun and provided some great recommendations I’d never heard before.
Runner Up: The New Yorker’s Ben Ratliff’s Top 10 Songs & Albums of 2014 list features BOTH Beyonce and Taylor Swift + a lot of albums I’ve been meaning to listen to. So if you’re into Music Top 10 Lists, check out both.
6) MetaCritic’s Top 10 Films of 2014 List. Because who can keep track of everything all the critics like? Well, MetaCritic can. That’s what it does. This list will be continually updated into January of 2015, so be sure to check back after Christmas Day to see Into The Woods at #1!
5) For the animal lovers out there: Clickhole’s 10 Unforgettable Photos of Cats is an excellent and very #SFW list to peruse.
4) Vulture’s Top 10 Books of 2014 List. Also known as your annual reminder that you haven’t been reading enough books lately.***
3) This Grantland Top Fives List that’s so good it gets to break the “Top Tens Only” rule because ten divided by two is five so tomato tomato. Featuring a breadth of awesome lists such as: “Top Five British People Right Now,” “Top Five Items Available on Madewell.com” and “Top Five Franking of the Places to be Ranked on a Top Five Ranking.” It’s a big world out there, but you can discover SO much of its cool #content in this one little article!
2) The Onion’s Top 10 TV Moments of 2014.
“Anthony Bourdain tried an apple for the first time.”
1) James Poniewozik’s Best TV Shows of 2014 for TIME.
Obvious Disclaimer: I am a TV writer and fanatic, so numero uno on this list is inevitably going to be whichever TV Top 10 Shows in 2014 List I agree with the most. OK. While Willa Paskin, Matt Zoller Seitz, and Alan Sepinwall all also wrote great Top 10 TV lists, JP’s TIME list is most in line with my taste, as well as most comprehensive and well-explained. Poniewozik gives great reasons for why he picks what he did, why he left other shows off his list. Most importantly, he put Jill Soloway’s Transparent first. I would do that too.
That’s all, folks! Now, get off your laptop and go stare at a TV screen. Or a movie screen. Or a tablet screen. Or listen to Taylor Swift on repeat.
*Yes. Transparent on Amazon, you ignorant fool.
**so far.
***since you graduated from high school.
****A last note: this post’s featured image comes from Refinery 29’s 29 Most Unforgettable Memes of 2k14, which is excellent, although it did not make the cut for numerical reasons.
Tube Top Television 