When I change my calendars to December I like to look back at the year that was. 2013 had its ups, like Jennifer Lawrence continuing on her path towards world domination, and its downs, like the horrendous events that went down at the Boston Marathon. All year I’ve been keeping tabs on these things because what else was I going to do while waiting for that Obamacare site to work? Just kidding, who pays for health care? Not this gal — shh, I don’t want the NSA to hear. Before they come beat down my door, I want to get to the best and worst from 2013.
Front page stories like Trayvon Martin and Sandy Hook in 2012 made gun control a hot topic in 2013. No matter where you stand on the issue, there’s someone to debate you. It’s Always Sunny touched on it and did a great job discussing it. The gang was split with opposing views but after a series of events, the ones for guns were then against and the ones who wanted them banned, later wanted them in hand. So basically both sides have their points, but neither makes much sense.
Dexter ended this year and on a dismal note that sent fans into a rage, but while he was pissing people off, there were a number of other serial killers on TV making some positive notes. Hannibal gained a quick fan base, The Following was surprisingly a big hit, and even ABC Family got into the game with the teen killer drama Twisted.
Athletes are usually treated like heroes among men but whoa, this year had some pretty embarrassing and scary sports stars. Manti Te’o was a college player to watch from Notre Dame, but that’s if you were into that. People who weren’t football fans learned Manti Te’o’s name thanks to the scandal that surrounded it because of the fake girlfriend he fell for. That didn’t tarnish him too bad since he was drafted to the San Diego Chargers. Plus, when you compare him to New England Patriots’ Aaron Hernandez — Manti Te’o looks pretty good. If you were away this year, Hernandez went from the field to the courtroom when he got booked for murder.
You might hate them, you might be sick of them, but that doesn’t mean we can deny that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, AKA “Kimye”, weren’t two of the most talked about people on the planet. Interest in them only got worse when Kim gave birth to their child North West. Now they’re engaged and it’s only going to get worse.
Remember when all you knew about Paula Deen was butter? Then something she said in her past came up to bite her in her ass and her sponsors started to drop her left and right. At least she still has her butter though, right?
The good thing about Netflix is that you can just use someone else’s account when need be. The other great thing it is it brought back Arrested Development (although hard to follow at times, but creative at the same time), the mega hit House of Cards, and everyone’s favorite Orange Is The New Black. Regular TV better watch their back…
The Make-A-Wish Foundation does an insane amount of good every year, but the story that no one could deny talking about was Batkid. Five-year-old Miles Scott got his wish, and this wasn’t something the charity did small. Part of San Francisco was transformed into Gotham City, complete with villains, damsels in distress and, of course, Batman.
Netflix may’ve had a lot of the best shows but they couldn’t compare to Breaking Bad. With it ending in 2013, fans were going insane. It wasn’t just timelines and feeds that were flooded with Bad talk, but everyday life. I was on the bus and overheard some guy saying how he was stressed over spoilers because he was going to have to miss the series finale due to expensive concert tickets he’d already bought months prior. After five seasons, Walter White got a big farewell but not before fans drove non-fans insane about it.
They’re watching us — basically some of us have suspected the government of spying on us, but Edward Snowden confirmed it. Once he released NSA material he had to flee and is currently living in Russia under an alias. This led to a plethora of jokes for late night hosts’ monologues.
A good percentage of child stars grow up to do some shocking things but Miley Cyrus may’ve took that to a new level with her antics throughout the year. There was the duet with Snoop Dogg — er, Lion about an herbal refreshment (Clueless reference alert). That song got pushed to the side when “We Can’t Stop” came out. Fast forward to the teddy bear twerking infused with a lot of tongue wagging at the VMAs and you have a girl who was unapologetic but soon without her fiancé. She split from The Hunger Games’ Liam Hemsworth but bounced back naked on a wrecking ball. Then she sang with a cat. This year you’ve said her name at least once, and that’s why she’s leading this list.
