Gyp Rosetti’s Temper
Boardwalk Empire's handsomest heavy is giving other TV baddies a run for their dirty money. No matter what the historical context, steer clear of a guy who'll douse a cop in gasoline and set him on fire.
Pandas in World of Warcraft
At first, we were like, how can a bunch of Kung-Fu Panda knock-offs compete with the zombie interlopers in Call of Duty? But we've become surprisingly attached to the black-and-white-and-weird-all-over creatures in WoW's Mists of Pandaria universe.
Whitney Kropp, Homecoming Royalty
This true-life twist on a Cinderella story tops all those dysmorphic Disney princesses combined. Bullied teen gets voted to homecoming court as a joke, plays along with bravery and poise, sets beautiful example for self-conscious adolescents everywhere.
Rebel Wilson
From her latest big-screen hilarities in Pitch Perfect to her apparent sideline career as a rapper (alongside Judd Apatow's daughter), the Aussie-born comedienne is making it frightfully easy to forget about Emma Stone.
Stephen Colbert in the Morning
Basic cable's truthiest funnyperson is even funnier first thing in the morning, as he proved with his (whose idea was this?!) guest-host cameo on Good Morning America. Ostensibly he was there to raise awareness about his new book, America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't, the title of which speaks brilliantly for itself.
Jake “The New Jim” Lacy
Kudos to The Office for using its final season to muck around with some fun new characters. Lacy is especially charming so far, whether his Jim-like character Pete winds up sealing the deal with Erin or not.
Victoria on America’s Next Top Model
FROM SEPT. 21, 2012
Photo shoots come and go, but for sheer freak factor, Vic is a shoo-in to fully transcend this season's ANTM. The Georgia-born, home-schooled, part-Jewish, part-Native American, all-unpredictable brunette is the kind of cover girl we all love to mock but secretly worship.
Seth MacFarlane as Ryan Lochte
The Family Guy auteur is often criticized for taking aim at some very low-hanging satirical fruit. But no one's feeling bad for Olympic über-bro Ryan Lochte, whom MacFarlane lampooned on last weekend's SNL to uproarious effect. We're still chuckling as we pronounce the word good as "GOH-odd."
“Go Google” Commercials
Turning the Hall & Oates nugget "Maneater" into a giggle-worthy ad for some banal real-time document-editing platform was a worthy feat to begin with. The latest spot featuring 30 Rock grand dame Liz Lemon and her lazy-ass writers goes beyond cheeky nostalgia to suggest that this campaign could have some real legs. We like!
The Mindy Project
Finally, Dunder Mifflin's hottest customer service rep gets her own headlining gig. If the trailers and teasers are any clue, it's gonna be an intrepid and totally hilarious show with a steady stream of kick-ass supporting turns.
The Avett Brothers’ The Carpenter
Producer and godfather of all modern beardos Rick Rubin has coaxed a thoroughly charming LP out of these not-exactly-alt-country cutie pies. The jaunty "Live and Die" sounds as if The Decemberists got abducted from their cozy liberal-arts college library and left to subsist in the backwoods of North Carolina. In a good way.
John Mayer in That Frank Ocean Video
First off, don't watch this at work unless you wanna get a stern talking-to from HR, or unless "work" is a strip club. Second, and more importantly, Mayer's cameo as some kind of minimalist guitar god is strangely awesome—think Slash from G'N'R as reimagined by David Lynch in the changing room of an Abercrombie & Fitch.
Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue
Our man is still trying to live up to the Pulitzer he rightly earned for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, but his latest novel is an absorbing character study set in the culturally eclectic climes of the Bay Area. Word is Cameron Crowe has already started work on a screen adaptation.
Return of the Winklevoss Twins
If you found it hard to consider Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss as victims after Mark Zuckberg's legendary bogarting of Facebook, their latest venture isn't likely to win much sympathy among the masses. They're reportedly starting a new social network for professional investors—i.e., building a cyber-haven for other well-scrubbed rich dudes, safe from the slings and arrows of FarmVille. Bravo!
Katie Couric’s OprahQuest
You can hardly blame pretty much every female daytime talk show personality—heck, the fellas, too—for grabbing shamelessly at the reins Oprah Winfrey left hanging off the horse. But our favorite faux-prah so far is definitely Couric—er, just Katie now—who bravely decided to swing the other way after getting coldly doinked from the world of "serious" news. Goodbye, Sarah Palin; hello, bizarre wig stunts and Jessica Simpson.
One word: Manimal
Dodgy Hollywood reinventions of classic shows like The A-Team and 21 Jump Street should be cautionary tales, right? Even so, the Gen-X TV junkies among us could not be more stunned or excited to see Sony lay plans for a revival of this obscure cult favorite, featuring a "man" who can turn into an "animal," hence the….yeah…you get it. Could be amazing!
RIP “Gangnam Style,” 2012-2012
Maybe we fell too hard too fast for the insanely viral video from Korean rapper PSY. Even just a week ago we could not get enough of the endless parodies and zillion-view replays. Now, suddenly, he's jumped the proverbial shark.
Vintage Spielberg
FROM SEPT. 14, 2012
This week's spectacle of Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX (and soon on Blu-ray) had us seriously reconsidering the bull whip as Hollywood's finest weapon. Now we're furiously popping Reese's Pieces to psych up for E.T.'s return to the multiplex next month.
The xx’s new album
Believe the hype on the British indie darlings' new Coexist. Even in their most maudlin and minimalist moments, frontpeople Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim are the most quietly seductive pair this side of James Blake and the reflection in James Blake's mirror.
Milla Jovovich in Slo-Mo
At this point, Resident Evil: Retribution could be a flimsy rom-com about a post-apocalyptic heroine who falls head-over-heels for a handsome zombie. As long as we get a healthy dose of Milla busting caps into undead psychos at the speed of a Cymbalta ad, we're golden.
Shamed Dogs, the Anti-LOLcats
With cats, Internet fame is measured in raw cuteness. On dog-shaming.com, we instead revel in the most regrettable, occasionally disgusting transgressions of man's best friend—from pooping in the hardware store to eating an entire block of pepper jack cheese.
The Last Policeman
Ben H. Winters' exhilarating novel—supposedly the first in a planned trilogy—concerns a cop who's intent on finding the truth behind a mysterious death, even as an asteroid is set to destroy human civilization in just six months. Do not wait for the movie.
Britney vs. Christina Ratings Showdown
The last time Señorita Aguilera and the former Mrs. Federline squared off so directly for a share of the pop culture consciousness, Bill Clinton was still president and only one of these two millennial teen divas was old enough to vote. Now fans of The Voice and America's Got Talent must either pick a side or upgrade their TiVo.
Candy corn-flavored Oreos
Not since Alien vs. Predator have two beloved entities converged to such Earth-shattering effect. And while these things are made to please your stomach rather than burst out of it in a blast of parasitic gore, eating too many of them will undoubtedly kill you, with or without space dreadlocks.