10. Jon Cryer
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, and calling you a troll, then you, sir, are a man—no, you are more than that. You are two-and-a-half men.
9. Coach Eric Taylor
For five seasons on Friday Night Lights, Kyle Chandler's rumpled decency made you believe that nice guys didn't always finish last. And, then, lo and behold, on Emmy night, despite his show having ended, and his luck at awards shows having always been lousy, Chandler won. Yes, sometimes nice guys finish first.
8. Justin Bieber
Still very much around despite his first 15 minutes having expired, the "Never Say Never" singer didn't have much left to prove, but he kept proving it anyway: keeping it classy after his upset Best New Artist loss at the Grammys ("I'm happy for you," he told Esperanza Spalding backstage); and, showing no fear in jetting into post-tsunami Japan. His concerts there helped benefit disaster relief, not to mention teeny-bopper morale.
7. Rebecca Black
The "Friday" teenager from Orange County, Calif., turned lemons into a stint on The Tonight Show, and a guest-starring role in Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" video. Along the way, Black proved you don't need to be the world's best singer with the world's best song to be the world's biggest good sport.
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6. Captain America and Thor (But Not Green Lantern)
The summer of the superhero movie did not disappoint. The God of thunder grossed just under $500 million worldwide; the red-white-and-true-blue Chris Evans flick served up one of the year's unexpected musical highlights with "Star Spangled Man" (just try to not tap your foot while listening). Add to all that the growing promise of The Avengers, and the world was so safe not even a Ryan Reynolds flop could inflict harm.
5. Uggie the dog
While it's doubtful this scrappy Jack Russell will net an Oscar nomination for its save-the-day heroics in Best Picture contender The Artist, it's for sure that the pooch has made an impression—and proved a point: Facebook campaigns aren't just for Betty White and other humans anymore.
4. Prince William
Was it enough for the future King of England to star in the storybook wedding of the year? Hardly. To hit the road with his new bride in pursuit of donations for his charities? Nope. In November, William, who moonlights in the Royal Air Force, helped save two crew members after their cargo vessel sank in the Irish Sea. Prince Charming to the rescue, indeed.
3. Chaz Bono
Week in, week out on Dancing With the Stars, Bono struggled to be something he wasn't—a dancer—even as he effortlessly showed who he was--himself. In the process, he brought a face and voice to the transgendered. And he ended up doing a credible samba, too.
2. Elizabeth Taylor
When the screen legend passed away in March, she was lauded as much for her pioneering work on behalf of AIDS research as she was for her Oscars. It was a lesson hopefully not lost on a new generation of Hollywood stars.
1. Harry Potter
The most successful and consistent franchise in movie history came to an end with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The concluding chapter not only didn't disappoint, it inspired the series' first serious Oscar chatter. Simply put, the boy who lived went out on top (which is nice considering all the crap he went through in the previous seven movies).