Best Things That Happened on TV in 2015

Extremely hastily thrown together list that must be finished and posted within 9 minutes or else. Don't expect any deep commentary, we only have 8 minutes left fuck.

There are probably a few amazing moments that we're forgetting but whatever.

MUSIC PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR: D'ANGELO ON SNL
I MEAN DUH


Best Halloween Episode: Bob's Burgers
Mostly because it climaxes pretty early, and then the last 6-7 minutes are all an extended epilogue which could only still be dope on Bob's Burgers.

TV MOMENT #10: Celebrity Jeopardy Reunion
We thought this special was gonna suck, but it was actually ok.


#9 The Eric Andre episode that was all "Bird Up" stuff


#8 The Jinx Last Episode
No spoilers. Although this does happen:


#7 Nathan For You Suing Best Buy
We think he sued them. Did that happen? Was this the one where he went on a craigslist date with the mall goth? That probably all happened.


#6 The last 20 minutes of the 9th episode of Fargo.
The last episode kinda sucked, but mostly because the episode before that left everyone being all like "no fucking way." No spoilers.


#5 Tweek and Craig


#4 Zoot Suit
I mean come on. Zoot suit.


#3 "Stakes"
8-part mini-series/story arc thing. No spoilers, but we will say "Fuck The King Of Ooo, that dude sux"


#2 Bojack "Escape from LA" Episode
We forget the deer family's name, but this is one of the best episodes of any show from this decade. Can't post videos or else there will be spoilers.


TV MOMENT #1: Mr. Poopy Butthole
The last thing that happened in the whole season after the credits of the last episode. "Come and get it kitty."

stellaaauuuhh (2005)

"That time we interviewed Stella" was 10 years ago this month. I remember I got pretty sick that day (resulting in a few voice cracks), and it was kinda snowy and rainy outside. And due to being sick, I was less nervous than I could have been, considering that I was asking questions to my childhood heroes.

I remember that I was more or less obsessed with Howard Stern during that time, and his direct and uncompromising interviewing style influenced me to ask questions that I probably would not have considered asking today. This is mostly referring to a couple Q's from earlier in the interview when I asked whether they only appeared on I Love the '80s and other VH1 specials for the money or if it was something they actually enjoyed - a rude question in retrospect, but whatever. It happened. (Their answer was basically "both.")

I remember Eugene Mirman was the opening act, and that I could have easily asked him some stuff as well, but my co-host (who took some sweet photos and videos) and I were too tired and I was feeling crummy. (I recall watching Eugene and Stella's set from a table close to the exit on the side of the room far away from where everyone else was standing because I was too unwell to stand up for an hour straight. No big deal though, since this was probably my 5th time seeing Stella.) In retrospect, we probably should have collected our energy enough to ask Eugene some Q&A.

It seems kinda silly now, but this was def a huge checkpoint-type event. An early "achievement unlocked" moment from my 20s. Every Stella short that got posted was like a huge event in those days. After meeting them in person, most other celebrity encounters that I've had didn't seem as important.

(Although two weeks ago, I did sit on a couch next to Killer Mike, who is probably the most intimidating rock star I've ever seen up close. I said hello to El-P, but it was tough to get up the nerve to say hi to Mike. An hour or 2 later, their group Run The Jewels was attacked by a crazed fan who rushed their stage. And afterwards in the empty alley where Killer Mike was being ushered to his car I yelled out "Yo, fuck that dude! That guy sucks!" so at least I said something.)

"Red House"

Did Shudder To Think perform on the premiere episode of Viva Variety? The answer to this question required some light internet research and memory-jogging.

The two correct answers are "yes" and "sort of."

The "Yes" version is because this clip does in fact derive from the episode aired on April 1, 1997, which was the launch date of Viva Variety (a variety show created for Comedy Central by Tom Lennon, Kerri Kenney, Michael Ian Black and Ben Garant shortly after The State's amazing rarely-seen CBS pilot failed to green-light a network series).

The "sort of" version of this answer extends from our initial confusion by the first few seconds of this Youtube video, where The Former Mrs. Laupin and Johnny Bluejeans are promoting that week's sponsor, Magnetic Fishybar, which we remember as a continuation of a sketch from a previous episode where the joke-sponsor was simply "Fishybar." It appears that Comedy Central decided to kick off the series with a mid-season banger since it had the strongest jokes, complete with subtle references to what would have been previous episodes. This was probably an excellent call, since we recall getting very excited about "the return of The State" after getting blown away by sketches like "Sir Pants-Or-Not" and "Monkey Sports."

One more note: Back in 1997, local cable providers did this weird thing where they suddenly added 7 or 8 channels that progressed past channel 56. Channels 57 through 63 were part of an expanded package that was probably $5-10 more expensive, including Cartoon Network and Comedy Central. I knew one friend whose parents were cool enough to pay for the service, which is how I originally got to see this episode for the first time. A VHS-copy was shown on a Saturday afternoon in a classroom at my high school while a colorguard competition had taken over the majority of the building. Life must have been seriously amazing in those days if the return of The State was exciting enough to distract us from 1000 honeys running around in leotards. Aside from this premiere episode, we definitely recall a few instances where we watched the show scrambled since the 'rents were too broke to expand our cable. Oh the '90s. What fun they were.