Patting our own backs: The A.V. Club presents the best of The A.V. Club, part 2
Embed was removed for legal reasons
Whether you’re trying to figure out which movies to watch today or waiting on your Chinese food delivery or still trying to avoid family, we know that the internet never sleeps, so we’re back again today with even more of our favorites from 2015. We interviewed John Hodgman and Paul F. Tompkins, examined the first episodes of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, started a hilarious new feature in which one of our writers tries not to suck at first-person shooters, and, apparently, we wrote quite a few things about dogs. Enjoy this look back at 2015 with us, and Merry Christmas from everybody at The A.V. Club.
For Our Consideration: Calvin And Hobbes embodied the voice of the lonely child
Calvin And Hobbes was never about hyperactivity and Hobbes himself was never a manifestation of undiagnosed mania: He was a manifestation of pure, unadulterated loneliness.
Expert Witness: Plexiglas, poop, and penguins: Life behind the scenes on the Puppy Bowl
Cory Popp has been a camera operator on Puppy Bowl for three years and has seen everything from penguins obsessed with a laser pointer to Girls’ Allison Williams trying to convince her dad to take home a fluffy little golden retriever. The A.V. Club talked to him about life behind the adorable scenes, puppy kisses and all.
11 Questions: Bewildered Maine resident John Hodgman takes another crack at our 11 Questions
I got to be in Pitch Perfect 2, which was, perhaps short of [getting a Mac ad], the most popular thing I’ve ever had something to do with.
For Our Consideration: The agony and the ecstasy of the canine reaction shot
In the 2000s, lapdogs—especially Chihuahuas and Yorkshire terriers—became the standard for comic punctuation, tasked with reacting to everything from Reese Witherspoon trying on an outfit in Legally Blonde to Mike Myers getting whacked in the crotch in The Cat In The Hat.
TV Club: Cautious Trevor Noah brings The Daily Show back with nary a scratch or dent
Describing his predecessor, Jon Stewart, as “our political dad,” Noah pointed out the obvious. “It’s weird because Dad has left. Now it feels like the family has a new stepdad. And he’s black.” But Trevor’s not the stepdad in this scenario. He’s the kid who’s been left with dad’s cool, valuable car, and any modifications to the vehicle are so far superficial.
TV Club: Unlike its competition, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has a host that matters
But also like the 2016 U.S. presidential election, talking about The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is too much fun to abstain from.
Palme Thursday: One of the greatest Cannes winners is back in theaters
The Third Man presents a world where everyone knows everyone, a small world of conspiratorial whispers.
For Our Consideration: The age of anthology: Why the Ryan Murphy model is taking over television
The television industry still acts as if it’s trapped in the prestigious shadow of the film industry, and television often takes too many of its cues from film. In the case of the anthology boom, television has contracted the film world’s hopeless addiction to brand advancement at the cost of good storytelling.
TV Club Awards: Dramas and reality shows kick off the 2014-15 TV Club Awards
Commemorating the end of a different period on the calendar—the broadcast television season, which runs roughly from Labor Day to Memorial Day—the TV writers of The A.V. Club put their heads back together to salute the very best in television from the past eight months, doling out superlatives for our favorite shows, episodes, performances, scenes, and more.