The 100 Best Songs of 2019

1. The Bones - Maren Morris

2. Stay Young - Maisie Peters

3. Hard Place - H.E.R.

4. Cross Me - Ed Sheeran feat. Chance the Rapper & PnB Rock

5. Thoughts - Sasha Sloan

6. GIRL - Maren Morris

7. Harmony Hall - Vampire Weekend

8. I Was Wrong - BAILEN

9. Lover - Taylor Swift

10. Truth Hurts - Lizzo

11. Out of Love - Alessia Cara

12. Faking It - Sasha Sloan

13. Now I'm In It - HAIM

14. Sunflower - Vampire Weekend feat. Steve Lacy

15. Summer Girl - HAIM

16. Count On Me - The Lone Bellow

17. Oh, What a World - Kacey Musgraves

18. I Get No Joy - Jade Bird

19. BLOW - Ed Sheeran, Chris Stapleton & Bruno Mars

20. This Is On You - Maisie Peters

21. Lo/Hi - The Black Keys

22. Orphans - Coldplay

23. bad guy - Billie Eilish

24. This Life - Vampire Weekend

25. Wildflowers - Elle Fanning

26. seasonal depression - mxmtoon

27. Family and Loyalty - Gang Starr feat. J. Cole

28. You and I - LÉON

29. Complainer - Cold War Kids

30. Late Night Feelings - Mark Ronson feat. Lykke Li

31. You Ain't the Problem - Michael Kiwanuka

32. Adore You - Maisie Peters

33. When I Wasn’t Watching - Mandy Moore

34. Missed Connection - The Head and the Heart

35. Eagle Birds - The Black Keys

36. Castles - Freya Ridings

37. Priorities - Jillian Jacqueline

38. Good as Hell - Lizzo

39. Baby Don't Talk - LÉON

40. Bang Bang - The Avett Brothers

41. Black Moon Rising - Black Pumas

42. Tucson Train - Bruce Springsteen

43. Fire - Sara Bareilles

44. I Guess I Just Feel Like - John Mayer

45. Hold Your Nerve - Boy & Bear

46. Sing Along - Sturgill Simpson

47. Gloria - The Lumineers

48. Go - The Black Keys

49. Outnumbered - Dermot Kennedy

50. prom dress - mxmtoon

51. Almost (Sweet Music) - Hozier

52. Western Stars - Bruce Springsteen

53. Seventeen - Sharon Van Etten

54. The Flower - Michael Franti & Spearhead feat. Victoria Canal

55. Heartless - The Weeknd

56. Just Do It - Lily & Madeleine

57. Supply & Demand - Wilder Woods

58. Bad - James Bay

59. Can't Help the Way I Feel - Lily & Madeleine

60. Common - Maren Morris feat. Brandi Carlile

61. Bad Name - Gang Starr

62. Hallelujah - HAIM

63. SPIRIT - Beyoncé

64. Sure Don't Miss You - The Dip

65. bury a friend - Billie Eilish

66. Gave You Everything - The Interrupters

67. TATTOOED ON MY HEART - Bishop Briggs

68. Hero - Michael Kiwanuka

69. Father of All... - Green Day

70. High Steppin' - The Avett Brothers

71. It Wasn't Easy to Be Happy for You - The Lumineers

72. Something Tells Me - Meg Mac

73. Here With Me (feat. CHVRCHES) - Marshmello

74. NASA - Ariana Grande

75. Rainbow - Kacey Musgraves

76. Burning - Maggie Rogers

77. Crowded Table - The Highwomen

78. Season’s Greetings - Stella Donnelly

79. Black Jeans - Lucie Silvas

80. At Least I Look Cool - Sasha Sloan

81. Forgive Me Friend - Smith & Thell feat. Swedish Jam Factory

82. Cheap Queen - King Princess

83. Don't Leave Me Lonely - Mark Ronson feat. YEBBA

84. Sucker Punch - Sigrid

85. Give Me My Name Back - Meg Mac

86. I Dare You - The Regrettes

87. Bad Ideas - Tessa Violet

88. My Motto - Jade Bird

89. Do Your Worst - Rival Sons

90. I Like (The idea of) You - Tessa Violet

91. No Bullets Spent - Spoon

92. Blame It On Your Love - Charli XCX

93. Insomnia - Daya

94. Out of Touch - Dove Cameron

95. Everyone Hides - Wilco

96. Beloved - Mumford & Sons

97. Prophet - King Princess

98. Ride out in the Country - Yola

99. in my head - Ariana Grande

100. Come Tomorrow - Dave Matthews Band feat. Brandi Carlile

The 10 Most Anticipated Moments of 2018

Before I get into the best things to look forward to in the next twelve months, let me highlight a few things not on my list. First off, there is the World Cup which will not be featuring the United States of America on account they failed to qualify this year. Then there is Marvel’s New Warriors that was supposed to debut on Freeform this year except they passed on the show. We may still get to see the show this year as Marvel is still shopping it around. Um, now that Disney who own Marvel and pretty much owns Hulu, after purchasing Fox’s shares, totaling sixty percent, seems like a good spot to me. They already have Marvel’s Runaway. Really, I just want to see the AT&T Girl and Squirrel Girl sooner than later.

Another possible event this year I have zero interest in is the potential reboot of the XFL. Recently Vince McMahon sold off a bunch of WWE stock and is reportedly going to use that money to get his failed football league up and running again. Hard pass. I, like much of America, watched the first game, laughed, and stopped after that. Why someone would think it could work a decade and a half later has to be senile. Sure some people have lost interest in the NFL, and I am one of them but my disinterest is in not wanting to watch people get brain damage anymore, a presumably more violent XFL is not going to help that.

10. Wako (January 22 on the Paramount Channel) – Poor Tim Riggins, he was pegged to be the breakout star from Friday Night Lights but followed the show up with being the lead in two historic bombs (and that does not include X-Men Origins: Wolverine where he was not asked back to be Gambit in future films). This will be his first major lead role since. Notorious Nineties nostalgia was big last year with OJ, the Menendez Brothers and Tonya Harding getting stories on the big and small screens, and now Riggins is playing cult leader David Koresh. Then there is also Michael Shannon as one of the Feds and Melissa Benoist as one of the cultist (yes Zod and Supergirl on the same show). Now I am sure your first question is, what the fork is the Paramount Channel? Now it is not a new streaming service, it is not really even a new cable channel, it was Spike, and before that Spike TV, and before that The New TNN, and before that The National Network, and before that The Nashville Network, which I believe was the last time I watched the cannel back when it aired Dukes of Hazard reruns.

9. Game Night (February 23) – Really any cast that boasts Rachel McAdams, George Bluth, and a Friday Night Lights reunion of Coach Taylor and Landry Clarke is must see in my book. But the trailer makes the movie look forking hilarious. From the trailer, it looks like an action comedy where a group of couples are brought together to solve a murder mystery, except the host gets captured for real (maybe), but everyone still thinks it is part of the game. Awesome.


8. Ruins - First Aid Kit (January 19) – Folk rock may be my favorite genre of the decade and First Aid Kit has had a few songs that have made my year end lists, but It’s a Shame released last year is by far my favorite from the band so far. Hopefully the album lives up to the single.


7. Titans (TBD) – Okay, we need a new streaming service like we need a hole in the head, but it seems like every content maker is going to have their own standalone service rather than selling it elsewhere. It started last year with CBS All Access. Next DC is starting their own. And Disney has one slated for 2018. But the DC streaming service will at least get me to do a free trial just to check out Titans whom are apparently not going to be teenagers (at least not most of them). But most importantly, Lyla Garrity was cast in a supporting role with potential for her own spin off. No word on when this will air or when the DC streaming service even starts, but the only other show announced, a Young Justice reboot, does have a vague release date of "Fall 2018".

6. Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves (TBD) / Untitled Vampire Weekend Album – Kacey Musgraves released one of my favorite debut albums of the decade and my favorite country album in over a decade. There was a sophomore slump for the follow up but I am still looking forward to it. In other Musgraves news, lead singer Ezra Koenig said the next Vampire Weekend album is inspired by the country singer which made me that much more interested in a new album by the alt-rock band.

5. Women’s Royal Rumble (January 28) – I watched wrestling as a kid and then again in college, but again fell off slightly after that. Do not ask me why, but I started listening to the Grantland wrestling podcast, probably because I listened to them all. And when David Shoemaker bolted with Bill Simmons to the Ringer, I ended listening to two wrestling podcast. I did start tangentially following sports entertainment because of it. Then last year Alexa Bliss and I became instantly interested in the Women’s Division as she quickly became the second best bad guy ever (after the late great Rowdy Roddy Piper).

Growing up, women were just arm candy for the men. They started wrestling again in the nineties, but it was not much better as they just hired fitness models and actual models; Trish Status actually was the head of a team called T and A. WWE tried to legitimate them with the Women’s Revaluation, even retiring the Diva’s Title in 2015, but it was just the same three factions of three wrestling the same matches over and over again. But with the brand split, the two main shows need more bodies and Bliss was one of the call up.

After Survivor Series, the WWE called up five more women (along with the returning Paige) and now we are getting an all-female Royal Rumble, which was always my favorite match since WWE started it back in 1988. It is vague on the rules. The men’s is a thirty men over the top rope competition where a new competitor comes down to the ring ever two(ish) minutes with the winner getting a title match at Wrestlemania. The title match is the only stipulation. Currently right now, there are only eleven women on both Raw and Smackdown (but that is including Lana who has not wrestled in months and Nikki Bella who has not been seen since Wrestlemania). And wo of them are currently champions who are typically in the Royal Rumble. But there are ten women currently in NXT which brings you to 29 non champions’ women employed by the WWE. Of course the Royal Rumble is known for its surprise returns, you have to imagine, there are plenty of retired wrestlers who would like to be in a Rumble, and a few shocking debuts (Ronda Rosey has been teasing her involvement in the WWE for years). I may actually have to take the WWE up on their free trial to watch history.

4. More Marvel Movies (Various dates) – We are getting our fair share of Marvel movies this year but what makes things more interesting is Disney recently announced they are buying 20th Century Fox movie studios which means Disney now owns all things Marvel including X-Men and Fantastic Four (well Sony still technically owns the rights to Spider-Man but he has shown up in a couple Marvel movies after the last film reboot failed). Could those universes collide this year? Doubtful they will be included in the already bloated Infinity War, but maybe they add something to the end credit scene to tease their inclusion in Phase Four (which comes after the next Avengers movie next year). Here is the rundown of all eight (!) movies based on Marvel properties: Black Panther (February, 16), The New Mutants (April 13), Avengers: Infinity War (May 4), Deadpool 2 (July 1), Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6), Venom (October 5), X-Men: Dark Phoenix (November 2), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (December 14; note this is an animated movie that does not seemed to be tied to any live action universe). Oh yeah, they also have new television show Cloak and Dagger coming to Freeform sometime this year too while Runaways has its season finale next week and, again, there is a chance New Warriors finds a home this year.

3. Rise (March 12 on NBC) – They had me at from the producer of Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, but throw in a producer of Hamilton, a live action Moana, and, welcome back Marley Shelton. It seemed like she was the next big thing at the turn of the century but other than Sin City, it is hard to think of anything she has done since Sugar and Spice. I think there was a one and done Lifetime show.


2. The XXIII Olympic Winter Games (February 9) – It is the end of an era as for the first time since 1988, an Olympic Games will not be hosted in prime time by Bob Costas (unless you count when he came down with pink eye at the last winter event). Instead Mike Tirico will oversee the proceedings after being ESPN’s/ABC’s lead host. Ironically also absent these games will be the last Winter host Russia who was ban after state sponsored doping scandal (Russians not tested positive can participate under an independent flag). Also not taking the trip to South Korea will be NHL players who will not participate for the first time since 1998. But hey, it will be the only time in four years we get to watch curling on television and Costas may be gone but I am sure Mary Carillo, who only seems to pop up during Olympics, will have a special interest story or two.

1. Black Manta (in Aquaman, December 21) – I audibly laughed when I heard DC was making a live action Aquaman movie. Aquaman is lame and always has been (with the lone exception of the over the top version from Batman: The Brave and the Bold). The green and orange color palette is hard to look at. But then I got actually kind of excited because that meant we might get a Black Manta, my personal favorite supervillain, sighting. As some who grew up with a heavy dose of the Super Friends, I gravitated to the villain in the Legion of Doom who would beat the crap out of Aquaman. The problem is that Ocean Master was first announced as the film’s antagonist. But it was later announced Black Manta would also be in the film.

Of course Black Manta could play a bigger role moving forward… if there is a DC movie universe. Aquaman could be a make or break point. All the movies sans Wonder Woman have been received as mediocre at best while Justice League bombed at the box office. Then nothing after Aquaman has even started filming (yes, there are eight Marvel movies this year but only one DC movie) even though thirteen other films have been formally announced, If Aquaman under performs, that could be the end of the DC Movie Universe (for now at least). But if they do move forward, my sources tell me that Justice League teased the Legion of Doom while a Flashpoint movie is also on the DC docket and Black Manta is featured in the comic version of that. Plus Flashpoint could serve as a hard reboot to get rid of everything that has not worked (Batfleck, sullen Superman, Leto's Joker). But again, if Aquaman fails, we may just get Wonder Woman throughout history films for the next decade until DC can figure things out.


Since tonight marks the return of television (seriously, too soon networks, can we have more than a week and a half break?), here is what I will be watching while trying to avoid going outside in the cold. Seriously, I saw a few negative lows this week.



Mondays
8:00 – Lucifer (January 1, FOX)
8:00 - Supergirl (January 15, The CW)
9:00 – The Gifted (January 1, FOX)
9:00 – The Alienist (January 22, TNT)
10:00 – Good Girls (February 26, NBC)

Tuesdays
8:00 – The Middle (January 2, ABC)
8:00 – Shadowhunters (April 3, Freeform)
9:00 – Black’ish (January 2, ABC)
9:00 – Rise (March 13, NBC; first week at 10:00)
9:30 – The Mayor (January 9, ABC)
10:00 – The Challenge: Vendettas (January 2, MTV)
10:00 – Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (January, 2)
10:30 – The Detour (January 23, TBS)

Wednesdays
The Path (January 17, Hulu)
Hard Sun (March 7, Hulu)
8:00 – The Librarians (Already Started, TNT)
8:00 - The X-Files (January 3, Fox)
8:00 – The Blacklist (January 3, NBC)
8:00 – The Goldbergs (January 3, ABC)
8:00 – Grown-ish (January 3, Freeform)
8:00 – Survivor (February 28, CBS)
8:00 – Modern Family (January 3)
10:00 – Waco (Paramount Network, January 24)

Thursdays
8:00 – Superstore (January 4, NBC)
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory (January 4, CBS)
8:30 – The Good Place (January 4, NBC)
9:00 – Nashville (January 4, CMT)
9:30 – Great News (January 4, NBC)

Fridays
8:00 – Blindspot (January 12, NBC)
8:00 – XXIII Olympics Winter Games Opening Ceremony (February 9, NBC)
8:00 - Once Upon a Time (Match 2, ABC)
9:00 – Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (January 5, ABC)

Saturdays
9:00 – Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (February 10, Showtime)

Sundays
The Looming Tower (February 18, Hulu)
8:00 – Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (April 1, NBC)
9:00 – Homeland (February 11, Showtime)
10:00 - The Chi (January 7, Showtime)

The 100 Best Songs of 2013

1. Royals - Lorde

2. The One That Got Away - The Civil Wars

3. Get Lucky - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams

4. Youth - Daughter

5. Wake Me Up (Acoustic) - Aloe Blacc

6. Berzerk - Eminem

7. Pompeii - Bastille

8. Stubborn Love - The Lumineers

9. Bleeding Out - The Lone Bellow

10. The Mother We Share - Chvrches

11. Chill In the Air - Amos Lee

12. Lego House - Ed Sheeran

13. The Woodpile - Frightened Rabbit

14. Let Her Go - Passenger

15. Falling - Haim

16. Team - Lorde

17. Merry Go 'Round - Kacey Musgraves

18. Dust to Dust - The Civil Wars

19. Torpedo - Jillette Johnson

20. Diane Young - Vampire Weekend

21. PrimeTime - Janelle Monae featuring Miguel

22. Little Numbers - Boy

23. Closer - Tegan and Sara

24. Everything Has Changed - Taylor Swift featuring Ed Sheeran

25. Change - Churchill

26. Numbers On the Boards - Pusha T

27. Only a Clown - Caitlin Rose

28. Rap God - Eminem

29. I Got You - Jack Johnson

30. Better Dig Two - The Band Perry

31. Grace for Saints and Ramblers - Iron and Wine

32. Don't Save Me - Haim

33. Hero - Family of the Year

34. Paper Doll - John Mayer

35. Retrograde - James Blake

36. Hearts Like Ours - The Naked and Famous

37. Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood

38. Tears Always Win - Alicia Keys

39. Blowin' Smoke - Kacey Musgraves

40. Gun - CHVRCHES

41. Fire We Make - Alicia Keys and Maxwell

42. Tennis Court - Lorde

43. Stay - Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko

44. Another Is Waiting - The Avett Brothers

45. If I Loved You - Delta Rae featuring Lindsey Buckingham)

46. The Wire - Haim

47. Chocolate - The 1975

48. Boy - Emma Louise

49. My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light Em Up) - Fall Out Boy

50. Survival - Eminem

51. Supersoaker - Kings of Leon

52. Unbelievers - Vampire Weekend

53. Inland - Jars of Clay

54. Still - Daughter

55. Her Favorite Song - Mayer Hawthorne

56. Still Into You - Paramore

57. Radiate - Jack Johnson

58. Follow Your Arrow - Kacey Musgraves

59. Babel - Mumford & Sons

60. The Ceiling - The Wild Feathers

61. Forever - Haim

62. Hurricane - MS MR

63. The War Within - Churchill

64. Better Days - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

65. Cups (Pitch Perfect's “When I’m Gone”) [Pop Version] - Anna Kendrick

66. Big Blue Wave - Hey Ocean!

67. Wings - Haerts

68. Treasure - Bruno Mars

69. Bad Things - Meiko

70. Murder of Crows - Lindi Ortega

71. No Cure - Megan Hilty

72. Shake - The Head and the Heart

73. Nosetalgia - Pusha T featuring Kendrick Lamar

74. Recover - Chvrches

75. February Seven - The Avett Brothers

76. Hopeless Wanderer - Mumford & Sons

77. San Francisco - The Mowgli's

78. Drinkin' - Holly Williams

79. Heartbeat - Kopecky Family Band

80. Wildest Moments - Jessie Ware

81. Wear Me Out - Skylar Grey

82. Mission Bells - Matt Nathanson

83. Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

84. Beautiful War - Kings of Leon

85. Come & Get It - Selena Gomez

86. Pumpin Blood - NONONO

87. Hard Out Here - Lily Allen

88. Final Warning - Skylar Grey

89. The Man Who Wants You - Amos Lee

90. Ya Hey - Vampire Weekend

91. Breakfast Can Wait - Prince

92. You’re Not the One - Sky Ferreira

93. Mama's Broken Heart - Miranda Lambert

94. Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It - Stars

95. 3AM - Kate Nash

96. We Come Running - Youngblood Hawke

97. When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars

98. Sirens - Pearl Jam

99. Tin Star - Lindi Ortega

100. Done. - The Band Perry

The 100 Most Entertaining People of 2013

1. Lorde

2. Tatiana Maslany

3. Seth Rogan

4. James Spader

5. Timothy Olyphant

6. Mads Mikkelsen

7. Pharrell Williams

8. James Franco

9. The Civil Wars

10. Eminem

11. Rick Rubin

12. Jim Parsons

13. Kacey Musgraves

14. Vampire Weekend

15. Robert Downey Jr.

16. Rob Ford

17. Jon Hamm

18. Jonah Hill

19. Ken Marino

20. Kat Dennings

21. Charlie Hunnam

22. Daughter

23. Michael Shannon

24. Kaley Cuoco

25. Haim

26. Alison Brie

27. Keri Russell

28. Connie Britton

29. Craig Robinson

30. Janelle Monáe

31. Hayen Panettiere

32. Emma Watson

33. Bryan Fuller

34. The Avett Brothers

35. Leonardo DiCaprio

36. Megan Boone

37. Hugh Dancy

38. Caitlin Rose

39. Ashley Benson

40. Danny McBride

41. Jay Baruchel

42. Caroline Glaser

43. Eden Sher

44. Holly Henry

45. Ciera Eastin

46. Eliza Coupe

47. Donald Glover

48. Elizabeth Henstridge

49. Jane Levy

50. Kacey Rohl

51. Vocal Rush

52. Charlie McDermott

53. Amos Lee

54. Jeff Garlin

55. Mumford and Sons

56. Jack Johnson

57. J. B. Smooth

58. Chvrches

59. Maggie Lawson

60. Beyoncé

61. John Slattery

62. The Hero

63. Jere Burns

64. Abigail Spencer

65. Bailey Buntain

66. Come and Get It

67. Pearl Jam

68. Sarah Hyland

69. Sutton Foster

70. Kristen Bell

71. Donal Logue

72. Jeremy Renner

73. Patton Oswalt

74. Wendell Pierce

75. Ed O'Neill

76. Jason Segel

77. Amy Adams

78. Neil Patrick Harris

79. Margo Martindale

80. Emmy Rossum

81. Kings of Leon

82. Taylor Swift

83. Walton Goggins

84. Prince

85. Alexandra Chando

86. Emily Van Camp

87. Eric Clapton

88. Lana Parrilla

89. Madeleine Stowe

90. Robin Williams

91. Simon Helberg

92. Laurence Fishburne

93. The Roots

94. Gemma Arterton

95. Julie Bowen

96. John Stewart

97. John Mayer

89. Sara Bareilles

99. Nick Searcy

100. Aubrey Peeples