All the pop culture favorites we're thankful for this year

With Love From, Aly & AJ: Former Disney Channel stars Aly & AJ have long been favorites in my personal discography—like, I’m still bumping Insomniatic—but their recent career renaissance has been a true joy. With Love From is a worthy follow-up to A Touch Of The Beat…, continuing the sisters’ dreamy, sunkissed Laurel Canyon era. Standouts for me are “Sunchoke,” the titular “With Love From,” and the Springsteen-esque opener “Open To Something And That Something Is You.” It’s an overall great collection, with songs I’ve been listening to on repeat since it was released in March. And if you have the chance to see them live, they put on an excellent show.

The Company You Keep: I’ve taken every possible opportunity to write about my favorite one-season wonder of the year, but if this is the last time I get to say it: The Company You Keep is the best show you didn’t watch in 2023. The chemistry between con man Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) and CIA agent Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) was delicious, and each episode’s wacky caper was a blast in its own right. Especially in the wake of the strikes, I’ve found myself returning to broadcast TV (I’ve also loved watching Grey’s Anatomy for the first time) and really appreciating the traditional format. The Company You Keep is a show that really could have flourished if it had been given the same grace and growth period we used to give 25-episode dramas. Sadly, it wasn’t to be—and the show got pulled from streaming, double unfair!—but the short, sweet season can still be purchased on Prime Video, and I can’t recommend it enough.

See You Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan: We’re living in a romance renaissance. I probably don’t even have to suggest you read Happy Place by Emily Henry, because if you’re into rom-coms, it’s likely already on your shelf. So here’s another romance author I can’t get enough of: Annabel Monaghan, whose latest novel See You Next Summer will transport you to the beach and back to the bloom of first love. Monaghan’s simple, straightforward prose hooked me with Nora Goes Off Script, and the second-chance romance between Sam and her teenage love Wyatt similarly wiggled its way into my heart. Some runners-up, just for kicks (don’t tell anyone I did more than three things!): India Holton’s The Secret Service Of Tea And Treason and Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, if you like to mix romance with a dash of fantasy.

John Early: Now More Than Ever: John Early may have created the supreme skewering of millennial neuroses in the final 20 minutes of his excellent new comedy special, John Early: Now More Than Ever. As Early comes undone, he launches into a rant about the butchering of language, social media coming out posts, and the other hallmarks of his generation. The special doesn’t just make you laugh, but like the best of comedy, it teaches you to see the world around you in a new way.

Rotting In The Sun: Rotting In The Sun is a great reminder to be thankful that your life is not in Jordan Firstman’s hands. The film has earned comparisons to Uncut Gems for how utterly stressful it can feel to watch it, but in truth, the film is wackier and its subtext a bit spicier. Rotting In The Sun forces you to feel depressed, horny, scared, and high, reminding you how good it is to feel anything in the process.

Erotic Probiotic 2 by Nourished By Time: I had a few drinks and sang karaoke a few times this year, and there was nothing that captured the feeling (if not the sound) better than Nourished By Time’s album Erotic Probiotic 2. Artist Marcus Brown’s songs are woozy, nighttime jams reminiscent of Blood Orange, if he sang over the beat from a Nickelodeon GAS show (and that’s a compliment). It’s music to lose yourself in, and this year, I really appreciated it.

Taskmaster: Television’s most joyful celebration of silliness and lateral thinking has had a great 2023, with Taskmaster’s 16th season featuring a top crew of five contestants—Julian Clary, Lucy Beaumont, Sam Campbell, Susan Wokoma, and the eternally delightful Sue Perkins—suffering at the whims of host Greg Davies and mastermind Alex Horne. Taskmaster is that rare “reality competition” where failure and success are both equally satisfying to watch. Few things help me unwind after a long day of work like hanging out with people who are being both simultaneously very clever and very stupid in the service of completing bizarre tasks. (Bonus gratitude: British channel Dave’s continual devotion to uploading the series to YouTube for viewers in the States to keep up with.)

McElroy Brothers gaming streams: As a long-time fan of My Brother, My Brother, And Me and The Adventure Zone stars Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy, I’ve been delighted by the trio’s embrace of streaming over the last few months—and especially the incredibly frustrating/fun way they’ve decided to play through a couple of classic video games. Described as “Three boys, six thumbs, one heart,” the streams see the three brothers play through first Super Nintendo classic Super Mario World, and then Donkey Kong Country, with each brother having access to only one part of a shared controller. (Typically, Justin has movement, Griffin has jumping, and Travis controls special actions.) This is, as they frequently note, a remarkably bad way to play a video game, especially over the internet, and watching the three of them go through a series of highs, lows, and weed jokes—shout-out to The Hog—each week as they just barely manage to triumph in the space of their own self-appointed adversity is a periodic highlight.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game: Although it’s been running for several years now, 2023 was the year I finally got, in a really serious way, into Fantasy Flight Games’ Arkham Horror: The Card Game, a significantly better (if also more expensive, at least in the aggregate) take on the same ideas explored in the old Lovecraft-inspired board game of the same name. Playing every week with one of my best friends, we’ve explored nightmarish small towns, asylums in the grip of madness, and the far reaches of space, all through a series of card game mechanics that encourages as much preparation before the game begins as in-the-moment decision making. Besides being a fantastic co-op experience, Arkham Horror: TCG remains endlessly impressive the deeper you get into it, managing to tell compelling horror stories without ever sacrificing the satisfaction that comes from building a really good deck to batter down the fish-faced horrors or tentacle-heavy monsters of the Mythos.

Unions: As a film fan, there has been plenty to be thankful for this year. First, the labor unions that keep Hollywood’s most important asset (artists) paid and working won strong victories over increasingly difficult and anti-conglomerates. Artists getting paid; AI losing work? We love to see it.

Auteurs are back!: After a decade-plus of spandex cinema at the multiplex, directors, some of whom we haven’t heard from in years, returned with new and challenging works that audiences crave. With new movies by Martin Scorsese, Sophia Coppola, Christopher Nolan, Michael Mann, Hayao Miyazaki, Greta Gerwig, John Woo, Ridley Scott, Wes Anderson, Nicole Holofcener, David Fincher, Kelly Reichardt, and so many more, cinephiles ate good this year. While taste and quality vary, artists, not franchises, ruled the theater this year.

The Replacements’ Tim: Let It Bleed Edition: 40 years of listening to The Replacements’ seminal album Tim has always been a compromise. With the fantastic re-mix by Ramones producer Ed Stasium, Rhino’s Tim: Let It Bleed Edition is the record we’ve been deprived of for decades. Paul’s vocals have never been crisper, Tommy’s bass never more audible, and Bob’s guitar wizardry is finally captured on “Left Of The Dial.” It’s the kind of reissue that makes you regret all the time you spent with the original version. Just unspeakably grateful for this one. We’re truly not worthy.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3: It took too long and he didn’t get to do any of the cool stuff he did in the comics, but Marvel’s best/dumbest character, Adam Warlock, is finally in the MCU.

Armored Core VI: Fires Of Rubicon: This mech game truly gets that it’s not the firing big lasers and missiles that’s appealing about giant robots, it’s the hours you spend painting every little bit of your giant robot until it’s as badass as possible.

Lauren Mayberry’s solo music: It’s good that the members of Chvrches insisted that the band would eventually get back together after frontwoman Lauren Mayberry took some time to work on her own solo music, but it’s even better knowing that her solo music—even if it’s just two singles so far—is rad.

The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt: For yours truly, there’s nothing quite like digging into a new Patrick deWit book. He’s one of those artists who so nails the sensibilities I like that each novel feels like it was written for me. In his latest, The Libarianist, a 70-something ex-librarian named, beautifully, Bob Comet, the kind of guy who always chose reading over what most people would consider living, looks back on two big adventures in his life: his short-lived marriage from 50 years prior and an even shorter-lived time on the lam as a boy with a vaudevillian sister act. The dialogue sparkles, as always with this writer, and this bittersweet tale about found families is quite funny and, ultimately, touching.

The Walkmen reunion: In my twenties, the Walkmen were, hands down, the band I saw play the most, as there was a spell in the late aughts when it seemed like they were perpetually on tour, either playing fests or clubs or supporting (in my opinion, inferior) acts. So when the chance came to see them in person a decade after they went on hiatus, I jumped at it, seeing them a total of four times at both the Metro in Chicago (alongside my friends from those shows in my younger days) and my current home of Los Angeles. What a sound. What a band.

Labi Siffre’s “Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying” needle drop in The Holdovers: There is a lot to like about Alexander Payne’s bittersweet, 1970-set Christmas story, not least of which was all of the references to Hal Ashby’s The Last Detail (which is tied, in case you’re wondering, for my favorite film of all time). But beyond those very explicit nods, the work also captures a very specific mood, all snowy New England small-town streets and era-appropriate duds and, importantly, an ace soundtrack and score. The use of this song, in particular, floored me.

The Leftovers: The Leftovers is a show that kills God by way of lion-mauling on an orgy boat and gets away with it. It doesn’t matter that it ended over half a decade ago—why would you ever watch anything else?

M3GAN: Remember when horror was fun? M3GAN does. Also, I refuse to pronounce this title as anything but muh-three-gain and will continue to do so whenever muh-four-gain (muh-two-gain?) finally drops. It may be the best movie of the decade.

Caroline Polachek’s Desire, I Want To Turn Into You: I’m no production expert, but I know something about how music is made and I still didn’t realize it was possible for a human being to make half the sounds Caroline does on this album until I saw her do it live. She’s a generational talent, and I’m thankful to be a part of it.

Sam Campbell’s weird gray outfits in Taskmaster series 16: Taskmaster is a weird show where weirdos thrive, and series 16 has been an all-timer in terms of eccentric contestants. Every single one of them—Julian Clary, Sam Campbell, Lucy Beaumont, Sue Perkins, and Susan Wokoma—probably would’ve been the standout weirdo in any other season, but this time, they’re all together in one very entertaining bunch. Beaumont’s been holding it down in terms of rambling, nonsensical anecdotes, but Campbell’s stealthy dedication to monochrome cement-gray outfits for the studio shows has been fascinating to watch. The sheer number of clothing items he owns in that very specific color, and the fact that neither he nor the show ever addresses it, is the kind of thing that makes Taskmaster so special. Sure, there’s a guy over here who can camouflage himself by simply laying down on a sidewalk, but who has time to interrogate that when there’s someone else telling a story about an old neighbor whose pet monkey bit his wife’s nose off?

Neil Newbon’s Baldur’s Gate 3 Twitch streams: The voice actor behind vampire fuckboy Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 has been livestreaming a playthrough of the game, and it’s been generally delightful to watch. The behind-the-scenes anecdotes Newbon shares are cool, but the real fun comes from Newbon’s player character, Bow’ee, interacting with Astarion, like the time Astarion drained Bow’ee dry and accidentally killed him thanks to a bad dice roll. Oops.

Bakugo’s hero name in My Hero Academia: Manga fans have known about this for a while, but earlier this year, anime viewers finally got to see U.A. High’s resident angry boy Bakugo Katsuki unveil his hero name. Back in season two, pro hero Midnight shot down Bakugo’s two suggestions for what the public should call him: King Explosion Murder and Lord Explosion Murder. For some reason, she thought those names didn’t sound heroic. So, after several seasons of suspense, Bakugo finally revealed his official pro-hero name: Great Explosion Murder God DynaMight. Blasty can front all he wants about being a tough guy who shoots explosions from his hands, but at the end of the day, he’s still a huge dork who chose a name that’s a pun on his idol, All Might. And when everyone laughs and tells him it’s lame, he can’t even argue about it, because it really, really is—but it’s also kinda perfect for him.

Aurora, Daisy Jones & The Six: I didn’t expect to love Aurora as much as I did. But here we are, at the end of the year, and I fully expect some songs to show up in my Spotify Wrapped. Daisy Jones & The Six’s original studio album slowly became one I kept playing on repeat after I watched the series, and I continue to do so today. It’s a good enough tribute to the ‘70s Fleetwood Mac music it’s inspired by—obviously, they weren’t going to be able to repeat that greatness. Still, it succeeds because it captures the vibe of the show, bringing us a tracklist that includes plenty of soft-rock earworms about the characters involved. As an aside, I ended up revisiting and also listening to some ’70s music for the first time. So I’m thankful for Aurora, and especially “You Were Gone,” if I had to pick a favorite.

Chucky: Why yes, I am thankful for Chucky, the crass, red-haired killer doll who’s been committing crimes since the ’80s. So why do I care about it deeply in 2023? It’s because Don Mancini keeps his Child’s Play franchise fresh with SYFY’s Chucky. The slasher series is consistently fun, funny, and perfectly spooky. Brad Dourif returns to voice Chucky, who terrorizes The White House in season three’s first half this year. You wouldn’t expect Chucky, a show containing voodoo, body switching, and other weird shit, to make relevant political commentary. I’m just glad the show proves it’s possible to keep an IP project inventive decades later.

Shah Rukh Khan: Nothing in pop culture has excited me more than Shah Rukh Khan’s mighty, highly anticipated return to the big screen in 2023. The globally acclaimed Indian actor hasn’t led a Bollywood movie in five years. During that time, due to frustrating national political reasons, Khan and his family were thrust into the spotlight even further. So a lot was riding on his return, and boy does the man deliver.

Let me use this opportunity to educate you on two of his films that have been released this year so far. In January, we got Pathaan (streaming on Prime Video), a spy thriller with twists, sexy actors, and plenty of unhinged stunts akin to the Fast And The Furious franchise. The film earned $130 million globally, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing Indian movie of all time. In September, Khan broke his own record with the high-octane Jawan, which has made over $140 million so far. For those who loved RRR, Jawan might feel spiritually similar in terms of the heightened direction, action, cinematography, and choreography. But Jawan is far better because the theatrics have a heart and soul. Khan is magnificent as he plays multiple parts in this action drama. It’s also the absolute fucking hottest he’s ever looked on the screen—trust me, I’ve seen almost all of the 100 or so movies he’s done. Jawan isn’t subtle with its message, emotional outbursts, or performances. That makes it over-the-top, sure, but I’m glad it gives the actor a chance to remind everyone why he’s affectionately called King Khan. Anyway, Jawan is now streaming on Netflix, if you want three hours of unfiltered fun. His third film, Dunki, releases in December.