Dec. 26-Jan. 1: All the newest words added to the dictionary, the Kennedy Center Honors before a certain someone got involved, R-rated stop-motion, grumpy painters, murderous tennis stars, our final recommendations for the year, and the end of a 10-year podcast journey through pop culture. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Dec. 19-25: Leslie Nielsen is undead, Jean-Claude Van Damme goes into overtime, Lemmon and Matthau are even grumpier, Angela Bassett’s lighting cars on fire, Beavis and Butthead ruin Christmas, Johnny Knoxville is an Olympian, Jim Carrey’s on a crime spree, Bodhi and Utah return, Leonardo DiCaprio is very cold, Will Smith fights football, Jennifer Lawrence mops up, Will Ferrell is a good stepdad, Downton Abbey closes its doors, and Mr. Rogers meets his ultimate destiny. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Dec. 12-18: Laurence Fishburne does Shakespeare, Alan Rickman is finally the good guy, Harrison Ford gets romantic, Bart gets a four-finger discount, Jeff Daniels gets divorced, The Producers gets Producered, another very Diane Keaton Christmas, Moral Orel is immoral, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey throw a party, Alvin and the Chipmunks hit the road, and we will not play board games because we don’t want to be Jumanji’d. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Dec. 5- 11: Ian McKellen is an anti-hero, Kevin Bacon is a dog, the Father of the Bride is back, Seinfeld is sponge-worthy, The Simpsons perfect the clip show, big screen geishas and Narnias, George Clooney kills for oil, The Office does a Yankee swap, Adam Sandler heads to Netflix, and Chris Hemsworth takes to the sea. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Nov. 28-Dec. 4: South Park’s Christmas origin, Andy Garcia is doing things in Denver, Jeff Bridges is Wild Bill, a ton of terrible Xmas specials, John Cusack’s holiday heist, Oprah and Letterman beef, Spike Lee gets Greek, Superstore debuts and Bill Murray toasts Netflix. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Nov. 21-27: Robert De Niro runs Las Vegas, Wesley and Woody take the train, Johnny Depp is in real time, Keira Knightly has pride, Ryan Reynolds has friends, Rene Russo has too many kids, Daniel Radcliffe is Igor, the Good Dinosaur is just good, and the pope sings! All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Nov. 14-20: The Beatles reunite, Princess Di spills the tea, Michael Douglas is the fairytale president, Homer meets his mom, Robert Downey Jr. is the worst P.I., a very stoned Christmas Eve, Tom Hardy is twins, South Park is trapped in the closet, and a Christmas romance you won’t see on the Hallmark Channel. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Nov. 7- 13: The highest rated E.R. ever, George Costanza loves bosco, Freddie Mercury’s finale, 50 Cent tries movies, South Park sparks a hate crime against red heads, the Chilean miners get a film, Bryan Cranston is blacklisted, Diane Keaton just wants a perfect Christmas, and Bob and David are back…briefly. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Oct. 31-Nov. 6: Holly Hunter goes home for the holidays, Cindy Crawford: action star, Mr. Show brings poison s’mores, Homer dons a muumuu, George Clooney takes on McCarthy, Jake Gyllenhaal’s a jarhead, The Boondocks brings the ruckus, Michael Keaton’s in the spotlight, the best Peanuts movie, the Evil Dead return, and no soup for you! All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Oct. 24-30: Sigourney Weaver hunts a killer, Disney hires a predator, ermagerd there’s Goosebumps on TV, Jigsaw returns for the first time, the White Sox end the curse, Nicolas Cage hits the target, Martin Scorsese loves Dylan, Sandra Bullock has a crisis, Bradley Cooper is burnt, and Quebec stays Canadian (le Québec reste Canadien). All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Oct. 17- 23: John Travolta gets shorty, Charlize Theron gets mining, Kurt Russell fights cannibals, Colbert brings truthiness to America, Neon Genesis finally arrives, Bill Murray rocks the Kasbah, the world cries out for a Jem and the Holograms movie, the Simpsons actually have a Halloween, and Back to the Future Day brings no flying cars. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Oct. 10-16: No Doubt brings ska to the masses, Jack Black has goosebumps, Demi Moore destroys classic literature, Mad TV aims high, Keira Knightley is a bounty hunter, squids take over Adult Swim, Idris Elba goes to Netflix, Guillermo del Toro gets gothic, Tom Hanks goes to East Berlin, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s opening number. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Oct. 3-9: The Juice is loose, Nicole Kidman is to die for, the Hughes Bros. rob a bank, Wishbone makes reading fun, Al Pacino gambles, Rome can’t afford a battle, the Steve Jobs movie you actually should watch, Super Mario World gets annoying, and Robert Redford returns to journalism. All that and more 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Sept. 26-Oct. 2: Oasis goes (champagne) supernova, Bon Jovi paints houses, Michael Myers is cursed, might and magic run their course, Philip Seymour Hoffman is the original true-crime fan, Paul Walker goes diving, Viggo Mortensen has a history, President Geena Davis, the Wicked Witch’s backstory, Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes to the air, and Emily Blunt fights cartels. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Sept. 19-25: Everyone swoons over Colin Firth, Clerks meets Breakfast Club, JAG takes flight, Johnny Depp marries a corpse, Jodie Foster has a bad flight, Jason Lee tries to redeem himself, minds get criminal, the hatch is opened, the worst gay-rights movie, Robert De Niro in unpaid, and America invades Canada. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Sept. 12-18: Drew Carey gets a job, we learn who shot Mr. Burns, Angus scores one for the little guy, Harvey Keitel clocks in, Nicolas Cage is a lord, Reese Witherspoon is a ghost, gangster Johnny Depp, and we learn for the hundredth time while climbing Everest is a bad idea. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Sept. 5-11: Freakazoid runs amuck, the Bible gets a spinoff, Oprah breaks into a million little pieces, Naruto stars its long, long run, Jason Sudeikis is a sex addict, Pinky and the Brain do the same thing they do every night, Hayden Christensen is declared dead, M. Night goes on a visit, and Eugene Levy: action star. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Aug. 29-Sept. 4: Xena’s adventure begins, an animated film 30 years in the making, buying junk on the internet gets easier, the last time Kanye was right, Christopher Walken is an angel, the world’s dirtiest joke, Ralph Fiennes goes to Africa, Prison Break gets locked up, Robert Redford goes for a walk, Aqua Teens are no longer number one in the hood, JR sings and Diana freaks out and tries to fight God and the former head of FEMA. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Aug. 22-28: Scott Bakula is a magic detective, Patricia Arquette and Owen Wilson are both in danger in Southeast Asia, an internet remix goes to Isengard, Matt Damon and Heath Ledger fight fairy tales, Peppa Pig warms our hearts, spooky caves are spooky, Narcos and Fear the Walking Dead debut, and like all men, we talk about Rome way too much. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Aug. 15- 21: Who is Keyser Söze, Stephen Colbert’s first show, Rachel McAdams has a bad flight, the Babysitter’s Club goes big, an animated pigeon war movie, Jesse Eisenberg is a better hitman than Agent 47, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen make documentaries, the best country song ever, MTV gives up on rap, and the Six Feet Under finale makes at least one host cry on air. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Aug. 8-14: Aeon Flux flexes, Werner Herzog goes to Alaska, Keanu makes wine, Deuce Bigalow returns, Pamela Anderson gets roasted, NWA hits the big screen, RIP Jerry Garcia, and Edward Burns — did you know he’s Irish? All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
Aug. 1-7: Babe wins our hearts, Denzel goes virtual, Daniel Stern goes to camp, Amy Adams begins, inside the Playboy Mansion, a girl gets a dragon tattoo, Jason Bateman gets a bad gift, and It’s Always Sunny is tasteless for the very first time. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
July 25-31: Sandra Bullock fights the internet, John Cusack loves dogs, Jamie Foxx cashes in, Ed Helms takes a vacation, Wet Hot American Summer gets a prequel, Cicely, Alaska, closes up shop, and Danny Glover drops an elephant. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
July 18-24: Steve Buscemi makes an indie movie, Free Willy gets free-er, the Real World hits the road, penguins are on the march, Rob Zombie’s rejects, Billy Bob coaches little league, Michael Bay is a clone, Jake Gyllenhaal gets in the ring, and the best game for dating pigeons. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago!
July 11-17: Windows 95 starts up, Hugh Grant makes a bit of a mistake, Frank Oz adapts a classic, weddings are crashed, San Andreas spills its coffee, Johnny Depp’s got a golden ticket, Snape kills Dumbledore on page 574, Ian McKellen’s game is afoot, Amy Schumer is a trainwreck, Andy Samberg plays tennis and Bojack’s back. All that and more from 30, 20, and 10 years ago!