Best Moments on TV of 2013

Robin Thicke performs with Miley Cyrus
at MTV's Video Music Awards
I think I watch too much television. There were so many things that went down that were shocking and crazy and weird and stupid and loveable. There's no true way to boil it down to just ten things, but I'm going to try.

10. 2013 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS (Aug. 25) - Despite Justin Timberlake being the big winner of the night and reuniting with N' Sync on stage, the real story and really the only story to emerge from this evening was Miley Cyrus' performance with Robin Thicke, which made "twerk" a household term.

9. ZOOSK's HOT DATE (March 4) - I had never heard of Zoosk before seeing this commercial, now everytime I think of online dating, it won't be eHarmony or Match.com that sticks in my mind, it will be the image of Liz on a date with Brad, while Brad is molested by a big, red, heart puppet.

8. BILL COSBY: FAR FROM FINISHED (Nov. 23) - Comedy Central aired the septuagenarian's  return to stand-up comedy. It was rather a return to sit-down comedy, as America's favorite father sat in a chair for a hour and a half and dispensed his brand of wit and observations on marriage and child-rearing, which were just as sharp as ever. The first half of it was a bit dry but the latter half was phenomenally funny. I loved it and him.

7. KERRY WASHINGTON HOSTS SNL (Nov. 2) - Lorne Michaels, the head of Saturday Night Live, was criticized when the show premiered in the fall and all of his new cast members were white and predominantly male. A firestorm on the Internet brewed over the lack of black women in the cast for almost 40 years. The Emmy-nominee for Scandal was then invited to host and at the very top, the show addressed the very criticism in a very spot-on sketch.

6. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S SECOND INAUGURATION (Jan. 21) - It wasn't as moving or meaningful as the first inauguration of the country's first, African-American president, but it was held on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as well as on the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Aside from popular acts like James Taylor, Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce singing "The Star-Spangled Banner," important speakers like Myrlie Evers and Richard Blanco, the first openly gay inaugural poet, took to the podium.

5. SUPER BOWL XLVII (Feb. 3) - The 47th annual game had so many highlights and surprising drama. The Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers at a score of 34-31 that included sibling rivalry between the team's coaches. Beyonce also sang, reuniting her girl group Destiny's child, and of course a half-hour blackout that resulted in great Twitter jokes.

4. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' DINNER (April 28) - This year featured a great parody of House of Cards. President Obama had a good routine, which included him pretending to be Daniel Day-Lewis in a biopic of himself, and Conan O'Brien definitely had me cracking up.

3. THE ROAST OF JAMES FRANCO (Sept. 2) - Seth Rogen was the roastmaster. He and his friends put James Franco at the center of some great comedy. Among the roasters, Aziz Ansari and Bill Hader were possibly the funniest.

2. 70TH GOLDEN GLOBES (Jan. 13) - Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-hosted and blew everyone away, proving that they should host the Oscars, if not more things. Jodie Foster's speech as she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award was crazy and shocking, and think what you will of it, it was compelling television.

1. BREAKING BAD SERIES FINALE (Sept. 29) - It was the much anticipated ending to a TV series that had captured the cultural zeitgeist to levels higher than Lost and The Sopranos. Every Sunday night was just a bombardment on Twitter of people hanging on every moment and every scene. It was total and complete water color conversation on Mondays at work.

Best TV Movie

Valentine Road (HBO)
Steel Magnolias (LIFE)
Goodnight for Justice: Queen of Hearts (HMK)
Trevor Noah: African American (SHO)
David Blaine: Real or Magic? (ABC)
If You Really Love Me (GMC)

Best Reality / Variety

Real Time With Bill Maher (HBO)
The Talk (CBS)
Catfish: The TV Show (MTV)
The Jeselnik Offensive (COM)
Best Week Ever (VH1)

Best Comedy

Arrested Development: Season 4 (NETFLIX)
Parks and Recreation: Season 6 (NBC)
Web Therapy: Season 3 (SHOW)
The Middle: Season 5 (ABC)
Mom: Season 1 (CBS)
The Crazy Ones: Season 1 (CBS)

Best Drama

House of Cards: Season 1 (NETFLIX)
The Good Wife: Season 5 (CBS)
Chicago Fire: Season 2 (NBC)
Continuum: Season 2 (SYFY)
Revenge: Season 3 (ABC)
The Tomorrow People: Season 1 (CW)

Best Individual Performance

Jamie Dornan - The Fall
Robbie Kay - Once Upon a Time
Jane Lynch - Glee
Hayden Panettiere - Nashville
Alexander Koch - Under the Dome

Honorable Mention

Slammin' Sam: The Sam Burgess Story (Fox Sports)
General Hospital (ABC)
Days of Our Lives (NBC)

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