IT'S OUR EIGHT YEAR BLOGAVERSARY!
Hello loyal readers! It was eight years ago today that we launched The Couch, with goals of being: a chance for friends to participate in collaborative creativity, a great outlet for input from your peers regarding sports and pop culture, and becoming so expertly crafted and well-renowned that we catch the eye of investors and become the next Grantland. 2,922 days on, I'm happy to report that all but one of those things are true!
Just as has been the case every year since this blog's inception, and increasingly in the COVID and post-pandemic era, these last 12 months have been pretty stop-start in terms of the content, as you loyal fans will surely have noticed.
Still, we were able to unleash over 120 pieces of Couch fury in the last 365 days, and nearing the end of a summer that has been filled with international soccer and the Olympics, as well as multiple mega-watt music releases, and with an eye towards the dawn of Emmy season, college football season, and Premier League season, we are more than ready to jump back on the horse. Year 8 of The Couch may have been every bit as (and even more so!) chaotic than the previous seven, but it truly was a ton of fun, and it wouldn't have really been that fun if it weren't for your continued interest, so I thought it might be fun to reward all of you by telling you our Top 10 most-read posts since this blog's last anniversary. There are, of course, hyperlinks on each listing in case you want to revisit its glory. Enjoy, and thank you!
As is often the case-- and perhaps even more so this year --our 'best of 2023' content dominated the Top 10 lists. If you like the year recap stuff, check back here soon for some of our "best of the year so far" pieces! And an extremely begrudging congratulations to Sierra Slaughter, who for the 2nd straight year has taken the crown with her year-end movie ranking.
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(February 2024)
"Why is it that even in years that the Recording Academy get so many things right, they so consistently mess up the ultimate award? Were it as simple as being an excuse to reward the BIGGEST album of each year, or really, if there were some sort of consistency in the types of records that tend to win this Grammy, I imagine you wouldn't hear so much hemming and hawing every year. But truly, the only thing consistent about the albums that win Album of the Year is that a. they're usually undeserving, but more so b. they very often come at the expense of more deserving Black artists...
Starting with our newly crowned winner 10 days ago, I'll be running back through the winners of each year, examining their merits in comparison with their fellow nominees, and shouting out an album from each year that wasn't even included in the mix (and should have been)."
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(December 2023)
"That trend very much held nearly 4 years on from [Driver's] last time hosting SNL, with a phenomenal episode, high in energy and on quantity of memorable bits. The host deserves immense credit, but all other players, including the musical guest, brought it this past weekend, generating what was easily the best episode of the season, and truthfully, one of the best of the last few calendar years."
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(February 2024)
". . . we finally returned to normalcy last year. And by normalcy, I of course mean a ceremony in a packed arena in Los Angeles, with Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar inexplicably shut out of any major awards. Good to be back!!
Though these particular awards have often been besotted by criticisms of valuing commercial success over critically acclaimed music, (criticisms I find wholly valid, for what it’s worth), the show remains the premier music awards out there. And, though they often evade glory, many wonderful and deserving artists and bands are typically nominees, and that is no different this year."
Authors: Catherine, Daniel, and Gabriel Woodiwiss
(August 2023)
"It's the cinema event of the summer, and perhaps even the entire year. Barbie! Oppenheimer! Both/and! Older sister Catherine and younger brother Gabriel join Daniel to break down their anticipation for and reviews of both acclaimed, buzzy films."
Author: Christian Becker
(December 2023)
"There’s nothing I can say about this movie that hasn’t been screamed at you by every film person you know. . . . One of the only 3-hour movies in which I never felt its length because of how much it just zips by. Masterful pacing, memorable performances, and an explosion scene to end all explosion scenes. A true achievement that will go down as a classic our kids will talk about."
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(December 2023)
"One year on from what I deemed an "incredible year in music," I have to say the music of 2023 was.... aggressively mid. Not, mind you, without its highlights, all of which will be featured in this piece, of course!
. . . I say all this not as a way of downplaying my own list, nor especially the work of all artists this calendar year! Art is subjective, and there was something for everyone this year. I just mean I don't know how many albums listed in this article would have cracked my Top 10 last year, so if you're keeping up with this piece each year and are wondering "how (x) made my Top 10 this year when Rosalía got a freaking honorable mention last year?!?!?!", well, that might explain why."
Author: Joshua Mangis With
(December 2023)
"Note this is a list of my favorites and makes no claim of being the best - I love how diverse and subjective music is. Also, the rankings on this list could change based on my mood, life experiences, repeated listens, etc. I am a drummer and singer with a strong affinity for groove and harmony. I find music primarily from: Hanif Abdurraqib’s Instagram stories, friend recommendations, artists I’ve liked in the past, Spotify’s creepily good algorithm. The narrative writing generally gets longer as we get farther down in order of my favorites, so read as much as you’re interested in."
Authors: Daniel Woodiwiss
(December 2023)
"I I have actually consumed a good amount of television; enough, at least, to have a fairly informed opinion on the Primetime Emmys in a couple weeks. Between the writers' strike delaying the return of some beloved programs, and the conclusion of several different series that I voraciously watched and loved, I'm not very optimistic I will be able to sit here this time next year and look back with a similar sample size, so let's enjoy this for now, shall we? Here's my opinion on the best shows, programs, and events TV had to offer in the year 2023."
Author: Micah Veldkamp
(December 2023)
"Greetings – it is currently 11:17am on December 29th, 2023, as I begin writing this article. Commissioner Daniel has issued me a strict deadline of being “done in time to give my full attention to the VRBO Citrus Bowl”, in which my beloved Hawkeyes take the field one last time this season. . .
But you’re not here for a Citrus Bowl preview! Besides, it's easy: Haaks 13-10, under hits comfortably. You’re here, surprisingly, for my five favorite albums of the year! Maybe we all have a little masochism in us?"
Author: Sierra Slaughter
(December 2023)
"Without further adieu, Sierra's top 10 movies of 2023, and there were A LOT that didn’t make the list that I love. Every single movie I rated 4-5 stars and some 4 star movies didn’t make the cut!! What a great year for cinema!"
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