IT'S OUR FIVE YEAR BLOGAVERSARY!
Hello loyal readers! It was five 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. 1826 days on, I'm happy to report that all but one of those things are true!
The last couple years on this blog have been extremely fractured and weird, mostly because, well, the whole World has been fractured and weird! And if you thought the arenas of sports and pop culture would be immune to that, well, you haven't been paying attention. But nevertheless, we here at The Couch have done our best to keep you looped in on our #hottakes on all things entertainment this past year. And as such, we thought we might mark this anniversary by looking back at the most-read pieces from the last year. And yes, you will notice, at long last, the Blog founder and Editor-in-Chief has finished with the #1 blog post of the year!
But my long-awaited coronation feels a bit hollow coming in such an abnormal year in which many of us couldn’t write the types of things we love to write. So, in order to both reflect the more collaborative nature and conception of this blog, and to celebrate our five-year anniversary, we’ve also included the five most popular pieces in The Couch’s ENTIRE EXISTENCE. As always, thank you for reading and making this venture worthwhile!
There are, of course, hyperlinks on each listing in case you want to revisit its glory.
Top 5 of The Last Year
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(Oct. 2020)
"The Grammy for Album of the Year might be my single-favorite entertainment award to follow. That’s a somewhat crazy thing for me to say, because the Grammys aren’t nearly as enjoyable or important to me as the Oscars are, and increasingly, even the Emmys are. But while the drumroll moments before a Best Picture announcement never gets old, thanks to the extensive awards circuit, there’s hardly ever any real suspense before even the most major announcements at those shows, because people can surmise the frontrunner by looking at who has been cleaning up all the other Hollywood awards. There’s no ‘awards circuit’ equivalent for the world of music."
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(Nov. 2020)
"One of the unfortunate effects of the circuit is that by the time we get to Academy Awards, most major categories, this one included, lack any real suspense like the kind we get at the Grammys and Golden Globes, but it doesn’t make the final announcement of the night any less drumroll-worthy. Plus, though I admit to a heavy dose of recency bias here, it certainly seems like this past decade has seen the gamut of winner types, from unwelcome surprise, to sadly predictable, to expected-but -still-pleasing, to the occasional very pleasant surprise."
Author: Sierra Slaughter
(Jan. 2021)
"What an absolutely bonkers year for movies. . . The year is stacked and as you can see from my list 3 are documentaries with 4 other documentary films narrowly missing the list. My first 3 films on the list I gave 5 stars. The next 5 I gave 4.5 stars. And the final 2 I gave 4 stars. I barely even dipped into the other dozen or so 2020 releases I rated 4 stars. "
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(Dec. 2020)
"Besides, at least in recent years, at least a handful of shocking nominees or snubs has become the norm. Ergo, it’s not a stretch to say most everyone expected the unexpected; I know I did. Still, when the nominations dropped on Thanksgiving Eve, the notably universal reaction was:
...wut."
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(Sep. 2020)
"If you're reading this, you likely thought this day was inevitable. Most people do; even at the fairly young age of 30, Taylor Swift has already been a star for so long and traversed so many genres and eras of popular music that little by little, more and more holdouts have jumped aboard the bandwagon. But I truly, really, deeply believed I was different."
Top 5 of The Couch's 5 Years!
Author: Michael Rondello
(Feb. 2019)
"There have been odd winners for Album of the Year this decade, such as Beck in 2015, which has resulted in heated debates over the winner, like Taylor Swift vs. Kendrick Lamar in 2016. Nearly every year, I leave the awards with some qualm over the voters’ picks for the winners; thus, at the cusp of the end of the decade, and on the eve of the 61st Grammys, it’s time to look over the last nine years of the Grammy Awards, and revise the nominees and winners of the most prestigious award."
Author: Sierra Slaughter
(June 2018)
"These deep dark secrets that eat at you, that people reject you for--that camaraderie really brings the contestants together, but there’s an understandable apprehension to jump into a relationship, making the final episode and confessions of love feel a bit forced. And those final confessions weren’t the only forced part. The show might sound cute and quirky, but in reality it’s offensive, mean spirited, and downright repulsive at times. The two hosts offer their harsh and offensive criticism any chance they get."
Author: Micah Veldkamp
(Jan. 2018)
"This is a list of 2017 albums that were really great but that you’re not gonna find on any other best-of-2017 list. The reasons may vary (indie artist, not culturally relevant/significant, etc), but I think they also deserve a spotlight. Plus, I doubt you want to see another list with DAMN. at the No. 1 spot, Flower Boy underrated and More Life overrated (don’t @ me)."
Author: Julia LaPlaca
(Oct. 2016)
"Jane the Virgin tells a story about a vibrant woman, Jane Villanueva, who finds herself mixed up in the intrigues, love triangles, and dramatic reversals of a telenovela (with plenty of humor and charm as well). But I would claim that the show is really about a woman’s virtue-- and all the complex, difficult, important questions surrounding what it means to be a “good” woman. I’ve broken down my convoluted thoughts on this subject into two and a half points (just like a sermon, but shorter)."
Author: Daniel Woodiwiss
(May 2017)
"In the fall of 2014, I took a class titled Communication and Gender, which was one of those classes that required a short written assignment every single day. One of the few prompts I was actually extremely excited to respond to (sorry, Dr. Weiland) asked us to provide examples of TV programs that challenged traditional depictions of women. I had an instant answer, and that answer might surprise you! [Cue audience gasps.] My thoughts instantly turned to the FOX comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a seemingly innocuous cop comedy fronted by Andy Samberg of SNL and Lonely Island fame. For reasons I will expound upon, I thought the show subtly embodied one of the more progressive cast of characters on television, particularly mainstream television. Its mainstream antithesis, in my eyes, was and still is Modern Family."
Comments