It’s that time of year when many of us head home for the holidays and take up residence in our childhood bedrooms, which means nostalgia over old toys and the questions that coming from looking at them through adult eyes.

If you happen to have a Samantha or Molly doll near your bed, you may look at her with fond memories of that one Christmas (or Hanukkah—if you had a Molly doll it was almost definitely Hanukkah) when your parents finally splurged and bought you one of the pricey toys.

As a grown-up, though, have you ever really reflected on your American Girl’s narrative? What would a walking, talking, Addy doll really say and do?

Lauren Ireland and Anni Weisband’s clever new video lovingly and sardonically imagines the girls come to life. The writing even features nods at the girls' narrowly defined interests (“Golly gee, Samantha," quipped Molly, "it’s always about suffrage with you!”) and roles (“I used to be a slave," lamented Addy. "They didn't really write much else for my character, I'm pretty one-dimensional.").

Any fan of these dolls should thoroughly enjoy seeing how they would respond to each other. When a frustrated waiter seeks out his manager’s assistance, it turns out she’s actually Kit, a less-remembered doll who, the girls announce in hushed tones, nobody bought. The video is both a loving tribute to and a sardonic sendup of all the things that made these dolls so great—and so awful.

Just be careful that you don’t get sucked into the world of the many, many American Girl fanatic videos that will crop up on Youtube when you watch this video. That is, unless you want to improve the sheen of your doll’s hair while you're home for the holidays.

Screengrab via Lauren Ireland/YouTube

In the end, Stephen Colbert didn't go out with a bang. He went out with something much bigger—along with some help from his friends.

Over the past month, Colbert didn’t try to disguise or ignore the fact that he was ending his show; in fact, he seemed to relish in announcing it. So when it came to his final episode on Thursday night, it was no surprise to the Colbert Nation—except maybe the people who have never turned into an episode of The Colbert Report before this.

“If this is your first episode tuning into The Colbert Report, I have some terrible news,” the host said. “This is your last time watching the Colbert Report...until 10 years from now when they reboot it, directed by J.J. Abrams.”

Whether or not it does get rebooted, the Report had a lot to live for in its final episode alone. Although Colbert tried pretending it was just like every other show, he only got through one of his regular segments before devoting the rest of the episode to his fond farewell. And it only took about 10 minutes before things got delightfully weird.

Remember how Grimmy, Colbert's Grim-Reaper-like friend, was supposed to be Colbert’s final guest? It led many people to worry that Colbert might kill his beloved alter-ego. But that would have been too easy. Colbert defies everything already, so why not death as well? In one gunshot, he pulled one over on his critics as well as the Nation. Looking back, how could he not live through everything?

Prior to this, it was a show lacking that sentimental touch—save for a nod to the viewers in his final Word segment—but it was still full of the wackiness we've come to expect and love. Suddenly, the show filled up with a plethora of A-list names.

Beginning with Jon Stewart and Randy Newman, Colbert was suddenly joined by dozens of his friends and former guests, including Tom Brokaw, Neil deGrasse Tyson, George Lucas, Bill Clinton, Vince Gilligan (still locked in that basement), Smaug, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and many more. We're still trying to figure out the complete list.

Tucked in his sleigh, Colbert thanked everyone who worked on the show and the Colbert Nation. He couldn't have done it without him.

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and Jimmy Fallon recalled an old holiday favorite.

Having someone readThe Night Before Christmas, the classic poem from Clement Moore, is a staple of the holiday season. But since time is precious on The Tonight Show, Fallon couldn't possibly read the entire thing. Instead, he brought in a no-nonsense Nick Offerman to trim it down for him.

He updated the language, cut out a lot, added some colorful words, and asked the questions we were all wondering. Given that our attention spans aren't as long as those of our ancestors, we don't really need all of those vivid and descriptive words anymore.

And what is a thistle, anyway?

We’re in the middle of a major late-night shift, that’s for sure.

We saw Jimmy Fallon take his seat as host of The Tonight Show in February with a star-studded affair, and Seth Meyers started just after, both in terms of timeslot and premiere date. David Letterman announced his retirement, and just a week later Stephen Colbert was announced as his successor. Larry Wilmore will be taking Colbert’s timeslot. Chelsea Handlerended her show with plans to move to Netflix. James Corden, someone virtually unknown to American audiences will be taking overThe Late Late Show in March instead of a woman or person of color.

By the time Letterman officially retires on May 20, 2015, Jon Stewart will be the longest-reigning host, with Jimmy Kimmel leading the pack on network television. Conan O’Brien will be the most seasoned man standing, but he was off TV prior to his exit from NBC and move to TBS.

While the buzz surrounding Colbert’s departure from The Colbert Report only grew larger as his final show approached, many forgot that he’s not the only late-night host leaving his post this week.

It’s safe to say that we don’t view late-night television anywhere near the same way as our parents did. For them, there were only a few channels to watch at any point in time, so once they found the host they liked, they stuck with him. My dad, for instance, fondly remembers watching Johnny Carson and his variety sketches when he was in his 20s; when I asked about it, I could barely get him to stop talking. Now my parents fall asleep to Letterman, but they still enjoy the Fallon and Kimmel clips that I send their way or that end up on the morning shows.

For us, those who grew up with cable, premium cable, and now Netflix and YouTube, we’ve had a lot more options. We could watch late-night talk shows; we could tune into the satire news shows Comedy Central offered; we could binge-watch a cult favorite or even catch up on the latest hot show. We had options, so we spread out what we watched more widely.

I don’t watch late-night TV enough to say, “Yeah, that’s my ‘guy’” to any of the hosts who were on in my lifetime, and I certainly don’t remember a certain episode of any show as vividly as something like getting my first Harry Potter book or starting Lost. The closest I’ve probably ever gotten to “that guy” is Craig Ferguson.

Ferguson began his run at The Late Late Show on Jan. 3, 2005, after beating out three others for the spot. I didn’t watch it, probably because it aired way too late for then-high-schooler me, but he was fairly popular at first. Although the Scottish host might not be everyone’s cup of tea, he achieved the show’s highest ratings since the show started in 1995. While he and his writers never won an Emmy for their work, he was awarded the Peabody Award in 2010 for his interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Regarding the honor, the Peabody selection committee wrote that“one of the silliest hours on television (what with the trademark hand puppets and skeleton robots) could also be one of the smartest.”

“This is a man who talked to some crazy motherfuckers,” Ferguson told Jim Rash at the Paley Center for Media Monday night. “He said to me, ‘You’re crazy—I don’t mean to be rude.’ I said, ‘I thank you, Father Tutu.’ He said, ‘No,  you are crazy, but the type of crazy we need.’ And, this is not your agent, you know, he’s not like, ‘Keep doing the crazy thing!’ It’s Desmond Tutu saying ‘Be as authentically crazy as you are.’ It was kind of like God saying ‘Just be as crazy as you like.’ I felt weirdly released by that.”

When I did tune in—somewhere around my late high school or early college years when I became a night owl—I found something there I hadn’t noticed in the other late-night hosts: warmth.

From Ferguson’s decree of “It’s a great day for America, everybody!” to the nightly recap in his “What Did We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig” segment, The Late Late Show felt less like a rigid, scripted affair and more like storytime with a slightly eccentric uncle. It’s a pity I haven’t been able to watch more than I have.

No matter how much experience you have watching late-night TV, you’ve probably realized that most of the hosts pretty much have one thing in common: a script. The monologues (or in Stewart and Colbert’s case, their reports) are scripted, the variety sketches and surprise appearances are well-planned and executed, and when the guest comes on to promote something, the host probably has notecards for questions and the guests obviously primed for certain talking points. It’s a formula that’s worked for decades.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, and for Fallon and Kimmel in particular, it results in millions of YouTube views a week.

But after some time on the air, Ferguson decided to go off-script. When a guest came onto his show, he always started the interview by dramatically ripping up his note card, which, according to NPR’s David Bianculli, was “signalling to the audience, and to the guest, that this conversation need not be rigidly managed.” It was a strategy that scared people at first, but guests kept coming back to talk to him. He mostly ad-libbed his daily monologue, and things on the show got weird. It may not have been what you have come to expect from the CBS mold, but it was a perfect fit for the show.

And it was a weirdness I wasn’t seeing anywhere else on late-night TV. Although I never had to hide my geek side, my family didn’t really understand some of my passions and I always held back among friends who might’ve been overwhelmed; although I never felt isolated by it, it was at times a bit lonely. And since I didn’t really let my geek flag fly online until much later, it was mostly internal nerding for years. Watching Ferguson geek out over his guests (especially in one episode he devoted entirely to Doctor Who) was comforting in a way.

He managed to invite guests into his (admittedly) small studio that weren’t always the kind of guest that would end up on every other show. By making his interviews freeform, I always felt like I learned something instead of watching this celebrity or that one tell the same three stories. It was also never invasive, and he always seemed to be genuinely interested in most of his guests—and if he wasn’t, he was good at faking it. He responded to viewer emails, and while he often ended his interviews with an awkward pause or a prize, it managed to make something that might have been awkward a little more fun.

With the additions of Geoff Peterson (Ferguson’s robot skeleton sidekick created byMythbusters’ Grant Imahara), the pantomime horse Secretariat, and the occasional use of puppets, things could easily go off the rails in an absolutely delightful way. They were just as much part of the show as Ferguson himself.

But just because his interviews were mostly easy-going didn’t mean it was always a playground on the show. When his parents died in 2006 and 2008, he eulogized them on the air. He’s referenced his sobriety and his struggles with addiction over the years; he’s currently more than 20 years sober. He eagerly shared his enthusiasm with his audience after becoming a U.S. citizen.

When national tragedy hit, he abandoned his usual cheerful nature on the show and gave sober monologues to the audience; Timelisted his monologue after the Boston bombing as the top late-night moment of 2013.

In recent years, Jimmy Fallon offered tough competition while he was the host of Late Night. The ratings went down, but so did every other show’s. While present, Ferguson’s YouTube channel never really took off, and he has nowhere near the number of clips (or subscribers) as his fellow late-night hosts.

Although at one point Ferguson admitted that he might not renew his contract, he always stood publicly by Letterman, renewing his contract in 2010 and extending it in 2012. And when his final year as host of The Late Late Show hit, Ferguson would go out in a way that most late-night hosts hadn’t previously: overshadowed.

It started off with a retirement.

Letterman announced his plans to retire in early April, and while Ferguson’s name was among the list of people CBS looked into to fill Letterman’s set, he was never the clear frontrunner: Colbert was. In an environment when the guy who aired after the big host was expected to take up the mantle, it said a lot. According to Mashable, Ferguson “has never been seen as the heir apparent.” His contract reportedly had a clause that stated he would get a cash payout if he didn’t get Letterman’s job.

A few weeks later, Ferguson announced his plans to leave his show in a very Craig Ferguson way—with his usual wit—and called it “conscious uncoupling.” He later told Larry King that he wanted to announce his exit sooner but he agreed to wait until everything died down with Letterman’s retirement.

Although Ferguson stated the decision to exit was his own, others seemed to feel he was getting the rough end of the deal, and Letterman’s obligatory comments on his exit appeared to some as being “detached.”

In most cases, an outgoing late-night host and his successor showing up on the same stage together would make headlines. Ferguson and Corden’s on-screen meeting was much more low-key.

I hope that Ferguson’s final show will be just as wild and weird as he wants it to be. It might not be as wacky and star-studded as Colbert’s grand finale, but I feel like Ferguson might be OK with that.

And this time I’ll be watching.

Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)

There’s nothing different or clever about the premise of Flip and Glib, a sparkling new webseries.

The universal theme of opposites attract is tried and true and has been played for laughs, tears and every emotion in-between. What separates this veteran playwright Richard Martin Hirsch's effort from the pack is the writing, which delivers smart dialog delivered by veteran actors who possess superb timing and great chemistry.

Officially titled Flip and Glib and the Theory of Everything, the show centers on the relationship between a somewhat askew starry eyed Midwesterner, Glib (Annie Abrams), and acerbic, recently divorced Flip (Stephanie Erb). After a chance meeting, Flip takes Glib under her wing and into her house. The pair became friends, sisters, and even mother and daughter as the first handful of episodes evolve. Both Erb and Abrams bring a wealth of stage experience to the show, which dovetails with Hirsch’s success in the Los Angeles theater scene.

Much like other talented artists who are attracted by the siren song of creating a webseries, Hirsch brings a strong writing background to the medium, but he knew he was moving into a totally new creative area that would require a steep learning curve.

“I found that many webseries featured shallow writing,” Abrams told the Daily Dot. “I come from a place that features strong writing. It was my goal to go a little deeper and be more substantive.” In addition, Hirsch said his experience writing about strong female characters was something rarely found to date in Web-based video and would make his new show resonate with viewers.

To complement his accomplishment with dialog, Abrams said he began taking classes in creating video and has even started developing his editing skills. By mastering editing, he said, it allowed him to better understand how to write for the Web, which requires a more compact form of verbal interaction.

Considered one of Los Angeles's more prolific playwrights, Hirsch’s The Restoration of Sight, a play about a renown ophthamologist facing an emotional crisis, won the Stanley Drama Award in 2010. Among his others works are London’s Scars, The Concept of Remainders, and Memorizing Rome. He also is a member of the Ensemble Theater Company, which is where he met many of the of cast featured in Flip and Glib.

Hirsch’s decision to tackle the Web as a platform for his work was born out of the need to break out of his routine. He was familiar with the power of the Web as a communications tool, having used it to enter his plays in a number of competitions. Working with his long-time collaborator, director Mark L. Taylor, the pair put the show together more than a year ago, but life got in the way of its premiere.

The original pilot featured a different actress in the role of Glib, but her pregnancy threw a monkey wrench into the shooting schedule and distribution plans. Scheduling conflicts and health issues followed, so that pilot was never released. A reboot led to a 2014 filming of six episodes that are released every two weeks. Hirsch said he plans to also shoot some extras to add to the mix of content that supports Flip and Glib’s narrative.

Despite a wealth of experience in the commercial side of theatrical productions, Hirsch said it’s difficult to plan the future of his new show. “There’s what I’d like to happen, and then there’s reality,” he said. The two best routes to sustainability for the webseries would be either to find a sponsor to underwrite the costs (to date, the show is self-funded) or attract a distributor such as Netflix or Hulu, Hirsch added.

Hirsch is following the path of others wanting to conquer this new medium by submitting Flip and Glib to a number of webseries festivals where it is likely to gain the attention of key influencers. “Our goal is not so much to win awards,” he said. “It’s to gain exposure and allow us to go to the next level.”

Until the Netflixes of the world discover Flip and Glib, Hirsch is content to hone his work and master the art of the webseries much as he has the stage.

“Right now, our intent is to have fun, create and learn,” he said.

Screengrab via Coffeehouse Productions/YouTube

The only thing more captivating than Serial is the discussion over whether it's okay  to be a "fan" of Serial. The podcast investigates a real murder that took place in 1999, but its massive popularity and episodic nature led to comparisons with fictional shows like Twin Peaks and The Killing.

If you're treating Serial like it's fiction, that's a little creepy. But the podcast's creators made an effort to make each episode gripping and atmospheric, so it does have a few things in common with the murder-mystery genre. One obvious similarity is the soundtrack.

Serial's simple theme music, composed by Nick Thorburn, is one of the most recognizable aspects of the podcast — and, true to form, it was partly influenced by Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtrack. Inevitably, several remixes and mashups have already showed up online. Here are some of the best ones.

Serial Ball

This mashup between Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball and the Serial theme was created by Chambaland and is hosted by Funny or Die. The jangling, off-key combination of the Wrecking Ball backing track and Serial's piano theme is surprisingly catchy, and the context of the podcast adds new meaning to the lyrics.

Mail Kimp remix

We have no idea if MailChimp's Serial commercial was actually successful at bringing in new customers, but it sure is memorable—particularly that one girl who can't pronounce the word "chimp." With all those "mail kimp" jokes popping up on Twitter each week, it was only a matter of time before someone created a remix like this.

SerialMate

The band Team Mate made this mashup with one of their own songs, so it's arguably a work of self-promotion. But even though we'd never heard of these guys before, we have to admit that this song matches up with the Serial theme very smoothly. It's definitely a better fit than Wrecking Ball.

B.I.G. remix by Fafu

This Serial/Notorious B.I.G. mashup was posted just in time for the final episode this week, and it's our favorite Serial remix so far. It incorporates clips from the podcast, the iconic piano soundtrack, and Biggie's "Somebody's Gotta Die."

The first season of Serial may be over, but the fascination with it is still alive and well. We doubt we've seen the last of the Serial mashup genre, so while you're waiting for more remixes to show up, you can listen to Nick Thorburn's entire soundtrack on Bandcamp.

Sony made big news on Wednesday by deciding not to release Seth Rogen and James Franco's The Interview on Christmas day, after several theater chains dropped the film for fear of terror threats. But that didn’t stop a YouTube promo for the film from surfacing yesterday—with the Dec. 25 release date intact.

The 30-second promo announces that “this Christmas,” in “Franco and Rogen we trust,” and the video’s description pointed out that “only one movie has the whole world talking.”

Sony quickly pulled the video from its YouTube channel, but you can still find it elsewhere… for now.

After all, we apparently can’t stop talking about it. 

Photos via dno1967b/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) and The Interview | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III 

Here we have a case for modern filmmakers whose footprint is so profound that they've affected the manner in which even stock footage is filmed. Shutterstock has compiled a tribute to these filmmakers using only its own library:

Watching this on a phone, it's tough to tell that the Anderson footage isn't actual Anderson footage; the digital nature stands out on a large screen, but the speed-ramping, dead-center framing, and 1960s aesthetics are all there, and it's all stuff that would never show up in stock footage without his work. 

Fincher's section is also accurate, despite being more subtle than the sledgehammer that is Anderson's aesthetic. The noir backlighting, the love for gritty, steam-pipe urban imagery, iconic graphic designs overlaid on the footage as a storytelling device... This is Fincher's fingerprint on the way we're shooting stock footage now.

The rest is more arguable. Tarantino's tribute is certainly stuff we'd never see in modern stock footage without the existence of his films, but it's also a testament to filmmakers missing the point of his style entirely. Digital blood? That's blasphemy. Plus, the aspect ratio is all wrong; it's not guns and whisky that make a Western, it's the 2:35:1 aspect ratio. Why does that blood look like wine instead of clotting gel? But it makes a point: Tarantino has packaged pulp and put a bow on it, and it's why stock footage libraries now have neon signs, lipstick, blood, and briefcases filled with cash in them.

The Alfonso Cuarón stuff is a stretch. It's all space footage, and since Cuarón studied stock space footage in the first place to craft the look of Gravity, the logic that he affected this stuff doesn't quite hold. In defense of the video, it's not quite long to include a shot that would truly represent his impact.

And the Terrence Malick portion. Much of it is less Malick and more camera-lens-test-on-Vimeo. But, there's a shot here following a girl with outstretched hands in a wheat field via a swaying Steadicam, and if you forget Malick's name, you can say "um, that guy that follows people in wheat fields with swaying Steadicams" and still effectively get your point across. So touché, Shutterstock. 

What do you think? It's really not possible to argue the Anderson stuff, but are any of the others hat-tipping in the wrong direction? Or is it solid proof that these directors have now effectively changed the way that we shoot absolutely anything and everything? 

H/T Shutterstock | Screengrab via Vimeo

Mindy Kaling has an idea for your tired old Christmas wreaths: Put a Reese on it.

On last week’s holiday episode of The Mindy Project, Kaling, as her character Dr. Mindy Lahiri, decorates boyfriend Danny’s apartment with a “Wreath Witherspoon,” a wreath plastered with photos of actress Reese Witherspoon. Kaling then asked her fans to create their own Reese wreaths, and share the photos on Instagram.

H/T ET | Screengrab via Hulu

The Harris-Burtka family has been winning the Halloween game for years with their perfectly crafted family costumes. Now they've clearly set their sights on Christmas, with Neil Patrick Harris posting the most adorable video of twins Harper and Gideon singing "Jingle Bells" while decorating their tree now that father David Burtka is home. 

If that's not enough, NPH also shared a picture of his dog in a Santa hat. Never stop, NPH. Every holiday is better when we can swoon over your perfect family on the Internet.

H/T Zap2It | Screengrab via instagranph/Instagram

Now that you've dried your eyes after watching Stephen Colbert's final show last night, here's an origin story: The sketch that propelled Colbert toward a spot on The Daily Show, according to Digg. 

Before he started crafting his signature blowhard persona as a Daily Show correspondent from 1997 to 2005, Colbert starred in The Dana Carvey Show along with future Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell. The show lasted only one season, in 1996, but it featured a who's-who of comedy stars, like Louis C.K. and Jon Glaser. 

It also featured many memorable sketches, but this one, with Colbert and Carell, is dry-heavingly good. 

Here's more of Colbert in correspondent mode:

Who’s afraid of the big bad DPRK? Not Larry Flynt. 

The Hustler honcho and longtime free speech advocate is apparently planning on releasing a big-budget porn parody of The Interview, the James Franco-Seth Rogen vehicle that was axed by Sony following terrorist threats from North Korea.

Via AVN News:

Titled This Ain’t The Interview XXX, Hustler's spoof will also center on two civilians enlisted by the CIA to assassinate the leader of North Korea. It was inevitable.
“If Kim Jong-un and his henchmen were upset before, wait till they see the movie we’re going to make,” said Hustler founder and chairman Larry Flynt. “I’ve spent a lifetime fighting for the First Amendment, and no foreign dictator is going to take away my right to free speech.”

The forthcoming porn parody is welcome news for free speech advocates, who’ve publicly criticized Sony for its decision to cancel the release of The Interview following threats and a high-profile email hack.

Even President Obama was disappointed that Sony canceled the film’s release, saying that the company “made a mistake” by caving into pressure from terrorists. In a press conference Friday, the President told reporters he wished that Sony had consulted with him before making the decision to nix the film’s release, saying, "I would have told them, ‘Do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks.’”

We’re not sure exactly how Hustler will adapt The Interview into a porn parody (though we can bet dollars to donuts that the character “Kim Dong- un” will make an appearance), or if an attempted dictator assassination is necessarily conducive to masturbation.

But one thing’s for certain: Should North Korea catch wind of this porn parody, Flynt isn’t going to give up with a fight. The porn honcho is no stranger to fighting censorship, famously winning a landmark First Amendment Supreme Court case against evangelist Jerry Falwell in 1988. Unlike Sony, it’s gonna take a lot more than a few embarrassing leaked emails to shut Larry Flynt up.

H/T AVN News | Photo via Sony/The Interview

Well, yes. Idris Elba should indeed be the next James Bond. People have been saying this for years. So, why bring it up all over again? As with seemingly every Hollywood news story at the moment, it's connected to the recent Sony hacks.

Sony Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal has been making headlines for the past few weeks, mostly as a result of damaging and salacious information leaked from her professional email account. Thankfully, the latest revelation is not quite so embarrassing. According to an email dug up by the Daily Beast, she wants Elba to take over as 007 once Daniel Craig retires. 

Since the email was between Pascal and a former Columbia Pictures exec—the same Columbia Pictures that distributes the Bond films—we now know that some people in the upper echelons of Hollywood are fully onboard with this ongoing casting rumor. "Idris should be the next Bond" is a pretty definitive statement, after all.

Elba's career is on the rise, having recently starred in Prometheus, Pacific Rim, and Nelson Mandela biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Fans have wanted him to play Bond for almost a decade, but it's one of those casting rumors that often seems to have more foundation in wishful thinking than reality.

During a Reddit AMA this year, Elba said that he would "absolutely" play 007 "if it was offered to me," although as the Daily Beast points out, Daniel Craig is still contracted for another Bond movie after Spectre. Elba is undeniably perfect casting, but at 42 years old, he's already edging out of the ideal age range for a role that would last for multiple sequels. Roger Moore released his first Bond film at 45, but the franchise has become far more stunt-oriented in recent years.

Still, that leaked Sony email is a ray of hope. In an ideal world, Idris Elba would be the next James Bond, and hopefully more Hollywood bigwigs agree.

Photo via movpins/Pacific Rim

YouTuber samuraiguitarist recently released this rendition of the song, created using nothing but iPads. There are a lot of layers, but don't worry, the cowbell is strong. 

Photo via Martin Voltri (CC BY 2.0)

BASE jumper Erik Roner lives a pretty extreme life. For his latest trick, he gathered 50 tanks of helium to inflate 90 massive balloons, tied them to a lawn chair, and ascended 8,000 feet into the air, like a scene out of Danny Deckchair. 

Oh, and he brought a shotgun, too, which he used to shoot the balloons in an assist back down. He eventually parachutes to safety, but who hasn't wanted to skydive with a shotgun? 

This article contains spoilers for Gilmore Girls.

But there's more to life in Stars Hollow than the titular Girls, of course. Arguably, the show wouldn't be the cult hit it is today without the impossibly strong recurring castmates like Melissa McCarthy (now married to one-time guest star Ben Falcone), Sally Struthers, and Liza Weil; character actors like Sean Gunn; and beloved boys Adam Brody, Chad Michael Murray, Matt Czuchry, and Milo Ventimiglia. (Indeed, each of Rory's exes went on to become a star in a well-respected show on his own: Jared Padalecki (Dean) became Sam Winchester on Supernatural, Ventimiglia was Heroes' Peter Petrelli, Czuchry is now Cary Agos on The Good Wife.)

In between quoting beloved lines (we agree Weil's Paris Geller stole the show with those), arguing over the show's sixth season slump, prepping for next year's reunion, and calling our moms to reminisce about our marathon first-time viewings, we sat down and sorted out some of our all-time favorite guest stars. With the show's signature rapid-fire pace and endless rewatchability, we're delighted to say we probably missed a few, and we're looking forward to spotting new favorites on our sixth, seventh, and eighth times through the series.

But without further ado, and in no particular order, we present the real stars of Stars Hollow. (There are 21, of course, on the 21st, in honor of the Atlantic City dream.)

1) Seth MacFarlane

Amid the early years of Family Guy, show creator MacFarlane had a small speaking role in Lorelei's graduation ceremony as the asshole boyfriend of one of her classmates. His character is snide and crude and altogether more enjoyable if you close your eyes and try to picture his lines being spoken by Brian or Stewie instead. MacFarlane returned with his vocal talents in the next season as the voice of Emily Gilmore's lawyer. The ties between Family Guy and Gilmore Girls were many and strong, thanks in no small part to Gilmore creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's husband Daniel being a producer on the animated hit. 

Long before he was the king of advertising on Mad Men, Hamm appeared as the "Solomon of wine" in this short scene with Lorelei. We're guessing he hadn't yet developed all his womanizing charm, though, as ol' Peyton here never returned for a second date.

The notable author, playwright, and filmmaker got the honor of being the first person Sookie told she was pregnant—plus this adorable hug.

Unfortunately, Mailer passed away just a few short years after this episode aired in 2004.

Perhaps best-known for her role as Jesse Pinkman's girlfriend Jane Margolis on Breaking Bad, Ritter tapped into her brighter, bubblier side as Yale colleague Lucy.

Next up, she's slated to star as the title character in Marvel's Jessica Jones project.

5) Riki Lindhome

This half of Garfunkel and Oates appeared throughout Rory's college years as classmate Juliet before producing short film Life Is Good with Alexis Bledel and Seth MacFarlane—just one of many cross-pollinations among the Gilmore Girls cast.

The 10-year-old version of this Nickelodeon star made a quick appearance in season 4's "The Hobbit, the Sofa and Digger Stiles"; it was, in fact, her acting debut, and she got to verbally spar with Melissa McCarthy while wearing elf ears, so we'd argue it might also have been her professional peak.

7) Madeleine Albright

How many people can claim they've snuggled up with the first female secretary of state in a twin-size bed and talked about their hopes and dreams? Not too shabby, Bledel. Not too shabby at all.

One quibble, though: We think there's still work to be done on that whole humidity thing.

Strong really deserves more credit for his recurring role as Paris' paranoid boyfriend, Doyle McMaster, but we could't resist including him on this list, if only to mention he went on to have a role in Mad Men (see also: Jon Hamm, obviously), along with Vincent Kartheiser, who would later become Bledel's real-life husband.

(For extra credit, follow the IMDb wormhole back to Strong and Kartheiser's ties in the Whedonverse.)

9) Danny Pudi

Pudi took his turn as Yale Daily News contributor Raj before going onto much bigger things (even than this comically large blue pencil) in Community as Abed Nadir.

10) Nick Offerman

Ron Swanson himself joined the Gilmore Girls cast as Jackson's brother Beau, a gruff, grumbling sort who'd rather be anywhere else. We want that bored "Mmmm" on a soundboard for quick reference.

11) Mädchen Amick

Twin Peaks' Shelly Johnson took up residence with Christopher as his girlfriend, Sherry. Despite only appearing in three episodes, Sherry's character bore the brunt of many Christopher/Lorelei shippers for being the perennial "other woman."

12) Mary Lynn Rajskub

Rajskub's visiting troubadour character is quickly removed from the streets for playing "hippie doo-wop music to the obvious detriment to the mercantile interests of this town," but anyone who talks back to Taylor Doosey gets a thumbs-up in our book.

13) Brandon Routh

Though he's now better-known for his role as Clark Kent himself in the 2006 Superman reboot, Routh was more the strong and silent type hitting on Madeline and Louise at the Bangles concert in season 1.

14) Jane Lynch

Lynch appears as a nurse—wearing traditional Party Down pink, no less—in this early scene from after Richard Gilmore's first-season heart attack. We're certain she was thrilled to trade in the cardigans and skirts for track suits in her most notable role to date as Glee's Sue Sylvester.

Hardin's role on Gilmore Girls was the very epitome of unmemorable, but we're delighted by where she's gone since, from Monk to 27 Dresses, The Office to Transparent.

16) Max Greenfield

Now one of TV's highest-paid comedy actors as New Girl's Schmidt, Greenfield has apparently always lent himself well to groups of bros, as he did in this episode for Dean's bachelor party. (Incidentally, OK! Magazine's Kaitlin Menza also cleverly points out one more tie to The O.C.: Greenfield portrayed a young Sandy Cohen in this flashback.)

17) Masi Oka

Ventimiglia wasn't the only Gilmore boy to head to Heroes after this. Oka made a quick appearance as a Harvard philosophy student in crimson and gold who banters with a high-school Rory during her quick campus visit with her mom. After some stops at Scrubs, Reno 911!, and Legally Blonde 2 (we didn't say they were respectable stops), he landed as Hiro Nakamura in Heroes.

18) Alex Borstein

Borstein's involvement with the show is a particularly interesting tale: Though she was the original Sookie St. James, she backed out to accommodate work with Family Guy; instead, she returned to Gilmore Girls in no fewer than three small cameos, including Drella, the Independence Inn's acerbic harpist. As the Daily Dot's own Nico Lang pointed out in another publication, "Borstein’s husband would land the role of Jackson," Sookie's husband.

After seven damn seasons of name-dropping Christiane Amanpour as possessor of the Dream Job, Rory finally got to meet her idol at the Dragonfly, albeit in an embarrassing fluster of fangirling and frilly pajamas. 

20) Sonic Youth

A show this deeply rooted in musical references couldn't possibly get away with not having some winning guest appearances by bands. The musical guests run the gamut from Paul Anka (later homaged by Lorelei's dog) to Yo La Tengo, but our favorite clip is this one with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore—plus their daughter on bass.

21) Carole King

As every episode starts with Ms. King—her "Where You Lead" served as the series' opening credits theme song, of course—it makes sense to end with her as well. Appropriately, she appeared as a music shop proprietor in this season 6 gem.

Photo via jeffmason/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed

Someone’s not very happy with how the Sony hacks have been going.

Interrupting what was supposed to be a “Very Somber Christmas with Sam Smith” on last night's SNL, Dr. Evil got hold of the airwaves for a very important announcement. He’s not mad that North Korea—who U.S. officials announced is behind the hacks—managed to get The Interview removed from theaters. He’s furious because he knows evil and they’re both giving evil a bad name by fighting over a movie.

Having failed at world domination a few times now, Dr. Evil is well aware of what works and what doesn’t and wants to give Kim Jong-un some advice. Just take it from him, the actual GOP, and Uber. You don’t just take a movie out of theaters and hack some emails.

GOP? Really? Throw him a frickin' bone here.

“Christmas episodes are always stupid,” sneers the eponymous Hollywood anti-hero of BoJack Horseman, a supremely bleak animated original from Netflix, in his brand new, one-off Christmas episode. 

“Cynical cash-grabs by greedy corporations looking to squeeze a few extra Nielsen points out of sentimental claptrap for mush-brained idiots who’d rather spend their Christmas watching a fake family on TV than trying to have a conversation with their own dumb families,” he then helpfully clarifies for his slacker roommate, Todd.

Photo via Netflix  

One faction of Anonymous has set its sights on Iggy Azalea and MTV.

The Twitter account @TheAnonMessage is calling the rapper out for “misappropriating black culture, insulting peaceful protesters, and making light of Eric Garner’s death,” and threatened to release stills from an alleged sex tape unless she apologizes to fellow rapper Azealia Banks for things she said on Twitter. 

Azalea has been in a public feud with Banks for some time. Most recently, Banks insulted Azalea and the Grammys for including her in the hip-hop category, which led Azalea to fight back on Twitter.

First, it pointed out Azalea’s history of saying racist or problematic things publicly on Twitter.

It’s not about pleasing men or giving them their fantasies, @TheAnonMessage explained. It’s about exposing corruption and ruining the reputation of Azalea and other important people allegedly involved.

Azalea has yet to address the threats publicly, but after news organizations covered the threats over the weekend, @TheAnonMessage has a new target in sight. After allegedly being called a “misogynistic threat,” @TheAnonMessage scrapped the plan to release stills from the sex tape and are now threatening MTV with “a fate worse than @SonyPictures.”

We have reached out to MTV for comment and will update if we hear back.

H/T Vulture | Photo via Disney | ABC Television Group/Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

A politically correct doll is headed your kids’ way this holiday season.

Saturday Night Live has already covered people’s complaints about diversity and stereotypes with its “Dudleys” sketch last month, and now it’s aiming for the toy industry in one of its fake commercials. A group of young girls finally have an Asian-American doll, but as the voiceover noted, it’s as inoffensive as humanly possible—the company tested the doll and its accessories with 40 focus groups.

Instead of facing even more backlash from consumers for putting out possibly racially insensitive names, clothing, and accessories, they’re leaving it up the the people who buy it. There’s no name, nothing in the dollhouse, and it’s stressed that the doll has no academic strengths or weaknesses so that the company isn’t found liable if stereotypes are applied.

But no matter how much you think it through, someone’s bound to find something wrong.