#17 – The Best of 2014’s Internet

STUDIO 360'S KURT ANDERSEN – TOO MANY COOKS

“The guy raised the stakes for himself, and then met them and upped himself,” Kurt Andersen says of the surreal send-up of cheesy TV sitcoms made by writer Casper Kelly. The 11-minute parody rewards repeat views. “It is literally the first viral video I have ever gone back and looked at again,” Kurt says. “And I am a notorious one-time watcher of things.”

GIPHY'S TYLER MENZEL – SEEHEARPARTY.COM

It wasn’t easy for Tyler Menzel to pick just one thing that he loved on the internet this year because he spends his entire day deep-sea diving for gems as the editorial director at Giphy – a GIF search engine. He settled on seehearparty.com, a website that allows you to sync your favorite categories of animated GIFs to your favorite songs.

“One of the best things is when you start adding multiple tags,” says Menzel. If you were gonna cut my head open and look inside, it would look like a seehearparty.com of ‘No Flex Zone’ and Sailor Moon and cats on skateboards.”

JEZEBEL'S JIA TOLENTINO – CLICKHOLE

Jia Tolentino recently became an editor at Jezebel, but The Onion’s ClickHole – which posts satirical listicles, quizzes, and celebrity quotations every day – is her favorite site. “All websites in comparison are absolute garbage,” she says. “Including the one I work for.” 

FUNNY OR DIE'S JONATHAN VAN NESS – VOGUING KID & KIM KARDASHIAN'S KRISPY KREME

Jonathan Van Ness, host of Funny or Die’s Gay of Thrones, couldn’t pick one thing he loved online this year, so he chose two. The first was the kid who interrupted a local Las Vegas news spot with  refined voguing stylistics. “He was camera ready, he knew all of his angles, he did not get stale; it was amazing.” 

Kim Kardashian and Paper Magazine tried to “Break the Internet” this year, but instead they created a monster meme. “When I saw the one where they replaced her bum with that Krispy Kreme doughnut, it was the same texture, it was the same shine,” Van Ness says. “I loved that.” But not enough to download her supremely popular game.

VULTURE'S MARGARET LYONS – TRANSPARENT

Margaret Lyons spends a lot of time watching TV for her job as a critic at Vulture, but her favorite show of the year was only available online: Jill Soloway's Transparent. “The show is amazing, it’s beautiful,” Lyons says of the dramedy about the patriarch of a Los Angeles family who transitions genders. It’s available on Amazon Prime, where Lyons also purchases her socks. 

GALLERY 1988'S JENSEN KARP – RUN THE JEWELS 2

Jensen Karp was a rapper in his teens, but now he mostly curates exceptional fan artwork. His love for hip-hop remains strong thanks in part to Run the Jewels 2, the latest release from the rap supergroup of Killer Mike and El-P. “These two guys are on the third leg of their career each,” Karp says of the 39-year-olds. “And if you know hip-hop well, that’s impossible.” 

The success of Run the Jewels 2 began online where the singles for “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)” and “Blockbuster Night Part 1” hit big before the entire album was made available as a free download in October. After its release came universal critical acclaim for two independent rappers who have seen their share of victory and defeat over the years. “The things that are happening for both of these guys, you just sort of have to applaud it.”

KUTIMAN – SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PACHELBEL CANON REHEARSAL 9/25

Kutiman watches a lot of unknown musicians performing on YouTube. It’s kind of his job. Most of what he finds while scouting for his “Thru You” project is unusable, but some of it, like this video of middle school students annihilating Pachelbel’s Canon is unforgettable.