Adam Scott, the Sklar Brothers, and GWAR’s Oderus Urungus pick their 2012 pop-culture highlights

By Josh Modell, Marah Eakin, Emily St. James, Kyle Ryan | December 18, 2012 | 6:00am

TV Features TV

While The A.V. Club staff gets to weigh in about what movies, TV, music, and more we liked this year, we’d be fools to think that anyone really cares what we think. After all, we’re not famous. That’s why we asked a bunch of our favorite actors, musicians, podcasters, comedians, actors, and showrunners what they liked the most this year, and we’ll be posting a different batch of answers every few days until the end of the year.

Kevin Biegel, co-creator of Cougar Town
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
Four answers: The Cloud Atlas score is a thing of beauty. La-La Land Records put out a three-disc definitive album for Jerry Goldsmith’s incredible score to Star Trek: The Motion Picture that includes all cues, outtakes, and demos—it’s astonishing, some of Goldsmith’s best work, and the liner notes are informative and great. I finally started listening to Marc Maron’s excellent WTF podcast. For music, the new Bob Mould album [Silver Age] is great Sugar-esque Mould.
And I love that Japandroids album [Celebration Rock]; I have listened to the new Matt & Kim album a lot, plus Poolside, Charles Bradley, and The Hombres’ “Let It All Hang Out.”
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
Samurai Cop. The best, most purely enjoyable movie-watching experience I’ve had in years (my garage, lots of friends, lots of beer). Also, Moonrise Kingdom, Lincoln, The Avengers, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, and the 1955 Spencer Tracy film Bad Day At Black Rock.
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil (Get onboard this show already, America. You’ll seem like the cool kid when you show it to all your unsuspecting friends.), Girls, Game Of Thrones, Mad Men, and also the commercial on South Park where Tom Brady drinks Butters’ dream juice—specifically the face Tom Brady makes after he drinks it.

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Jon Wurster, drummer for Superchunk and The Mountain Goats
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
The gasps emanating from the back of The Mountain Goats’ van as I read aloud the juiciest and most disturbing tidbits from Peter Criss’s autobiography, Makeup To Breakup.
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
American Harmony—a wonderful documentary about the inner workings of and the heated rivalries within the cutthroat world of barbershop singing.
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
I loved this year’s 30 Rock and Portlandia, but National Geographic’s Locked Up Abroad holds a very special place in my heart. My three biggest fears are getting in trouble, being imprisoned, and having to subsist on roach-laden broth. Locked Up Abroad manages to hit all of these buttons.

Adam Scott, actor and star of Parks And Recreation
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
The Shins, Port Of Morrow
The Babies, Our House On The Hill
Jack White, Blunderbuss
These are the three albums I enjoyed the most this year. Why? Who knows?
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
Looper. I really enjoyed this movie. When it ended, I was like “Shit, man. Good stuff.” Then I drove home and recommended it to my wife. The following day, I brought it up in conversation a few times, recommended it to those who hadn’t seen it, and chatted about how good it was with those who had. It was really, really cool doing that.
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
Delocated. I love Breaking Bad, Game Of Thrones, Mad Men, Homeland, Louie et al, but feel like they are probably getting enough attention in lists like this. Unless everyone thought that, and no one mentioned them. If that happened, I would totally freak out. Anyway, Delocated is great.

Oderus Urungus of GWAR and Holliston
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
I am bummed you limited it to only music or comedy, because by far the best thing I listened to this entire year was the sound of my ass opening up for yet another explosion of turgid poop-water. And if that doesn’t count as music or comedy, I don’t know what does!
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
Without a doubt, The Human Centipede II. It’s good to know there are people just as fucked up as me out there.
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
Why, that would have to be my first-ever adventure into the realm of the sitcom, FEARnet’s horror/comedy dork-fest, Holliston, which recently shot its second season and has both me AND Dee Snider being completely hilarious. That’s my shameless plug. Besides that, Breaking Bad and First 48!

Allie Grant, Lisa Shay on Suburgatory
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
The best thing I listened to this year was Tracie Bennett’s performance in End Of The Rainbow. No one can convince me that she isn’t possessed by Judy Garland. Listening to her was both astounding and haunting.
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
Regrettably, I am a bit behind on this year’s films, but I did revisit The Godfather (parts I and II) this Thanksgiving and can’t stop thinking about it—in part, I suppose, because I’ve watched slices of it almost every day since. Every line, every frame is perfect. There is truly nothing better. What I would give to be a Corleone. And James Caan.
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
Louie, specifically the “Dad” episode, is not only the best thing I saw on TV this year, but one of my all-time favorites.

Chris Parnell, Cyril on Archer and Fred Shay on Suburgatory
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
Beach House, Bloom (Lovely, hypnotic, feminine.)
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
Skyfall (Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, magic.)
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
Suburgatory, Downton Abbey (Stories of social class, family, and World War I.)

Tig Notaro, comedian
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
Regina Spektor’s song “How.” On repeat.
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
The best movie I saw this year was Beasts Of The Southern Wild. It was that feeling of not being sure if I was watching actors or barging in on real lives. So heartbreaking. I left the theater feeling perfectly wrecked and inspired.
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
The best TV show I watched this year and every year is Sanford And Son.

Kitty Pryde, rapper
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
The best thing I listened to was Bandz And Hittaz’s Katie Got Bandz mixtape. She’s one of the many girl rappers who scare the shit out of me. I’m pretty sure she dissed me on Twitter one time. She was talking about how she hates girls who are into pink fluffy sparkles and stuff, and she will never collab with one. I was so excited.
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
The best movie of 2012 was Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. I think my friends and I were the only people in the theater at the time and possibly the only people who paid to see that movie at all, but it was totally worth it.
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
Breaking Amish on TLC was by far the most riveting and realistic portrayal of Amish culture I’ve ever seen. That definitely takes the coveted “best programming of 2012” spot. No competition, other than possibly Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, but that’s played out.

Michael Maronna, star of The Adventures Of Pete And Pete
What’s the best TV show you watched in 2012?
Wilfred. That Australian accent never ever gets tired. I mean, ever.

Randy and Jason Sklar, comedians and hosts of the Sklarbro Country podcast and United Stats Of America
What’s the best thing you listened to in 2012?
The best thing we heard all year was Tig Notaro’s Live. We both agree. Just for the line, “Guys, relax. It’s fine. I have cancer… It might not be okay. But it’s okay.” I wanted to jump through my iTunes and give my friend a hug to just hold her and help her and tell her what a fucking genius she is, a courageous genius. Having lost our father to cancer, and Randy’s mother-in-law is dealing with stage-four lung cancer right now; it’s a disease that has ravaged our family. We know it all too well. So to laugh about it is our only way to fight back. Tig, like she has done throughout her career, had blown open every comedy rule: Tragedy plus more tragedy plus genius equals funny.
What’s the best movie you saw in 2012?
Ashamed to say it, but we both agree: Memphis Heat, a documentary on regional wrestling in Memphis from the ’50s to the ’80s. An incredible doc about this crazy world that we grew up with and loved so dearly. The old wrestlers seemed like such old men in their current interviews that it was almost shocking. The footage is incredible and it took us back to our youth. It was the Argo of regional wrestling documentaries.
What's the best TV show you watched in 2012?
Randy: Downton Abbey. I wanted to badly to identify with the aristocracy, but wound up wanting to have a meal with the kitchen staff downstairs. I can't believe it caught on so strongly with Americans. It, of course, led to me watching Sherlock from the BBC with the most British-sounding actor’s name ever: Benedict Cumberbatch. If that was all Downton Abbey gave me—Benedict Cumberbatch—it would have been enough.
Jason: Mad Men or Millionaire Matchmaker. There's a tremendous amount of high-quality acting and tragedy in both and they harken to a time when women were treated like objects.