Ankler 100: The Year's Worst!
Part one of the great ignominies of the year. Let's count down . . .
Since 2018, my Ankler 100 has celebrated the most cringe-worthy, head-scratching moments in the grand parade that is our contemporary entertainment cavalcade. Long may everyone put their proverbial foot in a bucket (or mouth) from time to time, the first step on our path to enlightenment. Today I count us down from #100-49 (in no particular order); join us back here Thursday for our exciting conclusion — and the crowning of this year’s big winner!
The Awards Circuit
100. The Jan. 2024 Emmys broadcast, postponed from its usual September slot to a special airing — meaning some of the competing shows are nearly two years old — hits an all-time ratings low with 4.4 million viewers, putting it in the range of a Young Sheldon rerun. The Television Academy, with literally all the talent in television at its disposal, can’t put on a television show that attracts viewers, earning it a Lifetime Nonachievement Award in the Ankler 100.
99. The Television Academy reverses course on its decision to bump the outstanding writing for a variety series from its writers strike-delayed Emmys last January.
98. Every Show’s Gotta Have One: Jonathan Glazer squandered the goodwill of his breakout film, the hyper-intense Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest, using his acceptance speech to denounce Israel.
97. Despite ample advance notice that the Oscars would be beset by anti-Israel protesters, the LAPD blocked off one entry route to cars and then seemingly disappeared, leaving attendees to wade through a crowd of angry protestors screaming in their faces and spitting at them on their way into the Dolby.
96. Every Show’s Gotta Have One, Part II: In this year’s completely avoidable debacle, presenter Al Pacino forgets to read the names of the Best Picture nominees before announcing the awards. The chances that the big award presentation will go horribly wrong in any given year now stand at 50-50.
95. Techonomics: Spotify crosses 600 million users, but only achieves profitability this year after laying off 17 percent of its employees in Dec. 2023 and then raising its prices.
94. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek acknowledges (sort of) that maybe laying off one in six employees was overdoing it. “Although there’s no question that it was the right strategic decision,” he told investors in April, “it did disrupt our day-to-day operations more than we anticipated.” You don’t say . . .
93. Ek sells approximately $320 million in Spotify stock this year, and all company insiders have sold more than $1.1 billion.
92. A July 31 press release from a firm no one had ever heard of named Apex Capital Trust announces a $43 billion all-cash bid for Paramount. Deadline, IndieWire, Variety and The Wrap (and yes, Reuters and the New York Post) all nod and cover the release, only to find out later that day it was a hoax.
Disney
91. Shooting to the top of the growing ranks of corporate self-abasement before the incoming Trump administration, Bob Iger and the Disney company manage to grovel and grievously undermine the entire news industry in one fell swoop, choosing to give $15 million to the Trump Library rather than defend the very defensible description by George Stephanopoulos of the President-elect’s legal history around sexual assault claims. The signal has now been sent loud and clear to every employee of the Disney corporation: Do anything that might run afoul of our new administration and you can enjoy your new office located on the underside of that bus in the parking lot quicker than you can dream.
90. On the Aug. 21 episode of Kelly Ripa’s podcast, she asks her guest Disney CEO Bob Iger about succession. “I could say that I’m obsessed with it would be probably an understatement,” he replied. Two months later, the company announced that a successor will not be named until early 2026.