Winner: Ben Quayle
We should have never counted him out. Ben Quayle, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, triumphed at August’s end in his campaign to succeed Arizona Rep. John Shadegg. Quayle faced down allegations that he rented family members for a campaign advertisement (the 33-year-old posed with his nieces in a pamphlet that made them look like his daughters). He shook off charges that he was a frequent contributor to sexy website called The Dirty. In a masterstroke of campaign rhetoric, he called Barack Obama the “worst president in history” and clinched his ticket to Washington.
Loser: Charlie Rangel
If only someone would relieve the New York Democrat from his misery. Rangel was caught in the crossfire of a House ethics investigation. He stands accused of using his elected office to do some private fundraising, forgetting to pay taxes on a Dominican villa, and keeping rent-controlled apartments in Harlem illegally. But you couldn’t keep the veteran politician down, as Rangel danced up a storm at his 80th birthday party, secure in the knowledge that former New York Mayor David Dinkins would
flip off any offending protester.
Winner: Sandra Bullock
It was supposed to be Sandra Bullock’s year after winning her first Oscar for
The Blind Side, but it quickly turned sour when tabloids outed her then-husband Jesse James for having an alleged affair with a tattooed Nazi-sympathizer. After filing for divorce in April, Bullock quickly composed herself and turned her life around, announcing that she was beginning a new chapter with her secretly adopted son, Louis Bardo Bullock. The newly single mom tried to lay low this summer with her baby in Texas, but both personally and professionally, she came out on top—her divorce from James was finalized in June, and earlier this month,
Forbes announced Bullock as the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. Besides being the breadwinner, Bullock was also the bigger woman when she told
People magazine, “I support Jesse… We have both moved on with our lives and only want the best for each other. Anything else that is said on my behalf is inaccurate.” She is indeed a class act.
Loser: Mel Gibson
As much as we tried, we couldn’t turn our ears from the saga that was the Meldown of 2010. Actor Mel Gibson had experienced bad press before—an anti-Semitic rant in 2006 and the controversy surrounding his film
The Passion of the Christ. But Gibson found multiple new audiences of haters this summer when phone conversations leaked on RadarOnline of the fallen actor screaming misogynistic, racist remarks at his soon-to-be ex Oksana Grigorieva. His cringe-worthy, breathy comments could be heard from many a computer. He wailed, “I am going to come and burn the fucking house down... but you will blow me first” and “You look like a fucking bitch in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of n------, it will be your fault.” And the hits kept coming. Now, the two are in the midst of a legal battle over custody and domestic-abuse allegations, and it’s safe to say Gibson’s
career is over. Can’t say we’ll miss him.
Winner:
Hot in Cleveland
If anyone could make TV Land relevant again, it’s Betty White. For the network’s first foray into scripted comedy
Hot in Cleveland, they lined up the only surviving Golden Girl to charm her way into the hearts of audiences. And luckily for them, it worked—the premiere episode brought in a whopping
4.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched and highest-rated show in the network’s history. The show centers around three L.A. women headed for a girls-only getaway to Paris when they unexpectedly find themselves in Cleveland. White adds her comedic talents as a caretaker (and apparent pothead), Elka, who rents the threesome a place to stay. And as if White’s hotness isn’t enough proof of the series’ success, even tween idol
Joe Jonas found his way onto the season finale , an impressive feat for TV Land, considering we’d doubt he’s a fan of
Gunsmoke or
The Andy Griffith Show.
Loser:
Entourage
Although HBO’s male
Sex and the City premiered to impressive audiences and reviews in 2004,
Entourage fell from bromance grace this year, and when the news broke that the series would be ending, not too many tears were shed. The series has spent six seasons following a group of guys (Turtle, E, and Drama) who’ve spent the majority of the past decade living vicariously through their friend and sometimes movie star Vince (Adrian Grenier). Despite his hot-headed, incredibly offensive-yet-hilarious manager, Ari, (Jeremy Piven) and his adorable gay assistant, Lloyd (Rex Lee), plus a revolving door of ladies and famous faces, the show eventually brought many more Hollywood downs than ups. Now in the midst of its seventh season, the longest-running show in HBO history has become passé and will only air a shortened final season next summer. “The show hasn't
“jumped the shark so much as it has flown over the shark on Kanye West's private jet, and that was a few years ago,” one reviewer said. “The show about Hollywood became much like Hollywood itself, content with lazy self-aggrandizement and Bob Saget cameos.”
Winner: Kanye West
After ending his 2009 summer with a media backlash when he
“interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at MTV’s VMAs, Kanye West has redeemed himself this summer. At the end of July, he caused serious hubbub by
joining Twitter , and has since taken over the 140-character Twitterverse with some hilarious, unremitting musings: i.e.
“I might bless the city today with an all white suit… why not” or
“Sometimes I get emotional over fonts” or
“French fries are the Devil”. He’s since been forgiven for his on-stage commotion and offered fans an apology via some amazing new music—from his music video-turned-painting for “
Power” to a new
collaboration with Beyonce. And rumor has it even Mr. West has
Bieber Fever and will be working with the teen heartthrob soon. He has at least redeemed himself with the 14-year-old girls of the world.
Loser: Wyclef Jean
In the wake of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti that killed 300,000 people, rapper Wyclef Jean’s charity, Yéle Haiti, raised $9 million. Amid the devastation, Jean stood out as Haiti’s most famous celebrity stateside, and could have elevated himself to Bono-like status in the realm of philanthropy. Instead, Jean’s charity came under fire for
misappropriating some $410,000 in funds—allegedly used as personal payments to Jean for rent, performance fees, etc. Adding to his financial mismanagement woes came the news that Jean owed the IRS over
$5 million in back taxes on three of his homes. On August 4, Jean publicly announced that he would run for
president of Haiti. Instead of augmenting his popularity, however, the opposite happened. Jean’s presidential bid was viewed by and large as opportunistic move, and the nail in the coffin came when, on August 25, Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn wrote a lengthy op-ed for the
Huffington Post slamming Wyclef’s candidacy and his post-earthquake humanitarian efforts. Gone till November, indeed.
Winner: General Motors
It may be time to stop cracking Detroit jokes, or at least snarking about “Government Motors.” The once beleaguered automobile company is on quite a tear lately. The company is now preparing a monster public stock offering. Car sales are up. GM’s new top, Edward Whitacre, was welcomed with praise. He’s brought in a slew of new execs, charged with improving the company’s decision-making.
Loser: BP
This one’s easy. No company had a worse summer than the outfit formerly known as British Petroleum. Eleven men died aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Millions of gallons of oil flooded the Gulf of Mexico. CEO Tony Hayward proved to be a gaffe machine and was called onto the carpet by Barack Obama. With plenty of corporations to choose from, no organization was close when it came to earning the enmity of the American people.
Winner: Rafael Nadal
It’s been quite a year for the bandana-sporting, capri pants-wearing Spaniard. After a narrow defeat at the hands of Nikolay Davydenko in the finals of the Australian Open, the clay court specialist won his fifth French Open title in six years. The win allowed Nadal to reclaim the ATP ranking of No. 1 tennis player in the world, ending a 48-week rule of Swiss legend Roger Federer, and, to add insult to injury, denied Federer a chance at history, since Nadal’s rival has spent a total of 285 weeks as the world's top-rated player—just one short of the record of 286 weeks set by Pete Sampras. Finally, at Wimbledon, Nadal dominated the field, defeating Tomas Berdych in straight sets to capture his second Wimbledon title and eighth Grand Slam overall, at the tender age of 24. Now, the slammin’ Spaniard is riding a wave of momentum heading into the U.S. Open, a tournament that he’s never won. “I feel perfect,” Nadal told
ESPN.com. Watch out, Roger.
Loser: LeBron James
Lebron James’ terrible summer got off to an early start when his top-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers were bounced from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics. But things didn’t turn truly ugly for the basketball star until he decided to turn his job search into a televised soap opera, signing up for a prime-time interview called, unbearably,
The Decision. Thanks to his decision to play for the Miami Heat alongside Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, LeBron has united the entire sporting world against him.
Winner: Little Watermelons
Compact, seedless, and irresistibly sweet, miniature-sized watermelons are all the rage stateside. As opposed to their oblong, 20-pound counterparts, these mini-melons are lighter and more sphere-shaped, like tiny pumpkins, making them easily transportable. Now, you no longer have to deal with heaps of rotting watermelon stuffed into Tupperware containers taking up precious refrigerator space. And, if you want to go extra tiny, you can opt for the South American
micro-melon Pepquino, which is about the size of a quarter.
Loser: Eggs
It hasn’t been a good year for eggs. After a rash of
salmonella poisonings, the epidemic was traced back to Wright County Farms, which was then forced to recall some 380 million eggs. Then, a second offender,
Hillandale Farms, later announced that it was recalling its eggs after lab tests discovered strains of salmonella. As it stands, about 550 million eggs have been recalled, and some 2,000 people have been struck by salmonella infections. “With the fact that
contaminated eggs could still be in consumers' refrigerators, this outbreak could really be one of the largest linked to eggs that we've seen in 20 years,” said Caroline Smith DeWall of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. To make matters worse, some of these poor eggs were hurled at Tea Party Express buses back in March by supporters of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Poor eggs.
