For 40 years of teaching kids the alphabet and the joys of cookie consumption.
PBS
For breathing life into the embattled publishing industry…for at least six more months.
Don Petersen / AP Photo
For her show of grace toward Taylor Swift at the Video Music Awards, and—yes, we heard you, Kanye—for the addicting “Single Ladies” video.
Jason DeCrow / AP Photo
For giving Iran’s protesters a way to organize and celebrities a place to self-destruct.
AP Photo
For leaving her philandering husband and not playing the part of the good political wife.
Mary Ann Chastain / AP Photo
For bringing back the three-piece suit and, more importantly, the three-martini lunch.
AMC
For reminding us what a real political sex scandal looks like, Italian-style.
AP Photo
For helping us through the recession, one DVD at a time.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
For exiting gracefully…unlike Dick Cheney.
Eric Draper, The White House via Getty Images
For dying on the runways and never quite catching on.
Karl Prouse, Catwalking / Getty Images
For resisting plastic surgery and still managing to outshine decades-younger A-listers.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images
For making classical music cool again with a flick of his baton.
Mathew Imaging, WireImage / Getty Images
For finally taking their family off the air.
TLC
For laying low and staying out of Hillary and Barack’s way—most of the time.
Jeff Fusco / Getty Images
For bringing absurdity, pantlessness, and killer dance hooks back to pop culture.
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images; Christopher Polk / Getty Images; AP Photo
