The pandemic and resulting nine-month-long (..and counting) quarantine afforded each of us all the time in the world to absorb every bit of Election Year fol-de-rol.
Hooray, us?
And yet… and yet we survived that incessant influx of news, “fake news,” name calling, and on- and -off-field debating, thanks to an assortment of MVPs in and outside of the political sphere. To those “saviors,” we now pay tribute with this installment of TVLine’s Year in Review extravaganza.
As Election Season came and went with the speed of a hobbled snail, there were those who found and entertainingly depicted for us the LOL-worthy inanity amid the insanity, or who put a spot-on spin on a VIP VP candidate. We also sometimes found ourselves sympatico with more than a few truth-telling talking heads on the cable news channels.
When the time came to (officially) debate, some moderators got knocked out of the ring early — but at least two news vets made sure the contenders knew who exactly was running the show, and that they were not there to be run roughshod over. And then there was the cast of an acclaimed, small-screen look at an idyllic West Wing, who came together to, in part, get out the most important vote of our times.
And we haven’t even gotten to the two dudes and their cool maps!
Scroll down below to see which Election Year MVPs got our vote, then tell us who helped keep you sane up to and through this November to (painfully) remember.
Still ahead in TVLine’s Year in Review: The Dumbest Things TV Did, the Most Shocking Reality-TV Scenes, Quotes of the Year and much more!
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SARAH COOPER
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Having exploded onto the meme scene with her TikTop lip syncs of President Donald Trump’s press conferences and interviews, the comedian’s output sadly slowed down in the fall, though for the best of reasons — she was busy prepping a Netflix special. Subtitled Everything’s Fine and featuring an ensemble that included Maya Rudolph, Aubrey Plaza and no less than Helen Mirren, the topical, 50-minute cavalcade was the perfect diversion for the week leading up to Election Night.
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JAKE TAPPER
Image Credit: CNN screenshot Sure, CNN colleague Anderson Cooper served up his share of sassy soundbites (including likening President Trump, complaining in defeat, to a turtle on its back). But Tapper perhaps more than any other news anchor often seemed to come out and say what even the most impartial of viewers was thinking after watching any given news conference that had gone wildly off the rails.
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TREVOR NOAH
Image Credit: Courtesy of Comedy Central With a COVID-friendly video setup and a colorful array of hoodies, the Daily Show host didn’t even have to leave his apartment to give us his fresh, witty perspective on the 2020 campaign — while inviting “in” some very special guests along the way.
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KRISTEN WELKER
Image Credit: Jim Bourg/Pool via AP We suppose any debate moderator would have fared better than Fox News’ Chris Wallace, who was absolutely steamrolled by Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s endless bickering during their first televised face-off. NBC News’ Welker, on the other hand, was poised and assertive as referee of Debate No. 2, always acutely aware of when to cut off the candidates’ meandering tangents.
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JOHN OLIVER
Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO In a year that has often felt like one long, cruel joke, who better to unpack the madness than John Oliver, whose strong sense of advocacy is rivaled only by his curiosity about what the Pringles mascot’s body looks like? From dispelling dangerous conspiracy theories to calling out abuses of power, Oliver and his incredible team at HBO’s Last Week Tonight kept us learning and laughing all year, taking only occasional breaks to start a feud with Danbury, Conn., or make uncomfortably aggressive sexual remarks about Adam Driver — all of which we (and the show’s 8.5 million YouTube subscribers) thoroughly appreciated.
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ABBY PHILLIP
Image Credit: CNN screenshot At a time when hyperbole-spewing punditry is all the rage, the CNN political correspondent’s measured, context-rich commentary proved a refreshing and much-needed alternative. She also gave us the breakout quote of the chaotic election week when she acutely noted, “Donald Trump’s political career began with a racist birther lie, [and] it may very well end with a Black woman in the White House.”
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THE WEST WING CAST
Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO Max Knowing how fondly President Bartlet’s White House is remembered by TV viewers, nearly the entire original cast of the Emmy-winning NBC drama reunited for a stage performance of “Hartsfield’s Landing,” a Season 3 episode that spoke to both the importance of every single voter and how critical it is to have a strategic thinker seated at the Resolute Desk.
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SAVANNAH GUTHRIE
Image Credit: AP Photo/Evan Vucci If President Trump thought he’d get off easy by turning down a virtual second debate with challenger Joe Biden, and instead partaking in a “town hall” discussion, he was wrong. NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie came armed for bear that night, prepared to head off at the pass any number of the incumbent president’s tried-and-true misdirects and false claims. At one point, she likened his dissemination of conspiracy theories to the ramblings of a “crazy uncle.” In the aftermath, Trump went on to slam Guthrie’s interview style, which can only mean she did her job right.
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THE MAP-A-MAGICIANS
Image Credit: Courtesy of MSNBC, CNN and FNC When it was actually time for the Big Game — meaning, Election Night — MSNBC’s Steve “I Put the Khaki in” Kornacki, CNN’s John King and Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer instantly reignited their respective cult followings, pinch-zooming their next-gen smart maps like the pros that they are. If you can now locate Maricopa County on a map, you owe at least one of these guys a beer.
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ARNON MISHKIN
Image Credit: Fox News screenshot No one wanted to be the head of Fox News’ Decision Desk as East Coast clocks struck 12 on Election Night, seeing as POTUS’ go-to source for cable news had deigned to call Arizona for Joe Biden. With no other network matching that blue-ing of 11 electoral votes until a full day-and-a-half later, Mishkin was repeatedly called on the carpet, but he stayed steadfast, telling anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum at one point, “We are not pulling back that call…. We strongly believe that our call will stand.” And it did.
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MAYA RUDOLPH
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC Ever since the funny lady debuted her impression of Senator Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live back in September 2019, fans have wanted more. Well, SNL‘s series of spoofs of the Democratic presidential debates this fall helped sate that need… though also drew attention to how off-the-mark Jim Carrey’s “finger guns!” take on President Elect Joe Biden is.
