Kate’s Greats are awards given to movies, TV shows, and music that the author has viewed and/or listened to over the past month. These awards may celebrate underrated, overlooked, or obscure moments of pop culture that may not otherwise get the attention they deserve. Other times, they will celebrate the buzziest pop culture–but will always have a fresh take. Award categories may include, but are not limited to, ‘Goofiest Thriller’ and ‘Tiniest Moustache’ (the latter of which Timothée Chalamet wins by a landslide). This special edition celebrates the most notable pop culture Kate consumed in 2025. May the best, worst, boldest, and weirdest win.
Biggest Jump-Scare: Zombie George, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
You are not prepared for the 1:25 minute mark (CBS via YouTube)
When did Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage become a Walking Dead spinoff? In the episode “Typhoid Georgie,” a sick Georgie (Montana Jordan) dreams of his deceased dad George Sr. (Lance Barber), with the last moments of the dream turning into a straight-up nightmare when George suddenly turns into a frightening zombie. Whatever makeup or CGI used to transform the loveable dad into a terrifying monster absolutely worked. Reader, I gasped! It wasn’t even a Halloween episode!
Best Score: The Untouchables
Paramount Pictures via YouTube
Music has the power to make movies even more magical. Such is the case with the 1987 film The Untouchables, with its memorable, pulse-pounding theme and ability to slip effortlessly between genres. There’s the tense suspense music that transitions seamlessly into a peaceful lullaby at the train station, the stirring strings during an unforgettable death scene, and even a western-inspired score when the film takes a cowboy-adjacent detour. Simply put, it’s untouchable.
Biggest Tear-Jerking Finale: The Conners, “The Truck Stops Here” (Season 7, Episode 6)
I wasn’t expecting to be so moved by the finale of The Conners, but when John Goodman stared directly into the camera and said goodnight, I was done for. ABC truly had a massive family comedy dynasty with shows like Modern Family, The Middle, Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat and The Goldbergs. It feels like the end of an era with the end of The Conners. It will be missed.
Best George Clooney Voice: Joshua Jackson
Joshua Jackson was everywhere this year, between the (tragically short-lived) TV show Dr. Odyssey and film Karate Kid: Legends. And in every single thing he was in, he kind of sounded like George Clooney. Maybe it’s the Old Hollywood feel they both give off or the fact they both played doctors (Jackson WAS the titular Dr. Odyssey, while Clooney was on ER.) It would be great if they could appear in something together–Clooney’s ER co-star Noah Wyle is now on another medical drama, The Pitt, so maybe Clooney and Jackson can guest star on it and play father and son. I think it would work great!
Best Runway Look: Brook Lynn Hytes’ Sparkle Runway, RuPaul’s Drag Race
RuPaul’s Drag Race via YouTube
How do you follow up a failed impression on RuPaul’s famous Snatch Game challenge? By serving an unforgettable runway look. Season 11 runner-up (and now Canada’s Drag Race host) Brooke Lynn Hytes ate up the runway and left no crumbs, serving harder than anyone has ever served. Then, after that, she gave us one of the best Lip Sync for Your Lives along with season 11 winner Yvie Oddly set to Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry.” After watching 20+ seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars, this still stands out amongst the crowd.
Best Bridge on a Song: “Crush,” Zara Larsson
Zara Larsson via YouTube
It’s a crrruuUUUuuuussssh (crush). CRRUUUUUuuuUUUUUUsh! Crush, crush, crush. CrrruuUUUuuuussssh. (Crush). CRUSH.
This is me attempting to write out the bridge of Zara Larsson’s “Crush,” which should have been the song of the summer (instead we got “nothing beats a Jet 2 Holiday” any time you scrolled anything on TikTok ever.) The rest of the song is pretty good, but the bridge is a masterpiece of pure pop perfection. The modulations, the vocal inflections, the joy and the heartbreak somehow delivered in the same word. You just have to listen yourself. Pretty soon you’ll have a crush on the song, and be absolutely crushed when it ends (that just means you have to listen again and again and again until only the word in your brain is cruuuUUUUUsssh ).
The Mission: Impossible–Rogue Nation Award for Best Opening Scene in a Movie
Falling from the Sky, Predators (2010)
20th Century Fox via YouTube
I don’t remember much about this movie other than the thrilling opening scene in which we get a shaky-cam shot of Adrien Brody falling out of the sky into a foreign land to fight the titular predators (plural this time, it’s not just one!) Though the original Predator is by far the best, the beginning of this movie simply draws you in by dropping you immediately into the action, as well as the characters’ mindset of being confused by where they are and what they’re supposed to be doing. It’s completely disorienting–but that’s what makes it compelling to watch.
The Kitten, Nobody (2021)
Universal Pictures via YouTube
The sight of a bloody, beaten up Bob Odenkirk with the daintiest kitten you’ll ever see is quite the contrast. But you know that his “nobody” character Hutch Mansell will defend this tiny creature with his absolute life. I imagine if this is set in the same universe as John Wick, John’s dog and this kitten would be the best of friends, and would team up to take down bad guys just like their human dads.
TV Obituaries: The Saddest Cancellations of 2025
Found (NBC, 2023-2025)
I felt lost when Found was cancelled–and on a massive cliffhanger no less. The show, which followed missing persons advocate Gabi Mosely (Shanola Hampton) as she teamed up with her former kidnapper to find said missing people, was truly wild, and I miss my weekly viewings where I would just stare at the TV dumbfounded at the regular twists and turns. You’re telling me I’ll never know if Sir (played by a menacing Mark-Paul Gosselaar) was really dead, what happened when Gabi confessed her darkest secret to the world (that she kidnapped her kidnapper), and if she and Trent (Brett Dalton) were going to be an official couple??? Maybe now that it’s coming to Netflix in 2026 we will get the answers we deserve (probably not, but a girl can dream).
NCIS: Tony and Ziva (Paramount+, 2025)
My first foray into the NCIS universe was unforgettable–and all-too brief. NCIS: Tony and Ziva has been one of my favorite procedurals to hit the airwaves in recent years, a gorgeously shot show (filmed on location in Europe!!!) that prioritized a serialized mystery arc in favor of NCIS’ typical case-of-the-week format. Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo have sizzling chemistry as will-they-won’t-they (they will) couple Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David, and it just doesn’t feel right to not have them on any sort of NCIS show now. With Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) currently being shipped on the main NCIS, maybe we’ll get a spinoff of them in a couple years– NCIS: Nick and Jess. Though to be real, that just sounds like Nick and Jess from New Girl are being thrown into a bizarre television crossover. NCIS: Nick and Knight? No, that sounds like Nick@Nite. We’ll workshop it.
The Pop Culture Pundit 
Leave a comment