2018 in Review: The Best LOL Moments of 2018

John Mulaney has never failed to make me laugh, but this bit makes me cackle.

In his Kid Gorgeous special, Mulaney introduces us to the iconic Detective J.J. Bittenbinder, a ferociously mustachioed Chicago cop who teaches children about Street Smarts. Through one of the funniest reenactments I’ve ever seen, we learn that if a guy ever comes up to you with a knife you should take out a $50 (stashed inside an engraved money clip, of course), throw it screaming “Go and get it” and immediately run away. And that, my friends, is Street Smarts! — Lauren Garafano

Where to stream John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City

For all the time Marvel movie fans have discussed the traumatic ending of Avengers: Infinity War, not enough time has been spent talking about how funny it is. From Thor (Chris Hemsworth) calling Rocket “Sweet rabbit,” despite him clearly being a raccoon, to Pom Klementieff’s hilarious shenanigans in the background of nearly every scene, the movie is actual laugh out loud hilarious. But for my money, the best weird joke in the movie involves the first face-off between Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

“Where is Gamora?” asks Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), demanding to know what’s happened to his missing friend. Iron Man hasn’t met any of these characters before, so he quips back, “I’ll do you one better: who is Gamora?” And always the literalist, Drax (Dave Bautista) shouts back, “I’ll do you one better: why is Gamora?”

I’ve written about the brilliance of Game Night a lot this year. A lot. At this point, even the cast and crew are probably like, “We get it, pal. Relax. It’s just a movie.” That said, few things brought me more joy than Jesse Plemons’ portrayal of Gary.

The following scene remains one of my favorite comedic moments of 2018:

Give Jesse Plemons all the Oscars, please and thank you.

Where to stream Game Night

Between the obsessively strategized blindsides and the incrementally starving themselves for a million dollars, the contestants on Survivor aren’t usually given to providing us with the yuk-yuks. But in the many ways that this fall’s “David-vs.-Goliath” themed season has been exemplary, it’s also given us at least one funny moment to crow about.

With the Jabeni tribe headed to Tribal Council, the choice was down to booting undersized Lyrsa and bossy Natalie, and in the scramble for votes, it became clear that one criteria would be whose elimination would free up a coveted jacket to wear on the windy island nights. When the axe fell on Natalie, Angelina tried to play the fake friend in order to score Natalie’s jacket. Natalie was… not hearing it. Perhaps literally (though probably not). — Joe Reid

Where to stream Survivor

The beauty of Nailed It! is that Netflix’s baking competition show encourages you to laugh along with the bakers’ epic fails, but one disaster rose above them all and transcended all reason.

In the Nailed It! Season 1 finale, the bakers were tasked with recreating a life-like bust cake of President Donald J. Trump. One of the bakers, Kymberli, proudly revealed this Mason Verger nightmare cake. Is it a corpse? Is it an alien? Is it really Donald Trump? It’s freaking hilarious, that’s what it is. — Meghan O’Keefe

Where to stream Nailed It

This brief exchange from NBC’s A.P. Bio absolutely floors me. When I wrote my own personal “best of” list for 2018, this moment captured the top spot.

In Episode 6 (“Freaking Enamored”), Jack is having a romantic dinner with the mother of one of his students. Before Colin heads to bed, his mom, who’s portrayed by the always wonderful Erinn Hayes, simply says “Goodnight, baby duck” and Colin quacks. This an obvious inside joke between the two, a tender moment between mother and son. Glenn Howerton’s Jack, however, is decidedly not on board.

Even though he’s not at all involved in their exchange, he shakes his head and tersely says “no.” Jack’s disdain for their sentimentality is so immense that he simply must vocalize it. It’s so silly, but it makes me laugh out loud every single time I watch it.

The Migos Carpool Karaoke with James Corden was the first installment of the series in a while that felt like something unexpected could happen, and it did.

The clip spawned memes, achieved the near-impossible feat of racking up approval from the internet, and generally turned out to be one of the most fun rides Corden’s taken us on. The ad-libs, the blank stares, the stacks of cash, the Whitney Houston singalong (and dab-along), the seat dancing and the “Sweet Caroline”-ing all made it impossible not to giggle at what was going down in that car. — Lea Palmieri 

Where to stream The Late Late Show with James Corden 

The Good Place’s Chidi Anagonye isn’t great with surprises, so when he learns the truth about the afterlife — that no matter what he does, he’s on the highway to Hell — the indecisive Chidi decisively loses his mind. Adorning an A+ “Who, What, When, Where… Wine!” t-shirt, Chidi’s inability to process this information manifests itself in the best way possible: stress cooking.

Much has been written about the gift of “shirtless Chidi,” but his “Peeps in the chili pot” jingle is one of the silliest, funniest moments of the year.

“You put the Peeps in the chili pot and eat them both up. You put the Peeps in the chili pot and add the M&Ms. You put the Peeps in the chili pot, it makes it taste… baaad.”

Where to stream The Good Place

No three words have brought me more joy in 2018 than “Kiss my piss.” The phrase is the perfect amalgamation of just how aggressively awkward Richard (Thomas Middleditch) is even during his best moments. The beginning of Season 5’s finale “Fifty-One Percent” sees Richard at his highest. His new internet is a working reality, Pied Piper looks like it’s going to be profitable for once, and its digital currency PiedPiperCoin may actually work. It’s during an inter-office celebration that Colin (Neil Casey), the game founder CEO who screwed over Richard earlier this season, shows up begging for a job. In this moment, Richard is king. He is the lord of the nerds. And what insult does this vindictive brat drop to own his competition?

“Kiss my piss.”

Everything, from the voice-breaking uncertainty with which Middleditch delivers the line to his shoulder-heavy dance is perfect. Even Richard knows this is a terrible insult, but there he goes with his angular dance moves and needless repetition. There are few jokes that are worth re-watching an entire season to appreciate. For me, this is indisputably one of them. — Kayla Cobb

Where to stream Silicon Valley

Selecting only one SNL sketch from 2018 is no easy task. “Career Day,” “Barbie Instagram,” “Diner Lobster,” “Sitcom Reboot,” and “Girlfriends Game Night” (among many others) could have just as easily made our list, but in terms of pure laughs we’re going with “Shrek Family Dinner.”

The premise is deceptively simple: Sterling K. Brown’s Justin believes Shrek is the best animated film of all time and he can’t even begin to comprehend someone not sharing the same opinion. “Shrek Family Dinner” is a deftly crafted sketch enhanced by Brown’s absolute commitment to the character. The absurd premise is treated with realism, the writing is both hilarious and unpredictable (“Keep his name out of your mouth you dumb son of a bitch!”), and the performances are flawless.

The little moments are what cement this sketch as an instant classic. One of my favorite comedy maneuvers is taking a beat to ask a realistic question during an absurd situation. Beck Bennett’s “How the hell did you swing Antonio Banderas?!” is absolute perfection.

Where to stream Saturday Night Live