April Fools' 2014: The best jokes from Google, Hulu, and more

If you see anything weird online today, it may be an April Fools’ prank — or it could just be the internet being characteristically ridiculous. Either way, we’re gathering together the best pranks from companies like Google and Hulu and will continue updating the list throughout the day. See what we’ve found below:

Google

Yesterday, Google got an early start by releasing a video promoting an augmented reality app that allowed iPhone and Android users to point their phone camera anywhere and see animated Pokemon appear on the screen. It wasn’t real, but Google really did place little Pokemon near notable places — Lake Michigan, Taj Mahal — on Google maps apps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMD6xELI_k

Google also launched the “shelfie,” which is actually more like a real Gmail feature than a full-on prank. Google outlines the problem that led to “shelfies” (sharable selfies) in a blog post: “You all love setting selfies as your custom theme in Gmail, but you’ve told us there’s one major problem: there isn’t a way to share your selfie with others.” So now you can send a selfie to anyone you desire, and they can make that self-portrait their Gmail background. “Gmail Shelfie is built on the idea that you shouldn’t be selfish with your selfie.” Wise words from Google.

Hulu

A cooking show hosted by Hannibal Lecter — what the people have all been waiting for! Hulu released a trailer for faux show In the Kitchen with Hannibal, where a pleased-looking Dr. Lecter prepares dishes “to die for.” Ew.

YouTube

Everything’s a lie: YouTube has been behind every single one of the internet’s most viral videos, ranging from Gangham Style to Rebecca Black. And today, the site is giving us a look at what memes they have in store for 2014, including something called “clocking” (in which people pose in front of landmarks and move their arms as if they are a clock) and shaming babies for doing normal baby things, like crying. How long do we think it’ll take until people actually start posting videos of these things on Instagram?

http://youtu.be/0YUbYohGMOg

You can also type in “glub glub water dance” in the YouTube search bar for… well, just see for yourself.

The Backlot

Glee and American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy is taking over HBO’s Looking — believable. HBO is enlisting Murphy to give the show a wider reach — believable. Murphy wants to do a Glee/American Horror Story crossover with Looking involving Kurt and Blaine finding a surrogate mother for their future baby and moving the entire show from its home in San Francisco down to Los Angeles — okay, you got us, guys.

VH1

VH1 is no stranger to, uh, wacky shows, so it’s no surprise they’re “premiering” a show called Mob Cats: New Blood about, well, cats in the mob. We’d watch!

Netflix

Looking for some steamy Tuesday night movies to stream? Check out Rotisserie Chicken, a 20-minute film “in the tradition of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” of a chicken, well, on a rotisserie, and Sizzling Bacon, another 20-minute meat-based film that Netflix calls a “Memento-style puzzle.” Let’s hope they don’t take away these sure-to-be-classics when the clock strikes midnight tonight…

Funny or Die

Fred Armisen is joining The Flaming Lips! Say goodbye, Seth Meyers. And the band (the one with Wayne Coyne as frontman, not Fred) made a companion piece to play with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon called Flaming Side of the Moon, which resulted in them selling out. But hey, at least something good came out of it: They went on to make a movie called Yoshimi: Fall of the Chosen directed by Michael Bay. What a bunch of pranksters you are, Flaming Lips!

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard may be known for its fantasy games like World of Warcraft and Diablo, but today they put out a trailer for a classic fighting game called Blizzard Outcasts: Vengeance of the Vanquished featuring some of their games’ funniest characters. Maybe next April Fools’ they’ll actually make the game? We can hope.

http://youtu.be/iim–3_NggU

Twitter

Forget Google Glass, Twitter is coming out with the Twitter Helmet, “a sophisticated, fully immersive, staggeringly high-resolution wearable device that allows our users to interact with the world around them entirely via a custom aviary interface.” And it goes for only $139.99 — talk about a steal.

Reddit

Reddit put out a trailer for Headdit, “a revolutionary way to browse Reddit” using head nods to navigate the website. And we thought scrolling was easy!

http://youtu.be/rqoKxLB8GH8

RyanSeacrest.com

Someone on RyanSeacrest.com thought it’d be funny to pretend that *NSYNC was getting back together (for longer than their five-second VMAs performance). Not cool, Ryan. Not cool.

Virgin America

Are you one of those people who just can’t get comfortable on a plane? Virgin America’s Nest Learning Thermostat may help with that: It allows passengers to choose temperature options ranging from “Cancún afternoon” to “Chicago polar vortex” for their individual seating areas. Margaritas and hot cocoa not included.