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Special Report: All the best, All the worst in 2017; Aired 7:00-8:00p ET
Aired December 31, 2017 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[19:00:14] TOM FOREMAN, CNN HOST (voice-over): From the outer limits of a world unlike any ever known comes a spine-tingling, hair-raising, bone-chilling tale of horrifying headlines, political intrigues, mayhem, majesty, music and more, with an all-star cast, including sports analyst Brian Jones.
BRIAN JONES, SPORTS ANALYST: Run, run, they're coming.
FOREMAN: Comedienne Helen Hong.
HELEN HONG, COMEDIAN: Oh, no, it's alive.
FOREMAN: CNN's own Van Jones and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This time, it's personal.
FOREMAN: Radio host, Bethany Watson.
BETHANY WATSON, RADIO HOST: It wasn't me. It wasn't me.
FOREMAN: HLN commentator and anchor S.E. Cupp, You Tube sensation, Jessie Paege, and comedienne Kiran Deol.
It's all the best, all the worst 2017.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Welcome. I'm Tom Foreman. And in so many ways the last 12 months have played out like a bad movie. We had week after week of outlandish characters and unexpected developments and outrageous behavior in big news and in entertainment and pop culture, and most of all in politics, where one name over shadowed everything else and it came from D.C.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump, Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump.
BERMAN: The biggest overarching story of the year is certainly the Trump presidency.
WATSON: It was bananas how completely divided this country became.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: B-a-n-a-n-a-s.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the President-elect of the United States, Donald John Trump.
FOREMAN: For some, the New York billionaire was the best thing to come to Washington in decades, with his promise of shaking things up, shooting straight and draining the swamp.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Donald John Trump --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anybody in this country is against anything he is going to do, I really worry about their judgment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is laying the groundwork for if future for us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love him.
FOREMAN: But the reality for others --
KIRAN DEOL, COMEDIAN: It was a garbage fire rollercoaster.
B. JONES: It's been so strange so unnerving most of the time.
FOREMAN: The best win, the string of conservative judges he has flowing into federal courts coast-to-coast and the justice he seated on the Supreme Court.
TRUMP: And I got it done in the first 100 days. That's even nice.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: They got a lifetime appointment to the federal court. These guys are like nine years old. They are going to become cyborgs and live forever. They are going to be in the court in like 2,200 and we aren't even talking about it.
FOREMAN: Worst judgment. His decision again and again, to take to twitter. Almost 2,500 times in the year following his election, taunting foreign leaders, making policy, announcing staff changes and pouring insults on his foes.
JESSIE PAEGE, YOU TUBE SENSATION: It's definitely new that the President has such a strong twitter branding. Yes, I will put it that way. CUPP: This is not a person of nuance. So for him, it's perfect.
FOREMAN: His twitter feed helped push a torrent of misleading, deceptive, offensive and downright false statements out of the White House. Starting on day one.
SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.
HONG: There were more people at my bat mitzvah than were at the inauguration and I'm not even Jewish.
FOREMAN: When Trump was called out, he always had the best response from his fans' point of view.
TRUMP: Some of the fake news said -- the fake news. You are fake news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of the news is fake. And it has been for years.
FOREMAN: But that gave rise to the best counterpunching, handed to major news outlets for vigorously chasing down and reporting facts, despite the badgering from the oval office. #factsfirst.
CUPP: It's the "Seinfeld" line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not a lie if you believe it.
FOREMAN: It was all the best fodder for political satire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you kidding me?
FOREMAN: Best power play. The GOP came into the year holding the oval office, controlling the House and Senate and dominating Democrats in most legislators and governor's offices, too. Something few expected.
B. JONES: It's been surreal. You run out of adjectives to describe what it's been like on the political landscape.
FOREMAN: The best claim to fame for the President and his party, it's the economy, stupid. Employment, house values and the stock market have continued to climb, starting under President Obama.
[19:05:09] BERMAN: By every traditional measurement the economy is doing well.
FOREMAN: Worst follow-up. Aside from a late charge of tax reform the party pretty much failed to pass any major legislation. No infrastructure makeover. No wall with Mexico.
The Republicans could not even repeal Obamacare, despite repeated tries and years of promises.
CUPP: And it almost seemed like they were caught by surprise. But wait, now we got to do the thing?
FOREMAN: Not that Democrats did any better.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm ready.
FOREMAN: Worst family feud. The survey says the bitter blame game over why Hillary Clinton lost last year. Dueling books and interviews kept nerves raw and voters seeing red.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why aren't we looking backwards? Look forward. That's in the past. That's water under the bridge.
BERMAN: The Democratic Party is trying to find itself. Insofar I'm not even sure it knows where to look.
FOREMAN: Best news for the so-called resistance, special counsel Robert Mueller's probe in the Russian meddling in the U.S. election, producing indictments despite team Trump's insistence, they had no improper contact with the Kremlin.
HONG: Apparently no one in this administration has seen "Rocky IV" or "Red Dawn" or "air force one." But news flash, Russians are evil.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off my plane.
V. JONES: The one thing that little progressives were holding on to. You think tomorrow he will be impeached? You think he will be impeached by lunch? He wasn't. He wasn't.
FOREMAN: Worst masters of the photo op, multi-millionaire treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton. Mnuchin is also a member of the worst frequent flyers club, those cabinet members that came under scrutiny for questionable trips on private and military jets paid for with taxpayer dollars.
BERMAN: Everyone knows if you could walk faster between Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia than taking a private jet. It didn't make any sense at all.
FOREMAN: Best short timer, Antony Scaramucci. The much was ten days on the job as White House communications director before getting the boot. Worst numbers, any and all polls about the popularity of the President and Congress.
B. JONES: It does not shock me in the sense of confidence in the country and leadership is low.
FOREMAN: Worst losers, voters left and right who were hoping for a breakthrough in the D.C. gridlock.
WATSON: It felt like a war. And so, I think anybody who was moderate and was trying to take good pieces from both sides were trampled by the vitriol and the screaming and the anger.
V. JONES: It just makes it very, very hard to have a conversation.
DEOL: Immigrants want rights. Women want rights. It's like, don't touch my boobs unless I said so. And everyone at the top of like the system, what are you talking about? This is crazy.
FOREMAN: The most invisible action came sat the state level, where local governments took down statues of confederate leaders, even in the face of some angry voters.
CROWD: Power! People!
FOREMAN: And the most amazing, unexpected outpouring of political activism, you got to give it to the women's march, which filled streets across America.
HONG: There were an estimated, like, four million people that took part in the women's march. If you used Trump's inauguration math, that was like a hundred bajillion people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me what democracy looks like?
CROWD: This is what democracy looks like.
FOREMAN: They gathered no protest unequal treatment, unequal rights, unequal pay that and to share a message that resonated across generations.
PAEGE: It's not women are better than men. It's just we deserve the same pay for doing the same work, which is 100 percent valid.
WATSON: This was the year of women finding their voice and saying, we're not going to put up with it. It was one of the most powerful moments of my entire life.
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FOREMAN: We will have more on this amazing year for women later along with our look at sports, music, television and many other topics.
One, please. But right now, get ready. We are going to dim the lights and queue the action.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Right now, I have to tell you about --
FOREMAN: The movies were more fun than a barrel of monkeys this year.
[19:00:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a monkey?
FOREMAN: So, send in the clowns. And grab your popcorn. All the best, all the worst, 2017 rolls on.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Movie fans were once again saying hi to lots of superheroes this year.
V. JONES: I love every single superhero movie. I don't care how bad they are. I don't care what the tomato people say. I love them all because it means my culture is winning.
BERMAN: I just saw "Thor: Ragnarok " and it was the best movie about ragnarok of the year.
FOREMAN: The box office rate in receipts for the latest adventures of the "Transformers." "The guardians of the galaxy" even "Lego batman" held his own.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Batman, we love you.
FOREMAN: And "Logan" stood strong for the x-men.
[19:15:02] HONG: "Logan was" so good. It had heart, it had action and it had my favorite Patrick Stewart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait a minute. You guys aren't the real avengers. Hull gives it away.
FOREMAN: Spidey senses were tingling over Peter Parker's latest identity crisis.
PAEGE: I love the "Spiderman homecoming." I think that was great. And it was adorable. And I think it is a very cool, new, perspective of the story of Spiderman.
FOREMAN: And the best super film was the one that seemed to have everyone cheering.
DEOL: "Wonder Woman." I saw that.
BERMAN: I loved "Wonder Woman."
WATSON: This was such a high point, I think. And a year that felt really fraught for women.
HONG: I think the reason why "Wonder Woman" made so much money is that finally we got to see women kicking butt on the screen.
FOREMAN: The "Star Wars" franchise once again sailed into our galaxy. Action and crime movies made a run with Kong's "Skull Island" roaring and "Fate and the Furious" on a roll. But the best car chasing came from "Baby Driver." The story was goofy but wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Insane.
PAEGE: Agreed I'm not normally into those types of movies, but I really enjoyed it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did they know I'm black?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should they?
FOREMAN: "Get out" was a kind of crime flick, kind of science fiction, kind of just odd, but a smash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out!
DEOL: I loved it.
B. JONES: Did I like it? No.
CUPP: I thought it was fantastic. Great, great, great film.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was creepy.
B. JONES: I like the way it ended. The black guy won. So, yes. I like that.
FOREMAN: The most divisive film of the year was Uber creepy "Mother." Some called it a master piece, others a mess.
WATSON: I saw that movie "Mother," that was wild. I walked out of that movie thinking I was high.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The clown.
FOREMAN: Best remake of a classic, "It," which gave us the most memorable character, too.
B. JONES: No, no, no.
FOREMAN: Oh, yes, pennywise the clown.
PAEGE: I couldn't watch it. I feel like I have literally seen the whole movie on social media. I haven't actually watched it.
HONG: That guy Stephen King can really write a story. Somebody needs to give that guy a book deal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's that?
FOREMAN: For the more tender hearted and remake ruled, "Beauty and the Beast" brought the magic back to life. So did "Despicable me 3" and "Cars 3" as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome. Anything to declare?
FOREMAN: However, an original, "Coco" really filled the seats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been dating this girl. She's white.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A white girl?
FOREMAN: The best romantic comedy "the big sick."
CUPP: I did see that movie. It was really cute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that lady still looking at me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just go for it.
FOREMAN: Best road romp "girls trip."
DEOL: I loved the "Girls Trip." I had a glass of wine and I was drinking and watching and laughing and it was awesome.
FOREMAN: Best historic drama, give it to "Dunkirk" or maybe "darkest hour," as they're pretty much about the same thing. Worst historic moment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "La La land."
FOREMAN: Announcing the wrong picture at the Oscars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait. There is a mistake. "Moonlight" you won best picture.
PAEGE: You avoid almost secondhand embarrassment. Like that's how I felt at least.
V. JONES: Despite the movies I wanted to win actually won. So I was actually very happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladybird is that your given name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes
FOREMAN: And while "ladybird" and some other late arrivals in the year may well be Oscar worthy, the best long shots Oscar should be looking at and you should, too, is the stunning captivating heartbreaking "Good Time."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a nice dream. It's a nice dream.
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FOREMAN: Amid all the turmoil of the year when people were not escaping to the movies, many turned to sports, where they also found a lot of action, some amazing performances and, yes, a little drama.
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WATSON: Sports were awesome this year. All of the sports were phenomenal. I don't follow sports, Tom.
FOREMAN: Well, plenty of people do. And in baseball the World Series gave them some games for the ages as the Houston Astros met the Los Angeles Dodgers.
PAEGE: I played baseball for a while, recreationally, not a big deal.
FOREMAN: It was a slugfest from start-to-finish, with the Astros finally taking the prize.
BERMAN: And they were both really good baseball teams. And they played really well, in the World Series. And that's a wonderful thing to see.
[19:20:01] FOREMAN: Best headline, this 2014 the "Sports Illustrated" cover that predicted the Astros would win this year.
In basketball for the third time in three years the Cleveland Cavaliers clashed with the Golden State Warriors and King James could not withstand the twin attacks from Kevin Durant and the amazing Steph Curry. The trophy went west.
V. JONES: He is just unbelievable athlete. He is a great guy. He is the last of the great role models.
FOREMAN: In hockey, the Pittsburgh Penguins froze out the Nashville Predators, skating off with the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row.
Football is still the most popular game. But viewership has gone into a freefall, even as player protests against police treatment of African-Americans has remained divisive.
B. JONES: This was never about the national anthem. It was never about the flag. It was never about our military. This is about everyone in this country enjoying equal rights, equal treatment. That is it.
FOREMAN: Worst wait in the unemployment line that goes to Colin Kaepernick who started the protest and now isn't playing for anyone.
Worst collapse. That's the Atlanta falcons old stadium blowing up, which is exactly what the team did in the super bowl. For most of the game the falcons who have never won a championship made the New England patriots look like amateurs. Then the Pats launched a record- setting 25-point comeback.
CUPP: They win it anyway because that's what they do.
FOREMAN: And grabbed the Lombardi trophy for the fifth time.
BERMAN: I have re-watched the fourth quarter and overtime of the Super Bowl now seven times. And I still don't believe that it happened.
HONG: So, it turns out the Patriots can win without cheating.
FOREMAN: The best American male marathoner in a generation (INAUDIBLE) retired at the New York marathon, just as Shalane Flanagan became the first American woman to win in 40 years, with a time just under 2:27.
PAEGE: That's so cool. That's amazing.
WATSON: That's my personal best nap time, for sure.
FOREMAN: And the worst matchup, almost everyone thought it would be Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. Experts predicted the mix Marshal Arts star would fool like a cheap suit under the pounding of the legendary boxer. But --.
B. JONES: Conor McGregor actually showed, he showcase some boxing skills.
FOREMAN: McGregor held on the 10th round before a TKO, pocked an estimated $75 million. No wonder he was smiling even as he congratulated the champ.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I give him a hats off. I feel he's a composed man.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: We still have plenty of rounds to go here as we take on the biggest news stories, the most exciting music, a far out astronaut and even stranger things.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe all this is happening for a reason.
FOREMAN: Yes, and the reason is, this is "all the best, all the worst, 2017."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:27:12] FOREMAN: What's happening in the news? Often this year, that answer seemed to be changing by the hour. There were just so many huge news stories, so much conflict. At times it felt less like a bad movie and more like an epoch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice-over): The worst wildfires, at least in the modern history of California, swept the northern end of the state, leaving dozens of fatalities, close to 9,000 structures and ashes and hundreds of thousands of acres scorched. Then buyers hit again in the south.
HONG: It was apocalyptic. I live in California and marijuana cannot be legalized fast enough.
FOREMAN: Not to be outdone, the vicious storms that flattened Puerto Rico, battered Florida, and in the bible belt of Texas dropped almost biblical rains. BERMAN: Ferocious winds. They got 50 inches at once, 50 inches of
rain. It was unbelievable. It was something we just haven't seen before.
FOREMAN: The national oceanic atmospheric administration says, when all is said and done, this will likely be the second-hottest year on record with last year a little hotter.
B. JONES: I just don't recall another year like this one, where there has been so much terrible, turbulent, destructive weather.
V. JONES: I mean, you have you floods and fires and biblical stuff going on, you might at some point want to talk about these weather patterns and whether or not we are in deep, deep trouble. I think we are.
FOREMAN: Also terrible and turbulent, the worst continuing trend, the mass shootings that ripped across the country.
BERMAN: Each one is a tragedy in and of itself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to get people over to the hospital. OK?
FOREMAN: With 58 people killed, Las Vegas became the worst in modern times.
WATSON: Is this our normal? Is this just something we assume is going to happen now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Multiple units were on scene.
FOREMAN: And mass shootings in a Texas church, a Mississippi town, a Florida business, and other places raised the persistent alarm over gun violence.
PAEGE: It's something that happened so often. And that is just horrifying that like kids are going to grow up and that is going to be like just a way of the world.
B. JONES: What I would like to do is have a grown-up conversation with you about how we can have more control, who gets a gun and who doesn't. That's it.
CROWD: Jews will not replace us. Jews will not replace us.
[19:30:00] FOREMAN: Violence in other forms also rocked communities. In Charlottesville, Virginia, a march of white supremacists turned violent. Dozens were hurt. And one woman died when police say a driver purposely ran into counter protestors.
V. JONES: I can't believe the President of the United States is having a hard time denouncing them. I also felt, Tiki torches?
FOREMAN: It all took a toll. A poll by the American psychological foundation found two-thirds of Americans stressed about America's future. DEOL: I was surprised that tuning out became self-care.
FOREMAN: Terrorism continued closest to home in the form of that truck attack along a bike path in New York and a shooting attack on members of Congress at baseball practice. And even more so overseas at an Ariana Grande concert in England, on a boulevard in Spain, and in plenty of other places in the Middle East and beyond.
V. JONES: It used to be very shocking when something would happen overseas. Now, it's like, oh, another one? You know, I'm trying to find something more fun to look at on my feed. And that's scary by itself.
FOREMAN: The best development? ISIS driven out of its self- proclaimed capital of Raqqa, Syria.
CUPP: Definitely a positive sign and something this administration should be getting credit for.
BERMAN: It doesn't mean ISIS is gone. ISIS still has many different ways to manifest evil around the world. But it is still significant.
FOREMAN: Worst saber rattling, the steady expansion of North Korea's nuclear programs. Worst guy to have a finger on the trigger, Kim Jong-un.
HONG: What kind of Kim chi are they making in North Korea that keeps churning out these crazy, chubby leaders?
B. JONES: First of all that flattop, he's got to get a new hairstyle. That fade is too hot.
FOREMAN: Best images out of the kingdom, young soldier running to freedom under a hail of gunfire. He was hit, but he made it.
Worst story back on the home front, the relentless march of powerful men caught up in accusations of grabbing, groping, sexual assault and harassment. The allegations hit power players in Hollywood, men on Capitol Hill and men hoping to get there, trusted names in the news media and other people in other businesses, too.
DEOL: You just have dude after dude saying I just didn't realize it was appropriate to whip my (bleep) out in front of a room full of fully clothed women? Why wouldn't that be cool in a workplace?
HONG: It blows my mind that in 2017, men still behave this way and in so many numbers. Just gross, you guys. You guys are just gross.
FOREMAN: Best hash tag, #metoo. Worst reality, how many women can post it?
HONG: I'm a female stand-up comedian. Which one of the 400 stories would you like to hear? Hey, guys. Keep your (bleep) in your pants.
B. JONES: Terrible, terrible for those folks. But the courage that they displayed coming out and naming names and also dealing with those episodes, they are to be commended.
FOREMAN: Other news tipping the scales, in Morocco the remains of the earliest home sapiens were unearthed.
HONG: I didn't even know that pre-human was a thing. Although, I can tell you I have definitely gone on a few dates with some.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Coming out.
FOREMAN: In Lovelock, Nevada, after nine years in prison.
WATSON: Congratulations to O.J. Simpson on being the only one who had a good year. He's free.
FOREMAN: And in London, bad boy Prince Harry getting hitched, engaged to American actress Meghan Markle and ready to make party plans.
MEGHAN MARKLE, ACTRESS: It doesn't involve three models and a dozen bottles of vodka?
DEOL: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Stay put. In a little bit, we will have the miracles of coffee, a big noise from the amazon and we will strike up the band.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: From the killers to Kendrick Lamar, we will check out what was hot and not in music. Plus, TV gets steamy with dragons, desperados and --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm bad luck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have that in common.
FOREMAN: -- and danger. It's "all the best all the worst 2017."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[19:38:06] FOREMAN (voice-over): There was plenty to like in music in 2017 from the cool funk of Bruno Mars.
WATSON: I think this is a good year for music.
FOREMAN: To the slick pop of Portugal demand. To the captivating country sound of Sturgell Simpson.
PAEGE: There was a lot of new music this year.
FOREMAN: The reigning queen of pop Taylor Swift shocked fans by deleting most of her social media, and taking on a new, tougher character.
HONG: We like Taylor with a little bit of bitterness. But she has jumped the shark with bitterness. Pull it back, Taylor. Pull it back.
FOREMAN: Beyonce did pull back on the music but dominated Instagram.
V. JONES: Beyonce is somebody who even when she does something has been done for 10,000 years like, I don't know, being pregnant, is still fascinating.
FOREMAN: Even has Kendrick Lamar proudly saying, be humble.
DEOL: Kendrick Lamar, the greatest rapper alive, is like listening to a psychotherapist.
FOREMAN: Best old school, Selena Gomez' example of a talking heads rift. Best new face still rising Halsey.
Ed Sheeran kept a solid place on the charts. So did Miley Cyrus.
CUPP: The new stuff, "Malibu," that's a great tune.
FOREMAN: Best catch phrase Demi Lovato.
Worst heartbreak, saying good-bye to Tom Petty, Fats Domino, Glen Campbell, Chuck Berry, David Cassidy, Walter Becker and more.
Best comeback from a hard time away Kesha. Another big return --
[19:40:21] WATSON: I have loved the journey that Lorde has been on. And the fact that she came back this year was I think a huge gift.
PAEGE: Music this year has been very diverse. One song I liked in particular was a song by Logic.
FOREMAN: Best bands you should know, the Killers.
Best collaboration, Haley Steinfeld in Florida Georgia line.
And biggest hit of the year, like it or not, Despacito.
BERMAN: Despacito, no.
HONG: Despacito is so damn edgy.
B. JONES: Everyone jumped on that bandwagon. And so "Despacito" was worn out. The video though, I like the video.
FOREMAN: Now we are turning to television where plenty of shows were smoking hot, but none burned brighter than one with the dragons.
WATSON: "Game of Thrones" did not last nearly as long as I wanted it to. But we did finally get John Snow and our Khalisi, meeting up, getting sexual tensions, getting some long smoldering gazes on.
BERMAN: Now that the dragons are grown, I think they are much more interesting.
V. JONES: I guess now they are making so much money. They have dragons in every scene. They are going to start giving dragon is like, you know, talking lines and stuff. And I love that.
FOREMAN: "The Walking Dead" kept devouring viewers. And truthfully, so did "Pretty Little Liars." But the best show about not telling the truth was "Big Little Lies."
DEOL: It was excellent. I mean, wealth and ocean and domestic violence, I mean, the trifecta.
CUPP: Talk about real estate porn. My God, those houses were unbelievable.
FOREMAN: Best new cop show, "Mind Hunter."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't like everything we do. We are talking to serial killers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Serial killers.
FOREMAN: Worst ad for a vacation timeshare, the riveting, jaw- dropping "Ozark."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom, what are we doing here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your father is laundering money from Mexican drug cartel.
WATSON: Jason Bateman was phenomenal. Who knew that he could be that dark and a little scary? And I love it when actors get a chance to show that side of them.
FOREMAN: Spooky was in vogue.
PAEGE: "River Dale" was pretty made this year.
FOREMAN: "Twin Peaks" raised from pulses and "the Handmaid's Tale" had plenty of fans squirming.
HONG: There were times watching "the handmaid's tale" we as women were like, is this a documentary?
BERMAN: The best TV I watched this year was the "Ken Burn's Vietnam Series" on CBS. I watched the crap out of that.
FOREMAN: "The Crown" and "Empire" deserve shout outs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you speaking clown?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you speaking English?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why made in so much kiss?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is wrong with you people? FOREMAN: While the "Big Bang Theory" gave us what look like the worst
spinoff, but a show that did well, "Young Sheldon."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go play.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There. I played.
FOREMAN: It helped lead the way for a slew of successful comedies including "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you sure the other guy was gay?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's gay. It's the '90s.
FOREMAN: "Veep," "Masters of None," "Better Call Saul" --
B. JONES: "Ballers." You have to catch "Ballers." "Curb your enthusiasm," I'm glad that is back.
FOREMAN: Animation was galloping along, led by the wildly invented Bo Jack "Horseman."
DEOL: I like the horsey.
FOREMAN: "Bob's Burgers" kept cooking and for Rick and Morty's cult- like following, there was nothing bigger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would call that progress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's huge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And normal.
WATSON: Are you a "Rick and Morty" fan? No. Should I get into it?
FOREMAN: Best sort of game show "Shark Tank."
CUPP: I just love it. So aspirational.
FOREMAN: Best show to make you wonder what else you should do in "the Good Place."
HONG: It really makes you think about what it takes to be a good person on this planet. And I feel we could all use a little more of that right now.
FOREMAN: And best follow-up to a first season hit by far "Stranger Things 2."
PAEGE: I had very high expectations because I did enjoy the first season so much. And I can say I actually was so incredibly surprised and pleased with the second season.
WATSON: I was equally turned on and grossed out at the same time, which hasn't happened to me since college, really. So that was a funny experience. HONG: And I was like, don't even try and reach me for the next 12
hours, because I'm busy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:45:06] FOREMAN: Don't step away from your TV because in just a moment, we will "Keep up with the Kardashians," the sky will go dark and brace yourself. It's happening. Robots are taking over the world or maybe it's just amazon.
"All the best all the worst 2017" keeps moving.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[19:49:18] FOREMAN (voice-over): Nothing was more hair-raising in the world of pop culture than the two French wing suit divers who jumped off of a mountain and flew into an airplane.
The best high flyer could be the voyager spacecraft, now way beyond our solar system, which came to life and fired its engines on command for the first time in 37 years. But we are giving the award to Peggy Woodson, a NASA astronaut who touched down with a record 665 total days in space, more than any other American.
HONG: Peggy Woodson heard what was going down here on earth, she's like, oh, I'm never coming back.
FOREMAN: Worst turbulence, the crashes between airlines and passengers that shook up the headlines.
[19:50:09] DEOL: I hate them all. Do you think that, like, the laws of the land end just because you are on a craft that's going to be in the air?
FOREMAN: The best technology trend this year was the rapidly accelerating use of robots, most dazzling demo the back-flipping atlas robot. Of course not everyone is ready for the rise of the machines.
CUPP: No, no. I don't want strange robots in my house. Absolutely not. The machines are going to take over one day. And I'm not going to help them.
DEOL: I'm like that's creepy.
PAEGE: Maybe because I've seen "the Terminator" and things like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CPU is intact but I can't control the other functions.
FOREMAN: Artificial intelligence also took a big leap forward.
WATSON: I have Alexa. And I got her because everybody told me you need to get Alexa, this is amazing. I never use her. And I'm also mostly convinced that she is spying on me. FOREMAN: Worst planned obsolescence, give it to mobile phone makers.
HONG: There's a new iPhone coming out which means my old iPhone will stop working in five, four, three, two, yes. Done.
BERMAN: While I am a -- I have bought but not yet received my iPhone X. So I reserve the right to be blown away by it. And if I'm not, then there's going to be some issues.
FOREMAN: And yet with voice and face recognition, global tracking and more, there's some creepiness there, too.
V. JONES: I just don't think your phone should know more about you than your friends.
FOREMAN: Best and worst wasted time. Fidget spinners. At one point estimated to account for 17 percent of online toy sales.
B. JONES: I don't get it. You just hold something it just twirls.
DEOL: I have never heard of this in my life. Looks like a -- it looks like a hub cap.
FOREMAN: Best thing that looked like a hub cap? The total eclipse visible for a few moments coast to coast.
V. JONES: I got gypped on the eclipse. I was in Las Vegas for the eclipse. And it was overcast. And I couldn't see it.
FOREMAN: Best news to wake up to, new studies which say drinking more coffee can lead to a longer life.
WATSON: Coffee may prolong your life span, you say. I have no opinion.
FOREMAN: Best news for animal rights activist and worst for nostalgia buffs, after more than a century of clowning around the ringling brothers Barnum & bailey circus folded its tents.
B. JONES: I'm OK with the circus being done. Be done with the circus. Let the animals be free. Go be free, animals.
FOREMAN: Best movement in media, the amazing resurgence of podcasts.
HONG: Podcasts are bigger than TV shows now. Podcasts are bigger than movies. Podcasts are it.
FOREMAN: Worst mayhem for shopping malls. The steady decline of some mainstream stores pushed into financial straits by online competition.
B. JONES: Toys "R" us, Toys "R" not us anymore. Everyone are buying things online. No one really goes in the store anymore.
PAEGE: Yes. That blew my mind. Toys "R" Us is like was my childhood. BERMAN: I'm not sure whether or not Amazon will own the universe, but
if it does, you know, they will do it in less than two days and arrive on your doorstep in that timeframe.
FOREMAN: Worst pop culture problem, "keeping up with the Kardashians" amid news of multiple pregnancies as fall rolled in.
Best way to save up for the kids' college, maybe Bitcoin. The online currency which saw huge spikes in value this year.
Worst word, although also the most hilarious, covfefe.
Best decoration for the den, this painting by Da Vinci which went for a record breaking $450 million.
CUPP: Someone, somewhere, has that kind of money to spend on art, that's nice. That's nice. Proud of you.
FOREMAN: Worst delivery, the potato chip cans authorities say were used by a California man to smuggle king cobras.
And best heroes for our times, that guy in South Carolina who went to a waffle house late, found everyone asleep and cooked his own breakfast creating an internet sensation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Keep your waffles warm. We will be right back with some excellent wishes for next year in the final reel of "all the best, all the worst 2017."
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[19:58:20] FOREMAN: Well, the bad movie that was 2017 is done. It's time to roll the credit and sweep the floor. But we have just enough time for a few wishes and predictions from out suit sayers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: My wish for 2018 is even that people from different sides can't come to an agreement, at least we can walk away from a discussion feeling like we understood where the other person is coming from even if we don't agree with it.
PAEGE: I would like to see more happiness among American people.
BERMAN: My wish for America would be, you know, a couple gold medals in the luge. We can achieve that, who knows. There's no limit to what we can achieve as a country.
V. JONES: My wish is we will remember, we can vote against each other but we don't have to hate each other.
CUPP: I think my wish for America for 2018 would be to be a bit nicer on social media.
HONG: My wish for next year is for world peace and harmony and an absolutely blistering report on the Russia investigation.
B. JONES: Just get along, how about that?
DEOL: OK, this interview's over. This is the rest of the interview now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: And so is our show.
We would like to say thanks to our guests and to you for watching. On behalf of everyone at "Anderson Cooper 360" and the CNN family worldwide, I'm Tom Foreman.
Wishing you all the best and none of the worst in 2018.
