By popular demand

Perhaps you think the market is already flooded with award shows for people who are good at what they do, but at the end of the day, they're not exactly saving lives or curing world hunger. And you’d be right. The ACAs is a bit of an exception, however, because this is the only country music awards show that allows the fans to decide. It’s a bit like a star-studded American Idol for country music. Award shows where the consumers/fans decide are a bit more fun, because that typically means we have a dog in the race and someone to root for.

Unique categories

And by unique categories, we don’t mean “Best person to pick brown M&Ms out of the bowl for country music’s biggest diva.” You have to admit, some of the award categories can get a little far-fetched at times. While there is a lot of crossover between the ACA and CMA categories, ACA kicked it up a notch and threw in “Touring Artist of the Year.” There is probably more than one country music artist who works their tail off on tour and thinks recognition of this kind is long overdue.

A break from the Taylor Swift Show

Sometimes when you tune into a country music awards show it can start to feel like this: blah, blah, blah Taylor Swift, blah, blah, blah Carrie Underwood, blah, blah, blah Taylor Swift. After a bit you start to think, Is this a country music awards show or did I tune into the Taylor Swift Show? For example, Kipp Moore’s "Somethin’ 'Bout a Truck" was and still is wildly popular, even for folks with only a nodding acquaintance with country music. And yet, he was mysteriously absent from the CMA nominee roster. The ACAs are recognizing a few artists that country music fans love, but who didn’t make the CMA cut.

Drama-free

There is one thing notably absent from the ACAs: drama. You decide whether or not that’s a good thing. One could argue that the ACAs is still a baby award show and hasn’t found its legs in the drama department. But where we can usually count on other award shows to bring us misbehaved celebrities, the ACAs to date have been pretty tame. Oh, sure, Trace Adkins tried to generate a little controversy by wearing a Confederate flag earpiece recently, but that was before the show. We’ll have to tune in this year to see if the ACAs will catch up to its peers in the scandal department.

Image courtesy Judy Eddy/WENN.com

Shiloh Pitt

Santa had to think long and hard about what to get Shiloh for Christmas. She’s already been to places most Americans won’t see in their lifetime. In fact, she was born in Africa! Mom is often photographed coming out of a toy store with her brood, so Shiloh doesn’t want for much. After some head-scratching, Santa has decided to get Shiloh Pitt a haircut and a vacation villa in Bora Bora. A little elf told Santa that Shiloh gets sick and tired of all the noise and sharing that comes with being surrounded by so many other children. Shiloh will get to leave the Pitt pack behind and go chill out by herself, for some much-needed R & R.

Image courtesy Will Alexander/WENN.com

Suri Cruise

It's been a tough year for this little one after Mommy dumped Daddy on his head. Santa knows he can’t bring Suri’s parents back together for her, but he can do something to make her life better. Recognizing that little Suri has more designer clothes than most grown women, Santa has decided to convert one of the rooms in Suri’s house to a second closet. There she can store all her adorable shoes, coats and hair ribbons. She’ll also have a place to retreat to in the event she needs to throw a tantrum. That should bring some order to this little one’s holiday.

Image courtesy Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com

Mason Disick

Santa loves this adorable little tyke. But he does feel bad for him, despite the life of privilege this little guy leads. He’s afraid Mason may grow up with a skewed view of how the world works. Perhaps baby Mason will think all people are beautiful. Perhaps he’ll think that people get famous for exploiting themselves. He may think it’s normal to have a camera record his every move, and worse, he may grow up thinking people care what he does and how he lives his life. So Santa is going to wrap up a clue and place it under the tree for Mason , and he’s going to include DVDs of the Cosby Show so Mason can get a grasp on what family life is supposed to be like.

Image courtesy Will Alexander/WENN.com

Honey Boo-Boo

Despite Honey Boo-Boo's surprising rise to fame, Alana and her family have several things they need for the holidays. Santa is leaving June Thompson, Honey Boo-Boo's mom, a fly-swatter because she’s forever swatting at the bugs that swarm her head, and a box of Kleenex for her on-camera sneezing fits. Good Ol’ St. Nick is leaving boxes of “sketti” under the tree for Alana, and piles of beauty pageant dresses so June won’t have to extreme-coupon anymore. Lastly, Santa is leaving Honey Boo-Boo a gift card for therapy, because Santa knows that poor little Boo-Boo is a train looking for a place to wreck.

Image courtesy WENN.com

Audrina Patridge

Dressing up in a sexy Santa suit isn’t the only way Audrina Patridge gets into the Christmas spirit. As it turns out, the reality star’s festive getup at a recent Bongo promotional event in Hollywood is only the tip of the iceberg. Other ways Patridge celebrates the season? Throwing Christmas shindigs at restaurants like The Den, gabbing about gift ideas for sisters and girlfriends on her blog and tweeting a picture of her pup Lady donning Christmas garb.

Sarah Drew

Talk about rockin’ around the Christmas tree! Grey’s Anatomy's Sarah Drew makes the most of Dec. 25 every year by hosting a Christmas party that would put Martha Stewart to shame — Drew and her husband gather around 400 of their closest friends and family, rent out a theater and enlist musician friends to entertain guests with live music. The star, who often spreads cheer volunteering, will have to lay off the eggnog and dancing this year — she’ll be eight months pregnant!

Mariah Carey

It’s no surprise Mariah Carey enjoys the holidays — the songstress has been churning out Christmas albums since the early ‘90s! This season, she’s already as busy as an elf in Santa’s workshop making her merry mark. In addition to kicking off the 80th Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at NYC’s Rockefeller Center, Carey’s rendition of “All I Want for Christmas is You,” featuring Jimmy Fallon and The Roots, has topped Billboard’s first 2012 Holiday Songs Chart.

Lauren Conrad

Lauren Conrad loves Christmas so much that she isn’t even ashamed to show off goofy old holiday pictures of herself as a child on her blog. One such picture shows a young LC displaying one of her most beloved holiday traditions… deviled eggs . Her delight in all things Christmas doesn’t stop at culinary endeavors, though — she also pumps her blog full of holiday posts about ways to give back, gift ideas, holiday wish lists and even holiday decor ideas.

Lucy Hale

Playing Aria on ABC Family’s hit show Pretty Little Liars, Lucy Hale generally spends her days on the set immersed in high-school drama, small-town scandal and, oh, you know, that pesky A who keeps murdering off people close to her. We can only imagine Christmas must be a welcome reprieve! To shift gears from morose to merry, Hale throws herself into the spirit of the season by helping others. This year, she’ll be the special guest at a benefit put on by the organization Together We Rise, which strives to improve the lives of kids in foster care.

Heidi Klum

Model, mommy, entrepreneur, television host… Heidi Klum seems to possess an endless amount of enthusiasm for whatever passion she pursues. Her affinity for holidays is certainly no secret — her annual Halloween parties are epic. Since she had to cancel this year’s in the wake of Sandy’s devastation, Klum decided instead to channel her holiday spirit into a “haunted Christmas party.” Just picture Heids dressed as Cleopatra and sitting on Santa’s lap and you’ve got the gist. The best part? The party was held to raise money for the Red Cross. Klum’s Claus-like benevolence continued after the party with distributing food and supplies to New Yorkers in need at a tree-lighting ceremony.

More on Christmas and the holiday season

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Get the Octomom under your tree this Christmas

Images, top to bottom, courtesy of: WENN.com, FayesVision/WENN.com, Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com, Josiah True/WENN.com, Alberto Reyes/WENN.com, Heidi Klum/Twitter

The classic quickie wedding

Really, what would a trip to Las Vegas be without a shotgun wedding? If we ever learned anything from Britney Spears , it’s that such spontaneous ceremonies don’t, in fact, stay in Vegas. The news of her union to Jason Alexander followed her home, where she filed for an annulment after a mere 55 hours. So which country superstar could we see exchanging vows before a satin-clad Elvis impersonator? Our money’s on Taylor Swift. Sure, she’s a good girl — but doesn’t that just make it more plausible that her first foray into wild ways might end in Sin City matrimony? Who knows… this time next week, Swift may be rocking a shiny dice ring courtesy of her current fling, One Direction’s Harry Styles.

Taylor Swift and Harry Styles spotted playing house>>

One embarrassing tattoo to go

Logically, opting to get inked up should not be a decision entered into lightly, yet countless City of Sin visitors inexplicably end up going under the needle during their weekends of debauchery. Obvious sanitation questions notwithstanding, the biggest issue here is mental clarity — something most people lack when they pour off the strip and into a tattoo parlor. Country newcomer Hunter Hayes, at 21 years old, seems a likely candidate to commit this Vegas crime. He’s young, he’s just breaking out in a big way, and he’s got gobs of new money to blow on the booze we suspect he can’t hold. Don’t be surprised if his souvenir from the American Country Awards trip happens to be a back tatt of Stevie Wonder’s head. Just sayin’.

Hunter Hayes is 'Wanted'>>

And you thought those pay-per-view movies were pricey

Maybe we’ve seen The Hangover movies one too many times, but — with so many brazen country personalities coming to town — odds seem stacked in favor of at least one trashed hotel room during the course of the American Country Awards in Las Vegas. While the boys of Rascal Flatts likely won't be throwing a bachelor party, they probably will be letting off some much needed steam after logging long hours on tour. The evening might get off to a mild start, but someone will be chasing a live chicken through the suite before you know it. Throw Rascal Flatts’ buddies Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith into the mix, and you can pretty much guarantee someone will wake up on the roof or p*ssing next to Mike Tyson’s tiger.

Rascal Flatts overcomes career hiccups, releases epic new album>>

Images, top to bottom, courtesy of Andres Otero/WENN.com, Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com, Nikki Nelson/WENN.com

Moms who love them

A self-proclaimed sucker for pajama fun, mom of two in Seattle, Dana, says that she absolutely gets matching pajamas for her kids — and for her husband and herself when she can find the same ones in adult sizes as well.

Tara, a Los Angeles mom to a 2-year-old, shares that even her mom and sister join in the matching pajama craziness. They've been busting out the matching Christmas pajamas for the past three years now.

Moms who just say no

On the other side of the matching pajama scene, Kelli tells SheKnows that her own mother has been making her wear matching Christmas pajamas since she was a child and even now, Kelli's mom insists on matching pajamas for the entire family on Christmas morning. Oh, and they have to pose for a family picture. As soon as that picture has been snapped, Kelli promptly changes her clothes.

Angie, a mom of three, agrees that matching pajamas for the entire family are just too much. And she adds, "If you're going to put your husband in pajamas with penguins on them, at least don't post them on Facebook for the world to see."

No matter what side of the matching family pajamas debate you're on, there's no denying that there are some hilarious matching family pajamas out there and, lucky for you, we've found some of the best for this holiday season.

For families who insist on footie pajamas

If your motto is to go big or go home when it comes to matching holiday pajamas, you must make sure that those pajamas have feet on them. Thankfully, Etsy comes through with this pattern for One Piece Family Pajamas with Booties and a Hood . Pick your favorite holiday fabric and create the perfect pair of PJs for everyone in the family.

More on the holidays

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Easy Christmas crafts for kids
Holiday gifts for kids that inspire the imagination

Beyonce and Pepsi's new $50 million campaign is breaking ground in what a collaboration between an entertainer and a brand looks like. Not only does the soda company want the singer to do her song and dance, but to take the reins in the creative department as well!

"Pepsi embraces creativity and understands that artists evolve," Beyonce said in a statement announcing her whopping $50 million project. "As a businesswoman, this allows me to work with a lifestyle brand with no compromise and without sacrificing my creativity."

It's no surprise the "Run the World" singer, seen here modeling for House of Dereon, has teamed up with Pepsi for 2013. A new ad, set to run at the Super Bowl that she's headlining the halftime show for, will be her fifth for the company since their partnership began in 2002.

The New York Times reports the unique aspects of Beyonce’s $50 million partnership will be collaborative works that are as of yet not only undefined, but "might well have no explicit connection to Pepsi products."

Ideas being tossed around during the brainstorming stage include live events, videos, "a cool photo shoot" or almost anything else, said Lee Anne Callahan-Longo, the general manager of Parkwood Entertainment, Beyonce’s company.

Beyonce HBO documentary on the way >>

"It’s wise for a brand like Pepsi to give an artist the ability to truly express herself,” said Ms. Callahan-Longo, "instead of just the old-school way of, 'Do you want to be in an advertisement?'"

"This is much bigger," she added. "This is, 'How can we create something together that is truly unique?'"

Here's a look back at Pepsi's 2009 collaboration with Britney Spears, Pink and Beyonce:

Image via WENN

Roll up the sleeves on your Christmas sweater, don your apron and break out that rolling pin — it's time to bake everyone's favorite holiday treats.

Holiday baking tips
for the home chef

Before you get started, check out these tips from professional baker Rana Abla, owner of Sableh Sweet & Savory.

Pro baker Rana Abla makes her living baking delicious treats for people year-round. But only those of us lucky enough to live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas can enjoy her sweets for now. Besides, during the holidays, you'll probably want to bake your family's favorites. Rana offers these 25 tips for turning out delicious cookies, cakes and more. She even shared one of her personal family recipes .

What you need to know about ingredients

• Unless otherwise specified in the recipe, all ingredients should be room temperature. Take most ingredients out of the refrigerator 60 to 90 minutes before you start cooking.
• To bring butter to room temperature quickly, you can cut it into small cubes on a plate and let it stand for about 15 minutes.
• Never substitute baking soda for baking powder or vice versa. Each has a different function.
• Unless the recipe says otherwise, always use all-purpose flour.
• Unless the recipe says otherwise, always use unsalted butter for baking.
• Semisweet and bittersweet chocolate are interchangeable. Semisweet chocolate is dark chocolate. Bittersweet is extra dark.
• Out of buttermilk? No problem. Just add a teaspoon of vinegar for each cup of homogenized milk and stir.
• When a recipe calls for eggs, it typically means Grade A large eggs.
• When a recipe calls for milk, it typically means homogenized whole milk.
• While it may affect the texture, color and flavor, it's OK to substitute light brown sugar for dark brown.
• For the best results, always use pure vanilla extract. It makes a huge difference.
• A pinch of salt brings out the flavors in sweet baked goods.

Pro techniques every home chef should learn

• The most important thing is to read the entire recipe before you start baking and follow it exactly, especially the first time.
• Baking is an exact science. Measure all your ingredients carefully, using a glass measuring cup for wet ingredients and regular cups and teaspoons for dry ingredients.
• Get a separate thermometer to ensure an accurate temperature reading — most ovens run a little hotter or colder than the display temperature.
• Always wait for the oven to reach temperature before putting cakes or cookies in the oven.
• A hand mixer works as well as a stand mixer.
• Sifting is important, but you don't need a sifter. The best way to sift flour is in a bowl with a regular old whisk!
• The best way to sift cocoa powder is by running it through a mesh strainer.
• Use shiny baking sheets. Dark or burned sheets absorb heat faster and may cause cookies to burn.
• Cookies should be baked uniform in size and thickness, so use a level spoonful for drop cookies and a sharp, thin-bladed knife for slicing refrigerator rolls.
• Don't overmix once the dry ingredients are added. Just mix on low until incorporated.
• To retrieve stray eggshells in a mixture, use the emptied half-shell. Eggshell sticks to eggshell.
• Once a cake is completely cooled, wrap cake layers in plastic wrap and place them in the freezer for half an hour before cutting and/or icing them.
• Every time you make cookie dough, leave it in the fridge for two to four hours. It gives the dough a chance to rest and the flavors a chance to come together.

Tatyana's chocolate cookie recipe

While she doesn't sell this family recipe in her shop, Rana's been making these simple cookies, her daughter Tatyana's favorite, for years. As a special holiday treat, she's sharing this secret recipe with SheKnows' readers.

Yields 25-30

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 8 ounces mini chocolate chips
• 4 ounces dark chocolate , chopped into chunks
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3. In a covered microwave-safe bowl on medium power, microwave butter until melted. Allow it to cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla until smooth.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon .
6. Stir in all the chocolate.
7. Scoop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared pans, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.
8. Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will be soft in the center.
9. Using a spatula, transfer the hot cookies onto a rack to cool.

Rana always has to make sure her sweets are packaged as beautifully as they taste. We asked her if she had any tips for people giving edible holiday gifts, and she gave us a little advice.

"Packaging the goodies is another important step, and here you can pretty much do whatever you want, from simple to very elaborate," she says. "You can use a clear bag and 'joujet' it up with a beautiful ribbon and attach the recipe. Or you can place them in a box, decorate it with ribbon and attach an ornament."

She also suggests getting a beautiful basket and placing the cookies in it with the recipe, a rolling pin, cookie cutters and a baking book to make a lovely baking-themed gift for a fellow foodie. She invites you to check out her Facebook page or her website to "steal" as many packaging ideas from her as you can!

About Rana Abla

Rana Abla is a self-taught chef in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. Having cooked with her mother since she was a child, she's turned her passion into profit at her shop, Sableh Sweet & Savory, where her signature cookie is the French sable.

More cookie recipes

Rum and Coke cookies
Chocolate pistachio cookies
Chocolate chip lemon cookies

Perfect Comebacks...

:
Chuck: I take it you've decided to have Lola move in for the summer.
Nate: She sleeps here every night, I want to see her every day. I figure why not?
Chuck: This place could use a woman's touch.
Bart: Couldn't we all.

:
Blair: How much more do you need to see?
Dorota: Of duck pond? Not really my thing to begin with.

:
Chuck: You're a good friend.
Nate: One of us has to be.

:
Serena: Did I tell you he texts me every night before he goes to sleep? It's so sweet.
Blair: Sexting is not sweet. It's off-limits until you're in a relationship.

:
Chuck: You're lying.
Blair: I am not!
Chuck: Your eyes are doing that thing where they don't match your mouth.
Blair: I wasn't aware that robots got jealous. Did they update your software while I was away?

:
Chuck: Game's not over until I say it is.
Blair: Then go play with yourself.

Other brilliant one-liners...

Georgina about Nate : Why is the pretty, vacant one calling me?

Blair : Make a donation. Also include the ballet, the opera. Skip MoMa. Tim Burton isn't art. I stand by that statement.

Chuck to Blair : You won't marry anyone else, you're mine.

Chuck : The world you're looking at only exists from the outside. The only reason I survive in it is that I always knew it was empty.

Jack : I never realized how many sex puns you can make out of "Chuck Bass."

Blair : Ladies! You can give your tiny brains a rest. Once again, the world has proven: Anything you can do, I can do better.

Blair to Georgina : Haven't you heard? I'm the crazy b**** around here.

The ultimate line...

Blair: Why? Give me a reason... and "I'm Chuck Bass" doesn't count. The true reason I should stay right here where I am and not get in the car. Three words. Eight letters. Say it... that I'm yours.

Images courtesy of The CW

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It's the end of an era for John Krasinski. His hit show, perennial fan favorite The Office, is coming to an end this season, but rather than lament its loss the actor is just plain grateful that he's been able to live his dream.

"I was 23 when I got the show and now I'm 33 so that's a big important decade to be connected to one thing. I'm so honored to be a part of it and I wouldn't take back one second of it," Krasinski told Access Hollywood while promoting his new movie Promised Land.

"I was a waiter before the show, no one would know my name if it wasn't for the show and I never would have gotten these opportunities that I've had. Aside from the fact that I think it's one of the best shows ever, to be part of this family and this entity that we have is all great, but the truth is this is an era of my life."

While the end of that era is sure to be emotional, don't look for Krasinski to shed any tears until the absolute last minute.

John Krasinski credits The Office with his marriage>>

"I remember Steve [Carell]'s last day, the weeks leading up to it people were getting emotional and then the last day of shooting everybody was crying all over the place and I was like, 'Guys pull it together, it's going to be fine,'" he explained. "And then the last shot of the episode was my character is saying goodbye to him and then they call action and just out of nowhere [cries] and [I] just went up and hugged him."

"So then you have two grown men having an existential crisis on camera and they were like, 'None of this is on the script,' so hopefully I plan it a little better than I did then."

Krasinski's new flick Promised Land hits theaters Dec. 28.

Image courtesy WENN.com

The Australian DJs behind the tragic Kate Middleton hospital prank finally broke their silence two days after nurse Jacintha Saldanha's suicide in an unpaid and unedited interview.

The announcers — Mel Greig and Michael Christian — broke down in tears multiple times, telling A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw that they never expected the call to go anywhere.

"We thought a hundred people before us would have tried it. We just thought it was such a silly idea, and the accents were terrible," Greig said. "Not for a second did we expect to even speak to Kate, let alone have a conversation with anyone at the hospital. We wanted to be hung up on."

Kate Middleton leaves the hospital >>

Instead, they were patched through. The rest, of course, is history.

The pair was thrilled about their coup until they learned of Saldanha's suicide.

"Shattered, gutted, heartbroken and obviously our deepest sympathies are with the family [and] with the friends and all those affected," Christian said when asked how they felt.

"Obviously Mel and myself are incredibly sorry for this situation and what's happened. And we hope that they're doing okay and they're getting the love and support that they need and deserve right now, but personally I'm... gutted."

Brits taking bets on the royal baby >>

The pair voluntarily took themselves off their radio show for the foreseeable future.

"I don't even want to think about going back on air, to be honest," Greig said through tears.

Image courtesy WENN.com

It is one of the most successful partnerships in Hollywood: Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon have been married for 24 years and show no signs that the fire is burning out any time soon. So what's their secret?

The 47-year-old actress told Good Housekeeping that her husband's values keep the respect in their marriage — and it doesn't hurt that he treats her like a queen!

Top 10 strongest celeb couples>>

"He is so honorable," Sedgwick told the mag. "He is so ethically true. He has high moral standards, and he doesn't lie and he doesn't cheat — and I find that sexy!"

"I don't know how he does it, but he always makes me feel like I'm the most beautiful woman in the room — the only girl in the room," she revealed.

"He says, 'Honey, you look beautiful. You are sexy!' Always, always, always!"

Kyra Sedgwick still craving Bacon 23 years later >>

The former Closer star and her 54-year-old hubby are now in the midst of their second honeymoon phase since their two children, 23-year-old Travis and 20-year-old Sosie, have flown the coop and left them with an empty nest of a Manhattan apartment.

"There's a lot more walking around the house naked now!" she said.

Read the complete interview with Kyra Sedgwick in the January issue of Good Housekeeping.

Image courtesy WENN.com

Read more Kyra Sedgwick

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Seriously, why spend a ton of money when you can just make a super cute Christmas tree instead? This festive veggie platter will be the talk of the party, and you can smile knowing it took you less than 10 minutes and cost you less than $10 to make! 'Tis the season to be crafty .

Vegetable and cheese Christmas tree platter recipe

Serves about 8

Inspired by Pillsbury

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups fresh broccoli
• 1 package grape tomatoes
• 1/3 cup white cheddar cheese, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup carrots, sliced

Directions: 

1. Arrange the broccoli florets on a large serving platter in the shape of a tree. Place tomatoes in horizontal lines along the tree to make a garland. Sprinkle chopped carrots over the florets to make brightly colored ornaments.
2. To form the base, stack the white cheddar cheese cubes in a stump formation. Using the yellow cheddar cheese, make an asterisk shape and place that on the top of the tree.
3. Serve with your favorite vegetable dipping sauce!

More holiday inspired recipes

Christmas cocktail recipes
Traditional Mexican Christmas recipes
Gluten-free Christmas treats

AFI has revealed its top 10 of 2012., assessing the year in film and television and selecting the best from the pack. When it comes to movies, there are a variety genres and AFI managed to tap most of them. So who made the list?

The Dark Knight Rises three-peats first place at box office>>

AFI ran the gamut in film, leaving no stone unturned. 2012 had its fair share of superhero movies such as The Amazing Spider-Man and The Avengers, but only The Dark Knight Rises piqued AFI's interest. The Christopher Nolan film was joined by musical Les Miserables, slave drama Django Unchained, awkward love story Silver Linings Playbook and many more.

HBO to kick off 2013 with Girls and Enlightened>>

As for TV, cable ruled as 9 out of the 10 selections were from paid networks. The lone broadcast show was ABC's Modern Family. Over the course of their four seasons, the Pritchetts and Dunphys have managed to stay on top of their game. They joined the likes of HBO's Girls and Game of Thrones, as well as AMC's Mad Men and The Walking Dead.

Check out the rest of TV and film's best below:

AFI's Top 10 Films of 2012

• Argo
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Django Unchained
• Les Miserables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Zero Dark Thirty

AFI's Top 10 TV Shows of 2012

• American Horror Story
• Breaking Bad
• Game Change
• Game of Thrones
• Girls
• Homeland
• Louie
• Mad Men
• Modern Family
• The Walking Dead

This year's honorees will be celebrated at a private luncheon on Jan. 11 in Los Angeles.

What do you think of AFI's picks? Is anyone missing from the lists?

Photo credit: WENN

It's official: Watching Parenthood is even more stressful than experiencing parenthood.

On this week's episode, a lot of great things are bound to happen. Hopefully Julia, Joel, Victor and Syd will be able to bond and have some seriously wonderful family times. Meanwhile, Crosby and Jasmine will celebrate their first Christmas as an old married couple. That ought to be sweet. Then, somewhere along the way, someone makes a disparaging remark about Grandpa Zeek's childhood hero and, never one to let things go, he'll spend the rest of the episode trying to redeem said hero.

However, there will be other aspects of the show that are far from chipper and amusing.

Last time we saw Ryan , he'd just walked off Joel's job site after accidentally breaking a window and was drowning his pain in pills and soda. He never told Amber what happened, and this week, Julia will break the news to her.

Watch:

Then there's Kristina's ongoing battle with cancer. As we saw in last week's preview, it looks as if things are about to get rough. She'll take a turn for the worse and end up back in the hospital. Not good. Will Haddie come home for the holidays to be with her mom?

Finally, we catch up with the freshly single Sarah . She and Mark appear to be officially over. Despite trying to take it in stride, she seems mildly disappointed. At the same time, she's acting more like she lost a friend or an acquaintance than a guy to whom she was once betrothed. Our best bets and deepest desires are that her lack of tears is proof she's already in love with Hank .

Here's hoping everyone makes it through the holidays with relatively few tears shed.

Image and video courtesy of NBC

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Parenthood recap: Trouble in Candyland
Parenthood: The Luncheonette's very special visitor
Parenthood recap: One more weekend with you

Stephen Colbert has been dabbling in politics for a while, but it's been largely a publicity stunt related to the presidential campaign and his show, The Colbert Report. Until now.

Colbert has been “campaigning” on his show, telling his viewers to send South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley messages on Twitter, explaining why he should be the next senator for the state. Current senator Jim DeMint will be leaving his position this year, and the state is looking for his replacement. But for Colbert, this time it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

“According to a new poll released Monday afternoon by Public Policy Polling, Colbert tops the wish list of possible Senate replacements,” said the Huffington Post, “with 20 percent polled wishing to send him to the Senate. His closest runner-up is Tim Scott at 15 percent.”

Colbert is a native of South Carolina, but may have ruined his chances before he even started. Earlier this year, he had Governor Haley on his show and made what appears to be a mistake too big to take back.

“Haley responded Friday on her Facebook page with a link to her April appearance on Colbert's show, where the host, who was raised in Charleston, did not know the state beverage is milk,” according to the Associated Press. “Haley wrote that was a 'big mistake.'"

Of course it’s hard to tell if Colbert is joking about the campaign, and it's also hard to tell if Haley is joking in return. But the numbers don’t lie, and it’s actually possible Colbert could eventually be given the appointment. If nothing else, it would definitely bring some notoriety to the state.

When Colbert asked his viewers to tweet the governor, he asked them to use the hashtag #SenatorColbert. Thousands of messages came in offering support for Colbert’s appointment.

Photo courtesy WENN.com

Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen have a lot in common. They both consider themselves misunderstood, and that attitude has cost them. For Charlie Sheen, it was his job on Two and a Half Men. For Lohan, it was multiple things, including her freedom. So when they met on the set of Scary Movie 5, they really hit it off.

It hit the media recently that Lohan owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and Sheen took that opportunity to help out a friend. He sent her a check for a reported $100,000 to help cover the $233,000 bill. But apparently Lohan didn’t appreciate it.

“I’m still waiting for a text to say ‘thank you,’” Sheen told Entertainment Tonight recently. “Anything, you know?”

ABC News got ahold of a rep for Sheen who confirmed he did in fact give the actress money to help her out, but wouldn’t say how much it was for.

“Sheen, no stranger to trouble, said he wished ‘the best’ for Lohan, adding that she’s ‘a very good and decent young lady that is just going through a lot,’” said ABC News.

The actor laughed during the interview though, and doesn’t really seem upset he hasn’t gotten as much as a thank you. But he’s obviously still thinking about it.

“She just needs a little bit of time,” he told ET, according to ABC. “People need to give her time to get her s*** together.”

Just last week, the IRS reportedly seized Lohan’s bank account for the failure to pay the remainder of the unpaid tax bills. But the actress doesn’t seem upset in the slightest.

“Lohan was snapped last Friday leaving New York City’s Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden with rumored new beau Max George of the British boy band Wanted,” said ABC. “Later, on Saturday, she tweeted a picture of George’s sweatshirt along with the words, ‘Missing something?’”

She may have reached full groupie status at this point, and here’s to hoping she isn’t paying for the dates with Sheen’s money.

Photo courtesy WENN.com

The American Country Awards kicked off Monday night from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. While fans select the winners and losers at the ACAs, SheKnows brings you our top picks for the night's best dressed — and the results are a bit surprising.

Lauren Alaina — an American Idol alumni — showed off her fabulous tan and super-cute haircut in a gorgeous buttercup chiffon dress with tasteful crystal embellishments. The cool reverse razorback cut on Alaina's chest showed just the right amount of cleavage. We love how Alaina's look is super glamorous and sexy without being vulgar. Just perfect for a teenage country music star.

American Country Awards host Kristin Chenoweth blew us away in her beautiful royal-blue satin gown. The dress fit Kristin perfectly and we love how the dress seemed to make Chenoweth glide on the red carpet. Kristin paired her evening look with the perfect statement jewelry and softly styled hair, great additions to highlight the design of her gown.

American Idol is certainly well represented at this year's ACAs. We love Casey James' modern take on the traditional blazer and dress shirt. The steely grey jacket was tailored nicely and paired with a distressed denim jean. Given James' blond hair and blue eyes, the color palate was a fantastic choice for the 30-year-old singer-songwriter from Texas. The best part of Casey's outfit was his cowboy boots, which featured an intricate design on the toe.

The dramatic and figure-flattering pattern of Rachele's bandage dress was seriously cool. We love the use of teal and white to create a dramatic look. However, Lynae's amazing dress was hampered by her accessory choices: the shoes, purse, and jewelry look like they are pulled from different outfits. We would have gone with a sexy black stiletto instead of snakeskin pumps and a soft large envelope clutch. Also, an updo would have suited the V-neck style of the dress. At the end of the day, however, Rachele's great dress puts her in our fourth spot for best dressed at the American Country Awards.

Carrie Underwood looked great as always in her above-the-knee peach ensemble. The intricate beading was effortless and Underwood's hair and makeup made the look seem breezy. Our only complaint is the look is a bit expected from one of our favorite country style icons.

Photo credits: Getty Images

For a country music award show, the fashion is a little different. This gives the performers and attendees a chance to branch out, but that branch can become a double-edged sword. For the worst-dressed at the 2012 American Country Awards, our choices all look like they wanted to try something a little different.

In this case, maybe Payton Rae should have attempted to stay with her country roots, because this attempt to branch out went in the wrong direction. The dress, along with her long blond hair, resembles what Barbie might wear… in the clearance section. The sheer tulle skirt is not helping, and are those feathers?

While the dress is a valiant attempt at classiness, Carmen Electra was way off target. Her white gown looked half like she was attempting the goddess look, and half like she was dressed in her curtains. Not to mention the white straps going in all directions across her body. If Electra is attempting to become some sort of style icon with this daring outfit, she was wrong.

We love Miranda Lambert; we really do. The singer is at the height of her career, and is even married to singer Blake Shelton. But she has made some odd fashion choices this year. After the debacle with her dress at the Country Music Awards, you'd think she would have sat down and thought long and hard about her choices at the ACAs. While she did go in a different direction, it was just as bad. The short dress covered about every other part of her, besides her legs, from the long sleeves to the turtle neck. And lets face it, it was just too tight. Lambert has an amazing body, but the size of the dress was too distracting to show what she really has.

Jason Aldean is a great example of someone trying to try something new, but for him, he probably should have stuck to what he's used to. There were a lot of guys on the red carpet making interesting choices, but because the rest of them could be chalked up to just being "too country," Aldean hit the top of our worst-dressed list. We could forgive the too-tight jeans. We could maybe even forgive the chain attached to those jeans. But the jacket he chose was beyond forgiveness. That jacket, made of what appears to be pleather laid in a criss-cross pattern, was shapeless and made no sense with the rest of the outfit or the event. The sad part is he probably wouldn't have made the list without that jacket, but it left us confused.

Photo credits: Getty Images

The American Country Awards certainly delivered. The show was entertaining and fun, but there's one aspect we weren't prepared for: the amazingly graceful acceptance speeches. Maybe we're just used to Taylor Swift's annoying way of gasping, but these country stars were genuinely shocked and humbled to win. Their mentions of God, fans and loving life and family was really heartwarming. Maybe that's what country really is all about: God, family and love.

Jake Owen for Breakthrough Artist of the Year

Jake Owen looked great in his white suit jacket and humbly accepted his award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. He thanked his wife and celebrated the birth of his first child, a girl. "I just had the most beautiful baby girl two weeks ago, and just when I thought things could not get any better, things keep rolling. I love my wife, my baby and my mom back home." Awww — our hearts are melting.

Lauren Alaina for New Artist of the Year

We couldn't help getting a little teary ourselves as 18-year-old Lauren Alaina accepted her award for New Artist of the Year at the American Country Awards. She tearfully thanked God, gracefully thanked American Idol, and seemed genuinely overwhelmed with the fact that she had won. Alaina took to her Twitter account and gave a very excited video speech that shows this girl has not lost her down-to-Earth style. She tweeted, "HOLY CPAP!!!! I love y'all" with a link to her video speech from her hotel room after the American Country Awards. We're truly happy for you, Alaina!

Photo courtesy of Judy Eddy / WENN.com