This is the time of year when “best of” lists, “biggest stories” lists and the like make up for the fact that most of this country is on vacation (if not physically, at least mentally) and it’s pretty dang hard for the news media to come up with enough copy (in print, online or to broadcast) every day.

But what about those moments in your favorite (or even not-so-favorite) shows that pretty much made you swallow your tongue with shock or fall off the sofa with laughter? What about those singular moments that just left you sitting where you were, long after the credits rolled, saying, “WTF?” And how about those moments that just made you mad.

Your friends here at Remote Access wracked our brains for the moments that most shocked, amused, confused and infuriated us over the past year.

With that, we present you with the following:

We laughed so hard we fell off the sofa

• 30 Rock: Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) impersonating the extended family and neighbors of Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan). If you didn’t see this, get thee to wherever it is that NBC is webcasting its shows these days. NOW.
Oh, and then there was also the musical montage of Liz and Floyd’s trip to Cleveland.
And although it was exceedingly obvious that Jenna’s award was fake, if you didn’t choke on your tongue when you found out it was a cookie, you have no sense of humor. At. All.

• Emmy Awards: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert giving Ricky Gervais’ award to Steve Carell.

• Human Giant: Cast members controlled the MTV airwaves for 24 consecutive hours.

• Jericho: The chat Mimi the IRS auditor (Alicia Coppola) had with a chicken she’s about to kill for dinner. Amy really didn’t like Mimi until that moment. But as Mimi explains to the chicken why she has to kill it, Amy couldn’t help but finally, reluctantly, fall in love with her:

You have to understand. It’s nothing against you personally. You’re wonderful. But let’s be logical. You’re the one of all the chickens who lays the fewest eggs. And I distinctly remember telling all of you that this was going to happen; I made that very clear. And if you knew me … it would be very funny because this is so not my thing … this is Stanley’s thing. Yeah. Don’t get me wrong here, I just cannot eat anymore sprouts and I am SO hungry. [She moves forward with the hatchet, but then sits back.] Here’s my concern: I’ve heard a lot of stories about what happens when people do this … and I know if I see half of you running around I am really going to freak out. So if you could just minimize that part, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks to the Jericho wiki for this transcription

• Project Runway: Tim Gunn’s unintentional double-entendre: “I’ve made more bad decisions at 3 o’clock in the morning than I can list.”

• Saturday Night Live: The “Iran” video. Once you watch it, you’ll never look at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the same way again. Really.
Oh, and the spoof of Sundance Channel’s “Iconoclasts,” with Charles Barkley (Kenan Thompson) and Björk (Kristen Wiig).

• The Office: Jim Halpert hiding from Karen in Michael’s PT Cruiser outside Dunder-Mifflin Utica as Michael and Dwight sneak inside dressed as warehouse workers to try and steal the branch’s industrial copier. Steve Carell’s and Rainn Wilson’s play-by-play was genius:

Take her to a motel, make love to her Jim. Come on, Jim, just climb on top of her and think about Stanley.

We sobbed uncontrollably

• Jericho: If you didn’t cry when Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) died, you have no soul.

• The Mets: Their September collapse. Hey — it was on TV, and Brian cried a lot. Sue him.

• Smallville: Really, this should have been a tearjerker, even though it wasn’t, Jenny reports, so we’re including it here anyway. After six excruciating seasons of Clark’s having to keep his true identity a secret, Lana finally finds out the truth on her own but is then blackmailed into silence. Then, this season, Lana and Clark are finally re-united, with both parties knowing all. For six years I had visions of that moment, with Lana and Clark falling into each other’s arms, finally able to express their love and with no mysteries between them. They’d live at the Kent farm, happily ever after—or at least for a little while. But nooooo…. Their reunion is friendly at best. No romance, no weeping with relief, no thoughts about and plans of a joyous future together. Instead, they live practically platonically. Might as well be Ma and Pa Kettle just workin’ the farm. Jeez, thanks for nuthin’!

We said, “OMG! WTF?”

• American Idol: Blake Lewis’ beatbox session with Doug E. Fresh, stealing the finale from eventual winner Jordin Sparks.

• Battlestar Galactica: You can’t tell me that when Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) appeared at the end of the season finale, you didn’t stand up and start screaming at your television, “What the frak!?!? That’s how you’re going to end it? And I’ve gotta wait until WHEN to see more?” It was awesome, though, wasn’t it? And Tigh’s a Cylon? Talk about huge…

• Chuck: Bryce Larkin (Michael Bomer) is alive. No way!

• Curb Your Enthusiasm: Cheryl dumps Larry, and Larry marries Loretta. Just, wow. Please, God, bring Curb back for a seventh season.

• Dirty Sexy Money: It shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise, considering that she was having an affair during most of their marriage, but it was still shocking when Tish told her hubby, Tripp, that one of his children wasn’t actually his. And instead of us finding out which kid it was at the same time that Tripp found out, the show kept us wondering for a few more episodes before revealing that the Rev. Brian Darling was really the Rev. Brian George — and Nick’s half brother. Of course, this being DSM, Brian’s reaction was played out with sardonic humor, especially during his subsequent encounters with Nick, his “new” half-brother, who was equally unthrilled by the news.

• Journeyman: When Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd) returns to the present after losing his digital camera in 1984, his son, Zac, is now his daughter, Caroline. And as distraught as he is about losing his son, his wife is equally fearful of him doing anything that will take her little girl away. Talk about your moral dilemma.

• Lost: The “snake in the mailbox” surprise ending that was a flash-forward, not a flashback. Heather nearly passed out. Unless you read one of the (grr!!!) spoilers that warned you this was coming, there was no way in hell you ever even remotely thought about guessing that this might be coming. Even if all of Season 3 had been a bust (which it wasn’t, by any stretch), this single episode would have more than made up for it. Just when you think you know what’s happening on this show, something comes along and makes you realize you haven’t the slightest, faintest bit of a clue. And you love it.

• The Sopranos: The non-ending ending: When was the last time a series finale so left fans wondering, “WHAT????” (Amy accused her husband of having hit some weird button on the remote.) David Chase’s cut-to-black, mid-lyric, has got to be the most frustrating, puzzling and talked about series endings. Ever. Add to that the fact that the preceding 58 minutes or so were full of … nothing, and you have a huge puzzlement of a series finale.

• The Super Bowl: Prince’s epic halftime show, pretty much the best. Halftime. Show. Ever.

• Video Music Awards: Specifically, Britney Spears’ “performance.” Heather says the pop tart verified her reputation as a tabloid train wreck with her drugged-up performance at MTV’s VMAs in September. What exactly was wrong with a routine so scary that it frightened 50 Cent? Take your pick. Brit-Brit’s weed-whacked hair extensions? The three-sizes-too-small costume that may have been stolen from a Pussycat Doll? The sloppy lip-synching? The sluggish (and possibly Valium-induced) dancing? All in all, a sad commentary on how low one of America’s sweethearts (and the mother of two toddlers) has fallen.

We found these to be craptacular

• American Idol: Sanjaya Malakar eliminates far superior finalists en route to finishing in 7th place.

• Bionic Woman: The extreme disappointment this show was. We had every right to expect the moon, but were let down. Tremendously.

• Deadwood: Its slow, painful and premature demise.

• Heroes: The Season 1 finale, particularly when Hiro kills Sylar by stabbing him with his sword. Seriously? The indestructible, all-powerful evil madman gets snuck up on and stabbed to death?

• Mitch Albom: After thoroughly enjoying 2004’s wonderfully written and expertly cast TV movie The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Jenny eagerly awaited Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. Albom wrote both screenplays, but you’d never know it, given the time Jenny spent wondering when the story was going to start pick up. One More Dayâ€? was about a suicidal former baseball player (Michael Imperioli) who’s granted another day with his dead mother (Ellen Burstyn). Besides having enjoyed Five People, Jenny was especially interested in this telefilm after having lost her father a few years ago and wondering what it would be like being able to spend one more day with him. In short, the premise was intriguing but poorly carried out, and she can think of 10 other actors who would have been more suited to the role rather than Imperioli, an otherwise a fine actor.

• Saturday Night Live: Foo Fighters, advertised as the musical guest, only singing one song versus the two sung by host Bon Jovi. Boo, says Chris, hiss!

• The Office: Pam Beesly gets back together with Roy, despite encyclopedias worth of reasons why he was not her Mr. Right. That three-episode arc was the second-lowest point of Season 3, right after the ill-conceived, badly executed Casino Night flashback from Gay Witch Hunt, but Brian recognizes that was 2006, so…

• The Writers’ Strike: While there are many good reasons for the strike, it’s had many bad effects, too. Chief among them, Chris believes, is that it made The Office end on possibly the most depressing episode in series history.

Feel free to share your thoughts, and your picks, in the comments.

From the “minds” of Jenny Higgons, Brian Howard, Heather Salerno, Chris Serico and Amy Vernon.

Photos courtesy of NBC, HBO, Fox and CBS.