Highs and Lows

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GOOD YEAR

BAD YEAR

Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars selfie was the most retweeted photo of all time

SELFIES

ABC’s Selfie was one of the first fall TV shows to get canceled

Chris Pratt emerged as a silver-screen It boy

CHRISES

Chris Christie faced fallout from #Bridgegate

Interstellar made wormholes cool, if no less confusing

HOLES

The mystery holes appearing in Siberia were terrifying, also confusing

Guardians of the Galaxy rescued the summer box office

PROTECTORS

The U.S. Secret Service let an interloper into the White House

Honey Maid was praised for ads featuring diverse families

HONEY

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was axed over reports of Mama June’s dating a sex offender

Pitbull and Kesha’s “Timber” topped the Billboard Hot 100

THINGS YOU YELL

Yo, an app that lets users send “yo” to each other, was widely mocked

Showtime announced a fresh season of Twin Peaks

MOUNTAINS

Big-budget volcano flick Pompeii combusted at the domestic box office

The World Cup spawned America’s most watched soccer game ever

FOOTBALL

The NFL faced several high-profile domestic- violence scandals

British barrister Amal Alamuddin wedded George Clooney

LAWYERS

John Grisham apologized for saying some child-porn punishments are too harsh

Cartoonist Alison Bechdel received a MacArthur “genius” grant

ALISONS

Kentucky’s Alison Lundergan Grimes was defeated in a bid for the Senate

J.K. Rowling published several new Harry Potter stories

HARRYS

Fake-royal reality show I Wanna Marry Harry got yanked midseason

Kim Kardashian “broke the Internet” by posing nude for Paper magazine

KIMS

Kim Jong Un broke his ankles, according to numerous reports

Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love” popularized the word surfbort

BOOZE

Fireball Cinnamon Whisky was recalled in three countries

Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” was Billboard’s official Song of the Summer

FANCINESS

Foodies were still barred from buying foie gras in California

Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent cast a spell on ticket buyers

ONE-NAME MOVIES

So-so reviews spelled trouble for Melissa McCarthy’s Tammy

True-crime audio saga Serial became the most popular podcast ever

HOMOPHONES

Sales of cold cereal, the breakfast-table stalwart, continued to slip