You voted. We tallied. Here are The Avocado’s favourite media works and most memorable comments of 2023.

Without further ado, let’s get to the awards!

Film

Hosted by Owen1120 [Ballots | Full results]

Best Film of 2023

This was a very close race, with the winner eking out a victory over the runner-up by just 4 points. Congratulations to Oppenheimer for winning, and to Barbie as well for coming in second place.

Here are the stats for the top 10:

#	Film	Points	Mentions
1	Oppenheimer	238	33
2	Barbie	234	37
3	Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse	228	32
4	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	150	23
5	Asteroid City	142	24
6	May December	134	17
7	Killers of the Flower Moon	121	15
8	Godzilla Minus One	109	14
9	John Wick: Chapter 4	104	18
10	Past Lives	79	17

Retrospective Best Film of 2022

This wasn’t quite as close a race, with a 52-point gap between the winner and runner-up. Congratulations to the winner, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and the runner-up, Tár.

Here are the stats for the top 10:

#	Film	Points	Mentions
1	Everything Everywhere All at Once	253	32
2	Tár	201	26
3	Nope	159	24
4	The Banshees of Inisherin	147	24
5	Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery	109	18
6	The Fabelmans	81	16
6	RRR	81	11
8	Decision to Leave	68	13
9	Aftersun	66	9
9	Top Gun: Maverick	66	13

Television

Hosted by El Santo [Ballots | Full results]

Best Comedy

This year’s winner was Reservation Dogs, and the runner-up was What We Do in the Shadows.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Barry
4. The Righteous Gemstones
5. Jury Duty
6. Only Murders in the Building
7. Abbott Elementary
8. I Think You Should Leave
9. Ted Lasso
10. Star Trek: Lower Decks

Fun fact: Reservation Dogs garnered more points than the runner-up, with 134 compared to 118, but What We Do in the Shadows garnered more votes, with 18 compared to 14.

Best Drama

This year’s winner was The Bear with 181 points, and the runner-up was The Last of Us with 164 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Succession
4. Beef
5. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
6. Scavengers Reign
7. Poker Face
8. Silo
9. Blue Eyed Samurai
10. Star Trek: Picard

Fun fact: Again, the runner-up got more total votes than the winner, with 22 as compared to 21.

Books

Hosted by man-in-the-moon-man [Ballots | Full results]

Best Fiction

This year’s winner was Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo, with 32 points. Very close behind in second place was Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, with 31 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Lone Women by Victor LaValle
4. Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
5. All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
6. Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
7. The Wager by David Grann
8. Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig
9. The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
10. Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

Fun fact: Out of the 48 books voted on, 37 appeared on only one ballot.

Best Non-Fiction

Only 8 people voted in this category, with 7 ranked ballots, and there was not a single work repeated across the ballots, so instead of declaring a single winner, I’m just going to say that there was a 7-way tie for first place. Congratulations to: The Story Of A Life by Konstantin Paulovsky; Spare by Prince Harry; Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright; The Translations of Seamus Heaney by Seamus Heaney; The Lost Songs of Omaha by Joe Sexton; Story of a Poem by Matthew Zapruder; and Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Michael Schulman.

Music

Hosted by Bresson [Ballots | Full Results]

Best Album

This year, we had a close race, with only three points separating the winner from the runner-up. Congratulations to the winner, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We by Mitski, and to the runner-up, Javelin by Sufjan Stevens.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Boygenius – The Record
4. Jessie Ware – That! Fells Good!
5. JPEGmafia x Danny Brown – SCARING THE HOES
6. 100 Gecs – 10,000 Gecs
7. Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
8. The Hives – The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons
9. Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS
10. Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loveliest Time

Fun fact: Yet another case of a runner-up garnering more votes than the winner (12 vs. 9).

Best Song

Another extremely close race, with 1-point increments separating first, second, third, and fourth place. Congratulations to “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish for taking the trophy and to “Cosmic Leash” by Chris Farren for coming in second.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Troye Sivan – “Got Me Started”
4. Ratboys – “Black Earth, WI”
5. Caroline Polachek – “Welcome to My Island”
6. Boygenius “$20”
7. Troye Sivan – “Rush”
8. Olivia Rodrigo – “All-American B****”
9. Lana Del Rey – “Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd?”
10. Mitski – “My Love Is Mine All Mine”

Fun fact: 256 different songs were selected!

Best Live Show

This year’s winner is Japanese Breakfast with 24 points, and the runner-up is Taylor Swift with 16. Third place is a 13-way tie broken by randomization, so I’m not going to list the rest of the top 10.

Anime

Hosted by Lutair [Ballots | Full Results]

Watanabe Award for Best Anime Series

This year’s winner scored a runaway victory, with a whopping 118 points. Congrats to Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. Congrats as well to the runner-up, SPYxFAMILY, which earned a respectable 65 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Skip and Loafer
4. Pluto
5. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
6. Oshi No Ko
7. The Apothecary Diaries
8. Vinland Saga
9. Insomniacs After School
10. Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

Fun fact: Only 4 points separated the second- and third-place finishers.

Miyazaki Award for Best Anime Film

This year’s winner is Kaguya-sama: Love Is War – The First Kiss that Never Ends, with 49 points. The runner-up is Suzume, with 46.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. The Boy and the Heron
4. Oshi No Ko [debut episode]
5. The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit to Goodbyes
6. Sasaki to Miyano: Graduation
7. Fate/Strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn
8. Attack on Titan [compilation film]
9. Gridman Universe
10. Reincarnated as a Slime: The Movie

Fun fact: With The Boy and the Heron‘s 43 points, Miyazaki was 6 points away from potentially winning the award that bears his name.

Comics

Hosted by Mister Splendiferous [Ballots]

This year’s winner of the Jack Kirby Award for Best Comic Book is Batman/Superman – World’s Finest, with 50 points. And this year’s winner of the Mary Worth Award for Best Comic Strip or Webcomic is Wallace the Brave, with a massive 173 points. Congratulations to both winners!

Podcasting and Online Video

Hosted by Grumproro [Ballots | Full results]

Best Comedy Podcast

This year’s runaway winner was Blank Check, with 58 points. U Springin’ Springsteen on My Bean? came in second place, with 28 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. The Weekly Planet
4. We Hate Movies
5. Get Played
6. Suggestible
7. The Adventure Zone
8. Doughboys
9. How Did This Get Made
10. Comedy Bang Bang

Fun fact: While 30 points separated first and second place, only 8 points separated second and third.

Best Non-Comedy Podcast

The winner for this category was Star Wars podcast A More Civilized Age, with 41 points. If Books Could Kill came in second with 33 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Behind the Bastards
4. Triple Click
5. Remap Radio
6. You Must Remember This
7. The Lowe Post
8. The Iron Age of Comics
9. Axe of the Blood God
10. Pop Culture Happy Hour

Fun fact: We really love podcasts about video games! Three of them made it into the top ten: Triple Click; Remap Radio; and Axe of the Blood God.

Best YouTube Channel

Hbomberguy scored a runaway victory in this category, with 48 points. I guess that exposing plagiarists pays off! In a respectable second place, at 20 points, we have Mr Sunday Movies, separated from third place by a single point. Exciting!

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Drawfee
4. Todd in the Shadows
5. Folding Ideas
6. Patrick (H) Willems
7. MinnMax
8. Funhaus
9. Wrestling with Wregret
10. Claire Saffitz x Dessert Person

Fun fact: Hbomberguy had the most votes of any channel, with 7. The next most was Drawfee, with 3.

Video Games

Hosted by Merve [Ballots | Full results]

Aya Kyogoku Award for the Best Video Game of 2023

This year, we had a very close race, but in the end, it comes as no surprise that The Avocado’s game of the year is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, with 121 points. Our runner-up is Super Mario Bros. Wonder, with 117 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Baldur’s Gate 3
4. Pikmin 4
5. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
6. Resident Evil 4 Remake
7. Chants of Sennaar
8. Alan Wake 2
9. Final Fantasy XVI
10. Hi-Fi Rush

Fun fact: Super Mario Bros. Wonder actually earned more votes than Tears of the Kingdom (15 vs. 14). Funnily enough, Wonder was the second-place choice for a whopping 9 voters but the first-place choice of only one.

Jerry Lawson Award for the Retrospective Best Video Game of 2022

This was an extremely close contest, with a 1-point margin of victory. In a stunning upset, our retrospective game of 2022 is Kirby and the Forgotten Land, with 74 points. The runner-up is Elden Ring, with 73 points.

Rounding out the top 10:

3. Pentiment
4. NORCO
5. God of War Ragnarök
6. Horizon Forbidden West
7. Sonic Frontiers
8. Vampire Survivors
9. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
10. Neon White

Fun fact: Elden Ring was in first place on five ballots, as compared to Kirby and the Forgotten Land on two. However, Kirby earned one more vote overall (9 vs. 8).

Commenting Awards

Hosted by Merve [Votes]

Our annual awards show wouldn’t be complete without taking a second to honour you, the community. We have 29 awards to hand out, plus Hall of Fame inductions.

Let’s get to the awards!1Numbering starts at 2, because Hall of Fame nominations were numbered at #1. I should probably fix that for next year.

2. Best Discovery: The daily song in the politics thread, recommended by Headphone Princess [10 votes]
3. Best Comment – Funny: The Hayes Code, with an expert deployment of a Dr. Demento joke [32 votes]

4. Best Comment – Serious: Martha talks about appreciating film [11 votes]

5. Best Conversation: Will Henry’s AMA in the Comic Strip Club [23 votes]
6. Best Use of “The Avocado” as a Response: Councilman Les Wynan is having a rough time [16 votes]

7. Best Username: Tie between Disappointed Herod and Ebenezer Rouge (RED) [7 votes]
8. Best Avatar: Regular Potato Chip [5 votes]

9. Best Gimmick Account: The Taco Bell bell [34 votes]
10. Best Pet Photo: All of them! All your pets are wonderful! [18 votes]
11. Best Photoshop Job: No idea who made this image or what it’s referencing, but it garnered the most votes, so it’s your winner [8 votes]

12. Best OT or PT Header: The first weekend PT to feature bird photos in the header, by Dave Killsock [20 votes]
13. Best Meme Spiral: The butt spiral, for which Disqusted made a special spinning butt graphic [11 votes]
14. Best Recurring Thread: The Weekly LGBT+ Discussion, with a special shoutout to SadClown for drawing attention to both mainstream and niche LGBT media [19 votes]
15. Best One-Off Thread: 28 Days of Blackity-Black Songs, by Headphone Princess [20 votes]
16. Best Avocado Tournament: Best Video Game Song Tournament, 2017-2020, run by Katie [8 votes]
17. Best 30-Day Challenge (specific day): National Hip History Month Challenge Day 6: Bring that beat back! run by Headphone Princess [28 votes]
18. Best Werewolf Game: Adventure Time, modded by Blip [7 votes]
19. Best Rabbit/Hyperbeam/Tuturru Screening: Eurovision 2023 [6 votes]
20. Best Live-Chat: MST3K Turkey Day 2023 [8 votes]
21. Best Review or Spotlight: The Discount Spinner Rack: Man of Steel by ItBegins2005 [17 votes]
22. Best Recipe: “The friends we made along the way,” apparently [8 votes]. Listen, if y’all want to be cannibals, I can’t stop you. But I do want to acknowledge a recipe where one of the ingredients isn’t other humans (as far as I know), Walter the Farting Dog’s spanakopita. [2 votes]
23. Coolest Fact You Learned from The Avocado: Tie between embertine’s mammals and Pupshaw’s mental health advice [11 votes]
24. The Ack-Ack Memorial Kindest Commenter Award: Ice Cream Planet [31 votes]
25. Best buds: Holly Jolly Giggle Fits, because weed. Geddit? Har har har. [16 votes]
26. Rookie of the Year: Blip [36 votes]
27. The Holy Guacamole Lifetime Shitposting Achievement Award for Most Active Commenter: Wasp [21 votes]

And now it’s time for the Hall of Fame inductions. We have a record 12 inductions this year!

• Abagaderio, for his WTF Asia film series
• Afro Pig, for her ongoing Hallmark movie reviews
• apples, for his contributions to music discussions, especially the Avocado Music Club
• Dicentra, for their exceptional goodness of spirit, terrific sense of humor, and seemingly effortless ability to make every thread shine a bit more brightly
• Disquified, for making contributions to the Politics Thread and many custom images
• Headphone Princess, for her contributions regarding Black music and to the Politics Thread and Colour Outside the Lines
• Pachylad, for running many music-related tournaments
• Scarlet1815, for her incredible wit, wonderfully friendly presence, and always appreciating any and all memes involving telenovela nuttiness
• Smarf, for nimbly bringing wit and trenchant insight regarding pop culture and political affairs
• Terry Bogard, for bringing humour and diverse perspectives to political discussions
• The Thin White Duke, for running the Weekly Shuffle Thread
• tomy, for his insight on music, cinema, politics, and memes

That does it for the 2023 Pits! Thanks to the topic leaders for filling out spreadsheets and compiling results. This would not have been possible without you. And thank you to the community for making this one of the best hangouts in a rapidly deteriorating Internet landscape. As so many online spaces crumble around us, it’s a relief and a joy to have a place full of wit and insight such as this to call our own. See y’all in 2024!