2014's Twenty Best Celebrities

I should clarify that this first year-end list from me is not a list of my favorite celebrities (though I do love them all). It is simply a list of the twenty celebrities who I feel had a solid year in 2014. That's why you won't see people like Bradford Howe or Matthew Broderick. I love them and they are celebrities, but they didn't have a particularly notable 2014. And that's just fine.

20. Cecily Strong - Cecily killed it this year. She is mainly here for Saturday Night Live, a show on which she is my favorite current cast member, but a stint on The Awesomes and receiving the title of 2015 White House Correspondent's Dinner host makes for a pretty good year.

19. Sarah Koenig - The host of the year's (and maybe history's) biggest podcast, Serial, made a name for herself when she spun off from This American Life to deliver a detailed and hard-working investigation into a riveting crime.

18. Amy Sedaris - You probably saw Amy on a couple different talk shows this year (Late Night, The Tonight Show, The Colbert Report) when she promoted multiple exciting career endeavors. She had roles in Ping Pong Summer and the critically-acclaimed, Chef, while also guesting on Broad City and starring on BoJack Horseman.

17. Andy Samberg - The year begin pretty spectacularly for Andy Samberg when he won two Golden Globes for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He also made cameos in Neighbors and on Comedy Bang! Bang! but these were small doings compared to when he hosted the Season 39 finale of Saturday Night Live, one of the show's best episodes of 2014.

16. Elijah Wood - Elijah Wood was a busy man in 2014 with his most notable accomplishment being the successful ending of Wilfred. Additionally, he had roles in five different films and voiced Frodo Baggins for a Hobbit video game and the main character in the Cartoon Network show, Over the Garden Wall.

15. Joel McHale - He starred on Community for every episode of the fifth season and then played an influential role in saving the show after it was canceled by NBC. Joel was also in four different movies including Blended and Deliver Us from Evil while hosting The Soup every week and also the White House Correspondent's Dinner once!

14. Nathan Fielder - Nathan, the host of his own pseudo-reality show, Nathan For You, burst onto the scene in 2014 when his Comedy Central program received widespread acclaim and notoriety. If you've heard of Dumb Starbucks, then you've heard of Nathan Fielder and his hilarious year.

13. Wes Anderson - The idiosyncratic director's year begins and ends with The Grand Budapest Hotel, but the movie was such a masterpiece that it alone vaulted him this high onto the list. Plus, all the awards are coming to him.

12. Stephen Colbert - He received two Emmy awards and one Grammy award this year, but Colbert's television shuffling was handled so well that he has to be included on all year-end lists of this sort. Being named the replacement for David Letterman is high praise, but his closure for The Colbert Report was his highest moment.

11. Seth Rogen - The only reason he is close to (but still behind) James Franco is because Franco slightly outdid him due to Broadway. Seth still had an amazing year. Neighbors and The Interview were huge movies and he also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, made a cameo on another, appeared on Ew!, and spoke about Alzheimer's to Congress. Good man.

10. James Franco - Franco had an amazing year. He also hosted SNL, made a cameo on it, and starred in The Interview. But, even more than that, he starred as George in a stage production of Of Mice and Men, released a book of poetry, released his documentary about SNL, wrote an article in support of Shia LaBeouf for The New York Times, and had roles in four other movies besides The Interview. Crazy busy.

9. Seth Meyers - This was the year that Seth Meyers unfortunately and finally left Saturday Night Live and his post as the anchor of Weekend Update. But this was also the year that Seth Meyers received a second season of his own animated show, hosted the Emmy Awards, and successfully launched his own talk show, Late Night with Seth Meyers.

8. Jason Mraz - After two years, the world was blessed with a new Jason Mraz album, Yes!, that featured many amazing songs including his latest hit, Love Someone. With appearances on the Today Show, The Tonight Show, and a two-night booking of Radio City Music Hall, Mraz had a pretty stellar 2014.

7. Chris Pratt - I think it's safe to say that Chris Pratt had an amazing year. He continued his role on Parks and Recreation (and wrapped it quite recently) and starred in two of 2014's biggest movies, The LEGO Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy. Plus, he was in Hawaii for a little bit to film a little thing called Jurassic World. He's a movie star now.

6. Hozier - This Irish folk-rock-Indie blend was one of 2014's biggest breakout stars. His latest album is an amazing one with so many good songs like Cherry Wine (which headlined a pretty big film from this year, Wish I Was Here) and Like Real People Do. He was the musical guest for the fortieth season of SNL's third episode where he performed his biggest hit, Take Me to Church.

5. Tina Fey - Nominated for three Emmys in 2014, Tina's biggest happenings actually came in the two movies in which she starred. Muppets Most Wanted and This Is Where I Leave You, two films with wide releases, were pretty good movies and her performances in each were spectacular. Additionally, Tina hosted the Golden Globe awards and saw her show, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, head to Netflix.

4. Mindy Kaling - She won a Gracie Award, she was Glamour's Woman of the Year, she filmed a Super Bowl commercial, she wrote a new book that will be released in 2015. But despite all of this, she still managed to make The Mindy Project one of the best shows on television today. Executive producer, director, writer, and actress; she wears many hats on the show.

3. B.J. Novak - He is one of the smartest celebrities I know and he definitely proved it in 2014. As the Saving Mr. Banks train rolled out, he booked a solid appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a hilarious cameo on Community, and a long stint on the final season of The Newsroom. Above all that, though, he published two books this year: the flawless short story collection, One More Thing, and the children's book, The Book with No Pictures. Genius.

2. Amy Poehler - Just like Tina, she hosted the Golden Globes this year and she actually won one of the trophies for Best Actress! She put an end to her baby, Parks and Recreation, while also writing her own memoir, Yes Please. But even with all that she starred in They Came Together, produced Welcome to Sweden, and made appearances on the first episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers and Kroll Show, Broad City, and The Awesomes. Solid year!

1. Jimmy Fallon - Who else? Jimmy Fallon essentially won 2014 by revitalizing the late-night landscape and revolutionizing television in general. Every single second of him on The Tonight Show is pure golden quality. Jimmy, I am so happy that you had such a great year and that I can honestly put you at number one. (Plus, he had another baby girl!)