20 Biggest Pop Culture Letdowns of 2012

C'mon, Gwen, this is the best you can do after four years?
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 16, 2012 1:43 PM CST
20 Biggest Pop Culture Letdowns of 2012
Gwen Stefani of No Doubt appears on stage in support of "Push and Shove" at Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Calif., on Saturday Dec. 2, 2012.   (Photo by John Shearer/ Invision for Rebel Waltz/AP Images)

It's the end of the year: time to look back on the things we loved—and the things that severely, severely disappointed us. Zap2it runs down the 20 biggest pop culture letdowns of 2012:

  • Tim Tebow: He was awesome with the Broncos, but since being traded to the Jets, he's been wasting away on the bench.
  • Smash: It was supposed to be like Glee, but for grown-ups. Instead it's "a turgid, soapy mess that helped make 'hate-watching' a trend."
  • Ryan Lochte: Instead of the next Michael Phelps, we got this fratty dude whose favorite phrase is "Jeah."
  • iPhone 5: It's basically the same as the last iPhone, except with crappier maps and a whole new charging system that makes us buy more stuff.

  • Britney Spears: When she started judging on The X Factor, the world was hoping she'd either be a trainwreck or have a completely awesome comeback. Instead, she went to neither extreme and just kept on being "a glazed-over, propped-up, micro-managed harried mom spouting the same canned criticism and praise week-to-week."
  • No Doubt reunion: The album was four years in the making, so anticipation was high ... only for the release to end up "weirdly unlikable."
  • Prometheus: What with all the hype and anticipation, the audience probably didn't expect to walk out of the Alien prequel thinking, "'Who thought this script was a good idea?'"
Click for the complete list. (More Best of 2012 stories.)

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