It's hard to believe (what seemed like) the longest year ever is almost over, but before you say goodbye to 2020, you can look back at some of the most LOL-worthy moments from the year. From the beginning of quarantine to an anxiety-provoking presidential election — and all the awkward Zoom meetings in-between — a lot happened. Thankfully, the Twittersphere was always there to help in the form of memes. Check out 35 of the best memes of 2020 for the perfect end-of-the-year belly laugh.
With everything from Tiger King to stay-at-home orders to a seemingly never-ending presidential election, the memes from the past year cover a lot of ground. TBH, you may have forgotten about some of these gems. Instagram's Year in Review blog post on Dec. 10 took a moment to remind users about the hilarious memes that circulated in 2020 (see: Ina Garten's huge martini glass), and what a #inspiration. Without further adieu, take a look at some the funniest memes that kept you LOL-ing in the never-ending year that was 2020.
1. Kim K's Refrigerator
On Jan. 7th, 2020, Kim Kardashian posted a Skims advertisement on her Instagram and the internet was shook by Kim K standing in front of of a very empty refrigerator. Kim later gave a full tour of her pantry and multiple refrigerators to prove she, in fact, kept her house stocked. After that, everyone basically said they wanted to live there:
2. Tom Hanks' Golden Globes Grimace
After the Golden Globes aired on Jan. 5, eagle-eyed Twitter fans couldn't help but notice Tom Hanks' grimace during Ricky Gervais' monologue, after Gervais told a joke about Felicity Huffman's college admissions scandal. Of course, Hanks' reaction became a hilarious meme.
3. Debby Ryan Smirk
Debby Ryan became a meme on TikTok in May 2020, thanks to resurfaced old clips from the 2012 Disney Channel movie Radio Rebel, among some others. The most meme-d clip showed Ryan giving an awkward smirk to her crush.
And Ryan even got in on the joke.
4. Elf On The Shelf
In December, plenty of big-name celebs began posting a new take on Elf On The Shelf memes, which had them literally turning each other into the Elf On The Shelf. The memes feature a mini-version of a celeb styled as the holiday kid's toy, placed on another celeb's shoulders. See: Cardi B on Taraji P.
5. Ina Garten's Martini Glass
The Barefoot Contessa, aka Ina Garten, shared a cocktail recipe video during quarantine in April, and it soon became a meme because of her giant martini glass. The quar jokes about cocktail hour and if she was OK ensued:
6. Meryl Streep Drinking
The legendary Meryl Streep also dove down with a cocktail during quarantine in April, and shared a video of herself with famous friends, Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski, singing a show tune during Stephen Sondheim's 90th birthday celebration live stream. At one moment, Streep decided she should drink straight from the bottle, rather than her glass, and the Meryl Streep drinking meme was born:
7. Kim K's Private Island
When Kardashian shared photos of a luxury vacation on Oct. 27, people couldn't help but meme Kim K's private island tweet after she shared her 40th birthday pics, and said she got all her "inner circle" tested for the trip. Thus, the private island meme was born:
8. "I Hope This Email Finds You Well"
During the start of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, a meme making fun of the typical email greeting, "I hope this email finds you well," emerged. The meme trend features the caption above a picture of "how the email finds" someone. Per Know Your Meme, the trend caught fire in August, with hilarious photos representing how the poster actually felt.
9. "Missing The Homies"
TBH, 2020 has been tough on friendships, but people found ways to different ways to connect, like virtual happy hours and parties. Some users needed to meme out their love for their BFFs with the "Missing the Homies" meme, a picture with a caption about missing your in-person hangouts because of the distance while quarantined.
10. My Plans Vs. 2020
The "My Plans Vs. 2020" memes appeared in mid-May 2020, deep into the shutdowns. Users took to Twitter to share their frustration with their current reality.
11. 2020 Mood Meme Challenge
In September , Reese Witherspoon debuted a clever meme calendar dubbed the 2020 mood meme challenge. The meme shows each month of 2020 through September, and the images get more disheveled, sad, or frustrated as the months pass.
12. Zoom Meetings
Since Zoom shot to popularity in 2020 due to people schooling and working remotely, there were a countless number of Zoom fails. Twitter has been making Zoom memes about everything from Zoom's breakout rooms to failing to put the mute button on.
13. How It Started, How It's Going
In October, people began a new take on a meme that was initially about couples. In lieu of the pandemic and no one having much control over 2020, Twitter was on fire with "How it started, how it's going" memes that showcased a positive photo for the beginning on 2020 and a photo demonstrating the downhill expectations. Some played on the funny aspects of dating, while others were a positive take:
14. Quarantine Houses
In April 2020, a meme challenge called "quarantine house" asked people to choose famous dream quarantine partners from a list, and the answers ran the gamut. Some people analyzed how helpful it would be to have some celebs in lockdown:
15. Screen Time Reports
With lockdowns in the U.S. in full swing, people began noticing an alarming increase on their weekly Apple Screen Time reports. Because what else could you do but endlessly scroll and then meme about how awful your screen time report is?
16. The Movie Villain Vs. The Actual Villain
"The movie villain... the actual villain" memes emerged in May 2020, putting a twist on a film's villain and protagonist. Basically, the memes point out the that film's hero could actually be the villain if you really analyzed the movie.
17. 'Tiger King'
When Netflix's docudrama Tiger King premiered in March 2020, it quickly became a fan-favorite because of its bizarre cast of characters. And of course, to express how they felt about the documentary, the people in the Twitterverse created a great variety of Tiger King memes.
18. Baby Yoda
Baby Yoda memes began trending in December 2019 after his character first debuted in Disney +'s The Mandalorian, but TBH, they continued far in 2020 — and will probably never stop.
19. Sue Sylvester
In June 2020, Twitter user @elmotumbokon shared a screenshot of Glee cheer coach Sue Sylvester saying, "I am going to create an environment that is so toxic." And after that, the Sylvester meme trend began, kicking up again in November, even though the hit show ended in 2015. People began meme-ing all sorts of topics using Sylvester:
20. 'The Crown'
After Princess Diana (played by Emma Corrin) made her debut on The Crown, fans quickly began making memes about how easily she adapted to being in the spotlight. As fans noticed the stark comparison between her confidence and the awkward vibes from the other members of the royal family, The Crown memes were all about Corrin's Diana:
21. 'The Queen's Gambit'
Weeks after The Queen's Gambit premiered on Netflix in October, the memes from the hit show flooded in, encompassing Beth Harmon's journey and chess jokes:
22. 'Emily In Paris'
Emily In Paris hit Netflix by storm in October, thanks to its nostalgic qualities. Fans created memes joking about watching Emily In Paris for "the plot" while they really just watched it for the clothes, the setting, and Lilly Collins' co-star Lucas Bravo:
23. 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' Final Season
After the Kardashians announced on Sept. 8 that their hit reality show would end in 2021, after 20 seasons on the air, a lot of fans were bummed. But a ton of them began guessing what Kris Kardashian, the professional mom-ager would be doing once it ended. The KUWTK memes about the show ending joked about Kris not knowing what to do with herself:
Turns out, momager Kris was planning ahead.
24. 'Outer Banks'
Netflix's hit teen drama Outer Banks quickly became a hit in April, and social media was on fire with memes for the show:
25. 'Gossip Girl'
Although there's a Gossip Girl reboot in the works, fans took some trips down memory lane in April 2020 with hilarious memes featuring Serena and Blair. The memes take on the OG Gossip Girl logo by rearranging the letters to spell out other words:
26. 'Schitt's Creek'
After Schitt's Creek ended in April, fans began trending all the memes celebrating the hilarious show. From the iconic "Ew, David," to other quotes from the show, the Schitt's Creek memes were one big celebration of the moments:
27. Baby Nut
Planters' Super Bowl 2020 commercial aired on Jan. 22, and in it, Mr. Peanut died and then came back to life as Baby Nut. Soon after, Baby Nut memes were born. Some people loved it, some people hated it, and Baby Nut was def an icon of pre-quar 2020.
28. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Another early meme of 2020 was January's "LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter" memes. The trend had users posting four different photos representing their profile photo on each of the social media sites, and the contrast is hilarious. Most notably, a ton of celebs hopped on the trend after Dolly Parton started the trend on Instagram.
29. Dude With Sign
According to Know Your Meme, these memes began when Instagram account @DudeWithSign posted an image of a man holding up a sign in October 2019, but they kept going strong in 2020. The trend gained popularity, with the memes parodying annoying things about daily life.
30. AirPods Max
After Apple revealed the new AirPods Max over-the-ear headphones on Tuesday, Dec. 8, there were a lot of confused fans who weren't expecting the latest model to be cans. The memes included questions about the design choices, and why the cost was $549:
31. 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons'
One of the stand-out pastimes of 2020 for a lot of folks is playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which debuted in March. After players began trekking across their virtual islands, Animal Crossing memes quickly became viral.
With 2020 a hot presidential election year, the memes leading up to and throughout the election were bound to happen, and they offered a bit of humor for all the anxiety.
32. Bernie Sanders' Support Memes
The "I'm once again asking for your financial support" memes stemmed from a Dec. 30, 2019, video from Sanders for his presidential campaign. It quickly became a meme in February 2020, and was used for literally everything from relationships to forgetting someone's name.
33. Georgia Flipping
After a drawn out election night (and days after) between now President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, Georgia flipped to blue for the first time since 1992. Georgia flipping memes began circulating on Twitter after the win:
34. Counting Ballots In Nevada
Since Nevada took a while to count all of its ballots due to the massive increase of mail-in ballots for 2020, people got nervous. The results were depending on a few battleground states, one of which was Nevada, and these counting ballot memes reflect the wait:
35. Voting In 2016 Vs. Voting In 2020
So many people took to Twitter to compare how they felt when they voted in 2016 versus when they voted in 2020, and the memes were real:
There were a ton of hilarious memes in 2020 commemorating the year, so if you want to do more exploring, check out Know Your Meme's poll for some more throwbacks.
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