An estimated one million people took part in Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ’09 with Ryan Seacrest in Times Square, but I was happy to be one of the millions watching from home. It was so cold — a wind chill temperature of 2 degrees — that some people could not move their bodies to Lionel Richie’s live rendition of "Brick House." (Frozen extremities are the only explanation for why you would not dance to that song.) Below, my take on the best and worst of the broadcast. Feel free to weigh in and add your own.
Best: Ryan Seacrest’s stubble. I almost didn’t volunteer to write this post because I knew there’d be a moment when I’d find myself attracted to Seacrest. (And that I’d admit it.) It’s happened both times I’ve live-blogged an American Idol finale. Last night, it occurred immediately, when I saw that 5 (or 10) o’clock shadow. I’ll admit that I got a little jealous when he sat on top of a barricade and hugged a random woman in the crowd, that I noticed (and approved) when he changed jackets, and that I sent an email to the EW.com staff asking if anyone knew who the girl was standing beside him on the platform at midnight (Demi Lovato). I’ll also admit that I was sober.
Worst: Solange’s yellow eyeshadow. It wasn’t so much the color, as it was the solid streak.
Best: Dick Clark’s obvious pleasure in seeing Seacrest finally freeze his ass off. Is there a more heartwarming sight than Dick Clark giggling?
Dick: Ryan in from the cold. Are you unfrozen?
Ryan: You’re loving this.
Dick: You look alright.
Ryan: I mean, it’s windy.
Dick: No, no, it’s festive.
Ryan: True story: I walked in, you said to me before the show, "Wind is nothing. I want rain, I want sleet, I want you earning this."
Dick: You haven’t lived until you’ve had rain, sleet, and snow all at once.
Worst: The obvious pain in seeing a guy in the crowd do the robot, poorly, during the Pussycat Dolls’ performance of "Bottle Pop." If you’re gonna pull out the robot, you’ve got to commit. I speak from experience.
Yes, you’re still scrambling to see Benjamin Button, Gran Torino, and the rest of 2008′s crop of Oscar contenders. But hello? Welcome to 2009 and a whole new batch of big-screen offerings. Luckily, we have the perfect way to help get you up to speed: 
”That’s a good one too, Pheebs. Now all you have to do is find a planeload of people whose resolution is to plummet to their deaths.” — Chandler (Matthew Perry), after Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) tells him that her New Year’s Resolution is to pilot a commercial jet, on Friends
