Forget the Oscar or the Emmy. How do you know you’ve made it in showbusiness? When you become a meme!
That’s right, these Hollywood stars have earned their internet immortality thanks to one pivotal scene that defined their character and reflected the voice of a generation.
Hollywood Stars: Take your place in history, along with Bad News Brian, Ermahgerd Girl, Third World Skeptical Kid, and Grumpy Cat!
Here are 20 TV scenes that are so good that they became memes.
17. Math Lady (Senhora do Destino)
Renata Sorrah, a Brazilian telenovela star, played the role of Nazaré Tedesco in the hit series “Senhora do Destino.”
Little did you know that while we all know her as confused, Brazilian soap opera fans remember her as one of the all-time best telenovela villains.
16. Homelander Laughing (The Boys)
Regardless of what you think about The Boys, Eric Kripke’s grotesque homage to superheroes misbehaving, it’s hard to deny Antony Starr (Homelander) has a face that even Martha Kent couldn’t love.
Watch how his confusion melts away to laughter in this classic meme, proving Homelander lives and dies for the camera.
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15. Baby Yoda Sips Tea (The Mandalorian)
Come on, people. Why exactly did Baby Yoda become such an internet hit just by drinking his alien soup on The Mandalorian?
We suspect it was because people forgot how cute the original Mogwai was from Gremlins.
We missed you, Gizmo, and until you return, we’ll have to be satisfied with seeing your little green friend instead.
14. Dawson’s Crying Face (Dawson’s Creek)
Make no mistake about it. Crying scenes are challenging to pull off.
You’re either Meryl Streep making cinema history, or you become a running joke.
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James Van der Beek is not necessarily a bad actor.
However, this scene in Dawson’s Creek is so poorly staged and executed it feels like a mock cry, but it’s tragically played for feels.
13. OMG Michael Scott Meme (The Office)
Ricky Gervais and his American counterpart Steve Carell may have invented the modern art of overacting.
That’s why they’re perfect counterparts in different versions of The Office.
But whereas Gervais comes across as torturously neurotic, Carell explodes into moments of sheer hysteria.
Witness this OMG meme, which speaks to our collective disbelief when we think, “What the hell did I just read?”
12. Who Killed Hannibal? (The Eric Andre Show)
Credit Eric Andre for bringing back the all-but-forgotten genre of Surreal Comedy.
Sadly for us, this genre has not been seen since the hilarious show from the ’90s, Mr. Show with Bob and David.
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But Eric Andre’s last act with Hannibal was so brutal he may have inadvertently inspired Todd Philips’ Joker movie.
11. Spongebob Caveman (Spongebob Squarepants)
Maybe there’s some truth to that whole “Spongebob characters represent the seven deadly sins” conspiracy.
Because these psychotic characters have inspired countless memes and myriads of inappropriate sex jokes.
To my knowledge, it all started with the Spongebob caveman meme and escalated from there.
10. Rick Grimes Dad Joke Meme (The Walking Dead)
While Daryl Dixon had his Bad Cry moment rivaling James Van Der Beek, we must toast to Rick Grimes and Carl Grimes.
The Walking Dead had no idea that their horrific tragedy would become the ultimate meme for sharing unsolicited dad jokes.
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Them’s the breaks!
9. Picard Meme (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Patrick Stewart is one of those rare Shakespearean actors who can tell a story with his face.
What story do you think he is telling with this classic meme from Star Trek: The Next Generation?
It’s a simple “Aaugh!” moment, that feeling you get when an unwanted visitor describes you as his “best friend in the universe.”
8. Be More Tea (The Muppets)
The Muppets are very good at staging a nightmare.
Who wouldn’t panic in a world full of Animals?
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In this scene, which later became a meme, Kermit manages his stress by sipping away at tea.
Come to think of it, what is it with little green men and their addiction to tea?
7. Pepe Silvia (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
Have you heard any good conspiracies lately?
Of course, you have, and I’ll bet you believe them too! Ah, you gotta love the kooky, unexpected reality of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
And the more you argue that it’s “really true,” the more you look like whacked-out Charlie ranting about Pepe Silvia.
Seriously, bro. Will you settle down and have another cup of coffee?
6. Love Quinn Meme (You)
While Joe Goldberg gets most of the heat for his sinister Ted Bundy-lite persona, the real star of You Season 2 was Love Quinn.
When you try your best to be a creep, and your victim can only love you for it harder, that’s a Love Quinn level of derangement and delusion.
We’re soul mates, Joe.
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And Joe has the perfect response, symbolizing our evil exes at that exact moment.
“What The…”
5. Sweating Guy (Key & Peele)
Kudos to those guys who still think their significant other is computer illiterate and doesn’t know what you’ve been researching online.
Sweating Guy from Key & Peele knows he’s busted and became an internet sensation for not maintaining his poker face.
But neither did Missus Sweating Girl, for that matter.
4. Shut Up and Take My Money (Futurama)
Since when did Fry become the voice of a generation — especially considering he’s the voice of two generations, the latter of which has a zeitgeist happening thousands of years in the future?
Nevertheless, the heartless but whimsical consumerism of the Futurama universe somehow captures our corporate thirst.
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Whenever there’s something new and brilliant, we don’t want you to sell it to us. Just take our money because that’s what you do!
3. Shocked Pikachu (Pokemon)
What better way to illustrate your enemy’s surprise (and lack of foresight) than by painting them as a naive Pikachu?
Surprised Pikachu in meme form usually represents the one internet dummy who made that stupid mistake (usually a top-name brand underestimating its customers’ impatience) and should have known better.
Maybe Pikachu didn’t see it coming, but YOU should have anticipated it.
2. I Don’t Think Of You At All (Mad Men)
Mad Men may have been the best series to define the Silent Generation’s voice – however little they had to say to future generations.
There’s no better show and no better meme to capture that spirit.
The conflict between idealist ad man Michael Ginsberg (his name probably not a coincidence) clashes with rogue cynic Don Draper.
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He came up with a great idea. Don sabotaged the idea and instead used his own.
It worked.
Ginsberg snarks that he “feels bad” for Draper.
Draper replies that he “doesn’t think about you at all.”
Some viewers have likened this scene to the parable of The Gnat & the Bull.
We prefer to think of it as an Orson Welles meets William Hearst anecdote, slightly reimagined.
It is all the more ironic that it took place in an elevator since that was one of Orson’s favorite stories to share.
1. Homer Bush Meme (The Simpsons)
Homer Simpson is not the most subtle guy in the world.
You might even say he suffers from a bit of foot-in-mouth disease.
That’s why, when you see him bashfully retreating into the bushes after being dissed by Ned Flanders, you feel bad for the big lug.
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This meme has been usurped for hundreds of reasons and various political causes.
It not only captures Homer’s shy and humiliating retreat into the bushes but also echoes the sentiment of Rod and Todd Flanders upon hearing Ned’s faulty reasoning.
Ned constantly lectures his children against lying.
When he tries to Nedsplain to them why little white lies are sometimes necessary, his children correct him with this heart punch.
“Lies make baby Jesus cry.”
You may be able to dismiss the Homer Simpsons in life. But the Rods and Todds are always listening to you!
We surely missed some popular memes, but which of your favorites were snubbed and why?
Michael Arangua is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. You can follow him on X.