A Year Ago Today, Anderson Cooper Lost It Over Cheri Oteri's Barbara Walters Impersonation

It's hard to remember a time when anybody felt upbeat and optimistic about 2020, but it was just a year ago today when the biggest trending topic was whether or not a retired Barbara Walters would appear on television again to introduce the new year the same way she introduced her news-magazine show 20/20 for decades.

CNN's New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen didn't get Walters, but they got the next best thing — Saturday Night Live alum Cheri Oteri reviving her Walters impression for a segment that cracked Cooper up so much he doubled over.

Oteri's Walters playfully threw shade at the hosts, pitching herself as the subject of a new reality show, "since dignified journalism has become passé, Anderson, and humiliating conflict is all the rage, Andy." 

There likely won't be this much frivolity as we whisk 2020 out the door while watching a ball drop above an empty Times Square, but one can hope.

Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.