Ryan Gosling, James Franco Mesmerize And Abuse Us 'After Hours'

It's been quite a year for the "After Hours" team at MTV News. After dipping our toes in the waters of the awkward and controversial celebrity interview last year, 2011 represented our first 12-month run of embarrassing situations — and what a year it was. James Franco kicked me in the balls. Don Cheadle kicked me in the balls. Paul Giamatti kicked me in the balls. And that was just January.

Thirty-four "After Hours" segments — that's a lot of mental and physical abuse. As we look back, here are four lessons learned in the past year.

Great Things Can Fall Through the Cracks
One of my personal favorite "After Hours" segments of '11 occurred early on. We called it "Fanline," and it featured the cast of the otherwise forgotten Vince Vaughn comedy "The Dilemma." Ostensibly, I read Vaughn and Kevin James letters from fans. Who actually wrote the letters, I'm not saying, because what's important is I got to tell Vince how much "Fred Claus" sucked. He didn't seem pleased. And not many of you saw this "AH" when it first appeared ... much like "Fred Claus."

Yes or No?!? (Not) Such a Simple Question.
Sometimes you don't need to reinvent the wheel to find a new way to get celebrities to reveal something unexpected about themselves. We found "The Yes/No Show" was a simple and direct way to draw out some unique truths from the stars. Has Matt Damon seen Ben Affleck's penis? Does Ryan Reynolds think Ryan Gosling's abs are better than his? Just ask, my friends. What's the worst that can happen?

Ryan Gosling Can Do No Wrong
Speaking of Ryan Gosling, "After Hours" scored one of its most popular segments simply by exposing the man who flaunted his abs in "Crazy, Stupid, Love." to the infamous "Hey Girl" meme. Who didn't giggle along with Ryan as he turned bright red? And if that wasn't enough Gosling for you, we put him to the (Canadian) test later in the year in "American Talk."

People Like to Hurt Me
If there was prevailing motif in "After Hours" this year, it would probably be the abuse of Josh Horowitz (karma, I suppose, for the absurdities I put our brightest stars through). Beyond the aforementioned ball-kicking, there was James McAvoy's kicking giant medicine balls at my head — that REALLY hurt. And perhaps most disturbing, Elijah Wood's office visit -turned-"Single White Female"-esque murder of ... me. Don't worry, I lived to embarrass myself and others another day.

See you in 2012.

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