Top TV Memes: The Best Meme Formats From 'Big Mouth'

Big Mouth is one of the most uncomfortable shows out there, and it clearly means to be. It’s difficult to sit through as an adult, and even worse if you’re a teenager. But it’s somehow impossible to look away from. Watching Big Mouth feels like you’re doing something wrong. But to be honest, we’re really here for Coach Steve. While it may be the most awkward viewing experience of your life, it’s one of the most highly rated adult animated shows out there, with a 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

In this series, Nick Kroll voices basically everyone except Andrew (voiced by John Mulaney), Jay (voiced by Jason Mantzoukas), and Jessi (voiced by Jessi Klein), so it’s basically a bunch of comedians sharing their childhood trauma with you. The show follows puberty in the pre-teens' lives as they socially ostracize themselves and experience seriously embarrassing situations while being egged on by "hormone monsters." The nostalgia towards the worst years of our lives is impossible to escape, and the blatant relatability of the show has led to some really great memes. These are some of the episodes the internet’s favorite jokes have come from.

Most Popular Memes: Season 3, Episode 1: "My Furry Valentine"

This episode is wild from start to finish, and it’s best not to talk about what Jay was doing with his pillow and couch cushion. There are some things we’d rather unsee, but unfortunately, we’ll never be able to forget the horrors of Jay’s perverted love triangle. But while he deals with his domestic drama, Coach Steve, who is again the only reason we’re putting ourselves through all of this, finds love in a pile of Walgreens garbage he names Reeses Werther’s-Spoons. At this point, we’re actually kind of happy for him.

Eventually, Steve gets a job at Walgreens and calmly announces he’s "never been closer to suicide," and as anyone who’s worked retail could tell you, that’s the most real thing we’ve ever heard on this show. This line has predictably become one of the most quoted phrases from the show due to the younger generation’s fixation on nihilism. Along with Reeses Werther's-Spoons, this has become a pretty popular and versatile meme format.

Most Meme Potential: Season 2, Episode 10: "The Department of Puberty"

"The Department of Puberty" refers to the place the hormone monsters come from, which is essentially an interdimensional human resources department. Nick, Andrew, and Jessi wind up there when Nick wants to find a new hormone monster. Jessi befriends the anthropomorphic cat version of depression, who encourages her to put on cozy socks and watch TV in bed while drinking melted ice cream. Honestly, it’s not so much depression as it is a personal attack on all of our favorite hobbies, and that speaks volumes about the mental health of all of us here on the internet. Eventually, Jessi’s encounter with the "Depression Kitty" became a meme and was frequently quoted online.

One joke in the episode that many fans missed was its connection to Game of Thrones. A character known as the Shame Wizard is seen in this episode with a photo of the character known for ringing a bell and repeatedly yelling "Shame" at Cersei, and as we all know, the Game of Thrones fandom is desperate for something to meme after that awful ending. But a comment that didn’t go unnoticed was the show calling out Friends as something you leave on in the background so you don’t have to actually watch anything, and it’s representative of Jessi’s struggle with depression. As Friends is often a show that has seen many debates over its merits, this fits perfectly with all the memes out there surrounding it, so ultimately this episode moves far beyond itself and references the outer reaches of the meme universe.

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