Say goodbye to these soon-to-be figments of the past:

**Gossip Girl**
Admit it, you sometimes lie awake at night worrying you’re more of a Blair than a Serena. Or you’ve at least dreamt of a world where your father is a hotel magnate. “Gossip Girl,” the show that’s been teen girls’ favorite bad influence for seven seasons comes to an end this year. xoxo R.I.P.

**Zombies**
Critical successes like AMC’s “The Walking Dead” proved that you could make zombie gore into an intense drama. Humans vs. Zombies showed us that wearing a bandana means you’re likely to be attacked by nerds with Nerf guns. Maybe we should put this trend away for a bit and let it crawl back from the dead in a few years. 

**Dubstep**
The days of sweatily thrashing to the sound of machines malfunctioning seem to have come to an end. Dubstep had a good run, from the dank basements of tech-crazed teenagers to gracing the tracks of the Top 40 set. It’s time to stop listening to music that some might describe as “auto-tuned flatulence.”

**Twilight**
After this year, the Twilight franchise is as dead as most of its supporting cast. The vampires fighting wolves fighting hordes of obsessed tween girls had a good run, but it had to end eventually. It’s time to let go and let Kristen Stewart brood in some other blockbuster.

**Elmo**
With the premiere of “Being Elmo,” it seemed that 2012 was going to be this furry puppet’s year. But with Elmo’s puppeteer Kevin Clash resigning due to a sex scandal, it seems that our favorite furry red monster is going to ride out the storm in “Elmo’s World.” This is no time for tickles.

And say hello to what 2013 promises to bring:

**”Girls”**
If you haven’t heard of “Girls” or its star/creator Lena Dunham, you probably haven’t spent enough quality time on the Internet (manically scrolling Pinterest doesn’t count.) Imagine “Sex and the City” for the recession generation; replace designer shoes and cosmos with job applications and self-deprecating tweets. The second season of “Girls” premieres on HBO and HBO GO in January.

**Actual zombies**
No one can be sure that the world is going to end before 2013. And no one can be sure that the possible oncoming apocalypse won’t include armies of flesh-hungry corpses. Just to be proactive, it might be best to add canned goods and a sturdy ax to your holiday wish list.

**Folk music**
It’s still a shock to turn on a Top 40 radio station to be met with the sound of a banjo. With bands like Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers reaching mainstream success, it seems that folk-inspired music is giving techno-saturated pop music a run for its money.

**”The Hunger Games”**
Teenagers fighting to the death for fame and wealth sounds like an average day in an American high school, but when you add in Jennifer Lawrence and a hyper-futuristic setting, it’s hard not to pay attention. The world obsessed over the first “Hunger Games” movie last year, and “Catching Fire” will surely not disappoint in November 2013.

**Big Bird**
It’s never been better to be a giant, yellow, flightless, imaginary bird. Big Bird is starting off the new year as the poster boy of the 2012 presidential debates. Even though Sesame Street tried to keep Big Bird out of the media during the election, it’s doubtful that our favorite yellow politically radical bird will stay quiet for long.