The top 10 Toronto viral videos of all time

The top 10 Toronto viral videos are a tough lot to choose. It might seem to make sense to make one's selection based solely on view counts, but having tried such a strategy, I can attest to the fact that it doesn't always produce the most interesting or funny content. That's not to say, however, that view count isn't the main factor -- the subject is viral videos, after all -- but that in certain cases there's worthy stuff out there that only went viral in local capacity.

That local limitation also disqualifies lots of stuff that's only loosely related to Toronto, but still tagged with the city's name. I've left those out for the sake of consistency and because there's plenty of other lists out there upon which they're featured. Speaking of which, my motivation for pulling these together today is to offer something of a local counterpart to UGO's recently released The 50 Awesomest Viral Videos Under 30 Seconds Long, which, despite the length of the videos is a supreme time-waster if there ever was one.

Oh, and on the "all time" of the title: while YouTube hasn't been around that long, I use it to distinguish from the yearly roundups that we've done and will likely continue to do.

The million plus club

Cheerleader devoured by Raptor
At over 3 million views, this little stunt at a Toronto Raptors game impressed more than just the announcers.

Oasis Attack
While the incident itself isn't really funny, I love that Laim Gallagher starts to play tough guy right at the moment the attacker -- who was later arrested and charged -- is apprehended by security staff.

Mermaids debate the existence of Dinosaurs
A Toronto Zoo ad that brought the viewers out in droves -- I wonder why?

CN Tower lightning strikes
This video takes the view count crown as far as Toronto thunderstorm videos go, but one shouldn't forget Sam Javanrouh's high quality time-lapse video on the same subject.

G20 Looter
There's quite a few G20 videos that went viral -- including the now infamous Officer Bubbles clip -- but this one remains my favourite.

HPO flight
Over a million people have watched the 19.3 second flight of the Human-Powered Ornithopter.

Under a million, but still worthy

The worst parking job ever
This isn't the original version, which was pulled at some point, but it still has over 200,00 views. The title pretty much says it all as far as descriptions go...

Fire on TTC Bus
Relatively low pageviews aren't enough to keep this one off the list. I always wonder what it is that the arsonist has forgotten when he pauses and checks his coat before leaving the scene.

Sunrise Propane Explosion
This is what a massive explosion looks like at night.

Pedal car pulled over by police
I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time...

Bonus

Workplace safety
More Ontario-based than Toronto, this series of commercials made their point rather, er, dramatically. Warning: somewhat NSFW.

For more locally based viral videos, check out the The Top 10 Toronto Viral Videos of 2009. And if I've missed a clip that you thinks demands inclusion, I'd be happy to put together a reader's choice section at the bottom.