sammi says

Here's an idea. Let's take the most popular and highest rated shows on television and write an article about how bad they are and insult all their viewer's intelligence in the process.

(see "The Most Overrated Shows on Television")

Thanks, TV.com for telling me that my shows suck. The article lists "Lost," "The Office," "Weeds," "American Idol," "NCIS," "Glee," "Mad Men," and "30 Rock" as the most overrated shows on television. Hit me where it hurts, why don't ya! "Lost," "The Office," and "Weeds" are three of my all time favorite shows. "Glee" is still too new to call it an all time favorite, but right now it's pretty high up there on my list. "30 Rock" isn't a favorite but I have definitely enjoyed it on the occasions that I've caught an episode.

I'm having a real problem with this article mostly because it's written by so called television lovers. As a television lover myself, I can find value in all TV shows even if I think they are pieces of crap. People like TV for different reasons. Some watch for information, some for entertainment, some watch out of boredom and some watch for escape. I respect all TV viewers. As a TV critic it's one thing to review a show and say that you don't like it...but to say that everyone else who does is wrong makes me angry. TV.com could write an article on the TV shows they think no longer work or were never good in the first place, but don't call them overrated insinuating that the viewers are wrong for watching. These are some of the highest rated shows on television, so did they really think it was a good idea to alienate a large portion of their readers?

I don't watch "American Idol," "NCIS," or "Mad Men." In fact, I would go as far to say that I hate "American Idol," and "NCIS." My dad watches "NCIS" reruns like it's his job and on occasion I've had to suffer through watching it during dinner. So even though I can't stand it, I can respect that my dad likes the show...it's clearly not targeting my demographic. "American Idol," is the show that will never die. The show is so popular because people like the familiarity. They know it's going to be on every six months or so and it's just for fun. No complicated story lines, no major drama (my definition of drama is Walt almost getting his head chopped off for wronging drug dealers on "Breaking Bad" not wondering if folk-singer, Crystal, is going home this week) and if you miss a week, you're not completely lost.

No one is being forced to watch television shows they don't like. So all you watchers of the good, bad and "overrated" TV shows, keep tuning in as long as you're still entertained. If you don't like a show, don't watch but don't hate on everyone else that loves it.

I wasn't exactly thrilled with the announcement last week that Ellen Degeneres would be replacing Paula Abdul as a judge on "American Idol." While I don't watch "American Idol," I do watch "The Ellen Degeneres Show" and am generally an all-around Ellen fan. So why do I care that Ellen has picked up a second job? I feel like it's going to become too much a part of her daytime show. In previous seasons, Ellen featured all the "Idol" cast-offs each week and gave recaps of the show. It's already too much "Idol" for my liking and I speed through it. Now with Ellen on the show I can only imagine there's going to be much, much more talk of "Idol," which means more work fast forwarding and paying attention for me. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I do a thousand things at once and when I playback talk shows they don't always have my full attention. It makes watching TV feel not as fun when I have to be picky about my content.

Ellen is widely beloved and you rarely hear a bad word against her. The only criticism I've heard is from my 85-year-old grandpa who told me he didn't like her because she "has short hair and wears keds." I think Ellen being a part of both shows is going to wear thin on people and probably make her less likable, which I don't want to see happen.

Here's a funny clip of Ellen's staff members trying to scare her, but my all time favorite Ellen moment comes at 1:35 with Steve Carrell.