Sure, Oprah Winfrey might have her own TV network, but that doesn't mean she's number one.
The Harris Poll has released their annual list of the 10 favorite TV personalities, and Oprah actually came in second (after being on top for five years). The first place winner? Believe it or not, it's Nancy Grace.
OK, just kidding about that. Number one is actually Ellen DeGeneres, who was number eight last year. The full list is after the jump.
1. Ellen DeGeneres
2. Oprah Winfrey
3. Jay Leno
4. Hugh Laurie
5. Jon Stewart
6. David Letterman
7. Stephen Colbert
8. Bill O'Reilly
9. Ray Romano
10. Homer Simpson
This is really kind of an odd list, if you think about it. I can understand why talk show hosts are on the list, because they aren't "characters" and you get to know them night after night, their real selves. But Hugh Laurie? House is good, but it's odd that someone who plays a character on a fictional drama would get into a "favorite personality" list in the middle of a bunch of talk show hosts. I don't understand Homer Simpson being on the list since, well, he doesn't actually exist.
And the number nine choice? I guess you don't have to actually be on television to be a favorite television personality.
The Upfronts: FOX
Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
The Upfronts: CBS
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-16-2008 @ 1:32PM
khamel said...
you are conflating "favorite" with "popular". the most popular person isn't always their favorite. think about the most popular girl/boy in high school - would they also be everyone's favorite?
ellen might be the favorite personality but most popular? please, oprah will eat her alive.
Reply
1-16-2008 @ 1:48PM
Zachary said...
I think Colbert should be #1 but I like that he is just ahead of O'Reilly.
Reply
1-16-2008 @ 2:36PM
rambn said...
Oprah peddles watered-down solutions to people who don't know any better. Dr. Phil is a prime example. The guy isn't even a real doctor.
Reply
1-26-2008 @ 4:43PM
Marilee said...
you hit the nail on the head. They are people who will do anything she tells them is good for them....Not free thinkers, all of them followers....That irks me. She can make any book that "SHE" likes an instant best seller. Also, a person of color always has the advantage on her show. If she were white they would call her a racist.
1-16-2008 @ 3:00PM
sitruc said...
Was Ray Romano even on television last year?
Reply
1-16-2008 @ 3:44PM
The Pepto Pimp said...
Like the TV shows "I Love Lucy" and "Friends", Ray Romano's "Everybody Loves Raymond" will be on TV (albeit in syndication) for the remainder of Western Civilization.
Reply
1-16-2008 @ 4:15PM
kevjohn said...
Now there's a depressing thought.
1-17-2008 @ 12:20AM
Michael Schmitt said...
BOB!!! You scared me with that Nancy Grace statement. I was about to never read this blog ever again...
Reply
1-17-2008 @ 12:10PM
Gordy said...
Well...as we have learned...a little crying goes a long way.
Reply
1-17-2008 @ 1:09PM
MonkBoy said...
Oprah is still the most popular woman on TV.
Reply
1-23-2008 @ 10:19AM
Brenda Singleton said...
I think Oprah is #1 Ellen is #10 David Letterman is #2 Love all of you
Reply
1-26-2008 @ 2:24PM
Mattie said...
I am glad to see Ellen get attention over Oprah. I think that Oprah started out ok, but now does more self promotion than any actual good for anyone other than herself. I'll be happy when Oprah isn't on TV or Magazine covers any longer. At least Ellen is likeable...
Reply
1-26-2008 @ 2:50PM
FOXWISE said...
i prevere over everyone on that list ,,, homer simpson,,,he is number 1 not some dipsticks who have the most booring shows on tv, most of them stink and i dont watch them anyhow oprah stinks to high heaven brainless dud who cant do nothing on her own she has to writers and what else the are the ones who deserve the credit not that idiot oprah what she did on her own in africa prooves she is brainless rape and i dont know what else who does dhe think is going to support that school the por africans, she is nuts i cant stand that thing,she doesent do anything for the poor of her race right here that slime bag
Reply
1-26-2008 @ 6:29PM
Buzzy From Vegas said...
Eat this Oprah!!!
Reply
1-27-2008 @ 11:26PM
Tony Leon Baugh said...
Jesus Christ, Oprah Winfrey ignores my freedom of my Civil Rights. Rolling in my electric wheelchair to keep on keeping on enjoying life. Even after I been hit by a truck. In northwest Georgia. Next door to Chickamauga/Chattanooga Battlefield National military park. Owned by our Federal Government who ignores there on law of The American Disability Act. They updated in 1990 for wheelchairs. Saying if there is a route for car's & trucks. Should also be a pathway for wheelchairs. And never did place pathways on Lafayette Road. But, kicked me out for rolling like bicycles . After the was senator Max Cleland had my civil rights reinstated in 2002. Now I been kicked out again in 2007. God, Oprah ignores this child of yours.
Reply
1-29-2008 @ 12:43PM
Tony Leon Baugh said...
God, Oprah Winfrey ignores my civil rights. In my electric wheelchair in northwest GA. 30741.
Reply
2-03-2008 @ 2:18PM
lizzie said...
Hugh Laurie is on the list because in addition to being popular as Dr. House, he has contributed financially to many US causes, i.e., victims of Katrina (before he was wellknown as Dr. House), Red Heart Ball, Save the Children, and several I can't remember, plays in the Band from TV that donates all proceeds to charitables causes, appears at fundraisers for a variety of causes, and speaks humbly of being blessed with his success, and conducts himself as one would expect the man Life magazine honored in 2006 as the most talented, versatile performer of all time, instead of leading the typical lifestyle of those in the entertainment field today. Such as drinking, drugging, and denigrating moral values that would reflect not only on himself, but his wife and children. That in itself is worthy of honor.
Reply