TVSquad

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the TV Squad Put Me Out Of This Misery Award for 2008 is ... According To Jim!

It was inevitable, really. It was the heavy favorite in the TV Squad offices, and the show has really been baffling TV fans with its uncanny ability to survive. A show hasn't survived like this since CBS' Yes, Dear, which lasted for many seasons, then was seemingly canceled, only to come back out of the ashes later with new episodes that hadn't aired yet (hell, it could still come back: the web site is still live).

While it was the clear winner in the category, that doesn't mean there wasn't any discussion. My personal choice for the award was Last Call with Carson Daly, which just seems to be a nothing show, with a lackluster host and bad guests, in a time slot that no one cares about. And his coming back early from the WGA strike didn't endear Daly to many either. But in the end we realized that even though his show is deadly, it's on at 1:35 in the morning and doesn't have the head-slapping "WTF" factor that According To Jim seems to get every season that it's renewed (full disclosure: while I think its time has passed, I find According To Jim rather harmless and better than has been advertised).

Thanks to everyone who commented on my Put Me Out of This Misery Award post. If there's one thing that people are passionate about, besides what their favorite shows are, are the shows that they don't want around anymore. Below are the five nominees for this award, the show that has overstayed its welcome and should be put down already, damn it! Also, after the jump, a poll for what you would choose for this award, what we're calling the Reader's Choice Award. Both awards will be announced next week.

The nominees, in alphabetical order...

This award is for the show that was renewed for this fall that, damn it, should just be canceled already!

I'm sure when everyone read that line the first show that snapped into their heads was ABC's According To Jim, so I'm sure that's definitely going to be one of the nominees. Other shows I can think of putting in this category are NBC's Law and Order (please, the "ripped from the headlines" is used so much now it's almost like a parody of itself), NBC's The Apprentice (whenever a reality show goes to celebrity editions you know it's time to hang it up), NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly (really, this has to be one of the "who cares" shows on TV right now), and ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos (how many times can we see a dad hit in the balls?). I also thought of putting ER on the list but, since this fall is definitely the last season, it's at the bottom of the list for possible contenders.

What primetime shows do you think should be nominated? Maybe one of the CSI shows? I'm sure SNL will get some votes, though I don't agree.

First Carson Daly got a lot of heat (and hecklers) for going back to work while the Writers Guild of America strike was still going on. And now NBC has rewarded his loyalty by firing nine Last Call with Carson Daly employees, including three of those writers.

Here's what's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• WNBC (and others) named the ballplayers involved in the steroid scandal before the Mitchell Report was even released. But it was the wrong list. Whoops.
• A judge has thrown out that lawsuit against the creators of Heroes.
• But now Conan O'Brien is now getting sued.
• Goodbye Grey's, hello Lost.
• Anderson Cooper sits in for Regis and does a funny standup routine.
• Big shock: Marie Osmond is going to have her own talk show next year.
• Gary Coleman is trying to sell his Saturn.
• Remember that story about writers disrupting a taping of Last Call with Carson Daly? Here's the audio (supposedly - it keeps crashing my browser).

Really, this was inevitable.

Last night, Daly was taping an interview with football star Jerry Rice when an audience member stood up and yelled at Daly, saying he was doing a lousy interview and needed a writer to write the questions for him. Guards escorted the heckler out and they restarted the interview, only to be interrupted once again by another audience member who said "I feel so bad for the striking writers. Can I please leave?" This guy and two others were hauled out too.

Today, Monday September 10, 2007, TV Squad is remembering blogger Adam Finley who passed away tragically late last week. All front page posts will be staff picks of Adam's writing through the years.

NBC has extended Carson Daly's contract for two more years, which means I'll have two more years to not watch Last Call with Carson Daly.

It's not that I dislike Carson Daly. I've caught his show a few times and he's actually quite likable. The problem is that it's on really late at night and I have to get to bed early so I can wake up at sunrise and feed the chickens. This requires getting up early because I don't actually own any chickens and have to trespass onto random farms. It is my belief that all chickens are grossly underfed, but that's beyond the point.

Rick Ludwin, NBC's head of late-night programming, says that Jimmy Fallon is on the short list to replace Conan O'Brien when O'Brien replaces Jay Leno in 2009.

This probably isn't great news for Carson Daly, who has made it known he really, really wants the 12:30am gig. But it seems that Ludwin really likes Daly and thinks (as do Tina Fey and others) that Fallon and O'Brien would make for a great late night lineup at the network. Fallon told Howard Stern several months ago that he might get that gig after signing a development deal with NBC.

So kudos to NBC for making a smart move by having its all-star gala on the roof of the Beverly Hilton's parking lot. It's an elevator ride away and the area is wide open. The party music isn't so loud that it's going to drown out any interviews. Nice.

Swag alert: guests received mini handheld fans upon arriving, but they weren't really needed because there was a nice evening breeze in the air.