Josh on...The Best/Worst TV Personalities

This week we looked at the five worst and the five best television personalities.

Worst
5. Jerry Springer
While Dan hates Jerry for his role elsewhere, I hate him for displaying to the world the worst America has to offer. Not only that, I hate him for actually staying on the air so long, while great television shows drop like flies.

4. Judge Judy
As Jerry Springer shows the world the worst of American culture, Judge Judy shows the world the worst of the American judicial system. While the cases are real, they are also really god damn annoying. I also blame Judy for the plethora of other court shows that have begun to crop up. While she wasn't the first television courtroom persona, I believe she was the most infectious and has had the best ratings, thus allowing the other shows to exist. The only half-way decent show of this format was "Judge Reinhold" but it was canceled almost immediately.

3. Sarah Palin
I'm just going to cut this off right now. There has been some speculation about Sarah Palin's future career being a talk show host. So I put her on the list just in case that does happen. In such an event I am predicting that it will not be good. So, to avoid having to come back and change the list, she makes it at number three.

2. John Edward
Luckily, this tool no longer seems to be on the air. Why, you may ask? As South Park put it, he was the biggest douche in the world. I'll give him some credit though, as he was able to milk his "talent" for quite some time. But eventually, people realized what was going on.



1. Simon Cowell
Like Judy or Springer, Cowell doesn't get blamed in my book for just American Idol. No, if that wasn't bad enough, I also credit him with the success of any future horrible shows where three judges sit there and bitch to people on national television about some talent or skill that the person has worked at for a great amount of time, only to come on television and be ridiculed about. That includes shows like "Dancing with the Stars" not to mention the horrible horrible subsequent seasons of "American Idol" and its immediately related progeny. For these horrible sins against television driven by plot or character, I condemn Simon Cowell to his rightful place as the worst television personality.

The Best Television Personalities are after the break!

Best

5. Jonathan Karsh
You may have forgotten all about Jonathan Karsh, but I can't. He was a huge part of why I loved Kid Nation so much. He was able to handle the complete ridiculousness of his job on the show with a straight face. In the end, his performance was worth its weight in gold...literally.

4. CNN Political Team
I considered limiting this to just one member of the Best Political Team on television. But this personality works best as one entire team. From Wolf Blitzer to John Carville, everyone brings something different and plays their part on this team. But, no matter what else I say, there are two words that send CNN's Political Team into the top 5. Holograms Bitches.



3. Jerry Seinfeld
I wasn't positive if Jerry qualified as a tv personality. He plays himself on a show, but the "self" he plays could also be described as a character. Nonetheless, I put him squarely in the category and near the top. His observations and comedy in the show and in the stand-up bits before-hand gave us 9 seasons of hilarity.

2. Mr. Rogers
Does this really need an explanation? He taught life lessons to an entire generation of Americans. May he rest in peace.

1. Jeff Cannatta
Anyone that knows me knows I'm a huge fan of The Totally Rad Show. It's a weekly web-tv show that reviews movies, video games, comics and television. I could have picked any of the three hosts for this top spot, but I chose Jeff. He always brings an interesting spin to the conversations. He pushes the conversations and takes them in deeper directions. Also, the TRS represents the future of televiison: the internet. Niche programming that can be perfectly tailored to its target audience. All of these reasons are why I think Jeff is the best TV personality.