['House': "Carrot or Stick"] Episodes of 'House' boil down to two types of shows: ones with big shocking endings that threaten to rip relationships apart, and ones that fill the gaps between those episodes. The ones wedged in the middle like Oreo cream filling feel just like that -- filler. The stories and cases aren't as clever as the tail-end cliffhangers and range from mildly interesting ...

Keith Olbermann, former host of MSNBC's 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' is no stranger to battles with the talking heads. From his spirited -- but mostly friendly -- bet with Fox News' Sean Hannity to make good on Hannity's promise to be waterboarded to prove it wasn't torture to his pet names for right-wing pundits Ann "Coulter(geist)" and Glenn "Lonesome Rhodes" Beck, Olbermann wasn't afraid ...

Let's be honest. We all watch game shows for the same reason we watch stock car racing, Jerry Bruckheimer films and 'Jersey Shore': the inevitable sight of total personal destruction. It all comes from that evil troll in the back of our heads who loves watching people suffer public humiliation for cash and/or prizes. Our moral center might make us feel empathy for some poor dolt who lost over ...

The man who tonight will (hopefully for CNN's sake) become CNN's new "king" might appear to be just another stuffy British newspaper man turned reality TV star. And for the most part, you're probably right. He helped bring the notorious British tabloid press to new heights by specializing in celebrity gossip and star-trashing while simulatanously bringing it and himself down by emersing himself ...

Just about every major cable network seems to have abandoned their original, core genre for bland, unoriginal shows that barely fit their format. VH1, formerly "Video Hits No. 1," has more sleazy reality shows on their lineup than the Fox Reality Channel. A&E focuses less and less on the "arts" and airs stuff that's barely "entertainment." MTV got so tired of people complaining that they ...

Believe it or not, National Hat Day is an unofficial but well-celebrated holiday. Every Jan. 15, people across the country are invited to pull out their favorite head topper and stick it on their noggin for the entire day. National Hat Day's origins are unknown and its meaning and purpose are even more mysterious. Even the esteemed and long-standing Headwear Association (est. 1908) doesn't know ...

Awhile back when news of IBM's "Watson," the computer designed specifically to compete as a 'Jeopardy!' contestant, first surfaced, I actually tried to reach out to champion Ken Jennings for his reactions to it. He declined the opportunity saying that the people at 'Jeopardy!' had asked him not to speak on the subject for the time being. He was very nice and cordial, but there was a weird ...

Comedy shows take a huge risk of jumping the shark when they try to get serious for a minute or open a teaser with "a very special episode," the four most dreaded words in television since "Up next: 'Wife Swap.'" Jon Stewart's 'Daily Show,' however, finds itself in the unique position of being television's guidance counselor. The news landscape doesn't have an Edward R. Murrow to speak of, a ...

sweet-sassy-molassey-Bringing the awesome majesty of the Thurber award-winning humor empire The Onion to television seems like a bit of a no-brainer. The Onion and its various properties aren't just ripping the people in the headlines a new one. The people who read and write the headlines are also fair game. That last target alone screams for an "Onion Show." The landscape of screaming heads ...

Some of the greatest television dramas like 'The Wire,' 'CSI' and the never-ending stream of 'Law & Order' spinoffs ripped some of their best plots straight from the crime blotter. But some of the best headlines don't need fictional characters or enhanced-for-TV plot twists, which is why true crime shows have become so popular on networks like truTV, A&E and Investigation Discovery, ...