When I heard that TMZ had been renewed for two more years, I thought, yeah, I get that. In my neck of the woods, the show airs at 7:30 p.m. every weeknight. Tabloid TV has gotten to the point where it's no longer relegated to a 3 a.m. timeslot. Now it airs at a respectable hour, which has somehow made the show respectable, too.

So what IS it about the rich, famous and screwed-up that we find so fascinating? Other than the fact that it's just plain fun to gawk at these folks, I've come up with a few reasons why TMZ is one of the best things to enter our lives in years:

1. TMZ shows us that even though the rest of us might be struggling out here, we're still way better off than the people on TMZ's radar. That's comforting in a weird way.

Some more talk about Wolf Blitzer's recent interview with Dick Cheney, when we were once again reminded that Cheney don't like talkin' about his lesbian daughter. Hmm. His buddies are scolding people for mentioning Mary Cheney and using children as "political props". Every time I see that clip of the "What? Are you going to kill me?" presentation, I laugh for about five or six... hours. It's not good for my health.

Senior Media Critic John Oliver stopped by to elaborate. I liked the list of fourteen things that Cheney's willing to talk about (well, what we heard of it, anyway). Political Activist Chrissy Gephardt (!) also chatted with Jon about the issue. Good sport.