Daily Dirt: Not all TV program rankings are accurate, espcially this one

April 14, 2022 | By Steve Eighinger, Muddy River News Minister of Culture and Doctor of Love

Daily Dirt for Thursday, April 14, 2022

I can virtually guarantee you will say “what?!” at least five times when examining the first of today’s three thoughts … Welcome to Vol. 258 of The Daily Dirt.

1. The other day I cam across a list of the most overrated shows in modern TV history.

Those kind of things always intrigue me, and for the most part all such efforts have at least some merit, but for the life of me I cannot figure out what the folks at newarena.com had in mind when putting together their list.The ensuing list makes up their top 10 “most overrated shows”. The accompanying accompanying comments are from yours truly:

1. “The Big Bang Theory”: Seriously? Granted, by the end of the series the jokes had become a bit tiresome and predictable, but for a decade this was bona fide hilarious programming.
2. “Friends”: The complaint: “It was about six white twenty-something haircuts relying on tired old cadences for laughs,” The reality: The show featured six principal characters who connected with the audience for most of its 10-year run. How could anyone not have liked Phoebe?
3. “The Walking Dead”: I will agree with one item expressed in dissing one of my all-time favorite programs — at times, the storylines have tended to take forever to go full circle. That aside, what other show can you sit back, wait and KNOW at some point in the coming 60 minutes there will be some devastation of human flesh, thanks to some rude zombies?
4. “The X-Files”: To be honest, I never watched much of this show, but I did like to say “Mulder and Scully”.
5. “Grey’s Anatomy”: I tried to watch — and like — this program over the years, but it was just so boring … so, yeah, here’s the first selection I actually agree with.
6. “How I Met Your Mother”: Make it two. This show was always terrible.
7. “Mad Men”: I always felt this was an extremely well-done program. It’s another show newarena.com feels the storylines took too long to develop. Hey, newarena.com, if we enjoy the characters we don’t care how long it takes them to make a point.
8. “Girls”: I have never seen an episode, nor do I plan such a venture. I didn’t even know this show existed. Someone named Lena Durham was a main character. Yawn …
9. “Boardwalk Empire”: Another series I always felt was a hidden gem, that, yes, lasted about 1 1/2 seasons too long on HBO. But the first few seasons, set in the 1920s and 1930s, were excellent in theme, action and character development. Steve Busciemi was Emmy worthy.
10. “Everybody Loves Raymond”: How could anyone say this comedy was overrated in any way, shape or form? Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle were dynamic contributors.

2. The inaugural NBA play-in tournament going on this week should be considered a major success. It has the feel of a high school postseason event. I think the format should be expanded for next season, moving from four to eight teams.

3. Here we go, the first expanded Great Plate rankings of the year — our top 20 license plates found across West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri:

1. (1.) YADI LUV: Yadier Molina’s net worth is a reported $45 million, according to celebritynetworth.com.
2. (2.) GOL D LOX: I just discovered this week there is a women’s professional wrestler named Goldy Locks.
3. (3.) TAXED: Illinois now levies the nation’s highest state and local tax rates on residents, costing each household $9,488 – or more than 15 percent of its annual income – in 2022, according to illinoispolicy.org. That tax load is nearly 39 percent more annually than the nation’s average.
4. (4.) GO SING: The largest choir ever consisted of 121,440 people and was organized in Perungalathur, Chennai, India, Jan. 30, 2011.
5. (-) SIR LAW: My favorite TV lawyer of all time was probably Harvey Specter on “Suits”. (PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Denny Crane would like a word, sir. JRG)
6. (5.) PAT PAT 1: My favorite athlete named Pat? Probably former basketball player Pat Riley, who, of course, went on to be a rather successful NBA coach, too.
7. (6.) BASIC: The most basic haircut(s) include the buzz cut, crew cut, and taper cut. Each cut is short and simple to style yet “looks masculine and attractive on most face shapes,” according to thetrendspotter.net.
8. (-) A-BAUM: Retired pro wrestler Bryan Clark once used the moniker Adam Bomb.
9. (-) ALOHA 37: The last Aloha Bowl postseason football came was played in 2000.
10. (8.) MEANCAT: Twenty NCAA Division I football teams’ nicknames are some sort of cat. And a mean one, I’m sure.
11. (9.) QUINCY: Jack Klugman starred in “Quincy,” an NBC-TV series from 1976-83.
12. (10.) TACO: I have actually come to know the owner of these plates, and surprisingly, he is not a huge fan of Mexican cuisine.
13. (12.) CAL GAL: The last Californian to be named Miss America was Debra Maffett in 1983.
14. (13.) PAL GAL: Would a pal be a significant other, or just a good friend?
15. (-) CAN CAN 2: The power of positive thinking. After all, it’s not CAN’T CAN’T 2.
16. (11.) PINK: Remember Pinky Tuscadero?
17. (14.) OH DEER 4: Surprisingly, California has the fewest registered deer hunters of any U.S. state.
18. (15.) OHH TAY 1: Buckwheat was the Little Rascal character credited with coming up with this phrase.
19. (16.) U OF GA: Georgia’s football team ranked No. 2 in the early ESPN college football rankinbgs, behind Ohio State and ahead of Alabama and Michigan.
20-tie. (-) ABC: A return to the rankings. (I saw these plates twice in the last week, and am impressed all over again!)
20-tie. (-) COBB: Ty, or Corn?
20-tie.(18) (-) NERD 3: The first documented appearance of the word “nerd” came as the name of a creature in Dr. Seuss’s book “If I Ran the Zoo (1950)”.