Good Writing

One thing that makes TV superior to movies (at least to work in) is that in TV, the writer has all the power. The writer plots the course of the show, tells the director what to do, and so forth. Movies would be so much better if they followed this format.

I bring this up because my colleague at our sister paper in Minneapolis, Neal Justin, listed his Top 10 TV writers of all time. His list omitted Joss Whedon ("Buffy," "Angel," "Firefly") among his 10 best, so needless to say, our lists diverged quite a bit. Here's his list at http://www.startribune.com/459/story/784521.html. A fair list to be sure, especially since he made a point of leaving David E. Kelley off.

Here's mine:

1. Rod Serling
2. Aaron Sorkin
3. Joss Whedon
4. Larry Gelbart
5. Jimmy McGovern
6. Steven Bochco/David Milch (I saw Milch at the Austin Film Festival, he's hilarious to listen to)
7. Ron Moore
8. Larry David
9. David Chase
10. Shawn Ryan

Of course, it's all very subjective, but all of the above both created series and wrote great episodes of those and other series. Other than Serling at No. 1, I could rotate the order of the rest of the list, but you get the gist of it. Of course, most writers labor out of the spotlight, making this debate relatively moot.

ELECTION NIGHT RETURNS: I'm guessing I'm not the only one sick to bloody death of the current election and the blanket advertising from the candidates, each more negative than the next.

This is why people don't vote. The last few days, I've come home to phone messages from the President himself, urging me to vote for Mac Collins, along with about two hundred pieces of junk mail. Muchos gracias, Senor Mac.

Anyway, for those of you who love all this political stuff, you may want to catch the hour-long special on Comedy Central at 11 p.m., featuring Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Dan Rather. (Seriously, Dan Rather). As for me, I just hope they don't break through too many of my Tuesday favorites with early election results which tell you nothing. Seriously, don't pre-empt segments of "Friday Night Lights" (NBC, 8 p.m.) to tell me about a judge's race with 1 percent of the ballots counted.

For those who want a take on the local races, check out The Telegraph's own Charles Richardson from 9-11 p.m. Cox Cable's Channel 15.

IDOLATRY: Fox announced "American Idol" will debut Jan. 16, replacing the need to develop quality TV programs.

IF YOU LIKE BORAT...: CBS will broadcast "The Papdits" from "Da Ali G" co-creator Ant Hines online at the network's Innertube site. "The Papdits" was a pilot that was never picked up, but CBS is hoping to make a quick profit now that "Borat" has done so well in theatres. I didn't see "Borat," so I likely won't be logging on. You can check it out at CBS.com/innertube.


TUESDAY'S PICKS: David Morse continues his guest turn on "House" (Fox, 9 p.m.) as a cop whose lack of charm rivals that of House. Meanwhile, the doctors tackle the case (hopefully not literally) of a 600-pound patient.

I don't watch "Gilmore Girls" (CW, 8 p.m.) but I couldn't help but note tonight's bittersweet episode title, "Go, Bulldogs!" Oy. Not a good year to be a Georgia fan, though I'm guessing this episode has little if anything to do with UGA's gridiron follies.

I haven't written a tremendous amount about "Veronica Mars" (CW, 9 p.m.) this season, but it's rebounded from what I thought was a weak season a year ago. If you begin watching now, there's still time to catch up on the season's storylines.