TV's Greatest Icons

Though coincidental, it's entirely appropriate for we Middle Georgians that TVLand is airing the two-hour special, "The 50 Greatest TV Icons" tonight at 8 p.m.

After all, one of the arrived in town yesterday when Oprah Winfrey landed at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport. (I know this because Oprah has unwittingly controlled my life all week.)

I haven't seen the entire list yet, but I'm fairly certain that Oprah, the queen of daytime TV, is on there.

Numero Uno on the list is Johnny Carson, a hard choice to dispute, since he was the king of late night TV for so many years. I know fellow late-night hosts David Letterman and Conan O'Brien also made it, but Jay Leno didn't.

What is a TV icon anyway? There's no real surefire definition, but I'd say it's when a name or face is so recognizeable that anyone knows who the icon is, no matter if you watch the show or not.

Someone like Andy Griffith would be an icon as Sheriff Andy Taylor (as would Don Knotts for Barney Fife), but Griffith wouldn't be for Matlock, for example. Andy Taylor is a character that will be remembered well into the next century, even by Gen Y'ers.

Same thing with Lucy, the Fonz and Mr. Spock.

It's probably easy to pick most of the icons from TV's golden era for this list, as well as modern icons like Oprah or Letterman. But which characters from now might make it the next time someone does a list, in 50 years or so?

A 'CSI'-er perhaps? One of the "Heroes," or the "Lost"? "Ugly Betty?"

With the advent of DVDs and the internet, modern characters are much more likely to become part of the American culture than their counterparts from bygone eras.

Who is your favorite TV icon?

THURSDAY RECAP: It was great seeing Mercedes McNab playing a different type of vampire last night on "Supernatural," way different than her character of Harmony on "Buffy" and "Angel."

R.I.P. JOE NUXHALL: The Cincinnati Reds broadcaster, who has the distinction of being the youngest player ever to appear in a Major League Baseball game, died Thursday night from cancer. He was 79.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: Some "Friday Night Lights" (NBC, 9 p.m.) fans have complained about the under-use of Smash Williams (Gaius Charles) this season. (Clearly, the producers don't favor the run-oriented offense that the former Panthers coach did). But be happy - recruiting season has begun and the Smash begins to look to his collegiate future. It's followed by a new "Las Vegas" at 10 p.m.

Fans will get their second dose of a new "Women's Murder Club" (ABC, 9 p.m.) tonight, following a new "Men In Trees."

CBS is all-new with "Ghost Whisperer," "Moonlight" and "Numb3rs."

On Saturday, most people will get to see Georgia's critical game with Kentucky (WGXA, 12:30 p.m.) Me, I'll be at the City Auditorium for Oprah's show, and I don't even have a ticket. Why? Because I want to keep my job!

At least I should be able to see some good viewing Saturday night, with an all-new "Torchwood" (BBC America, 9 p.m.) as well as the HBO original movie, "PU-239," (HBO, 8 p.m.), a thriller about black market nuclear materials from Russia, produced by George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh and Peter Berg.

Everything is also new on Sunday, including Fox's animated lineup, CBS' crime-oriented lineup of "Cold Case" and "Shark," and Showtime's one-two punch of "Dexter" and "Brotherhood."