Here are my top 5 changes needed to make TV.com better than it currently is:

1. Increase the number of friends' blogs listed in the right side box to 10 or more. Currently, it is at 4, and we are more likely to miss new blogs if several new ones are posted. Similarly, including how many new/unread comments there are will help not only the blog author, but also regular visitors who enjoy reading comments.

2. Eliminate the blog notices from the "My Feed" box on the left. We already knew they posted a new blog since the blog box on the right told us so, and it included the blog's title. Make "My Feed" have new news articles from my favorite shows. Currently, "My Feed" includes two news articles from April 2007. Not exactly "hot of the press" information!

3. Restore the 0.1 increments in the show/episode/person ratings so we can better grade them. Rounding to 0.5 makes everything less precise, and limits our choices. Additionally, the rating bar doesn't show any numbers until one is chosen. We're forced to use the colors and smiley faces to predict what number that is.

4. Bring back all the wonderfully creative show banners/pictures that Freaksngeeks (and others) created over the years. The new ones, with different size standards, are boring publicity photos, but the old ones had thought and character to them. Reward all that work by putting them back on every show's page. Please.

5. Add more choices for crew credits/positions. There are always new crew jobs being created, but never a way to put them into the crew list. Allow not only different options for the various producing credits, but also writing variations too. A fill-in-the-blank box for unique crew positions would allow us to include their exact contribution to the program. We want this to be the best database of television, and limiting choices makes it a jumbled, inexact mess.

I could've complained about the vast whitespace of the new site, or the lack of smilies in comments, or the light grey colored font used everywhere, but I could live with those for awhile. The five above are site structure issues that relate more to the data and user experience here to TV.com.

I've been contributing since the days of TVTome, and I want to see the site get better and better. But the regular "upgrades" always create more problems than expected. Things need to evolve, rather than make it all pretty and ignore the deep-seeded issues. There are plenty of things to improve, and the last version was well on its way to greatness. And now, we're back at another beginning. I'll stay tuned for the next episode.

Since I am the editor for 30 Days here on TV.com, I am here to encourage everyone (who reads this!) to watch the third season premiere tonight on FX. It airs at 10pm and repeats at 11pm (EDT).

Tonight, show creator Morgan Spurlock (star of Super Size Me, What Would Jesus Buy?, and Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?) will spend 30 days working in a coal mine in West Virginia. He will show what it is like to live and work in that environment.

The documentary show includes a lot of humor and raises many important questions about issues that are present in the world today.

Please watch it if you've never seen it before, and I hope you'll watch the remaining five episodes this season.

The votes are in and TV Land has announced the list of the 50 Greatest TV Icons.

Here is the list.

I was close on my choices (listed in my previous blog post), as were my friendly visitors in their comments too. We sure do know our tv personalities!

TV Land will be airing a special for the countdown on Friday night (with many more repeats). Check out the show page and schedule here.

Have a good weekend, and enjoy any new episodes while we can.

It has been awhile, I know, but I found another good TV topic.

Entertainment Weekly has created a tournament to determine the greatest television icon or legend. Check it out at www.ew.com/tvicons. It is slow loading, but still fun. Voting ends Nov. 12, and the results will be revealed that night.

There are many tough matchups and it is hard to vote against some people. I was quite surprised at my final four people too. Here are my picks inside the spoiler (but don't peek until you've voted):

Highlight to read:

Final Four:

Dick Clark vs. Oprah Winfrey

Bill Cosby vs. Lucille Ball

Championship:

Lucille Ball over Oprah Winfrey

There is a contest attached to the voting that will compare your picks with everyone's picks. I'm sure I'll win!

Feel free to post your picks too.

Enjoy filling out your bracket, and have a Happy Halloween, er, Thanksgiving!

--

P.S. This short entry brought me much frustration with the formatting in this blog "compose" box. I don't know how you all do it with such mastery. It never works for me. How can I have bad tags when I didn't create them???

Through my random travels around the internet, finding a list related to TV is always a treat. And when it is bad tv, even better. With the recent announcemens of the new fall tv season, many new shows were picked up with hopes of becoming the next Friends, Seinfeld, or CSI.

The crack staff of Cracked.com assembled

The 13 Most Ridiculous TV Shows To Ever Get Green-Lit

Without further ado, here they are:

13. Automan - ABC (1983-1984)

12. Beauty and the Beast - CBS (1987-1990)

11. Bosom Buddies - ABC (1980-1982)

10. Cover Up - CBS (1984-1985)

9. The Fall Guy - ABC (1981-1986)

8. The Greatest American Hero - ABC (1981-1983)

7. The Master - NBC (1984)

6. Misfits of Science - NBC (1985-1986)

5. Out of This World - Syndicated (1987-1991)

4. BJ and the Bear - NBC (1979-1981)

3. The Man from Atlantis - NBC (1977-1978 )

2. Quark - NBC (1977-1978 )

1. The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage - NBC (1991)

I apologize to the editors and fans of the above shows. They all had their fans and several lasted many seasons. Feel free to mention the ones on this list that you watched, or others that deserve to be on the list too. I must admit that I watched #11, 9, 8, and 1 as a youngster, and I know I was entertained with them. I mean how could you not love Black Jack Savage???

Happy watching!