Why Are My Choices Never the People's Choices Anymore?

Normally, I couldn't care less about the People's Choice Awards -- poll-driven honors which mostly go to the entertainment products with the biggest hype.

But I looked at the list of nominees distributed by CBS today, and was struck by the three shows nominated for Best TV Drama: House, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and CSI.

If you've been reading the blog this week, you'll know that those are three shows I listed as Programs Which Play Like the Writers are Already on Strike -- prime examples of how popular TV shows are failing audiences creatively.

That might not have been a surprise -- since when have critical tastes often intersected with popular favorites? -- except that it was. Because, when I started covering TV 10 years ago, what critics liked and what the public liked were in lockstep.

Indeed, when people used to ask me what were the best shows on TV, I would just get out a list of Nielsen's highest-rated programs. Among the most-viewed shows of the 1997-98 TV season, ER, Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier, 60 Minutes and Monday Night Football all appear. Last season's Top Ten included two editions of American Idol, THREE editions of Dancing with the Stars, CSI and House.

So what's happened? I know three things: cable has taken a lot of quality dramas which might have otherwise landed on network, the rise of reality TV has created highly-rated, critically questionable series and network TV hasn't been able to field a quality sitcom since Everybody Loves Raymond went off the air (Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives don't count).

What do you think? While you ponder, click below for the whole list of People's Choice Awards nominees.   

FAVORITE TV DRAMA

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"

"House"

"Law and Order: SVU"

FAVORITE TV COMEDY

"The King of Queens"

"My Name is Earl"

"Two and a Half Men"

FAVORITE ANIMATED TV COMEDY

"Family Guy"

"King of the Hill"

"The Simpsons"

FAVORITE SCI-FI SHOW

"Battlestar Galactica"

"Doctor Who"

"Stargate Atlantis"

FAVORITE COMPETITION/REALITY SHOW

"American Idol"

"Dancing with the Stars"

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"

FAVORITE GAME SHOW

"Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

"Deal or No Deal"

"Jeopardy"

FAVORITE FEMALE TV STAR

Sally Field

Katherine Heigl

Jennifer Love Hewitt

FAVORITE MALE TV STAR

Patrick Dempsey

Charlie Sheen

Kiefer Sutherland

FAVORITE SCENE STEALING STAR

Richard Belzer from "Law & Order: SVU"

Neil Patrick Harris from "How I Met Your Mother"

Chandra Wilson from "Grey's Anatomy"

FAVORITE FUNNY FEMALE STAR

Ellen DeGeneres

Whoopi Goldberg

Wanda Sykes

FAVORITE FUNNY MALE STAR

Will Ferrell

Adam Sandler

Robin Williams

FAVORITE TALK SHOW HOST

Ellen DeGeneres

Jay Leno

Oprah Winfrey

FAVORITE NEW TV COMEDY

"Aliens in America"

"Back to You"

"The Big Bang Theory"

"Carpoolers"

"Cavemen"

"Chuck"

"Reaper"

"Samantha Who?"

FAVORITE NEW TV DRAMA

"Big Shots"

"Bionic Woman"

"Cane"

"Dirty Sexy Money"

"Gossip Girl"

"Journeyman"

"K-Ville"

"Life"

"Life Is Wild"

"Moonlight"

"Private Practice"

"Pushing Daisies"

"Women's Murder Club"