There are a lot of great things about summer. It's not cold outside anymore, your seasonal depression clears up all on its own, and you can give your Tivo a break because none of the important shows are on for a while! OK, OK, there are a few exceptions, but for every Mad Men there are about a hundred I Love Moneys. Here are the reasons we're most excited for life to get back to normal next month, TV-wise.

The Olympics have pretty much been unavoidable -- they're all over the internet, TV, and the news, and some of it has been thrilling, some scandalous and some just disappointing. It's been the big topic of conversation around the water cooler and, frankly, it's exhausting to try and keep up with it all and sound intelligent, especially if you had to watch an average of about, say, 10 hours of coverage a day so you could write a daily blog. (Just as an example...) So while we've enjoyed the hype and the fun, we're glad this only comes around every four years (or two, if you count winter, and really, do we need to start counting that?) because we're just looking forward to getting back to our regularly scheduled programming. And that thing... what's it called again? Oh yeah, a life.

Evangeline Lilly had the nerve recently to ask for more money per episode on her Lost contract, even though she makes more than anyone else on the show (except Matthew Fox) and even though her character Kate is by far the most irritating character on that show by a landslide. This prompted me to think back over my years of TV-watching to compile the list of most unduly annoying characters to ever exist on the small screen.

Realizing that not everyone is a Big Brother junkie like moi, there was a massive verbal battle this week that went from a discussion to getting nearly everyone in the house in a senseless screaming match. It is way beyond convoluted to explain (though M.Giant did a good job attempting to) but it got us thinking about how reality shows are really at their best when people just let their freak flags fly and start swearing or punching. Honestly, we could fill this whole list with stupid stuff that had happened on Big Brother or A Shot at Love but I'm trying hard to give you a little bit of variety here. I'm told that's the spice of life. With that, here are some of the most disgusting or ridiculous squabbles ever to grace the small screen. Though I'm sure this list will be outdated by tomorrow.

It's August already, which means that the vast wasteland of summer television is about to turn into a flurry of new shows, and finally our favorites will be back on the air with new episodes. (I barely even remember where Heroes and Pushing Daisies left off, it's been so long!) So before your TiVo gets overstuffed with Knight Rider episodes, here are some things you should make a point to do ASAP. This way, you'll have something good to put in your mandatory "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" blog. Don't panic, people -- none of these ideas involve going outdoors. Heaven forbid. All you need is your computer, maybe Netflix and a DVD player to get started!

The Office teased us with the idea of a spinoff and then pulled the rug out from under us. We were so hoping it would involve the Intercourse, PA branch and have guest spots with Tobey (speaking of which, did you see that real-life Tobey got married recently? Mazel Tov!) and someone even weirder than Dwight. But alas, we're getting a new show with Amy Poehler from the people who made the U.S. version of The Office that really has nothing to do with The Office. Here's our wish list of shows that should get spinoffs, and some ideas for the writers... in case they're still struggling from writers' strike lag.

Former Dawson's Creek cutie Katie Holmes made a big splash this week when it was announced that she'd be returning to the small screen in a guest role on Eli Stone. Her former co-star Joshua Jackson also landed a gig on the hopefully decent fall series Fringe. Not to even mention that practically the entire cast of 90210 is either heading back for the spinoff or adamantly denying that they are (they'll change their minds in a year.) Apparently everything old (well, 15 years old) is new again. Yay! Here are the ten people we'd really like to see back on the small screen in a nice juicy recurring role or guest gig.

The producers responsible for The Baby Borrowers will be airing a reunion special on August 6th in order to defend their show and prove that it's "more than just entertainment." Apparently, in light of all the recent (lousy) press, executives feel they need to prove that the show is really teaching teenage couples -- and, by proxy, America -- an important life lesson about parenting. With this in mind, I came up with my own list of the ten invaluable life lessons TV has afforded me. I don't mean to brag, but think I've got the world pretty well figured out. And I didn't even have to leave my couch!

My fellow Americans (and loyal international readers) today is the one day a year we grab our flags and celebrate being from this great country by remembering the struggles that our forefathers went through. Well our forefathers would probably be rolling in their collective graves if they could see how the name "America" has been adopted by some of TV's most popular offerings. If this batch of programming is how our country is represented to the rest of the world, it isn't such a surprise that they hate us or think we are morons.

With the recent addition of Wipeout to the world of stupid shows where people make themselves look like idiots in order to earn some cash money, we've decided to take a look back at some of the really ridiculous shows that involve rewarding those with little or no talent with cash. While Wipeout just barely missed making the cut, there are some others that are horrifyingly bad and are contributing to the downfall of quality television just as much as an average episode of The Bachelorette. That's not to say that some of these aren't entertaining to watch, but that doesn't really make them intelligent TV.