Nine TV resolutions for 2009

I'm usually not one to make New Year's resolutions for myself. When I have, I've never held to them, so I stopped. That doesn't mean, however, that I'm above suggesting some self-improvement goals for others -- specifically, the people who make the TV shows we watch.

Last year we called this our "Guilty Pleasures" gallery. Then, we did some soul-searching over the next 12 months and came to the realization that we don't feel guilty about a single show we watch -- even Hannah Montana. Sure, we might need to rationalize and defend it to the nonbelievers who don't have nearly the broad TV-viewing palates that we possess, but we're ok with that.

This is the third time around for our annual list of underrated actors/TV personalities, and we have to admit, it was a little tougher to put this one together than the past two have been.

This fall has not been a great one for television, as has been widely both here and elsewhere. Ratings are down across the board, and with the exception of CBS' The Mentalist, which started strong and has stayed that way, there are no new hits to be found anywhere. Including in this post.