Here's to an Idol-free Today

That will hopefully come next week.

Every morning, I watch Today. I am obviously not looking for hard news to go along with my morning coffee, but it gets me a little informed and entertained.

Except for every Wednesday and Thursday morning, when they would do a 10 minute "commercial" for a show on a totally different network. Meredith would get all excited talking about American Idol. I always wondered how the brass at NBC would allow it. They didn't talk about who got kicked off any of the other shows on other networks. They didn't even talk about the first woman to ever win The Biggest Loser, an actual NBC show.

I don't watch American Idol. Because I like music. Watching a dozen tweens butcher classic songs week after week in a "karaoke from hell" kind of way makes me die a little inside.

But it's Meredith's reason for living. Or so you would think, judging from the daily giddiness when talking about it. "Did you watch?" she would ask Matt. "Um, no," was his standard reply. And oh the drama when the father of one of the "singers" was "banned" from back stage.

Isn't there a war on? An election coming up? A dog that can do tricks? Because the only way I would consider American Idol "news" is if when one of the "singers" got voted off, they whipped out a gun and went postal, with Ryan Gaycrest getting caught in the crossfire. I might actually watch that episode!

It all came to a head today on Today when the "winner" and the runner up appeared on the show. Meredith was so giddy, Matt had to sit in on the interview. I swear all she did was sit there and giggle. As a journalist, I died a little inside watching it.

So I switched over to Angel on TNT. If I am not going to be informed, at least I can be entertained.