Vacation Robo-Post: Tuned In's Person of the Year

Posted by James Poniewozik Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 8:21 am

6 Comments • Trackback (1) • awards, lists, robo-james

Last week, TIME named its Person of the Year. (I know! I didn't see it coming either!) This year's pick was more of a foregone conclusion that most, so it wasn't likely that a TV or media person was going to claim the top spot. Which makes your nominations for Tuned In POY all the more influential! Who do you think had the greatest impact this year in TV and media?

A couple simple guidelines, modeled on those for the real TIME POY selection: the designation is not an honor—it's about who had the biggest, most influential year for good or ill. In other words, yes, Ben Silverman is eligible. And it's about what each individual did in 2008: i.e., it's not a lifetime achievement award.

A few suggestions off the top of my head to start you off, after the jump:

Tina Fey: Because duh.

Sam Zell: For buying, then running bankrupt, the Tribune Company, hence hastening the apparent death / assisted suicide of the newspaper business.

Katie Couric: Not just for that Sarah Palin interview, but for putting in strong work on CBS's webcasts throughout the election season. She built her presence without getting to moderate a debate, which considering the quality of the Presidential debates, may have been better for her.

Bryan Cranston: For his transformative performance as dying chem teacher / meth cooker Walter White in Breaking Bad.

Ben Silverman: Like I said, it's not an honor. And NBC's ratings crackup / fall from critical grace / putting Jay Leno in primetime to cut costs was not just a big story for NBC but for the future of the TV business.

You may be thinking I'm an idiot because I left out some obvious candidates. I did it on purpose! To motivate you! Cast your votes—you can name more than one—in the comments, and we can total them up later.