Your thoughtful reply has made me reconsider. I should have immediately looked at the ratings and known what an important show I was missing in favor of reading a book and set my Tivo to record it at once.
History has shown time and time again that horrible shows are never popular in America. Americans tend to tune in to only quality programming like "Friends", "Dr. Phil", "Dancing with the Stars", and the thought-provoking beast that is "American Idol" (guess what? Americans tend to do the same thing in their music and movie listening and viewing habits as well). Pardon me for my ignorance, but that's what you get when you read some stupid history book instead of watching "talented" people sing kareokee.