"If reality TV has taught us anything, it's that you can't keep people with no shame down."

So I actually sat down and watched the Emmys last night. Over the years, I've grown less and less interested in the Emmys if only because I don't watch a lot of the shows that get all the nominations. Lost? Never seen it. Mad Men? Watched one episode and liked it but never kept up enough with it to keep my DVR from deleting it to make space for other stuff. Dexter? Don't get Showtime. Two and a Half Men? You must be kidding me.

Last night, though, the Emmys did provide a pleasant diversion from the raging pain that is my back, and I tuned in to root for a show that I do love and that was actually nominated for many awards -- 30 Rock.

30 Rock was pretty much destined to win my heart from the second the idea sprung into Tina Fey's head. First of all, just the involvement of Tina Fey had me at hello. She is my hero -- smart, funny, not afraid to rock the glasses, quirky. She's like the pretty, glamorous, successful version of me! Add to that the fact that it's the sort of workplace comedy populated by eccentrics that I tend to love, I was in.

So it was with great excitement that I watched the show walk away with a ton of Emmys last night -- for Writing (if you haven't seen the "Cooter" episode for which Tina Fey won her writing Emmy last night, you really need to. I tried to link to it but hulu doesn't seem to have it anymore. BLURG!), Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Comedy Series. That's a pretty impressive haul.

Here's the thing: despite the fact that this is the second year 30 Rock has won Best Comedy Series, the show still struggles in the ratings and seems to constantly be on the fence when it comes to cancellation. After the pain of losing Arrested Development under similar circumstances, I don't think I can go through it again. This show should be huge, like Seinfeld huge, and yet it's sort of like the little engine that could, slowly chugging its way up the hill. And you know what? That pisses me off. When shows like Two and a Half Men and According to Jim can run for seasons and seasons mining the same hardy-har-har laughs that have been around for decades and a show like 30 Rock struggles to get people to tune in, something's wrong. It's that same dumbing down mentality that led people to vote for George W. Bush. Heaven forbid we spend our evenings watching smart comedy. Instead, let's crack open a beer and watch Charlie Sheen crack one sexist joke after another.

Hopefully, when 30 Rock does return on October 30 (and seriously, wtf on that one?? The Office and My Name is Earl come back this week. What's with the wait on 30 Rock?!?!?!?), people will tune in and see what the big deal is . . . and they'll stay and help make this critically beloved show the popularly beloved show it deserves to be. If not, BLURG!!!

PS -- One final note for the Emmy voters out there, could you please stop giving Jeremy Piven awards? It only makes his ego bigger. And instead, could you please give one to Neil Patrick Harris?