I've written a blog that has all of three regular readers, and sometimes I've said things that have gotten a less than positive response. Most of the time, I've thought about it and stuck to my original opinion. But a couple of times, I've realized that I based my opinions on something someone else wrote instead of something I had actual knowledge about. When I've done that, I've apologized. (And the response has always been both surprised and grateful – Internet fans aren't used to people thinking about what they've said instead of immediately going into FU mode.)

It's nice to see that you've done the same. From what I understand, you thought Southland was a typical police show with a gay cop as a gimmick, and to be honest, you may be right. But it's nice when someone admits that they might be wrong (considering you've never seen an episode). Am I going to start watching Southland when it shows up on TNT or TBS or whatever? No. Am I likely to read more of your posts? Yes.

I believe in opinions, and I love when people share them. But I also respect deeply people who admit their opinions might not be founded in personal experience or even more rarely, that their opinions might change with new information.

You are very impressive.

I've written a blog that has all of three regular readers, and sometimes I've said things that have gotten a less than positive response. Most of the time, I've thought about it and stuck to my original opinion. But a couple of times, I've realized that I based my opinions on something someone else wrote instead of something I had actual knowledge about. When I've done that, I've apologized. (And the response has always been both surprised and grateful – Internet fans aren't used to people thinking about what they've said instead of immediately going into FU mode.)

It's nice to see that you've done the same. From what I understand, you thought Southland was a typical police show with a gay cop as a gimmick, and to be honest, you may be right. But it's nice when someone admits that they might be wrong (considering you've never seen an episode). Am I going to start watching Southland when it shows up on TNT or TBS or whatever? No. Am I likely to read more of your posts? Yes.

I believe in opinions, and I love when people share them. But I also respect deeply people who admit their opinions might not be founded in personal experience or even more rarely, that their opinions might change with new information.

You are very impressive.

You have to see.. you enjoy a great show

When it comes down to it, a lot of the ire from last week was stirred because the fans of the show really want it back, they don't want negative press undermining the possibility of that, and they certainly don't want it from someone who hadn't actually watched the show.

I will say this – that after the critical, advertising and public drubbing of Leno's show, I have little to no faith in NBC's programming staff. And finally, to be perfectly clear, last week's column title was a damnation of faint praise, if anything. The Leno Show is bad, but it will survive. I wish I had that kind of job security!

The only thing I care about when it comes to Glenn Beck, personally, is that if you don't listen to what he's actually saying, he's hilarious. He thinks he's being demonstrative, but it's like watching really bad acting from a 1930s potboiler.

Southland was created by John Wells, the creator of ER. Both of these shows are ensemble shows. Ensemble shows don't just focus on a couple of characters, they focus on the whole cast, which is why ER still kept going even without George Clooney, et al. NBC only gave us 7 episodes for the first 'season' and their marketing nearly killed all interest in the show. I remember the episode where Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) and Sherman (Ben McKenzie) didn't appear, my husband got upset – so I explained what a ensemble show was, he was still upset – which is why ensembles are hard for most people to watch when their 'favorite' characters aren't in the spotlight.

One of the other things that was controversial about this show was the bleeping. Personally, I thought if they were going to have to bleep, they shouldn't have the words in the script… If the show moves to TNT, I think the bleeping will stop! (it was annoying). That was really my only gripe of the show! The cast was awesome and I loved the feel of the show – so the crew had to also be great! As far as I can tell, this show is going to get picked up and continue on… maybe you can actually watch the first episodes and see what all the fuss was about! Just saying…

Shelly Gibbens

No, it's not an easy admission. From this standpoint, a writer can have a false sense of entitlement to what he/she writes, and if they don't take the act seriously, well, garbage in and garbage out. But I do take it seriously, as do I take the readership seriously. So if I screw up and am called out on it, man up or get out. There were some arguments set against me last week I will vehemently argue to the end, but my culpability in writing a flawed piece, well that was all on me.

Your employer would argue that your course of activity during work-usage is a violation of work policy if you are posting things at all. Outside of work, your employer might have issues with you writing disparaging things about where you work, and if your company has explicitly told you one of your job rules is to not to bad mouth the company, I'm sorry but you took that job willingly. You made the choice and it affected your online life.

I have a great respect for the whistleblowers. They know their jobs could be on the line for speaking out, but they do, and they don't use false identities to authorities because it infers false witness. What my sidetrack said was that's not in the interest of companies. It's not in the interest of employers and certainly not in the interest of marketers. When that case is made to the powers-that-be, there won't be the open interpretation of free speech on the Internet anymore. You use it, your name signature will be an automatic gateway just to get in, mostly because they'll need to know who to send the bill to.

As for, “Dim Wit” – My last name is Dunphy, for cryin' out loud. I've heard them all.