E.R.

Tomorrow supposedly marks the end of the acclaimed/never ending NBC series "E.R." In truth, I don't think I've ever watched a full episode of this show that's been going on for somewhere between 14 and 39 years. I've tried a couple of times but I guess I didn't get into it when it was popular and so I don't really know (or care) about the characters or story lines. Still, it's pretty remarkable for a show to go on for this long.

It's been too long, in fact. Sure, I may have a group of friends who are out of "E.R.'s" target audience but I don't think I know a single person who still watches this show. And I hang out with some people who watch A LOT of TV. I can't remember the last time I even overheard a conversation in which ER was brought up unless it was, in fact, the actual emergency room. Still the show has hung on. In a world that can't embrace the genius of "Firefly," "Pushing Daisies," or "Arrested Development" I find it hard to understand how a tired medical show like this has managed to stay on the air (and supposedly hold viewers) for 15 years. It's become a running joke within my "Office" watching group. Every single week, as we await the last segment of "The Office" while they run a "final season of E.R." commercial, someone (usually Jason) says, "that show is still on the air?!" It's truly amazing.

So that got me thinking. Now that "E.R" is about to turn over the reign of "Most Shocking that it's Still On the Air" television program, what will take its place? So without further adieu, I present to you the "Top 5 Shows Most Likely to Unexpectedly Still be on the Air After 15 Years." (The title of this list needs work, I know.)

5. "Grey's Anatomy"
This seems like the obvious choice to replace "E.R." because of the many similarities the two have. But I'm not entirely convinced this will make it through another year so it drops down the list. I actually watched this show for a couple of seasons before it jumped off the deep end and I realized I didn't like any of the characters. I quit for good when they performed a surgery in the parking lot..in the bed of a pickup truck....on a deer. That was enough for me. Everything I've read says it's gotten even weirder and when it shows up on "The Soup" from time to time, I'm glad I made the decision to quit. Yet it continually gets great ratings and plenty of people are still sucked in despite admitting the idiotic plot lines. That's the mark of a shockingly lengthy show run.

4. "C.S.I."
I know some people who still watch this show and it's continually in the top 5 of the ratings each week. But the multiple spinoffs are a recipe of disaster. There are only so many ways you can kill a person and investigate the scene of the crime. (See what I did there?) When I stopped watching 4 years ago this was already getting old but it shows no signs of slowing down.

3. "Dancing with the Stars"
I've never watched this show and I feel as if my life is somehow better for that. But my gosh, a lot of people watch this. Eventually, this dancing craze will die out and people won't care about it as much, just like poker. But this brings in both young and old alike who will keep it around WAY longer than it should be allowed to continue.

2. "NCIS"
I know one person under the age of 40 who watches this show (you know who you are) and he swears up and down that it's "a really good show." I've now attempted to watch this 3 times and the farthest I've ever made it into an episode is 12 minutes. It. Is. TERRIBLE. I cannot imagine anyone watching a show in which Mark Harmon is the best actor. MARK HARMON. Yet it's been running for 6 years and is now in syndication. The USA Network runs it 3 times a day. I know what you're thinking, "Sure, but USA used to run "Walker Texas Ranger" all the time." EXACTLY. They ran an incredibly bad TV show that lasted almost a decade. That's a clear cut sign that this piece of junk is going to keep loitering around for years to come.

1. "Desperate Housewives"
Perhaps I run in the wrong circles, but I honestly can't say I know for sure that a single one of my friends or associates still watches this show. It had its little craze where everyone watched it as a guilty little pleasure but that time has come and gone. No one seems to care about it and other shows make a sport out of poking fun at it (one of the best moments in "Family Guy" history). It's been running for 5 years and already seems to have lost any hardcore fans it may have had. Every time a promo for this show crosses my eye I think, "Wait, people still watch that show?!" Yet there it sits, week after week, in the top 10 rated shows on TV. It's going to keep going, people, and in 10 years we're going to see incessant commercials for its series finale and wonder who's still watching. I guess we should all just get used to it now.