Top Five Television Shows (according to Nielsen TV ratings, week of September 21)
1. NCIS , CBS
2. Dancing with the Stars, ABC
3. NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS
4. Grey’s Anatomy, ABC
5. NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC

Notables: I’ve thought for a while now that we need a space that lists the top shows on television. Like any other section, this will probably be hit or miss on anything major. I’ll mostly allow you to connect the dots. Some weeks, though, I might point something out about the top five—or perhaps even something I’ve noticed about the larger Nielsen’s list I look at to get the top five.

For example—and this is nothing new—I do think it’s quite telling that we continue to have quite the love affair with criminal justice shows. Consider that in the rest of the top ten, two other slots are taken up by CSI and Criminal Minds. I’ve written about elements of this phenomenon before in past roundups and in a skills article for the main site.

Top Five Books (according to USA Today research)
1. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
2. Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government, by Glenn Beck
3. An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon
4. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
5. True Compass, by Ted Kennedy

Notables: I’ll say it again: Dan Brown is going to be around for a while. To find out more about The Lost Symbol, see last week’s roundup. I found it amusing that in “honor” of Brown’s latest bestseller, the U.K.’s Telegraph put together a list of Dan Brown's top 50 factual errors. As many of us know, this is just the first 50.

Ah, Glenn Beck. People love him for the same reason they love Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Keith Olbermann, or Rachel Maddow. All offer the junk food of vitriol that masquerades as a feast. The article is one-sided—barely a nod of recognition to the left-leaning side of this mess—but I do think Time’s cover story on Beck is worth a look.

Top Five Albums (according to Billboard)
1. Backspacer, Pearl Jam
2. The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z
3. Life Starts Now, Three Days Grace
4. I Look to You, Whitney Houston
5. Time of Our Lives, Miley Cyrus

Notables: Is it 1992? Pearl Jam is tops this week. That’s crazy.

No, seriously—is it 1992? Three Days Grace is actually the old Canadian band Groundswell. This is the little band that could. I don’t know much about them at all (though from what I can gather, they are critical darlings). I did find out from their Wikipedia page that according to the lead singer of the group, the band’s name “stands for the question: If you had three days to change something in your life, could you do it?”

Top Singles (according to Billboard)
1. "I Gotta Feeling," The Black Eyed Peas
2. "Down," Jay Sean (featuring Lil' Wayne)
3. “Party in the U.S.A.,” Miley Cyrus
4. "Run This Town," Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West
5. "Whatcha Say," Jason DeRulo

Notables: The lyrics to all of these are pretty standard.

Top Five Web Searches (based on the Google Trends report for Thursday)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.
1. regina lasko
2. mike huckabee
3. balance cut save
4. amy brenneman leaving private practice
5. fraunhofer lines

Notables: The world of entertainment is abuzz about David Letterman’s shockingly blunt confession of sexual dalliances during last night’s Late Show broadcast. Regina Lasko is Letterman’s wife. Here’s a YouTube video of the confession, though I think it will probably get pulled soon. The most troubling aspect of the confession—besides the obvious moral issues involved—is the audience’s consistent laughter throughout. Is this funny? I certainly don’t think it’s funny to Letterman (despite a few wisecracks about it all).

I’m fairly confident you all know who Huckabee is. Chances are, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in 2012.

I believe item #3 has to do with a petition that is circulating that urges the government to balance the budget, cut taxes, and save by cutting spending-sprees on special interest choices.

A rumor is swirling that actress Amy Brenneman might be leaving the TV show Private Practice—which I’m sure is devastating news to the folks who read this blog.

Why the sudden interest in the Fraunhofer Lines? Wait—what are Fraunhofer lines?!? Well, here’s what they are, and here is why everyone is talking about them. Pretty interesting, eh?