Christopher Orr is making good use of his Lexis account today. The New Republic senior editor is waling on Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales for his inability to see the entertainment landscape post-1998, when Seinfeld signed off. You see, Shales really, really liked that show. So much so that since Seinfeld went off the air, "Shales has cited it in a remarkable 79 articles. (Compare that to a mere 18 mentions of The Simpsons, which has actually been running, albeit at quarter-steam, all those years.)"

Shales has described "Seinfeld" as "the most successful and acclaimed sitcom ever"; "one of the most popular and highly praised sitcoms ever"; "It may have constituted a 'great era' all by itself"; "the last great sitcom of the age of the sitcom"; and "the last really funny TV show"–a tidal wave of praise that would be less overwhelming if not for the fact that all these quotes appeared in the last 14 months, many years after the show went defunct.

Orr wants to know why Shales can't look to The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, or even Scrubs for a new analogy for great TV, or lack thereof. Luckily, there's the off chance that Shales will tune in to VH1's What Perez Says and walk away with fresh means of comparison. Or another excuse to long for Jerry.