Let's critique the TV critic

There's no lack of people who want to criticize critics. That's not a bad thing — we dish it out, we have to take it.

And, believe it or not, we are our own harshest critics. And sometimes we're (gasp!) wrong.

Although, in my own defense, sometimes a show turns out to be better than the pilot episode.

It's not always bad to be wrong. For example, I was underwhelmed with the "Friends" pilot, and that show turned out to be one of my all-time favorite sitcoms.

In the interest of fairness (and the fun of kicking myself), here's a look back at how my predictions for the 2007-08 TV season turned out.

Flat-out wrong

Could I have been more wrong about "Big Shots"? Not according to most other critics, who generally disliked a show that I wrote had a great cast with great chemistry, smart writing and great production. Well, I still liked it. But the prediction that it looks like a hit was just as big a miss as I could make.

"Life Is Wild" has the makings of a good show families can watch together was overly optimistic. As was the prediction that It won't be a big hit, but it could work well enough for The CW. Its last episode aired in February.

"Aliens in America" didn't turn out to be as good as I'd hoped — the pilot was indeed fresh and funny, but it was the high point of the series. And even given The CW's somewhat lower ratings expectations, the show did not do well enough to survive.

"Samantha Who," on the other hand, exceeded my expectations. After a not particularly funny pilot, the show hit a bit of a groove and did much better in the ratings than I anticipated, and the prediction that ABC will have to be patient was wrong.

Right and wrong

"Chuck" did indeed turn out to be a very funny show. While the prediction that it could be at least a moderate hit was too optimistic, it has been renewed for a second season.

I liked "Reaper," and it improved as the season progressed. The prediction that this could work was sort of right — the show struggled in the ratings, but The CW ordered 13 episodes as a midseason replacement for next season.