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Here’s Liza’s latest. Enjoy. Crossposted at IdolCritic.

Here’s the latest episode of IdolCritic. Liza worries about Leslie losing it after losing. She frets about sex with Chris. She slaps Jennifer Hudson upside the head for dissing her Idol roots at the Oscars.

I just can’t believe that Sanjaya made it by a whisper. I think that’s America’s strange sense of humor. We kept that strange kid around for a longtime last year and now we’re stuck with Sanjaya.

Watch IdolCritic and go here to join in the water-cooler debate.

Jimmy Gutterman at PaidContent gives some nice attention today to my nascent efforts to start shows online at PrezVid and IdolCritic with my partner, former colleague at Entertainment Weekly and Advance Internet, and the guy who’s really doing the work, Peter Hauck. And note well that IdolCritic is made by the talented duo of Mary C. Matthews and the ever-amusing Liza Persky of 39 Second Single fame (which is where I discovered them). I see big opportunity to making little TV. The time is right to jump in. And as Jimmy point out, so’s the price. There’s a need for people to make and reinvent better TV; it’s not all flaming farts. And there’s the opportunity to learn while doing. So please do go watch IdolCritic as Liza brings the American Idol water cooler to your laptop and watch and read PrezVid as it covers the election through the eyes of YouTube. End of plug.

Episode 2 of IdolCritic is here. You wanted snark, you got snark, silky smooth. Our Simon, Liza Persky, is on a roll. Enjoy.

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The Times reports today that American Idol is a a programming juggernaut never seen before on TV. That’s why we started Idol Critic (this week’s episode will be out Thursday after the vote).

Kelly Kahl, the chief scheduler for CBS, summed up the “Idol” factor this way: “This is a big monolith sitting out there. It’s the ultimate schoolyard bully.”

If any of Fox’s rivals had hopes that this year might signal some hint that the monster — NBC favors the term Death Star — would finally betray some sign of weakness, those hopes were dispelled in just a week. Most television shows, no matter how successful, fall off sometime after their second or third season, but against all expectations, and most of the historic record of network television, “American Idol” has come back for its sixth season bigger and stronger than ever.

Last year at this time, five weeks into its season, “American Idol” was roaring along as television’s most-watched show, with an average of 31.7 million viewers (up substantially from its fourth season, when it averaged 28.3 million viewers over the same five weeks).

Improbably, this season the show has done even better, averaging 33.5 million viewers over its first five weeks. For perspective, at this point “Idol” could lose half its audience and still rank among the top 10 shows on television. And no one dares predict when this phenomenon will fade.

“Idol” is creating ever more powerful shock waves. A growing number of television executives have begun to regard “American Idol” as a programming force unlike any seen before. Jeff Zucker, the new chief executive of NBC Universal, said, “I think ‘Idol’ is the most impactful show in the history of television.”

Not I Love Lucy. Not Friends, Seinfeld, Dallas, Cosby, Hill St. Idol.

Welcome to the debut of Idol Critic, the show that gives you the water-cooler buzz about America’s favorite show. Liza Persky, child of television, gives you a review of the show the morning day after.

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I created the show with my partner, Peter Hauck. And to make it, we brought in Mary C. Matthews and Liza Persky, the producer and star behind one of my favorite internet series, 39SecondSingle. I’m rooting for Liza to stay single so she has nothing better to do midweek that sit on the couch and watch Idol.

We rushed this up so be nice about the temporary design at our site. It’s my fault. We’ll have more features coming soon.

What would make us most happy is if you make your own reviews of the reviews of Idol. Put them up on Blip or YouTube and tag them “idolcritic” and we’ll find them.

Make sure to come back next week for episode 2!