Like most of you, I spent my Thanksgiving doing three things: eating, drinking and watching TV.

The first two were excellent. Good turkey, good stuffing, good mashed potatoes and, of course, good Miller Lites (though, for the record, it woulda been pretty difficult for anyone in my family to mess those up).

The whole “watching TV” thing went well for the most part, too. At least, until all of the football ended. That was mostly because when I say “the football ended,” what I really mean is “until all the females in the house got fed up with watching it, nearly started a riot and forced us to watch something else.” Nonetheless, everyone settled on watching the People of the Year special that Matt Lauer hosted on NBC. I figured it was a fair compromise. I had seen the promos that featured an interview with LeBron James and I wanted to check that out at some point, so I wasn’t too upset to skip the Cincinnati Bengals/New York Jets NFL game (which turned out to be terrible) to watch this special.

It didn’t exactly live up to the hype, though. The LBJ interview with okay (and helped at least half the room burn off the calories from dinner after an argument over his commercial started up), but I have to say: A lot of the other selections NBC made didn’t really seem to live up to the “People of the Year” title. I mean, the guy building the now-infamous “Ground Zero mosque”? The guy who made the equipment that helped free the Chilean miners? (great story, but didn’t he get paid for doing that?!) Kim Kardashian? If these really are America’s “people of the year,” we’re in trouble.

I understand that it was all done in entertainment. I also understand that, with all the year-end lists that are about to drop, NBC probably wanted to stay away from including some of the more obvious people. But if you’re making a “People of the Year” list, how can you not include these five folks over some of the other people who made it?

1. Mark Zuckerberg

Outside of the fact that his story served as the inspiration for the blockbuster flick, The Social Network—not to mention that Facebook finally became the No. 1 social network in the world this year—the FB founder also made a pledge to donate $100 million (no, that’s not a typo!) to the educational system in Newark, N.J. Maybe he’s stepped back out of the limelight after the release of Social Network and wasn’t available for an interview, but if he hasn’t, he’s the No. 1 omission from this list.

2. Eminem

After all the hub-bub that surrounded Slim Shady ten years when he was seemingly doing everything wrong, the mainstream media hasn’t given him a ton of praise for turning his life around, maturing and growing up as a man. Sure, he was on 60 Minutes earlier this year, but that doesn’t mean NBC couldn’t step up and recognize all the changes that he’s gone through in his life as well. Em’s turned himself into a real role model—and it would have been nice to see NBC honor him for that.

3. Lady Gaga

We’re guessing NBC would have had to ax Kim Kardashian’s inclusion on the list if they decided to include Gaga. And if we know anything, it’s that KK sells right now. So we can’t wholly discredit them for not including Gaga. However, Kim’s interview wasn’t exactly mind-blowing (wait, she thinks people watch her show and follow her on Twitter, because…they relate to her?!) and we could probably make the argument that last year was Kim’s big breakthrough year. Gaga continues to do her thing, though, and we’re still not exactly sure what’s going on in her head. Plus, wouldn’t it have been fun to see grandma’s reaction to her meat suit?

4. Drew Brees

LeBron James was a controversial pick and probably got NBC some extra viewers, but he is not Person of the Year material this year. As far as athletes go, Brees led the New Orleans Saints—yes, the Saints!—to a Super Bowl victory last February. He has also overcome a great deal of adversity in his career and continues to give back to the community in the Big Easy. So, why wasn’t he included again?

5. Michelle Obama

Of course, the President would be an obvious pick here. But, here’s why we like the First Lady instead: First, only she knows what the Prez has been going through for the last year as the American economy has continued to crumble. How is he handling it? How is she supporting him? And, how does everything that goes on in America affect her home life? Michelle Obama has also planted a White House garden and worked hard over the course of the last year to try and combat childhood obesity and obesity in general. And, really, is there a better message to convey to a bunch of stuffed stomachs on Thanksgiving night as we all prepare to make up our New Year’s resolutions? Probably not. Way to drop the ball, NBC.

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