"We're kind of hopeful that we're getting out of the woods in terms of bad loans, " says Tom Kersting, a banking analyst at Edward Jones.

FORBES: What Would Dimon Do?

Though fans appear to enjoy Burke as protagonist Miles Matheson and Esposito ("Breaking Bad") as Major Tom Neville of the Monroe Militia, Tracy Spiridakos in the driver's seat as Charlie Matheson hasn't been as well received.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

And Tom agreed it was a bad idea if he couldn't break the glass.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Then We Came to the End'

And yet they're tied 1-1 with the presumed 2013 NBA champions, because they're well-coached by Tom Thibodeau, shrug off bad games and don't quit.

WSJ: Derrick Rose and the Vacuum Cat

The bad news is that SandRidge founder and CEO Tom Ward (also a CHK co-founder) continues presiding unchecked as an autocrat.

FORBES: Tom Ward Of SandRidge Energy: Another CEO That's Got To Go

"Tom is really taking the blame for a couple of bad acquisitions, " said mining analyst John Meyer.

BBC: Rio Tinto boss Tom Albanese resigns over $14bn write-down

Tom Waits : Tom Waits has scarcely written (or at least released) a bad song in a career spanning more than 30 years.

NPR: The Best Living Songwriters

The most intriguing political read of the new year so far comes this week from the Huffington Post's political editor Tom Edsall, who interviewed a wide range of Democratic strategists to assess just how bad the environment is for their party heading into 2010.

FORBES: Magazine Article

"Erase all the bad karma that has taken place because of the improper behavior of some Catholic priests, " said Tom Norden, 60, another parishioner at the St.

WSJ: U.S. Catholics Express High Hopes for New Pope

It's too bad so many of the financial institutions didn't have the risk-assessor equivalents of our eatery experts Tom Jones, America's foremost foodmeister, and Forbes colleagues Patrick Cooke and Monie Begley, as well as brothers Bob, Kip and Tim.

FORBES