What's on?

As a sort of follow on to my last post, I thought I'd write a little about one of the things I do instead of reading (although I did finish a book since then -- and got four more from Friends of the Library). I'm pretty sure I watch more TV than I used to, but thanks to the commercial skipping power of DVR, I don't think I spend a whole lot more time watching TV. And it may be a bit contrary to conventional wisdom -- or at least what it is popular to say -- but I think there is a lot more good stuff on television these days. So much that I can't really try to keep up with everything I'd probably be interested in. For instance, I missed it when the new Battlestar Galactica started. It has won a lot of critical and popular acclaim, so one of these days, I may rent the first season or two on DVD and try to catch up. I started doing that with 24, but I lost steam after 3 seasons and haven't gone back to it. Bones is another one I think I'd enjoy, but haven't really watched. The other side of that coin is that I keep inventing time in shows that end up getting cancelled, such as The Bionic Woman, The Class, and Day Break. But that could be a topic on its own, even a mini-series documentary.

So, what's good? Or at least, what do I like to watch? Lost and Heroes are at the top of the list. I also enjoy Numbers, Desperate Housewives, Medium, Stargate Atlantis (on sci-fi) and Reaper. I will also admit to watching some reality TV. Survivor is consistently pretty good. So is The Amazing Race. There were a few others that I watched pretty regularly for a while, and I am half-heartedly trying to keep up with American Idol this time around, but nothing else has lasted. I also like the History Channel, Science Channel, Discovery and the five or six others like them, plus the Food Network. From the basic science and history documentaries, to more fun stuff like Mythbusters, Junkyard Wars and Iron Chef, I can usually find something interesting, even educational, to watch.

But the best thing to happen to TV in the last few years is the DVR, digital video recorder. Although more or less the same functionality has been available with VCRs for decades, it seems more useful now. Maybe it is the convenience of having it built right into the TV (well, cable box or Tivo), or that it works automatically on live TV. Or maybe it is the skip-ahead 30 seconds feature that lets you zip through 3-5 minutes worth of commercials in a few taps of the button, so you can watch an hour show in about 40 minutes. Yeah, that's probably it.