So, what do YOU watch?

Another disincentive is the TV licence cost. This is in order that the semi-public British Broadcasting Corporation can be funded by the public but (supposedly) remain independent of the government. So instead of just paying for it out of general taxation (a process which the government could easily mess with for political reasons), it's funded by a licence, which anyone who has TV receiving equipment in their home has to buy (it costs, I think, around £120 per year).

(Insert 721TS-2 photo here)

This thing has such a tack sharp picture that its actually fun to watch it. Especially the old B&W re-runs of You bet your life, or the Honeymooners. TV used to be great!

Mark @ GTS

I don't watch much terrestrial or cable tv. I do however have a free to air satellite tv setup which receives some interesting channels. Of late I have been watching the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's new Asia-Pacific service. At various times they have been showing old episodes of "Bush Tucker Man", a sort of documentary series showing how to survive in the Northern Australia using bush foods. The photography is superb (I believe the early series were shot on film) and the locations very beautiful.

A series to keep an eye out for.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~canine/bushtucker/index.html

cheers Peter

Alias
any Law and Order
Nypd Blue
Smallville
West Wing
U.C.
the Job
24
Enterprise

New show is COOK'S TOUR, Anthony Bourdain. This is about a chef who is travelling the world in search of unusual food. He is very opinionated, very entertaining and I have found this to be an excellent program. Supposedly, he eats live cobra heart on one show. Some of the food looked pretty good, but some I wouldn't go near. He's braver than I am (and he DOES get sick, occasionally!)

But the greatest of all is IRON CHEF. I love the pageantry, the sports-like atmosphere and the skill of the contestants. (Did you know much of the music is from BACKDRAFT?) I find myself using phases from the show just to see if I can find other true fans. If I get a reaction to "Always a pleasure", I know this is another IC fan.

Other good shows: The Sopranos (took me 16 episodes to really get it!), Sex and the City, Project Greenlight (discovered this late, but it is excellent---shows the backbiting and intrigue of making a real movie), and IMUS IN THE MORNING on MS-NBC. I also never miss MCLAUGHLIN GROUP. Oh, and the best part of a quiet Sunday is SUNDAY MORNING on CBS...a true civilized moment that is as good as TV gets.

OH, and the Dennis Miller HBO show.

And, no, I don't work for HBO.

(Nice to have HBO sending some of the newer films out with 5.1 Dolby sound, like Showtime and STARZ.)

When television is good, nothing--not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers--nothing is better.

But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you--and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland.

You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience-participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western badmen, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And, endlessly, commercials--many screaming, cajoling and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you will see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, try it.
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So that was in 1961. And how about today? I tend to agree with some of his comments. I don't watch any show on a regular basis. When I watch TV, it's mostly old movies, old shows, or documentaries. Sometimes, I turn to one of those music only channels that are on the dish and listen to music while I do other things.

I thought I'd throw that Newton Minnow piece in there just to see what people thought. My college professors in the school of communications would be proud of me.
--Chris

I subscribe to the Basic, Standard, Digital Music and Digital television services they offer, as well as Road Runner for ISP.

I usually watch AMC, TCM, the documentary channels and the news channels (CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC America, Newsworld). The basic and standard tier channels are still carried as analog, and generally have better image quality than the digital channels, which often have artifacts because of excessive digital compression. I don't subscribe to any of the "premium" services like HBO or Showtime. I am an NFL football fan, and my younger daughter loves figure skating. Looking forward to the Winter Olympics.

I've heard "West Wing" is good, but haven't bothered to watch. Real-life politics is too much of a soap opera for me anyway.

Oh yeah, Bill Moyers has a new show on PBS (called "Now"?) which we plan on watching regularly. The first show in the series was excellent.

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I usually catch these show on a regular basis:
JAG
CSI
NYPD Blue
Law & Order (any variety)
King of Queens (sometimes)
Bob the Builder (required by my son)
Star Trek Voyager (late night)

Radio is my best bet for the entertainment dollar:
The G. Gordon Liddy Show
Sports Talk (Nashville Predator's Hockey)
The Dave Ramsey Show

Law and Order
Walker Texas Ranger
CSI
Fear Factor
Fox News Channel
MS-NBC
Judge Judy
AMC
HBO
Starz
Bravo
Seinfeld re-runs
Weakest Link (Watch for my Son Rob Jr. Taping end of Feb.
Game show channel
Sports - Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers, Knicks

Shows I will not watch

Gardening
Food shows
Cartoons

We receive over 300 channels and sometims can't find a thing to see.

But I must admit, I am a junky when it comes to certain shows. Unfortunately those certain shows are on when I'm not home or on channels I don't get. So, I buy them on DVD. So far I have season two of the Sopranos on DVD and season one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (please don't make fun of me, I feel enough shame the way it is).

Okay, not sure why I'm telling you this but this is REALLY sad. You see, after five years in syndication they just released season one of Buffy this January. Season two won't be out until June. That means by the time season three or four comes out it will be next year. Well, like any adict I can't wait that long. Enter region free DVD player. Thats right, I dropped 300 bucks on a region free multi-format player just so I could order Buffy from Australia, where its been released up to season 3 and season 4 will come out in April.