Jim Halpert Said It Best

From the "Health Care" episode of The Office:

Jim: Last night, on Trading Spouses, there’s … have you seen it?
Pam: No, I have a life.
Jim: Interesting. What’s that like?
Pam: You should try it sometime.
Jim: Wow … but then who would watch my TV?

I know just how he feels. For various reasons, I have had a lot more opportunity to watch TV lately. In the past, there have been periods where I was watching no TV at all, except for 24 and The Office, and those viewings were scheduled events, which ranked equal in importance to my other social engagements. But recently, my TV-viewing portfolio has grown.

After work, I used to usually flip on Take-Home Chef on TLC and go between it and The Simpsons while I was making dinner. Now Curtis is on before The Simpsons, so I can flip between Take-Home Chef on TLC and Everyday Italian on Food Network. Then I watch The Simpsons (and Barefoot Contessa during commercials). If I'm still not done with dinner, I'll flip between Seinfeld, Paula's Home Cooking (which I don't love, but it's better than commercials), and Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Don't ask me how I got started on that show, but when Seinfeld and Paula are both uninteresting, that's where I end up.

My friend BJ used to frequently tell me to watch House. I never did. I was not interested. But the very last time he came over, I happened to flip to it just before he arrived, got sucked in, and watched the whole episode. Just from that, I am completely addicted. I sometimes find myself thinking longingly about the next time I'll get to watch it.

And of course, there's American Gladiators. 'Nuff said.

My friend Scottie the Hottie told me about a show called Reaper on the CW, and for months, I had no idea what he was talking about. Then one Tuesday night recently, I stumbled onto it and now watch it every week, if I can. I think I like it because I'm watching through his eyes and can see why he likes it. It's a fun show. And no one's heard of it.

The most recent show added, or re-added, to my schedule is Last Comic Standing. I watched season 2 and thought it was hilarious. Season 1 and season 3 were both SUPER lame, so I didn't commit to the show. But this season, since they had a lot of celebrity judges I wanted to see, I turned it on, and the caliber of comedy is back up to where it was in season 2, in my opinion. So, as long as it stays that way, and as long as I don't have anything better to do on Thursdays, I'll be watching (and if I do have something to do on Thursdays, there's always www.nbc.com to watch later).