Over the years, television has shown its fascination with bubble boys--boys who, for some health reason or another, have to live their lives in a bubble environment that protects them from outside germs. For some reason, viewers seem fascinated with this subject, perhaps because it represents the most severe form of life long deprivation of freedom one can imagine. Hollywood has told the story many times over the years. Sometimes touching and serious, sometimes humorous, televisions' bubble boys have given several generations of television viewers a lot of food for thought.

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)

Television's first bubble boy burst onto the scene in 1976 in a made for television movie called "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble." Seventies heart throb John Travolta starred as Todd, a teenage boy who has spent his entire life living inside a germ free environment. He is unable to leave his plastic bubble environment because of his body's failure to develop immunities. Even the simplest cold could kill him. Todd falls in love with the girl next door, played by Glynnis O'Connor. Todd's parents are played by Brady Bunch dad Robert Reed and John Travolta's then real life love, Diana Hyland. This is the warm and touching story of a young man trying to come to terms with the normal events of teen life, compounded a hundred fold by his unusual living situation. Repeatedly reassured that the world is searching for a cure or that his body may someday develop immunities on its own, Todd longs for the day when he can walk out of his plastic bubble. Will he ever be able to? Much of this story's fascination lies in the viewer's attempt to decide what he or she would do under the same circumstances. The story culminates with a beautiful song written by and sung one of the major songwriters of the day, Paul Williams. John Travolta himself recorded the song, called "What Would They Say?" on his solo album effort.

Seinfeld's Bubble Boy (1992)

In 1992, the concept of the bubble boy resurfaced on an episode of Seinfeld. In the classic episode, written by Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Jerry and the gang are on a road trip. Jerry has agreed to stop along the way to visit a sick fan, a young boy who has not developed immunities to disease and who has lived his young life trapped in a plastic bubble environment in order to avoid germs. During the visit, George agrees to play a game of Trivial Pursuit with the Bubble Boy and gets into an argument with him, insisting that the answer on the card is correct while the Bubble Boy insists it is a misprint. The hilarity of this episode lies in George's being so very George--he is concerned only with proving himself right and completely disregards the Bubble Boy's situation.

Bubble Boy (2001)

Perhaps the funniest depiction of the bubble boy is 2001's "Bubble Boy," a movie that appeared in theaters but is now available on DVD for television viewing. This film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Jimmy, a young California man who is forced to live in a plastic bubble environment due to his body's inability to develop immunities from germs. Like Todd in the "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble," Jimmy falls in love with the girl next door, Chloe, played by Marley Shelton. When Jimmy finds out that Chloe is getting married to another man on the east coast, he devises a mobile bubble so that he can travel across country to stop the wedding. Hilarity ensues. None of these portrayals attempt to make fun of the situation, and although it may seem differently, neither does this film. Jimmy's entrapment in the bubble in this film seems to be a metaphor for entrapment in an environment stifled by any number of things, including overly protective parents. Swoosie Kurtz is outstanding in her role as Jimmy's mother.

Copyright (c) 2005 by Leanne Phillips

The Real Gilligan's Island is a new reality show that is just finishing its second season. Like Survivor, The Real Gilligan's Island pits two teams against each other in weekly competitions. Players are voted off weekly until only one player is left standing. Unlike Survivor, the players are forced to dress like characters from an old 1960's television sit com.

The game starts with two teams of castaways: Two millionaire couples, two movie stars, two Professors, two Mary Anns, two Skippers and, of course, two Gilligans. Players are selected who closely fit their characters. For example, the millionaire couples are real life millionaire husband and wife couples, just like Thurston Howell III and his dear wife, Lovey. The movie stars are real movie stars, too. The first season pitted Rachel Hunter against Nicole Eggert, and the second season pitted Angie Everhart against Erica Eleniak.

The teams are stranded on an island which is outfitted with thatched bamboo huts and hammocks and Tiki torches. It looks very much like the old television show setting. In fact, messages to the team members are delivered via a staticky old radio just like the one the Professor used to repair time and time again, only to have Gilligan stumble into it, send it flying and break it into a million pieces. Ah, Gilligan!

Initially, like players are pitted against each other to determine who is crowned the "Real" Mary Ann or the "Real" Skipper. Once the field has been narrowed to one of each character, players compete against each other in events like diving for objects, eating inedible things and digging for clams. The winner of each competition is awarded a life preserver, which protects him or her from being banished to the other side of the island (which was considered a very scary place on the old t.v. show). The players then vote to banish one of the non-winning players to the other side of the island. The winner of the final competition is rescued from the island by a helicopter and awarded $250,000.00.

This is one of those television shows I tell myself I am not going to watch, but then cannot seem to peel my eyes from the screen. Those of you who remember and love the old television show starring Bob Denver will find little similarity between that show and this reality game show, other than the costumes and scenery. So, what is the appeal? I guess it is similar to the fascination human beings have with anything that they find difficult to believe is happening before their very eyes. The millionaire wife on Season 1 was absolutely horrendous, so I could not help but feel a little satisfaction when she was forced to eat worms and other assorted indelicacies…and then lost and was voted to be the one banished to the other side of the island. Near the end of Season 2, when Mary Ann was voted to be the one banished to the other side of the island, I shared the remaining players' satisfaction and relief. Mary Ann had been quite a pain, after all. In the end, I suppose it's all about good triumphing over evil, and who doesn't like to watch that happen?

Copyright (c) 2005 by Leanne Phillips

These days it seems that whenever someone has a good idea, they want to milk it for all it's worth and make as much money from it as possible. This is especially true in the entertainment industry. When a singer or band has a surprise hit, that song will get played over and over on the radio and on MTV. Even if that band becomes a one-hit wonder and never produces another popular song, you can bet that they will hit the road and play small clubs and other gigs for the next twenty years. This happens with movies, too. How many Rocky or Superman movies are there? Unfortunately, television is not immune to this phenomenon, either. Just look at all the spin-off series that have come and gone over the years.

I personally don't like spin-offs. Although I have attempted to watch several of them, I never got hooked on any. The spin-offs are rarely as good as the original shows. The only exception that immediately comes to mind is Frasier, which was a spin-off of the old Cheers sitcom. I watched Cheers, but I never did warm up to Frasier, probably because Frasier Crane wasn't one of my favorite characters to begin with.

When you look at today's TV lineup, you can see lots of spin-offs on air. The most glaring example is the CSI "franchise" (yes, they refer to successful movies and TV shows as franchises now). There is the original one that takes place in Las Vegas, then there are two spin-offs, one in Miami and one in New York. Do viewers really need to see 3 CSI shows per week? I don't. Another spin-off that's currently on air is Joey, which features one of the characters from the now-defunct Friends series. I watched Friends for several years, but then stopped as the jokes got stale and the situations got even more unbelievably contrived. I tuned in to the premier of Joey just out of curiosity, but didn't like it and never watched it again. Then there's Boston Legal, which takes over where The Practice left off. This show has received some critical acclaim, but hasn't really found a niche with audiences yet.

I guess the fate of the above-mentioned spin-offs is still up in the air. But there are others that never quite made it off the ground. Do you remember that show called The Lone Gunmen? No? Well, you're probably not alone. This spin-off of The X-Files lasted only one season before getting cancelled. Another spin-off that lasted only one season was Models, Inc. This show was spawned from Melrose Place, but obviously didn't enjoy the same success. I'm not even going to talk about The Time of Your Life, which was a spin-off of Party of Five!

The reason I don't like spin-offs is that I watch new shows in order to see fresh ideas, not to see the same characters with the same personalities, only in different locations. Give me something new, not recycled!

Ah, television commercials! The bane of the television viewer's existence. Nothing is more irritating than having the network break away to a television commercial just when you are about to find out who's being voted off the Survivor island or who shot J.R. Also, some commercials give us way more information than we need. I, for one, do not need to actually see a woman scooping clumps out of a cat litter box in order to be convinced of cat litter's odor absorbing qualities. I much prefer the advertiser to tell me about the product's good points while showing an adorable kitten chasing a string and playing a really good rock tune in the background, something like Cat Scratch Fever. Other commercials are just over the top to the point of bordering on ridiculous. I am still trying to figure out what Paris Hilton in a bikini has to do with the price of cheeseburgers in Beverly Hills.

Still, as much as we complain about them, television commercials do have a lot to offer. Here are just a few of the things that are actually kinda great about television commercials.

1. Television commercials provide product information. Okay, you're right. A lot of television commercials are absolutely ridiculous. But they DO keep us posted on what's out there for consumers. Without television commercials, we wouldn't know about the advances in disposable diapers or the difference between solid, aerosol or extra dry antiperspirant or deodorant formulas. We might not even know the difference between antiperspirant and deodorant! Commercials also let us know when new products come out on the market that may solve problems in our personal lives, for our children or in our households. Without television commercials, how would we know about tartar control toothpaste, whitening toothpaste, or toothpaste for sensitive teeth? We wouldn't, not without spending a lot of time in the grocery store aisles looking over each and every product and reading lots of packaging.

2. Television commercials give us snapshots of our culture. Television commercials give us a real picture of what life was like in bygone eras. Television programs and movies are not quite the same. Shows and movies are designed to entertain and to tell a story, and so costumes and settings must dazzle. With television commercials, however, the actors are hired to play "every man" in order to convince "every man" that he must purchase their product. So, their furnishings, clothes, hairstyles and language reflect those of the day. What gives us a clearer, more realistic picture of life in the '50's, for example? "Happy Days" or a period commercial for Geritol, Alka Seltzer or Texaco? What provides us with a better snapshot of life in the '60's than a bunch of flower children on a hilltop, all dressed in bell bottoms and peasant blouses, singing, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke?"

3. Television commercials are entertaining. As much as we complain about them, some television commercials are truly humorous, touching, fascinating or captivating in some way. I, for one, can't take my eyes off the screen when the HP photo printer commercial comes on, the one with the guy pulling rectangular cut-outs from around his neck and up over his head, where they instantaneously turn into freeze frame photos of the guy pulling rectangular cut-outs from around his neck and up over his head. I can't stop smiling (or dancing) when Ellen's American Express commercials come on. And how about that Folgers commercial? The one where the little girl comes downstairs early on Christmas morning to find that her brother has come home from college to surprise the family? And then they make coffee together for everyone? That one never fails to bring a tear to my eye. In fact, I'd better go. I'm getting a little misty just thinking about it.

Copyright (c) 2005 by Leanne Phillips

Cable television has come a long way since it burst onto the scene back in the 1970's or 1980's. I remember when cable television was an option. In the days before cable television, a household could get a perfectly acceptable selection of channels with the use of a simple antenna. Of course, if you stayed up past the Tonight Show, you were stuck with only one viewing option: Tom Snyder's late, late show. After that, it was nothing but snow. Still, it was free!
Today, cable television is no longer an option. If you don't have it or a satellite dish, you ain't watching' much. Rabbit ear antennas still do the trick, but will pick up very little these days.
Fortunately, cable television has evolved over the years so that it is now worth the price of admission. In addition to regular network channels, specialty channels offer viewers more opportunities than ever to learn and to be entertained.
Here are five of the very best channels cable television has to offer.
1. The History Channel. The History Channel features programming covering all aspects of world and U.S. history, including major historical events that have shaped the world and the United States, biographies of world leaders and important people and great documentaries. Who needs school?
2. The Food Network. The Food Network is a great resource for anyone who loves to cook…or to eat! Whatever you are looking for with respect to food, you will find it on this channel. A variety of cooking shows will teach you to bake and cook anything and everything, including ethnic and regional foods. Other shows will teach you how to cook on a budget, and even other shows will show you where to find the best restaurant meals.
3. The Travel Channel. Whether you are planning a vacation or dream of doing so one day, the Travel Channel allows viewers a glimpse of places all over the world. It is not limited to destinations, either. If you are wondering where to find the most haunted places in the world, the fanciest public bathrooms, or the most breathtaking railroad trip, you can see all of these things and more on the Travel Channel.
4. The Style Network. The Style Network offers everything you can imagine about fashion and beauty. From runway shows featuring the most glamorous and expensive styles, to tips on dressing well without breaking your budget, this channel covers every range of fashion. The Style Network doesn't stop at clothing, either. If you want to learn how to create a smoky, "Chicago" jazz style eye makeup look or what products will give you the plumpest lips, tune in to the Style Network.
5. The Discovery Channel. The Discovery Channel features documentaries and programming covering every area of science and, well, discovery! The Discovery Channel offers shows about every aspect of the scientific world, from weather-related phenomena, such as twisters, to natural phenomena, to behavioral science, such as fear. My son was once shown in a Discovery Channel episode which showed how babies learn fear, and how the Marine Corps teaches parachuters to overcome fear. The Discovery Channel even devotes an entire month to the most fascinating subject of all, sharks!

Copyright (c) 2005 by Leanne Phillips

By Victoria Miller

In case you didn't already know about it, the complete first season of the 1960's television series "Bewitched" was released last week on DVD. Old television series' are released on DVD all the time-- that's nothing new-- but something is different with the "Bewitched" release: the DVD version is available in the original black and white format or in a colorized version.

The black and white purists are having a fit over this. They just can't understand why anyone in their right mind would want to "ruin" the classic look of their favorite shows and movies with colorization. "That's not the way the series was created," they say. "Colorization looks phony," they'll complain.

But for me, the choice was a no-brainer. I ordered the colorized version from Amazon.com and received it a few days later. And then I watched my favorite old series in a whole new light.

Colorization: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Colorization is a process that converts black and white film to color-- and it's been going on for some time now. In the 1980's there was a massive colorization effort by broadcast mogul Ted Turner, who felt that converting black and white movies to color would attract younger audiences. I think he had the right concept-- youngsters tend to think of black and white film as ancient history. Unfortunately, some of the early color jobs left a lot to be desired. The process and the technology weren't quite up to par back then, and I admit that some of the color jobs from the past have given colorization a well-deserved bad name.

The colorization of one of my favorite movies, "It's a Wonderful Life" came up pale in my opinion-- it was almost more of a tinting than a real colorization. I owned the colorized version on VHS and hated it so much that I bought the black and white DVD version.

But modern computer technology has made the colorization process look so much better today. The "Bewitched" DVD looks absolutely phenomenal-- and I thoroughly enjoy watching the formerly black and white episodes in their new rich, bold color format.

I've often wondered how the computer and the colorization technicians "know" what color to make everything during the colorization process. The truth be told (I learned this after some research on the subject), some of it really is guess work. As I was watching the "Bewitched" episode "A Vision of Sugarplums" with my daughter last night, I found myself wondering if Alyce Pearce's (the original Mrs. Kravitz) dress was really red or was that just the brainstorm of the colorizing staff. But then I realized that it really didn't matter.

Sure, my husband quipped that Elizabeth Montgomery's hair looked red to him, but I think he just said that to get under my skin. And although I'm a huge fan of the "Bewitched" series, if the DVD had only been offered in black and white I doubt I would have purchased it. But watching it in color was like watching a whole new series. Really. Hey, there's nothing like a little modern day magic to make things a whole lot better.

It's been more than two years now since Mr. Rogers died, and I still feel like the world lost good old dad. I grew up with Mr. Rogers, his show actually airing for the first time the year I was born - 1967. I don't remember a time when he wasn't on TV in the afternoons, walking through the door of his TV home with a big, welcoming smile on his face, taking off his sports coat and replacing it with one of his various cardigan sweaters, and singing that same, predictable song that we all chuckle at now, but which we all sang along with then: "Won't you be my neighbor?"

We all know the words, don't we? I could sing them in my sleep, as well as the words to the ending "good-bye" song that he sang as he put everything away and promised to see us again next time. We knew he would keep his word and be there right on schedule. Mr. Rogers always kept his word. He was always there, always smiling, always kind, always accepting and affirming.

Mr. Rogers taught us how to use our imaginations. He took us with the magical trolley into the neighborhood of make-believe full of fanciful people, puppets, and creatures that dealt with most of the same issues children deal with in their lives. We hadn't a clue at the time that Mr. Rogers himself was behind that make believe neighborhood, providing the voices for most of the puppets, including King Friday, Queen Sarah, Lady Elaine, and many others. And Mr. Rogers was always waiting diligently for us when we returned with the trolley.

Mr. Rogers taught us how to care for creatures, as he lovingly fed his fish each day. He taught us hospitality as he gladly and cheerfully welcomed any and everyone into his home with a handshake and a warm smile. He taught us kindness and generosity as he took us from place to place in his neighborhood, greeting the other "neighbors" with such warmth and dignity. And Mr. Rogers took us to places we otherwise never would have gone. Crayon factories, Orange Juice factories, Piano makers' shops, and many other such places where we learned how things are made and how things work. He took us to the theater and the opera, exposing us to things only adults get to see.

Most importantly, Mr. Rogers taught us courage and confidence in the face of danger or difficult situations. He taught us to always tell our parents if someone treats us improperly. He taught us to stand up for our human rights and not allow someone else to bully or abuse us. He assured us that if someone hurt us, it was not ok. In the end, he always made us feel important and special, as every child is.

When Mr. Rogers died, he left behind a legacy that went from me to my children. They were almost past the age of watching his shows when he passed on, but they miss him, too. If he was like a father to me, he was like a grandfather to them, and we all miss him very much.

Star Trek, the concept, not the show, is now in its 5th decade. Star Trek began as an entertaining, almost laughable 60s space drama with a cardboard looking set, less than excellent characters, and some outrageous story lines. Yet in the very short time that the original series was on the air, Star Trek fans, otherwise known as Trekkies, established themselves as a sub-culture of the United States. As the years passed, long after the original series ended, the aging actors continued to show their faces (and evolving uniforms) in various Star Trek movies that took the same original crew on daring new missions that took them boldly where no man had gone before. Even as Captain Kirk developed a bit of a belly and Scotty's hair all turned white, they acted with the same gusto as they had 20 years before. Spock was still stoic, McCoy still borderline erratic. But they continued to work together as a team and brought peace and good will to the galaxy.

When Star Trek: The Next Generation emerged on the scene just in time to usher in the 90s, Star Trek took on a new look and a new crew, which was difficult for some of the original series fans to accept. The Star Trek camp became divided between those who accepted the new show as part of Star Trek and those who would never look upon it as anything but counterfeit. Captain Jean-Luc Picard was a new and different captain. Unlike Kirk, he was refined, intellectual, and small, but very tough. His right hand man and several crew members were more like Kirk - the cowboy personality and size to boot. The new crew was a bit awkward at first as it tried to emulate some of the old Star Trek, but after the first couple of seasons, they found their niche and emerged as a great team that brought a whole new generation of fans to the Star Trek scene. Several movies followed and the series lasted much longer than the original series.

It wasn't long before other Star Trek copycats began popping up all over the networks. Star Trek: Voyager and Deep Space Nine were two that did fairly well. Captain Janeway never really convinced anyone she was Star Trek material, but she was a good leader and had a faithful crew. Perhaps the best thing to happen to Star Trek was the advent of the Borg, a race of cyborg creatures who traveled the universe, collecting beings of all shapes and sizes to assimilate into their collective. The Voyager crew obtains one such Borg member and removes all the Borg paraphernalia that has been attached to her body. She is never quite human again, but adds an interesting dimension to the show.

Most recently, Star Trek: Enterprise gave the story of the beginning of earth's space travel, just before the establishment of the federation. Although the opening song for the show and many of the characters were charming, the lovable Captain Archer never quite convinced anyone he was as tough as he tried to be. Sadly, with the wrap up of the Enterprise series came the first time in 40 years that some Star Trek show was not on TV. Seems a new one should be in the makings before the Trekkies revolt!

With all the reality shows on TV today, sometimes it seems as though the truth is stranger than fiction. And just when we think we've seen it all, yet another new reality show appears on the networks, usually more outlandish and riskier than the last. From eating worms to living on an island, from meeting your true love or watching superstar newlyweds spat, from becoming famous or getting a job; it's all on there and it's all, supposedly, real. But there is one reality show on TV that is truly real and is a pleasure to watch. It's not about shock value, getting the best of someone else, or winning. The show is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a show where a group of carpenters, designers, and decorators descend on a family in need and give their home a much-needed make-over. Every day, people all over the country send letters to the television network, asking if they might be considered for a home makeover. The show and network always choose someone or some family who is struggling with no hope of making things better for themselves; often a young family which has lost a parent, a family with a member struggling from a debilitating or terminal illness, or a family which has been through a crisis like a fire or other major disaster. The show chooses one family and gives them the home makeover in a week's time.

The show begins with the lovable Ty Pennington leading his trusty crew on a large bus to the family in question. Unbeknownst to the family, the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crew wakes them up early in the morning and sends them off on a special vacation to Disney World, the Bahamas, or some other exotic location. There are always tears and gratitude as the family realizes what's happening and is sent on their way.

During the period of seven days, the crew completely changes the look of the home, often just leveling the one that was there and building a new one. They are very sensitive to personal belongings and special mementos as they re-do the home and redecorate. Everything that goes into the home is fresh, new and beautiful. New furniture, appliances, accessories, carpet, floors, everything. We, the viewers, get to see the reality of this project as mishaps occur, tempers sometimes flare, and frustrations get the best of some of the workers. But we also watch as communities rally together to help the crew. Sports teams, general contractors, city workers and others descend on the home and help out. Many times community members donate money, automobiles, and college funds to the family.

At the end of the show, the family is brought back to see their new home. This is where the shock value is part of this show - the family is always shocked to see what has been done. They are given a tour through their home, and many hugs and kisses are passed all around. Recently, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was said to be the reality show with heart. I would have to agree.

Whenever you are surfing through television channels with your remote control and can't find something interesting to watch, here's one channel you can count on: The TV Guide Channel. I can't even count the number of times I have tuned in to the TV Guide Channel to review the television listings, but have instead become absolutely mesmerized by what is taking place ABOVE the scrolling channel listings. Many are the times I have caught myself, too late, and yelled, "Darn it! I missed what's on channel 27 AGAIN! Now I'm going to have to wait for it to come back around!" I then admonish myself to focus, focus, concentrate, concentrate, in an attempt to keep my eyes from straying north of the scroll line. Usually, it's to no avail. The wacky TV Guide Channel goings on capture my attention once more, and I end up spending about an hour watching what is supposed to be, after all, a virtual TV channel guide.

What are some of the great "shows" on the TV Guide Channel that have such great entertainment value that they never fail capture my attention? Here are a couple you should catch sometime--when nothing else good is on, of course.

Look-A-Like: Okay, the premise of this show is that they take a few average Joe's off the street and decide which one looks the most like a popular celebrity. A crew consisting of a hair stylist, a makeup artist and a wardrobe specialist then steps in to make this person over to look as close to the celebrity as possible. Sometimes the transformations are amazing, sometimes just so-so, but they are always interesting to watch. Most interesting is the transformation that seems to take place on the inside as a person is pulled out of their sweats and put into red carpet finery. At the end of the hour long show, a professional photographer comes in and does a photo shoot with the person. People who came in timid as mice are suddenly posing for the camera for all they're worth. I'd like the show better if they went out and tried to fool people into thinking the person really WAS the celebrity, but it's enjoyable just like it is.

Open Call: For this show, a really cool and assertive female casting agent holds an open casting call. I'd give you her name, but the TV Guide Channel website won't let you access much information unless you register and give them your personal information--I refuse to buckle to that kind of pressure even if it is for a writing assignment. Anyway, this really cool and assertive female casting agent holds various open casting calls with names like, "The Search for the Real Desperate Housewife" and "The Search for the Next Martha Stewart." People--real people just like you and me--wait in line and then get just a few short seconds to wow the really cool and assertive female casting agent. Some of the people who try out are really wacky, which adds immeasurably to the show's entertainment value, as of course does the really cool and assertive female casting agent, who is never afraid to say exactly what is on her mind. The casting agent then picks one person to star in a "mini pilot," which airs at the end of the show.

There you go. Now, don't tell me there's nothing to watch on television!

Copyright (c) 2005 by Leanne Phillips

It is not exactly politically correct these days to admit you love television, but I do. I especially love the new 13-inch color television I bought recently. I know you may think that this is stretching it a bit, but owning a small, 13-inch television has changed my life.

I don't spend a lot of time watching television. Really, I don't. But, the thing is, when I want to watch television, I want everything to be perfect. It is nice to sit in my armchair and watch television. It is far nicer to watch television all tucked away comfy and cozy in my bed.

I previously had only one television, a big one…a really big one. My humongous television is a fixture in my living room and is practically a member of the family. The furniture is arranged for optimal viewing pleasure. This television gets lots and lots of use. It comes in handy for watching television when I am supposed to be working, for watching soap operas during my lunch break, for watching movies at night or for having friends over to watch television or movies.

But, although I love my big television, I must admit that I love my 13-inch television more. It has added so much to my life. I never realized how much I needed it until I had it, and now that I do have it, I cannot imagine living without it.

Here is why I love my 13-inch color television and why you should probably own one, too.

First of all, my handy 13-inch television is small and portable. I normally keep it in my bedroom and watch it late at night, while I am falling asleep. After a long day, I climb into my pajamas, curl up in my cozy bed and do what I have been longing to do all day long…watch television. My 13-inch color television has a handy remote control with a sleep timer, so the first thing I do is to set the sleep timer for 20 minutes or 40 minutes, sometimes up to an hour, depending on how sleepy I am. By the time the television shuts off, I am sound asleep, lulled off to dreamland by the sounds of ER or the voice of Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien.

Because it is so small and portable, I can also move my 13-inch television into the kitchen. This comes in handy when I want to watch a cooking show and try to follow the recipe at the same time, or if I want to cook while watching Jeopardy or Everybody Loves Raymond. Believe me, with a television in the kitchen, my family is much more likely to get a hot meal at night.

Finally, having a second, smaller television comes in handy when the kids want to play video games. I can let them hook up the X-Box on the small television in my bedroom, where they are out of sight, out of earshot and best of all, out of my hair.

If you only have one television in your house, and have never experienced the pleasures of owning a second, smaller television set, I recommend you give it a try. I think you'll love it as much as I do.

Copyright (c) 2005 by Leanne Phillips

I remember when video cassettes were the cutting edge of technology. With the purchase of a VCR, which was very large, cumbersome, and expensive just 20 short years ago, our lives changed considerably. We went from living by the TV guide and waiting for that once a year special when and if our favorite movie was aired, to simply popping in a video and watching it at our convenience. This was revolutionary. Growing up, my favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz. I waited for it to be aired every year, usually in the spring time, which was also the beginning of tornado season where I grew up. One year I saw the advertisements, waited for the designated time, and somehow I got my times mixed up and missed it. I was so disappointed and had to wait another year to see it. With the purchase of the VCR when I was about 16, I could watch The Wizard of Oz any old time.

Shortly after we bought that giant of a VCR, I applied for and got a job at the first video store in town. It was a tiny, mom and pop store wedged between a Target and a large grocery store. We had many of the old movies - just one copy each, but that was all anyone expected. When customers came in for a movie that was already checked out, they cheerfully requested to put it on hold and came back for it another day. We all were so thrilled to have movies when we wanted them, we didn't think to complain about waiting an extra day or two. Today if we walk into a video store, we are enraged if not one of the 50 copies of a new release is on the shelf waiting for us.

In our video store, we had one TV and VCR sitting high on a shelf in the corner. Customers could easily see the TV, and the fun part was that we, the employees, could put in movies to play. I remember enjoying my work immensely with old musicals playing in the back ground. Favorites such as Oklahoma!, Singin' in the Rain, My Fair Lady and Hello Dolly delighted customers and gave us something with which to sing along. Often we put in the Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night; it was a lousy movie, but the music was wonderful. We often had lulls during the day, usually in the mid-afternoons. At these times we put in movies that we could actually watch, not simply for the music. We enjoyed On Golden Pond, A Philadelphia Story, and of course, my old tried and true favorite, The Wizard of Oz.

Before I graduated from high school, our company opened a second store on the other side of town, which seemed odd, and then within the next year, the first mega-chain video store opened its doors not far from our store. They charged less and had a much bigger selection than we did. When I left for college and ultimately moved away, I lost track of my little video store, but years later I drove by and saw that it had been turned into one of the many chain stores. This made me sad.

Today when I walk into our local chain video store, the only thing playing on the many TVs in the store are teasers and previews. Gone are the days when customers could stay and chat with employees while enjoying a favorite movie.

Written by James Fohl

Have you ever found yourself in a conversations with a friend, friends or family about something
they kept calling Tivo, and the only thing coming into your mind was some kind of 80's musical
artist?

Tivo Is A Device That Allows You To Record Thirty Or More Hours Of Television Onto The Unit To Watch Later.


Tivo is actually just another unit you can add to your television next to your VCR, DVD, satellite
TV receiver, and various video game consoles to add functionality to your television experience. Tivo
is basically a subscription based service that allows you to record television programs, movies,
sporting events, and basically all other televised content onto a hard drive that resides in the
internals of the Tivo unit.


Users Looking Into The Tivo Service Will Pay A Lot For The Convenient Features That The Service Provides

While Tivo sounds like a great concept, it is also an expensive concept. Many people believe that
the only cost to use a Tivo unit, is of course the price of the Tivo unit. However, many people are
unaware that not only to you have to shell out a relatively large sum of money for the unit, you also
have to pay a monthly subscription fee in order to actually get the Tivo unit to function. Users
paying for their subscription services to Tivo can either pay a monthly fee ranging from around
ten dollars to around twenty dollars for a deluxe subscription service. Tivo owners also have the
opportunity to pay a large out front cost for a lifetime Tivo service subscription. The second
option was very popular when Tivo first came to the market a few years ago.

The Market For Tivo PVR Systems Is Shrinking, As Many Alternatives Including Hard Drive / DVD-R Recorders
Are Becoming Available At Prices Cheaper Than The Tivo Units

Today Tivo's market size is dramatically shrinking as users are turning to the various alternatives
that exists. Cheap hard drive and DVD-R based recorders are finding their ways into homes. Although
these alternatives do not come with subscription services that automatically record your favorite programs,
as well as other programs that Tivo thinks you may like, many users are satisfied with just having the ability
to record large amounts of television programs and being able to watch them at any given time point.

Other alternatives that exist include media center personal computers. Although these computers are
quite expensive when compared to Tivo, and hard drive / DVD-R based recorders, they offer the user
a wide variety of services on their television set. For example, an owner of a Windows Media Center
computer can record a television program, type up an email, and download trailers for various movies
at the same time.

Media center personal computers are coming down greatly in price, and a large user base exists today
that are building their own personal media center computers. With all of the features offered in these
media center personal computers, they are starting to become a very popular alternative to the
Tivo service.


While Tivo was a revolutionary service when it was first released, many alternatives now exist that will eventually
lead to the death of the Tivo subscription service.

Written by James Fohl

Everyday after a long session of either work or school, millions upon millions of Americans
grab their television remote and begin a rather long session of sitting in front of the glowing
tube absorbing the televised content.

But have you ever wondered just when that wonderful invention of the television remote was invented?
After all, if it was never invented could you imagine how people would still utilize the television
for hours on end?

Whether you like it or not, the television remote has forever changed the way millions of Americans
watch television everyday. What you also may or not know is that the television remote has a some what
long and very interesting history.

Televisions Have Always Had A Remote Companion In One Form Or Another

The first concept of a remote for changing channels and such on a television came soon after the initial
introduction of the very first televisions. In 1950, the electronics company Zenith released the first
television remote called the "Lazy Bone". The "Lazy Bone" could power the television on and off, and it could
also change television channels, however there was a slight catch. The catch was that the remote was not wireless,
and instead the Lazy Bone remote was connected to the television set through a very bulky cable.

Five years later, Zenith came up with another television remote concept. This time, the remote was wireless
and instead of being connected to the television with a bulky cable, it utilized photocells to communicate with
the television set. The only problem with this whole situation was that simple flashes of sunlight, produced
from a very sunny day could ultimately change television channels.

Zenith Created Many Different Models Of Television Remotes That Ultimately Failed, Until 1956 When They Created
Remotes That Used Ultrasonic Technology

A year later, Zenith bounced back yet again with another interesting concept. This time they produced a remote
that did not used batteries, but still could power the TV on and off, as well as change the channel. This
new remote utilized ultrasonic technology, in which the television set was equipped with a very expensive speaker
that picked up some vibrations created from the remote. This technology, although primitive by today's standards
would eventually be utilized in most televisions up until the early 1980's.

Then in the early 1980's, a breakthrough technology would be utilized in television remotes that continue to
be used today. That technology is infrared, which used invisible light to communicate with television sets.
Although infrared can not be seen by the human eye, it does exist, and is the perfect solution for the perfect
television remote.

As you can see, the television remote has a pretty interesting history, as it some how managed to change
three times in a period of seven years, only to later change two times in a period of forty years. Infrared
technology is absolutely wonderful for the television remote industry, but I am sure that something better
will eventually come along sooner or later that results in infrared being outdated and useless.

Sunday nights just isn't the same anymore. Ever since "Desperate Housewives" aired its season finale on May 22, Sunday nights are just like every other night of the week-- a night of boring television reruns. Oh how I miss the first-run adventures of Susan, Gabby, Lynette and Bree, but I know they'll be back in action-- God and ABC willing-- in the fall. Still, the wait is killing me.

If you're fan of network television, then you know that most first run programming ends around the end of May with the May sweeps. Then it's on to the long, hot, endless summer full of television reruns. If you can't take the thought of watching reruns all summer long, there are some ways to get your TV fix without vegetating and watching the same old episodes over and over again. Here are some tips to help you get through until the new programming starts in September.

-- Watch first run filler programs, like "Big Brother". Around the second week of July, CBS airs their reality series "Big Brother". While the show is far from riveting (it's a standard vote-off type reality show, with "challenges" that are more goofy than grueling), it's better than watching reruns. Some nights the program even airs live-- and live TV can always be a tad thrilling. "Big Brother" takes up three nights of CBS' primetime programming each week through September, so it qualifies as good filler. If you can't stomach "Big Brother", check for other reality shows that aren't in repeats (most only air once, deeming them "disposable" in my opinion). MTV seems to always have a fresh supply of new programming. And hey, there's always the evening news and sports programming-- they're always new!

-- Rent more movies. Use this time to rent the movies on your list that you keep putting off. Most new DVD movie releases come out on Tuesday mornings, so check your local video store early in the week for the best selection. This summer may be your chance to finally catch "Gigli".

-- Watch soap operas. The soap opera gods churn out brand new episodes every day, so, with the exception of the soap repeats that air on "Soap Net", you can enjoy brand new episodes every day. Record soap operas while you are at work so you can come home to fresh new episodes every night. But watch out with the soaps-- it' very easy to get hooked on them, so don't get involved with too many! The best soaps are long runners like "All My Children", "The Young and the Restless" and "Days of Our Lives".

-- Catch up on shows that you missed the first time around. That's right, you may have even missed one or two episodes of "Desperate Housewives" the first time around so watch them when they rerun in the summer-- even though you know how the season finale ended. Or, like me, perhaps you didn't catch on to "Lost" or "Grey's Anatomy" until midway through the original season. Catch up over the summer so that come fall, you'll be up to date and ready for the new season.

Television viewing is such a big part of family life that it's really no wonder that traditions will start to form, where you and your family watch the same movies or events on TV year after year. My family has several of these traditions. Some of the movies we watch coincide with big holidays, and some have no relation to the holidays but just come on at approximately the same time each year. Some are live events that are broadcast each year. Now that DVDs have come along, we don't even need to wait for the movies to air once a year (but we usually still do). These shows are now so closely associated with family gatherings that I can't really watch them on my own. Such is the power of television when it comes to family bonding, I guess. Here are the shows that my family never misses.

1. The Sound of Music
When I was younger, I used to roll my eyes and complain when my parents made us watch this movie. I thought the story was boring, and I just hated musicals in general. But as I got older, I started to appreciate the basic plot on a different level. The songs were no longer annoying breaks, but rather they started to make sense to me. Now I count The Sound of Music as one of my favorite movies of all time and I carry the entire soundtrack around on my iPod.

2. The Oscars
My mom in particular loves celebrity gossip and tabloid magazines, so the Oscars is her favorite television event of the year. The family always gets together to watch the Oscars, and we spice things up by having a "Pick the Winners" contest. The person who guesses the most Oscar winners correctly gets different prizes donated by all the participants. This contest just adds a special twist to the evening. One year I was sick, and stayed at my apartment to watch the broadcast by myself. It wasn't half as fun as watching it with my family.

3. It's a Wonderful Life
The networks show a lot of movies at Christmas time each year, but It's a Wonderful Life is probably the best one out of all of them. It's a great movie with a great message, and it can be enjoyed by people of all ages. This is a movie that I have always enjoyed, even when I was too young to understand what it was really about.

4. The Wizard of Oz
This is another movie that is chock-full of meaning (some people even claim that it is a political satire, while others say that it has many strange ties to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album). I don't necessarily buy into those theories, but they do exist. I just like how the characters went in search of things (courage, heart, brains) that they actually had all along. It's a profound lesson that people of all ages can benefit from.

By Victoria Miller

Back in the old days (yeah, yeah, I know-- my generation), we had an abundance of charismatic, sexy, and adorable young fellows who were known as teen idols. You know who I'm talking about -- those ultra hunky guys, young celebrity actors slash singers who graced the covers of really cheesy magazines like Tiger Beat and 16. Usually these guys had dual careers-- they were both actor and singer. Guys like David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Donny Osmond and Sean Cassidy juggled television careers and music very well. Christopher Knight (Peter Brady from "The Brady Bunch") didn't even consider himself a singer, but that didn't stop him from "touring" with the Brady Kids singing group (heck he even released a solo project with his Brady sis, Marcia).

Back then, these young studs-- these American Idols, if you will-- were adored by female fans everywhere. And believe me these guys were everywhere. Posters, magazine covers and lunchboxes-- you name it. Still, they weren't as overexposed as the young stars of today.

In fact, it recently occurred to me that we just don't have teen idols anymore. Sure, there's hot guys-- girls love guys like Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. But where is the Bobby Sherman of today? It sure isn't Justin Timberlake. And I sure don't see another Scott Baio on the horizon.

The fact of the matter is, the stars of today are so overexposed-- via television, the tabloids, and the Internet-- that none of them seem special. In fact the only "idols" that fit the mold of the idols of yesteryear seem to be female. Hilary Duff? I think she qualifies. Lindsay Lohan-- same thing. But where are the guys? Where are the guys that young girls used to idolize?

When David Cassidy used to sing those sugary Partridge Family tunes (my faves were "I Woke Up in Love this Morning" and "Echo Valley 26809"), my knees would go weak. When Leif Garrett starred in the short lived series, "Three for the Road", I was there every precious week until it was unceremoniously cancelled. I had to be. You see, I clung to those moments, because it wasn't every day that I could just turn on the TV and see David or Leif.

But nowadays, if a young girl wants to see her crush, be it Aaron Carter or Eminem, all she has to do is go online and she can research his whole life story. And she can download a thousand pictures of him. She doesn't even get a chance to "miss" him, because he's everywhere. The Star Magazine. Entertainment Tonight. And yes, she can Google his name and she'll get thousands of hits. Today's young stars just aren't the same. And I don't even know if Tiger Beat Magazine exists any more, but if it does it can't hold a candle to their past issues, because the material just isn't as exclusive. Nothing special, blah blah blah.

I don't know, maybe it's just me. Maybe I've become jaded or maybe it's because I'm getting old. Yeah, that must be it. I'm just getting old.

During a recent romp through my favorite discount store (you know the one-- it features prominent red bulls eyes all over the place), I paused for a moment in the DVD section. I usually buy children's DVDs for my kids-- you know, stuff like "Dora the Explorer's Fairytale Adventure" and "Barbie's Princess and the Pauper". But on this particular day I stopped to look at a large display of adult-oriented DVDs. And I couldn't believe my eyes. Classic TV was back and it was everywhere.

Now I'm a diehard classic TV fan from way back-- the type that cried when Nick at Nite changed their format to 80's shows (too young to be true classics, in my opinion) and the type that petitioned my local cable company to acquire TV Land (they finally did in the late 90's). But because programming directors like to mess with the schedules as soon as I get used to them, I'm never really satisfied with the classic TV offerings-- even though I have digital cable and hundreds of TV channels to choose from. So when I saw this awesome display of classic DVDs, I simply had to peruse them a bit.

There were the "I Love Lucy" box sets which I've admired from afar for a while now, and there was the recently released "The Brady Bunch Compete First Season" (okay, I admit I own that one, but I only bought it for the retro kaleidoscope cover). Okay, so "Lucy" and "The Brady Bunch" were both blockbuster hits, still seen in syndication decades after they first aired-- I don't think either show has ever been off the air since. But what blew me away was the dozens of more obscure television shows that I never expected to see on DVD-- yet here they were, staring me in the face, in full color.

Shows like "Planet of the Apes"" and "Soap" and "Little House on the Prairie" and" The Bionic Woman"-- campy shows that I used to love and really hadn't thought about in 30 years. Heck, they even had my sister's all-time favorite comedy, "What's Happening".

If money wasn't an object, I would have piled them all into my cart and started my own classic TV DVD collection, but instead of spending my kid's college fund in one shot, I decided to start small-- just one precious "Starsky and Hutch " DVD (and no, I don't mean the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson movie remake-- I'm talking the original 1970's series starring Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul). And with one classic DVD in hand, I would start my collection, adding one modestly priced box set each month. They will add up quickly and then I'll just have to find the time to watch them all.

Next month it will be "Bewitched", the classic 1960's series starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York. The complete first season comes out any day now and it will be offered two ways-- the original black and white version or a colorized version. I'm opting for the color. It may be a classic show, but I'll take the modern technology any day.

by Victoria Miller

So my husband had this brilliant idea a few weeks ago. "We should buy a DVD recorder," he said. Our VCR was on the fritz and instead of buying another VCR, he reasoned, we should upgrade to a DVD recorder.

"But what about all of our VHS tapes?" I asked him. "We won't be able to watch them. And what about all of the videos of our kids?" Unfortunately, our video camera is also not yet from the digital age, so we have dozens of VHS tapes of family get together, birthdays, holidays and whatnot.

"That's the great part about the DVD recorder" my husband said. "We can transfer the videos to DVD!" He sounded like an electronics salesman, trying to convince me. But it was a tempting thought, to have the videos of my babies transferred to a digital format where they would (hopefully) be preserved forever.

So my husband began his research. We knew we didn't want to spend a lot of money, as this was a rather unexpected expense. We just needed a very basic DVD recorder to catch missed TV programs and to transfer those precious videos of our kids. My husband found a reasonably priced DVD recorder at Circuit City, and he checked the consumer reviews on it (it was rated pretty good) but then he had another thought-- he did a search on EBay for that particular brand of DVD recorder and found several listings. So he placed his bid.

We "won" the DVD recorder and the total price, including shipping, came to less than half of the retail cost of the Circuit City model. It arrived three days later (fast shipping by an enthusiastic EBay seller) and then the real work began: trying to hook the thing up.

Okay, so my husband and I are not electronic whizzes by any means, but with full instructions you would think two reasonably educated people could figure it out. Nope. We went out and bought new cables, thinking that the old ones were the problem. Nope. We called the toll free customer service number for help. They gave a few tips, but did it help? Nope. At one point, we actually somehow recorded a piece of "Entertainment Tonight", but we don't know how we did it. And when we tried to delete it we couldn't figure out how to do that either.

"It's the digital cable box that's complicating things," my husband concluded. "Better to hook the thing up to the TV upstairs where we don't have the cable box."

So we tried that. But guess what? Our upstairs television doesn't have all of the component video hookups and the S video cables that are needed. So my husband has drawn his final conclusion: we need to buy a new television.

And so off we went to buy a new TV that would be compatible with the DVD recorder. It would cost us a couple of hundred dollars, but then my husband had another one of his brilliant ideas.

"Let's get a flat screen LCD model," he said. And so we did.

A thousand dollars later, everything works just fine.

When it comes to child stars of the past, we all seem to know what happened to the ones that got into trouble. Danny Bonaduce, who played Danny Partridge on the 1970's sitcom "The Partridge Family" is infamous for his brushes with the law. So is Todd Bridges from "The Facts of Life". Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on "The Munster's", reappeared a couple of years ago on E's "Star dates" (not a good career move), and I've seen Gary Coleman here and there, but whatever became of some of the other young stars from the 1960's and 70's? Here is a fond recollection of some classic child stars that just don't make the headlines any more.

-- Kim Richards. When I was growing up, I wanted to be Kim Richards. She starred as the little girl, Prudence, on the sitcom "Nanny and the Professor" and then she went on to star as Tia in the feature films "Escape to Witch Mountain" and "Return to Witch Mountain". As she grew into adolescence, Kim's career was still going strong-- she frequently popped up on shows like "James at 15" and even secured another sitcom role on the short-lived "Hello Larry". When she moved onto more adult roles in the 1980's (like the forgettable teen drama "Tuff Turf"), her acting stints became few and far between. And now she seems to have vanished. Where are you, Kim? One little tidbit that I recently learned-- Kim is the aunt of heiress Paris Hilton (Kim's mom Kathy is Paris' mom). Now that's a claim to fame!

-- Jay North. The former star of the show "Dennis the Menace" North may have had trouble ridding himself of the "Dennis" label. His resume after the series ended is spotty at best and while he was featured on an "E True Hollywood Story" a few years ago, fans have seen little of him since the 1960's. According to his biography on the "E True Hollywood Story", North did have to battle some personal demons as he grew up, but for some reason his woes just didn't make the headlines.

-- Lisa Gerristen. You may not remember this actress's name, but I bet you'd remember her face. Gerritsen played Bess Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman's daughter) on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and then went on to costar in the show "Phyllis" (an MTM spin off ). Although she guest starred on a variety of popular shows like "Family Affair" and "Gunsmoke", my all time favorite Gerritsen role was the role of Lydia Monroe on the 1969 comedy, "My World and Welcome To it". Am I the only person that remembers that show? When I mention it to family and friends they scratch their heads and give me a baffled look. In any event, Gerritsen seems to have fallen off of the planet.

-- Brandon Cruz. I had such a crush on this "Courtship of Eddie's Father" cutie. He played Bill Bixby's son, Eddie, on the show. After that he appeared in a few movies, like "The Bad News Bears" and "The One and Only" and then boom-- Brandon Cruz went missing. I hear he's in a rock band now, but to me he'll always be a former child star missing in action.

You finally did it: you went ahead and spent $5,000 on a new plasma television. It fits perfectly in your living room, and it works great. You just can't believe that it took you so long to take the plunge. But now you have another problem. What should you do with your old television? Chances are it's not entirely junk, so putting it out on the curb for the garbage collector would be too much of a waste. Here are several other options for you to consider.

1. Move it to a different room
The easiest solution to getting rid of an old television set is to move it to a different room in your house. Consider putting the television in the basement, the den, the spare bedroom, or even a child's room. The advantages of this solution are obvious, but if you live in an apartment or if you don't have a lot of extra space in your home, then you'll have to choose a different option.

2. Sell it
There are always people looking for a bargain when it comes to home appliances, so you have a good chance of selling your old television for some extra cash. There are many sales outlets that you can use these days. Instead of the old classified ad route, why not try eBay? I know, you're probably thinking that there's no way you can ship a television for a reasonable amount. But eBay has an option that allows you to specify local pickup only. When you choose this type of auction, bidders agree to pick up the television on their own.

Another place to sell your old television is on a college campus. Go to the local university or community college campus and put an ad up on the bulletin board. College students are always pinched for cash and would love to save a few bucks on a television, so you'll probably have lots of people calling very soon.

A third option is to take the television set to a pawn shop or consignment store. A pawn shop will buy the television outright with no further commitments on either side. A consignment store will display the set with a price that you specify. When someone buys the television, the store will split the profits with you.

3. Give it away
If recouping some money from your old television set is not a priority, then why not give it away? Call local charities and ask them if they would be interested in the unit. Most charities will be able to find a use for the television, provided that it is in good condition. Just because they're charities doesn't mean they will accept junk. If you can't find a charity that needs the TV, start calling local schools. Schools like to update their AV departments often, and a free television would be appreciated.

Getting a new television set doesn't mean that your old one immediately becomes useless. There are several constructive ways to dispose of a television that can benefit both yourself and another party.

Once upon a time there used to be a thing called television commercials. Does anybody remember those? This was back in the days before remote controls were standard and cable television was just in its infancy.

Back then we were forced to watch commercials because it was too much of a hassle to get up and manually change the channel during the commercial breaks. There was no channel surfing, no commercial free channels like HBO. Nope. Commercials were everywhere. But the funny [part is, we really didn't mind them. It gave us a chance to run into the kitchen to make a snack or take a bathroom break. These days, folks with Tivo can pause live TV, so I guess they can take a break when ever they want, but back then we either watched the commercial or left the room for a minute.

The commercials were great back then. Some of my favorites include the Dr. Pepper commercials where people referred to themselves as Peppers (although to this day I'm not exactly sure what a Pepper actually is). Another favorite was the Alka Seltzer where a man is just looking for some relief. And who can forget the infamous Wendy's restaurant commercial from the 80's where two old ladies loudly asked the question, "Where's the beef"?

Kids loved the old animated commercial for Tootsie Pops where a wise old owl tries to get to the bottom of the all important question, which was how many licks did it to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Teenaged girls flocked to their favorite store to buy "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo after seeing the commercial (boys loved the scent, apparently). There used to be a McDonalds's ad where people tried to recite all of the ingredients in a Big Mac (answer: two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun). And then there was the Coca cola commercials of the early 1970's, sung to the tune of "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony". Absolute classics!

Another favorite? The Oscar Mayer bologna commercial in which a cute kid (aren't all TV commercial kids cute?) sings the praises of his favorite luncheon meat. And who can forget the granddaddy of television commercials-- the Life cereal commercial featuring a boy named Mikey, who hates everything (but apparently loves "Life").

TV commercials back then had recurring characters. Does anyone remember Madge, the manicurist who soaked her client's hands in Palmolive dishwashing liquid to soften them? And who could forget Mr. Whipple, the frustrated grocery store clerk who had to reprimand patrons that couldn't resist squeezing his precious Charmin toilet paper (but Mr. Whipple couldn't resist either).

Some commercials had the power to send chills down your spine. Two examples-- a famous 80's spot about drugs, which compared a frying egg to the brain of a person on drugs. But my all time favorite? The 70's public service announcement about pollution. It featured a stoic Indian who sheds a single tear after a thoughtless driver tosses trash out of a car window. That commercial made me think back then. So much so, that I still remember it vividly today.

With all the things offered on cable and satellite television today, I remember being completely satisfied with what was offered on our four television channels while I was growing up. We were able to receive ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and if we switched to UHF, we got one other channel, but it was very fuzzy, so it really doesn't count. We enjoyed after-school specials, morning news, Saturday morning cartoons, evening sit-coms, the Wonderful World of Disney, and Friday night movies. Our afternoons during the cold winter months were spent in front of PBS, watching Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Zoom. Once a year or so, we were treated with the annual showing of the Wizard of Oz. Between cartoons on Saturday morning, I watched Schoolhouse Rock and learned all the things about history, science, math, and grammar, which they somehow never taught us in school. By the time I was in middle school, we even had cartoons before school in the morning.

Today we have exponentially more television than we ever imagined those 30 short years ago. We have all that we had, then, and so much more. We have all the PBS shows, and then some. We have several channels showing the best of the PBS type nature, history, educational, scientific and artistic shows, so many that we can hardly watch them all. The old PBS shows we used to love are all modernized: Mr. Rogers has passed away and Sesame Street has become a platform for the politically correct. Not only do we have many, many sit-coms on every channel, we also have entire channels solely devoted to showing re-runs of all the old sit-coms we and our parents enjoyed as children. Saturday morning cartoons are a concept the children of today simply don't understand. They have every day cartoons, 24-hours a day, on multiple channels. In addition, there are now all the new shows that aren't meant for children, but are watched by children, nonetheless: MTV, VH1 and the other music video channels; reality shows, crime dramas, and America's Most Wanted. We need not wait for after-school specials or Friday night movies, because we have multiple movie channels and a whole shelf of videos and DVDs for those rare moments when our children can find nothing on the television that they want to watch.

I grew up thinking Mr. Rogers was my neighbor, that Marcia Brady was the coolest girl on the planet, and that the Wizard of Oz was real. Now my children have all the old sit-coms, cartoons, and Schoolhouse Rock on DVD. They know things that I never learned. They also complain that we don't have the full cable TV package and only can receive 10 channels. To them, we are living in the Stone Age and need to have the 500 channel satellite package like their friends down the road. They're afraid we'll miss something. Ironically, everything they want to see can be purchased on DVD, but we wouldn't have time to watch it all even if we owned them. Ah, they're so deprived.

When pop star Britney Spears married her backup dancer Kevin Federline last year, I knew it was only a matter of time before the two would be pitching a reality show to the networks. I figured it would be a knock off of Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's reality show, "Newlyweds", format-- you know, a glimpse into the lives of a newly married celebrity couple. Well, as predicted, Britney and Kevin's reality show, titled "Chaotic" is now being shown on both the UPN Network and MTV. But the show isn't about the newly married couple-- instead, it's a video documentary of their courtship.

From the goofy opening credits, which dub the producers as "Britney" and "Kevin" (no last names) to the very fact that these two even have this footage-- it all seems kind of corny to me. What new couple videotapes their courtship? Aren't most people too busy getting to know each other in the beginning of their relationship to remember to pull out the digital camcorder every time a special moment pops up? Not Britney and Kev, apparently.

These two media hounds aren't paparazzi shy, that's for sure. In fact, since they have been together the couple is frequently photographed together, alone and with his children from a former girlfriend. Obviously they had lots of practice posing for the camera while filming their whirlwind romance.

After watching the first episode of "Chaotic" , I have to wonder why Spears agreed to do this. Well, of course it's for the money (the couple received a reported 2 million dollars for the show), but you'd think she could afford to be more selective about her projects. A pop superstar by the time she was in her early teens, Spears has cornered just about every market-- she's sold millions of records; she's a writer ( "A Mother's Gift", which she coauthored with her mom, Lynne Spears); she's an actress (she starred in the 2002 film "Crossroads"); and she has a perfume with her name on it (called "Curious"). This woman should be very, very rich. So why the reality show stint? Sadly to say, it may be a sign that her career is winding down. Motherhood awaits, so maybe she's ready to retire and be a full time mom. Or perhaps she's hoping to go the route of Jessica Simpson and thinks the reality show will give her sagging singing career a boost. Whatever the reason may be, it's not good enough.

The show is almost awkward to watch at times. The worst part is the close up shots of the couple kissing. Such extreme close ups make you feel as though you are actually part of the kiss. In other segments, the night cam makes their faces look green and Britney even quips that they look like vampires on it (they do). Later, when Brit is casually applying about 50 coats of mascara to her eyelashes, Kev is quizzing her about her "love". She's obviously acting shy and coy when asked personal questions by him. But then she's sure to boast how great the sex is in their relationship. Personally, I don't need to see the video proof of the first time these two exchanged "I love you's". Not to begrudge them their love, but it all seems kind of staged to me. Again I ask you-- who tapes this stuff?

All in all, this is the most unreal reality show I've ever seen. My final verdict on "Chaotic"? It's simply idiotic.

It's been nearly 45 years since former FCC chairman Newton Minnow dubbed television a "vast wasteland". While some people may still agree with that statement, most people today concur that television is a valuable and much needed resource.

Ever since the onset of cable and satellite television, there have been many channels that offer educational programming. Still, most of us have a small cache of shows that we know we probably shouldn't watch-- yet we do. You know what I'm talking about-- those mindless shows that don't provoke much thought. Shows that are pure entertainment-- some with bad writing, some with bad acting, some of them senseless reality shows. Here are a few of my favorite TV guilty pleasures:

-- The Real World Road Rules Challenge (MTV). Okay, okay I know. I'm a grown woman and a mother of three so I probably shouldn't watch a bunch of twenty something's stab each other in the back for a few prizes and some cash. But these kids are like old friends to me. I've watched MTV's "The Real World" and "Road World" since 1992, so I feel like I know these kids.
Plus there's plenty of drama and cat fighting.

-- All My Children (ABC). The granddaddy of all soap operas, in my opinion. I know Erica Kane has been married close to a dozen times. I know people "die" and come back to life on this show. And I know that some plotlines drag on endlessly while a child can grow ten years in one season. Still, how can you not love this stuff? It's absolutely addictive and an hour well spent each day. Hey, I could be watching "Passions".

-- Big Brother (CBS). As far as reality shows go, the plotline of this one is rather thin. There aren't exciting challenges like on "Survivor" or "The Amazing Race". Just a bunch of houseguests voting one another out of the house each week. But there's always alliances and a bit of drama. Every year I say I won't watch it and every year there I am-- glued to the set and frequenting the online message boards. I just can't stop.

--Yes Dear (CBS). I don't know why I watch this show. The jokes are crass and the characters are unlikable. I don't even know the real names of the stars of this series. Still, it's as close to a family oriented sitcom that I can find these days. CBS dropped this show last season and now it has miraculously returned. So I watch it because I can.

--The Surreal Life (VH1). Take a bunch of celebrity has-beens (their word, not mine) and throw them in Glen Campbell's former California home for two weeks and you have-- entertainment? Sure you do, when housemates such as Tammy Faye Baker Messner and porn star Ron Jeremy show up. Brigitte Nielsen found "love" with Public Enemy's Flavor Flav on this show. Peter Brady fell in love with a reality TV model. Life is good as I watch the antics of celebrities at home.

--I Want a Famous Face (MTV). This show depicts graphic cosmetic surgery footage, but I tune in whenever it's on. It never ceases to amaze me how far people will go to emulate their favorite celebrities. Sadly, the results aren't usually that convincing. While twin Brad Pitt wannabees improved their looks with surgery, they looked nothing like Pitt. But I watch anyway. And yes, I feel guilty every time.

A couple of decades ago, television game shows were all the rage. Daytime television was full of them and I'd sometimes spend even the nicest of summer days glued to the TV set.

Well, I'm now thrilled to see that cable TV's Game Show Network has brought back some of the old classic TV game shows. If you're an insomniac, check out "To tell the Truth" and "What's My Line". These old gems come to you in black and white and they're loaded with old time celebrity guests. I love watching these shows in the middle of the night and pretending it's still 1965.

Another classic TV game show is "Match Game". Host Gene Rayburn was an absolute hoot and the familiar panel featuring Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly had great chemistry. The game itself was kind of silly-- some of the fill in the blank style questions were clearly more difficult than others-- but there were so many double entendres that I was sure to laugh during each episode (even if I didn't understand what they were talking about).

"Let's Make a Deal" was one of my all time favorites. Featuring host Monty Hall, contestants were confronted with all types of tough decisions. In nearly every episode, some poor sucker would choose the wrong box or take what was behind the curtain (hoping for it to be a car) and they'd end up with a potbelly pig or something. But there were happy endings, too. Most every show someone would drive off with a new car or a wad of cash. It was a great feel good show. Plus, I liked how the audience dressed up in those wacky costumes.

Quintessential game show host Bert Convy was not only handsome, but he had the perfect game show host resume. Besides being a frequent guest on "The Love Boat", Convy hosted quirky game shows like "Tattletales" and "Win, Lose or Draw". "Tattletales" featured celeb couples answering questions about each other. "Win, Lose or Draw" was an alternate version of charades, where contestants would draw instead of using gestures. TV game show perfection!

Ad how about another longtimer, Dick Clark? Sure, we all know him from "American Bandstand" and "New Year's Rockin' Eve", but Mr. Clark also hosted one of the best game shows of the 1970's-- the "$10,000 Pyramid". This show featured celebrity guests partnering with ordinary folks to win a jackpot of 10 grand. Seems kind of skimpy these days, but there was a time when 10 G's was a lot of money. Still, by the mid 70's they upped the anty to $25,000.

"The Newlywed Game" was a salty little show, full of racy quips, which featured newly married couples guessing how their spouse would answer suggestive questions. Host Bob Eubanks had a devilish grin and a twinkle in his eye. When I watch reruns of this show nowadays, I wonder how many of the couples are still together-- and how many got divorced after seeing themselves on the show!

Many of the shows I've just mentioned have been remade, but the new versions just don't do it for me. I'm a classic TV fan all the way. Although the game shows of today may offer higher jackpots (like, say a million bucks?) they just don't hold a candle to the classic game shows of yesterday.

TV is very commonly used item among all the children, nowadays. They use to see those channels, which are full of action, and comedy, etc. Also they are interested in some adventurous programs showing some extraordinary work or unbelievable things happening. This is because that they have a tendency to do the things they watched anywhere, i.e., TV or by their elders. That is why it is generally said that to teach a child do it yourself first, whatever you want to teach. For example, if we wish that our children starts taking meals as we do then take meal in front of the child and he will definitely ask for it from you and so on. So is the case with the scenes showed on the television.

If we look back around 15-20 years, then there was a serial on television named Spiderman, which was very popular among children. In that show, the Spiderman used to go in air like a spider and do the unbelievable things, which a normal man could not perform. After seeing this serial, every child wanted to be like the Spiderman. In some cases children tried to jump from high buildings after wearing the dress of the Spiderman, which was available from the market and lost heir lives, and some lost their limbs and are physically handicapped for the rest of their life.

Same is the case with some criminal stories or actions, which impart a bad effect on the children. In a particular case, the news channels highlighted a criminal who is a murderer, rapist, and many more charges were on him. He was punished for his crime for hanging till death. But before this television channels interviewed him lot many times and showed on their respective channels, as if he was a hero and he was wrongly punished for the charges alleged. This affected the minds of the public against the law, which, of course, is not fair!

One more aspect is for the fashion. Children or youngsters usually like to wear those clothes, which their favorite stars wore in the advertisements, songs or films. So it is necessary to make it sure that the fashion should be with in the limits of the culture and no vulgarity should be there. Which otherwise ultimately affects our children and the whole life.

On the other side of this picture, it is also helps a lot to a common man. For example, if a big personality dies, the television channels use to show the programs on his life. In which they used to show his family background, facts of his life, secrets of the life of the deceased personality and many more things related to the life style of the person. Which in turn helps to know more and more about the personality. Recently the death of Hollywood star is an example of this. After his death the channels have nothing to do but showing his career, his good work in different pictures, his political career and above all his life's secrets which a common man could have never known otherwise.

It is not so that channels use to show these things after the death of a big personality, but in routine also they have different programs showing the life of the known personalities and also famous persons. This increases the knowledge level of children and elders, which help them in their life span.