The downside to not having cable is missing out on the news, sports, or live television. I was going to regret not being able to watch the Panthers football games this year, for example. So I went to Walmart (of all places) and bought a $25 Philips Indoor HD antenna. I’d give it a try to see if I could pick up any local channels over the airwaves.

The results were staggering. My TV scanned and identified 17 channels that are being broadcast over the air for free. I was stunned at the sheer number of channels. I now get ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, Retro, LiveWell, and several others.

The best part is that the picture is in high definition and crystal clear. Long gone are the days of images of static and snow using rabbit ears and aluminum foil. With the switch to digital, as long as you can receive the signal, you get full resolution. I’ve even watched during thunderstorms and didn’t see any degradation in the picture quality.

I have no desire to pay for cable or satellite again. I can get everything I want over the air for free. I admit that I do love the original series on HBO and Showtime, but I rent them from Netflix. I am very satisfied without having to pay a bloated cable bill each month.

It’s worth mentioning that you cannot easily record the TV shows that are coming through the antenna, but I don’t miss that anyway. When I had a DVR, shows were constantly piling up, and the whole experience of trying to catch up began to feel like a part-time job. If recording isn’t important to you, I’d throw down twenty bucks on an antenna and see how many channels you can get in your area. You might be surprised.

There have been countless hospital dramas on TV over the years. Think: St. Elsewhere, ER, House, General Hospital, Scrubs, Chicago Hope, Grey’s Anatomy, and others. Scrubs, with its particular brand of humor, is the only such show that I have been able to tolerate over the years.

I simply find that having a television signal beamed into your home that portrays someone in a hospital bed, muttering their final words, to be depressing to say the least. Let’s face it, nobody likes being at the hospital, whether you are a patient, or a visitor. A hospital is a place with a distinctly negative vibe.

The notion of willingly piping such emotional drama into your home seems ridiculous to me. I personally don’t care to watch the unfolding drama of a sick person in a bed. I don’t want to see it. It’s a downer. I’m not willing to subscribe to shows that are downers by default, period!

The TV show Arrested Development aired on the Fox network from 2003-2006. I had never heard of it until last summer when my brother told me about it. I watched every single episode from the pilot to the finale. It is a great show. We had a great time watching it. We shared many laughs watching this series. The magic of the show lies squarely in the cast. The casting for the show is spot-on. I often remark that the only actors who could successfully pull off the lines in this show are the people who were hired to do just that.

On a slightly negative note, I must say that the third season was not nearly as good as the first two. Watching the third (and final) season was bordering on painful at times. The plot was all over the place, and often strayed into some pretty ridiculous scenarios. It felt as though a new production staff had taken over the entire operation of Arrested Development. I don’t know what happened during the last season, but there was clearly a lack of direction for any future for the show. This was made even more apparent in that the characters often mocked the show itself during the final few episodes.

Despite that bit of negativity, the rocky third season should not deter anyone from enjoying this incredibly funny TV series. I recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor. As for myself, having completed the entire series, I’ll surely miss watching the misadventures of the Bluth family.

It’s a shame that this show was ultimately canceled by Fox. However, according to Internet rumors, an Arrested Development movie is due out sometime in 2009! I haven’t been able to find a release date or finalized plot details, but IMDB already has a page for this future movie, which I assume is still in the making. What fun! I look forward to it!

I’ll quote Roger Ebert from an article in the Chicago Sun-Times (Chicago is bidding for the 2016 Games). Ebert writes, “I think I received the intended message: China is here, big time. The scope, precision and beauty of the production were, you will agree, astonishing.”

I’ve been home most of the weekend, and I’ve had NBC on in the background. Surprisingly, I’ve actually found myself sitting and watching a lot of the events. I’ve seen swimming, rowing, beach volleyball, biking, and gymnastics. This isn’t like me, normally, but I’m genuinely enjoying myself.

• Official Olympics Site
• NBC Olympics Site

In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the old HBO series Dream On, which I liked to watch in the early 90s. Just like Martin Tupper from Dream On, Hank Moody in Californication gets more T&A than you can believe! The cast, plot, dialogue, and gritty nature of this show blend together fabulously. I’m going to have to sign back up for Showtime once this show and Dexter start their new seasons!

In the past couple of weeks, nearly every prime time show that I’ve taped on my DVR either has had a thunderstorm warning, amber alert, silver alert, or local election results on the screen during the show. It is ridiculous! I don’t care about any of those things! If I want live election results, I don’t expect to find them on the channel showing American Idol. If a bad thunderstorm is coming, then too bad. What do you want me to do? I’m already at home! If a child or old person has gone missing, then I probably can’t help you. The person you are looking for is not standing in middle of my living room, so I suppose I won’t be seeing them tonight.

I think I’m at the front of this complaint. I believe the voices against this will grow louder once it becomes more commonplace and obtrusive. This must stop immediately! It makes me feel like every channel is going to go the way of the TV Guide Channel, which today has about 1/4 of the screen still reserved for the program listings, while the other 3/4 are ads and pointless programming. Gimme a break!

In doing a quick bit of research for this post, I found a message board on the Sci-Fi Channel website where fans post messages about the show. I am in awe of the absurdity of their comments. Viewers write of holding their loved ones on the couch while watching the superheros compete, wiping back tears, and feeling overwhelming emotion at what they are watching. They then sign their posts with a photo of themselves in costume, complete with an ID card for their personal superhero character. Are these people serious?!

Let me be clear that I don’t watch this show! I just saw an episode on this week and ended up watching it play out in utter disbelief to what the reality show scene has become. I feel so embarrassed for these people! This show belongs on Comedy Central, not on Sci-Fi — if it has a place on TV at all. The grand prize should be a gun that they can off themselves with when the show is over.

Well, I ended up watching all six shows on the DVD in one sitting! I absolutely love it. The entire cast is perfect and I love the way it is shot. The play between Jim and Pam is terrific. I so wish they’d get together! I rushed the disc for season 2 to the house and I just watched the first episode. New shows air on NBC again starting February 1st. Airing now is season 3. I have barely started the second season. I guess I have some catching up to do. I will enjoy it.