Anyone who's read my blog with any regularity knows that I'm a big TiVo aficionado. I'm a big television aficionado, and TiVo makes that much, much easier. When TV watching is stressful -- labeling tapes, being home at the right time, battling with the VCR, keeping up with schedules -- it loses some luster. When TiVo does it all for me, I am satisfied.

Lauren and I espoused the Joy of TiVo to our families so much that both her and my parents have purchased their own TiVos. And with TiVo's new pricing model (eliminating the "Product Lifetime Subscription" in favor of a cell-phone type model -- the phone is free, with a slightly higher monthly charge), I even motivated a coworker to purchase his second TiVo with the lifetime subscription while he still could.

And each one of these three TiVo purchases had one thing in common: I got "TiVo Reward Points" each time.

TiVo Reward Points are like currency. Only, currency that you can only use for silly TiVo things.

We are now the proud owners of a bright red TiVo remote. It sits in a drawer. We haven't put in batteries, and thus haven't programmed it to work with our TV. We already have two remotes, one for each TiVo. I consider this one a backup.

We're also proud owners of a delightful pair of TiVo slippers. They're extra-large, like my feet. And they even have little antennae sticking out. Cloth ones, of course.

And fret not, dear friends. With one more TiVo purchase that refers me, we'll get enough TiVo Reward Points for Lauren to get her small TiVo slippers, too.

This video has been making the rounds, and it amuses me. Live actors, re-enacting the opening credit sequence of The Simpsons.

I bet it would be cool if you were selected as one of the new families whose TiVo usage was being tracked for Neilsen Ratings.

Unfortunately, if you are one of those families, you're required to remain anonymous, so you could never celebrate the coolness.

Too bad for those people.

If you read my blog regularly, get a life.

No, that's not what I was going to say!  I meant to say, if you read my blog regularly, you probably know that my wife and I watch a lot of television.  We don't watch "filler" or junk -- we watch shows that really, truly entertain us.

One of those shows is 24.  (Although we own the first season on DVD, that's the only season we've never seen...)   We've thoroughly enjoyed the second, third, and fourth seasons, but let me say this: The two-hour season premiere of 24 last night was the Best. 24. Ever.  I mean, wow.

So as not to ruin anything for those of you who haven't yet seen the episodes from last night, I'll use invisible text to sum up the episode (highlight the next space to read it): [Holy freakin' cow man!]

Other highlights of the weekend included several games in my continuing season of Madden 2004.  (For the uninformed, former football coach and current blowhard announcer John Madden has his name attached to the best NFL video game series on the planet.)  I'm playing through a season as the Eagles, and we're currently 8 and 1.  It's a nice change from reality.  I must say that playing a game of Madden almost feels like an actual sport, given the tension, energy, and mental athletics that go into playing.

Spoken like a true lazy couch potato.

And as if hours of physical video game playing and a heart-pounding 24 weren't enough for one measly weekend, we also had a few friends over for drinking and board games, which -- along with peanut butter & chocolate and me & Lauren and honey & mustard -- is one of my favorite combinations.

USA network's coolest original show -- and yes, I'm including Monk -- is coming back! The 4400 will return for a third season this summer, with the season premiere featuring "Grown Up Isabelle" (who transformed from baby to naked adult in a freaky instant) finishing up the encyclopedia, which she spent the past day reading in its entirety.

Neat!

My vacation is almost over. Lauren and I will fly back to LA early, early tomorrow (6:30am Eastern, which is 3:30am Pacific), and then once we're back in LA, I'll actually be going in for a full day's work at Grab HQ. That should be fun! If the site falls down tomorrow, I blame me.

In OTHER news... Remember two blog posts ago, when I wrote about "Lazy Sunday," the Chronicles of Narnia-themed rap on SNL? It's available free on iTunes, and now Slate says the video actually means something for rap.

As it turns out, Slate's wrong. But it's still a good article.

We can't be TOO sad about returning to Los Angeles, though, because it does mean one very, very exciting thing:

CHARLIE! We haven't seem the little guy in nearly a week and a half, and we are (all, Charlie included!) looking forward to the big reunion!

This is the funniest thing I've seen on SNL in a while.

Actor John Spencer, most famous for his role as Leo McGarry on The West Wing, died earlier this week. That's certainly sad, as he was a great actor -- especially on that show.

It'll be interesting to see how the show deals with his death, of course. At the start of this season, we saw a scene that took place a few years in the future (where we learned that CJ marries Danny and that everyone including Josh and the President starts speaking to Toby again). And, if I'm not mistaken, Leo was there.

But in happier news, The New York Times leaked information about a forthcoming song from "Weird Al" Yankovic's next album (which won't be out till sometime in 2006). Al's often very secretive about the songs on a forthcoming album, and I'm always dying to know more specifics about what I have to look forward to on his next release.

So, kudos to the times for mentioning that animators working on a video for Al are doing so for a number called "Don't Download This Song" (sung to the tune of "We Are the World"). (link)

Talk about coincidence!

Yesterday, I was talking with some coworkers about the current cast of Saturday Night Live, and how we were hoping that they'd do a substantial refresh of the cast going into next season in hopes of triggering a new spark.

Just one day later, an article in the New York Times suggests Lorne may be considering getting rid of several members of the old guard next season.

To me, that means even mainstays and go-to players as Hammond, Poehler, Sanz, and yes, even Fey. Get some new, hungrier people into the mix instead.

If you could keep just, say, five of the current cast members going into next season, who would you want?

Over on my FOX Sports blog (Eagle Eyes), I lament in detail the severe trouncing that the Eagles took last night playing the Seattle Seahawks.

Whenever I get really happy -- or really disapointed -- with the outcome of an Eagles game, I have to pause and wonder just what the heck it's all about.  Why do I care who wins?  Why does it matter what happens when two teams play a game that I have no direct involvement or stake in?

And then I realize... it's the same as a good TV show.   Why do I care about what happens to the folks on Lost, or the girls in Stars Hollow, or the Santos campaign? 

The answer, of course, is because the Eagles are great. 

No, that's not it.  It's because I'm an emotional person, in that I am able to get emotionally wrapped up with a story, whether it's the "story" of a football season or an actual dramatic narrative -- but either way, the emotional connection is the same.

I am angry. Give me back my $3.00!

I enjoy the television series Medium.  The actors -- particularly the kids -- are excellent and fun to watch. The storylines are good.  The show is often scary, and the concept is entertaining.

For weeks, they ahd been hyping this past Monday's 3-D episode.

Lauren and I went out and bought TV Guides with free 3-D glasses enclosed,  to experience the three-dimensional wonderment.  Ad after ad and article after article hyped the forthcoming multimedia extravaganza.

And... it stank. On ice.  It was crap.

I mean, there was maybe a total of five minutes of 3-D footage in the entire episode.  A flashing icon would pull you out of the story to indicate when you should put on your 3-D glasses.  And the 3-D effects were very, very poor.  Whether it was cheap glasses or cheap cameras that should receive the blame, the net result was that Medium in 3-D just offered one extra dimension of crap for this week's episode.  And I, for one, prefer my crap in as few dimensions as possible.

Last season, Saturday Night Live did a recurring filmed (non-live) sketch called "Bear City."  These clips were narrated by Fred Willard, and featured actors in bear costumes living life in a not-very-humorous way.  Which is to say, the skit wasn't that funny.

But for the past two days, the jingle: "Bear City! Bear Bear City!" has been echoing around in the vast chamber I call My Head.

Damn you, Bear City!

I mention all this for two reasons:

1. Because the damn song is stuck in my head and I can barely hear my own thoughts, what with this unceasing "Bear City" anthem pumping through my skull.

2. Because, given that today's the day before Thanksgiving, my head has written its own little parody of the "Bear City" theme song as: "Thanksgiving! Thanks Thanksgiving!"

It's a great parody.

Lauren and I are headed to Palm Springs tomorrow, for a desert Thanksgiving with horseback-riding, zoo-visiting, food-eating, and non-working. WOOHOO!

The absolute best live-action sitcom ever aired on television has been cancelled. Fox has given the ax to Arrested Development.

I for one would be more than willing to pay $0.99/episode to watch the show online, should someone decide to go that route.

I'd also be willing to watch the show on FX.

Or to pay for Showtime if they move it there.

But I need to continue to get Arrested.

TiVo has released a tempting offer if you haven't jumped in just yet:

TiVo for $16.95/month -- including the box itself.

That's it.

You sign a one year contract, you get the TiVo for free, and the service is less than twenty bucks a month.

Neat deal.

I enjoy television. One of the shows I watch, as devoted readers of this and my other blogs might know, is "The West Wing."

Last night was the West Wing's heavily promoted LIVE debate episode.  I thought the episode was enjoyable, though rather unbelievable. 

I thought the awkwardness that Alan Alda's character (Arnie Vinick) exhibited early in the episode was very real.  In fact, I was concerned that when Arnie paused during his opening statement and no one said anything for several long beats -- that something was actually wrong.

Which was surely the writers' intent.  And though it took me out of the moment for a bit -- in that I was wondering whether I was watching the actor or character freeze -- it still gave me just the right "on edge" feeling to enjoy the dialogue that followed.

So, if you get the chance to go back in time and watch yesterday's episode, I'd say go for it!