Sensitive Stuff

It used to be that if you wanted to start a really nasty argument at a family gathering or among some other group of people who were likely to disagree openly with one another, all you had to do was bring up one of two topics: politics or religion. If you wanted to make things even worse, you could bring up a topic that included both politics and religion.

These days people seem to avoid those topics whenever they can. Those arguments are mostly carried on between bumper stickers.

Of course I'm exaggerating, but where's the fun in life without a little exaggeration?

More recently the most heated arguments I've witnessed have to do with one of two things: 1) Which sports team is better than the other, and 2) What's on television.

I don't follow sports, so perhaps it would be best if I addressed the latter example.

A few people I know proclaim to anyone willing to listen that they don't own a television, and that watching television ruins your life, your mind, or something along those lines.

Some others, who do watch television, say that even though there are so many channels, there's nothing good on to watch.

To the first group, I usually just nod and smile. There really isn't much point in arguing over statements like that. I disagree, but it's another one of those cases where I don't see the point in trying to change the other person's mind.

To the second group, I would offer an opinion and some advice. In my opinion there are plenty of good things to watch; you just have to know your own tastes. My advice would be something like "Be choosy about what you watch. If you sit in front of the television for hours flipping through the channels looking for something good, the chances of finding something you'll enjoy are almost zero."

Most of what's on is garbage, at least in somebody's opinion.

Still, there are lots of things on television which will suit just about anybody's taste, from a national singing contest to a series about a bunch of guys going around the Bering Sea in rusty trawlers fishing for crab. Whatever it is that you like, there's bound to be some of it on some channel or other.

The following is a list of some of the shows which I watch regularly. I'm not recommending them to anyone. I'm only saying that I'm fairly picky about what I watch, and so if I can find some things I like, so can almost anyone else.

House M.D.: A medical mystery/drama series with lots of comedic elements. The main character, Dr. Gregory House, is a nasty person but a diagnostic genius.

Battlestar Galactica: No, no, not the horrible thing from the 1970s. That was truly bad. This is a new, re-imagined series based loosely on the original. It only has a few episodes left.

Monk: Another mystery series, about the homicide investigations done by a man who has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I've found it funny, sad, and in terms of the actual mysteries, quite interesting.

Heroes: A series about a large number of ordinary people who develop extraordinary abilities ("superpowers"), what they do with these abilities, and what happens to them. The various plots are quite complicated, and it's difficult to predict what's going to happen next.

Now that I've told some of my favorites, you can go back to arguing whether the Colts or the Mariners are going to win the Stanley Cup this year.

Hans Bricker