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Quick and Cheap today....

Thirteen Television Shows You Should Be Watching:

1. The Office - Since beginning as a virtual copy of the British version with the pilot, this one has come into its own. The Jim and Pam story arc is painfully realistic and it looks like they'll wait until the season finale to come to a resolution (if any). Steve Carell's character tries so hard to please everyone and usually fails. Best pushing the envelope lines since "Arrested Development".
   
2. 30 Rock - I didn't start watching this until mid-season, but I love it. If you enjoy Alec Baldwin's commitment to absurd characters on "Saturday Night Live", then you should like this show. Eccentric characters abound. This show is like "My Name Is Earl", but without the heart.
   
3. Mythbusters - Fun for the whole family! If you've ever wanted to see old proverbs, urban legends and myths tested scientifically, this show is for you. Things often explode on this program.
   
4. Friday Night Lights - Imagine the best parts of "My So Called Life" and "Once and Again" mashed up with a season of rural Texas high school football and you get this gem. Like a lot of NBC shows, you can catch up with repeats on Bravo. Hopefully they'll do a marathon soon!
   
5. Battlestar Galactica - The producers took the premise of the original ABC series and infused it with dramatic story arcs. Not just a sci-fi show. There are robots, robots who look like humans, and the humans they may or may not want to kill off. Some former "Deep Space Nine" people work on this show.
   
6. Pardon The Interruption - A daily dose of sporting news, delivered and debated by two balding sports writers from D.C. Fun, informative and bombastic.
   
7. The Daily Show - The first 10 minutes of this show are some of the funniest comedy you'll see in a given week, month or year.
   
8. Conan O'Brien - Still rocking late night after several years on the air. The comedy bits before and after the 1st interview are worth recording the show.
   
9. Saturday Night Live - Some folks still think the first season was the best. I say you can't compare them that way. The topical humor of the mid 70's only flies on cable stations now. Love it or hate it, the show still manages to knock you on your ass, laughing at least once each episode. Best line of the season, "Bobby McFerrin raped my grandmother." And for those MadTV folks out there who like to bash SNL regularly, you are invited to the grown up table to feast on some adult comedy any time.
   
10. The Venture Brothers - A scientist, his idiot-teenaged sleuth sons and their homicidal bodyguard try to get by in life while being targeted by a butterfly themed villain named The Monarch. You really have to see this cartoon to believe it. By far, the best use of Patrick Warburton's voice in an animated series, ever.
    
11. 24 - This season has sucked and blowed like never before, but I'm hanging with it to see how they'll wrap it up. Ricky "The Ricker" Schroeder showed up a few episodes ago as a Jack Bauer type without all the family baggage. Greatest line of the season - when Ricky's character enters a warehouse where Bauer has recently dispatched ten terrorists with bullets and then hanged their leader on a chain in order to secure two nuclear bombs. Ricky's line, "Damn Jack!"
12. Austin City Limits - Unshackle yourself from terrestrial radio, "American Idol", MTV and anything run by Clear Channel to see some truly diverse musical acts in a live setting. Check local listings as it airs on PBS.
    
13. Project Runway - And I though "Top Chef" was great. This competition for clothing designers provided the template for all the other Bravo knockoffs.