> Having been a critic myself, I know to be wary of negative reviews and
> less so of positive ones, so I understand I may be wrong here--but the
> stakes are rather low (what television I watch)...almost abstract, in
> that I don't have cable and hope never to have cable. (It's hard
> enough getting _Sesame Street_ on and off without showing Quincy the
> McCommercials.)
>
Well there's your problem. Non-cable TV is essentially now one
continuous stream of commercials, some of it cleverly disguised as
content. The only good shows that do exist are on cable. In particular
HBO has produced a heck of a lot of good stuff, not just the Sopranos.
Owen Byrne