Wednesday night we have Jack and Jill, which I really like because it's a nice romantic show. There's the main Jack and Jill romance, but I like the off and on romance between Barto and Audrey. They really like each other but they've hurt each other enough that they're both hesitant. Ed is another show that I will keep watching, for all its faults. For some reason, Ed does not strike all that great a chord in me, possibly because the show-set-in-a-quirky-locale genre has been overdone. Why keep watching Ed over say Judging Amy? Unlike Amy, who has no chance of a long romance, Ed does have a chance with Carol Vessey. They're both permanent cast so you know it's not going to be just a six-episode relationship, like what Ed just had with Bonnie.

The West Wing is a great show, and continues to be that week after week. It makes politics fun, and although maybe not totally realistic, at least it does give you an idea of how the government works. Spin City I'll be dropping. I started watching it again this season, now that I had access to three VCRs. Charlie Sheen is good and Heather Locklear is beautiful. But it's all by itself in a half hour timeslot with nothing next to it, so it's too much bother for me to tape week after week. The last show on Wednesday is the new Bob Costas sports show on HBO, On the Record. I've said it once and I'll keep on saying it: Bob Costas is the best interviewer around. Totally knows the subject, witty and engaging, enthusiastic and energetic. On the Record is part sports show, part issues show, part editorializing. I've only seen the first two shows but it looks very good.

Thursday nights I'm not planning on dropping anything. We have the Friends to ER three hours that is just excellent. Will and Grace and Just Shoot Me are great shows and whatever follows Friends is usually at least an ok comedy. These are the only two hours of comedy that I'm watching per week, but I do like them. ER has been up and down with me. Basically, the more they have John Carter the better the show is. It's also nice because people come and go, which gives the show a life of its own. The other Thursday show to keep watching is Gilmore Girls. Lauren Graham in a t-shirt, wow. I just read someone describe the whole WB lineup as shows for 10-14 year old girls, which is the WB's demographics. Doesn't bode well for my psychological well-being.

In contrast to Thursday, Friday I'm dropping both shows. Providence, although a well-respected show, is another show where I've finally gotten to the "what's the point?" stage. Sid will never have a successful relationship, her sister will always be troubled, her brother will always be the screw up, her Dad is sort of fading into the background. Week after week there's no chance of any of the characters having any sort of character growth. It's just not worth watching the show anymore. Two Guys and a Girl on the other hand I do like. The Halloween episodes are great, and the other episodes are good too. But it falls into the "it's a half hour show with nothing good next to it" category -- too much bother to tape.

Last day of the week, Saturday. First we have Stargate, a good science fiction show that continues to have good writing which pays attention to continuity. For some reason I never seem to consider it a new show, because the syndicated episodes are two years old. There are now talks of a Stargate 2 movie, which would follow the tv series and use those actors rather than the actors from the first movie. The other show I'm going to continue watching is Xena, since this is the last season and it's a nice show most of the time.

I'm dropping That's Life. Relatively nice show and well done, but just doesn't interest me enough now that I think about it. They got rid of the second girl friend and the most changed characters are the parents. Another show where the main character is doomed to never get married. Kate Brasher, which I saw the first episode last week, will also be dropped. Too much drama for me, although I probably would have kept watching it just for the heck of it. Mary Stuart Masterson is a good actress and Some Kind of Wonderful was a great movie, but other than that she hasn't done anything really big. Oh well, that happens to some people.

So that's it. Looks like I'm cutting down from 24 hours a week to 15 hours a week. Probably not enough to free up my Sundays, but it's a start. I think I've cut it down as far as I comfortably can, any more and I start having to make real decisions about what I truly want to keep watching. Now it's just a matter of actually remembering to stop recording these programs.