Hey! It's winter - prime time TV watching time!

I wonder if the Writers' Guild knew the effect their strike would have on television programming. As a result of their first stoppage, we now have reality shows ad nauseum. The studio executives found out they could put crap on the air in the form of reality shows (my apologies, The Amazing Race) and insipid, greed-enabling game shows instead of quality dramas and comedies that don't insult our intelligence AND PEOPLE WOULD EAT IT UP!

When I heard that Jay Leno was leaving the Tonight Show and Conan O'Brien was taking over, I thought that was a good thing - more edgy, less Borscht Belt. Now I hear that Leno is going to be on five days a week at 10:00 p.m. So that's five fewer hours of produced programming a week. So, we lose ER, which regained its stride after several lame years. Instead of finding good new dramas, we'll just let Leno keep making the world's unfunniest jokes and bring on actors who unashamedly shill their latest projects.

I know, it's sad enough that I care about this. I guess I just miss The West Wing and a couple other shows like Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere. Bruce Paltrow must be spinning in his grave.