WHAT'S ON MY TUBE

I don't really think there are tubes in televisions anymore. Computer chips, I'm sure, but as far as tubes, the elongated ones that the tv repairman would change and hold up for inspection. They have gone the wayside like a person trying to fix his own car. Not without a computer monitor board.

But when the show HEROES concluded last year, it marked just another void in my tv viewing. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS begins this week, but only if you have Direct TV. We don't so it's a 7-month wait for me. Another void on Friday night.

So what do we watch? Besides lots of sports which I can singularize. Except for golf's THE BIG BREAK, I'm usually on my own, though my wife gets updates and final scores and standings. She never requests them, but I feel like it's a service I provide. She on more than one occasion will hear a thunderous clapping or a yell.

THE AMAZING RACE is our favorite. SURVIVOR is good, too. UNDERCOVERS and HAWAII 5-0 are our two new favorites. GLEE, I wanted to type that in lower case, but thought I should fess up. I'm almost always a sucker for school shows, although the last season of BOSTON PUBLIC got way too liberal in its message for me.

A little surfing will almost always find me stopped on BILL O'REILLY though I haven't watched a full hour of that show. I usually stop at JEOPARDY and SMARTER THAN until I miss a question, which sometimes means not very long. HANNITY, like O'REILLY; BECK even less. Some music channel, that I can't recall(Palladia?) except for #718, but they're mostly too freaky looking for me. PBS when they're showing some DO WOP, but only for a song or two. The old BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADES, but they don't seem to be on much anymore.

And that's it.

Oh, when I'm gone, my wife likes some of the DANCING SHOWS. And I'll watch AMERICAN IDOL with her until Seacrest runs me out of the room. With Tyler and Lopez it could be good this year. Last Summer I met DIGuardo's dad in New York and talked to him for awhile. He was running for office and he gave me a card which I passed on to our oldest granddaughter who loves the show. When he found out I didn't live in New York and couldn't vote for him, well, that was the end of our talk. But if I could, I would.

When I walk or drive in our neighborhood at night, I see the lights glowing from their televisions. One conveniently placed tv turned to an old favorite 24, used to tell me if I was getting home in time for the start. But 24, like HEROES, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, DAVY CROCKETT on WALT DISNEY have left the building. And, as a result, left my tv screen dark most of the time.