Surprised to see me? Sorry to disappoint you, but it will take more than a half an hour of C-SPAN to kill this man. While the bruises of last night’s battle remain, the soul still burns bright.

Enough with the dramatics, C-SPAN was not bad. It may not be entertaining in it’s own right, but making up your own story or game for the television channel goes a long way.

Partisan politics were thrown out the window as everyone worked together to uncover the mysteries of the haunted House of Representatives! They needed to trust each other to make it through the night, but they could only trust themselves. It was riveting!

The early My Name Is Earl, which I was forced to watch, was a rerun. This did allow me time to pick apart the show without being blinded by the comedy. Maybe I was partially blinded, as I still laughed quite a bit.

It would seem that formulaic television shows are not a bad thing. My Name Is Earl relies on the same plot week after week, but the audience keeps coming back for more. They are right to come back, as each week brings new adventures, smart writing, and different paths to get to the same conclusion.

A TV show is not to fault for using a formula from week to week. It is how they use it that matters. You can throw away that spam, because enlarging your formula does not matter. Big or small, you just need to use your formula correctly for maximum results.

To wrap up the evening, The O.C. sang a lullaby of sarcastic “teens” and dramatic tensions. Are there any actors on this show who are actually in their teens? Perhaps there is something in the waters of Orange County that cause premature aging.

The O.C. is all about rich people and their problems. Rich kids. Rich parents. Rich pets, probably. It did not get under my skin like the rich parents on the Gilmore Girls did. Maybe rich people surrounded by middle class people makes me angry. In Orange County, there is not a five digit income to be found. When rich people bicker with other rich people, it sort of makes you feel okay.

The show is just a primetime soap opera. Development deals gone bad, heavy petting, and devastated relationships are all par for the course. This is no revelation to anyone who has ever heard of The O.C..

So why am I telling you this? I just wanted to talk. How are the wife and kids?