Tune out the hype, tune in high-quality TV; Spend turnoff week with some buzz-free yet worthy programs

The organizers of TV-Turnoff Week (April 23-29) would like to have us believe that, if we will just spend seven days with the television off, it will change the way we look at TV. I'm sure that's what they think about chocolate, too. Look: If the problem is too much TV, watch less. If the problem is the quality of what you watch, then abstinence is only a temporary solution. Here's a better idea: Spend a week watching TV shows you've never sampled before or those you forgot were even on the air. Whether we mean to or not, many of us let our viewing habits be dictated by the media - especially the hype-meisters in the big network publicity departments. To hear it from them, you'd think there were only a handful of shows on TV today: "Survivor," "Friends," "C.S.I.," "Boot Camp," ABC's sitcom-of-the-week and at least half the WB schedule. The reality, however, is quite different. You could fill up a long-running VCR tape every week with high-quality programs that receive little or no promotion. Don't confuse this with TV Guide's "The Best Shows You're Not Watching." Many of you are watching these shows. But nobody's telling you to. It's like a secret you're sharing with a few million other Americans. Below you'll find my alphabetical list of the 10 best buzz-free shows on television. I could've listed 50 more shows. Instead, the FYI section wants to know what you think. What hidden TV treasures would you like to hype? Go online to www.tvbarn.com and click on the "Hype My Show!" link. In Rant & Rave April 13, we'll post your list of the best shows to watch during TV-Turnoff Week (and award one good answer some TV-related prizes). After all, you're not really planning to turn off your TV, are you? The shows "Becker" (8:30 p.m. Mondays, CBS, Channel 5). The conventional thinking about this vehicle for former "Cheers" star Ted Danson is that it owes its success to its lead-in, "Everybody Loves Raymond." But shows don't magically retain their lead-in audience; they earn it, and "Becker" earns it as one of TV's most underestimated comedies. "Cinemax Reel Life" (times vary, Cinemax). This little-known anthology of documentary films might be reason alone to subscribe to HBO's shy sister. It has given uncensored views of the mistreatment of children in Russia, the Tulsa lynchings of 1921, the post-TV travails of Tammy Faye Bakker, and the strange rite of Mississippi "adoption picnics." "Cold Feet" (9 p.m. Mondays, Bravo). You don't have to be an Anglophile snob to appreciate all the fine British programming that's washed up on our shores. "Cold Feet" is a prime example - an adult relationship comedy that's thoroughly grown-up (even if the main character isn't), written with a wry wit rarely found in Hollywood scripts. Not to be confused with the rotten NBC knockoff of the same name. "Cops" (7 p.m. Saturdays, Fox, Channel 4). At a time when "reality TV" is being stretched to include contrivances such as "Temptation Island," "Cops" remains uncompromisingly real. There's no narration other than the words of the police officers as they cruise around in their vehicles, looking for trouble. "The Drew Carey Show" (8 p.m. Wednesdays, ABC, Channel 9). There's more buzz surrounding the repeats of this top-notch sitcom than for new episodes. Ray Romano's show may be the Emmy contender, but Carey's also deserves to be considered "classic" TV. "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" (11:35 weeknights, NBC, Channel 41). Remarkably little has changed in the seven years since O'Brien skipped onto the national stage. His seasoned writing staff specializes in biting pop-culture satires (such as a terrific recent sendup of his own network's XFL). The Max Weinberg 7 is audio dynamite. And O'Brien has matured into a top interviewer, getting more out of his guests than anyone else in late night. Shouldn't Leno be letting him guest-host? "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" (10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Comedy Central). It's been said, often in disgust, that today's youth get their political news watching comedy shows instead of real newscasts. Well, give me Jon Stewart over Tom Brokaw any day. "The Daily Show" follows in the absurdist traditions of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and Chevy Chase's "Weekend Update." But it's so up-to-date that it won a Peabody Award for its Campaign 2000 coverage. (Brokaw didn't.) "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" (6 p.m. weeknights, PBS, Channels 11, 19). Not so much for Lehrer as for his cadre of interviewers, especially Margaret Warner, who might know more about her subjects than they do. As always, "NewsHour" is a writer's show, with strong video essays by the likes of Clarence Page and regular chats with columnists such as Cynthia Tucker and Paul Gigot, who seem more accessible here than in print. Noggin (available on digital cable). This is where I go when TV is dragging me down. A delightful commercial-free kids' channel, Noggin mostly airs reruns of shows such as "Bill Nye the Science Guy" and "Doug." But its one original program, "A Walk in Your Shoes," in which children from different countries and cultures swap places, might be the best new educational show on TV. (You also can see it in April at 5:30 a.m. weekdays on Nickelodeon.) "Outside the Lines" (9:30 a.m. Sundays, ESPN). Examines the often-unseemly side of sports. Although host Bob Ley is no Ted Koppel (the follow-up question is missing from his arsenal), this show consistently casts a critical eye on topics that most sports TV shows avoid. It often reminds us that Mammon is the god pro athletes should really thank after the game. You can reach Aaron Barnhart through the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:Some shows manage to draw audiences without all the typical promotional hype. The common denominator? High quality. Jim Lehrer's "NewsHour" (from left), Ted Danson's "Becker" and "The Drew Carey Show" (with Drew Carey and Kathy Kinney) are such shows. @ART CREDIT:Photo collage by RANDY WYRICK/The Kansas City Star @ART CAPTION:"Big Mama," the story of 89-year-old Viola Dees and her 9-year-old grandson, Walter, is just one of the high-quality documentaries that has shown up on "Cinemax Reel Life." @ART CAPTION:Simone Burke, a 14-year-old from Massachusetts, is fitted for a sari in India in an episode of Noggin's "A Walk in Your Shoes," one of the most original educational programs out there. @ART:Photos (5, color) >>>