What's working for me

1. “Swingtown.” Not the greatest show ever made, but everyone involved seems to have had a lot of fun making it. Especially the wardrobe designers.

2. “The Office” Webisodes. They're back, with the schlubby gambling addict Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) trying to pay off his debts with an ice cream “business.”

3. Town hall meetings. C'mon, Obama, what are you afraid of? Debating the issues for 10 weeks with old man McCain will only make voters better informed. And in theory, that should help you make the case for change. Right?

... AND WHAT'S NOT:

1. Blowing up “The Price Is Right.” The longtime producer (since 1972) was fired and rumors are that CBS wants “TPIR” cleansed of all signs that Bob Barker was ever there. Hey! You don't mess with the Plinko.

2. CableCARDs. They were the wave of the future. Or so 1,200 Kansas City cable customers (including me) thought when we traded in our set-top boxes for these slim cards that go right in our TiVos and TV sets. Then we found they don't get video on demand. Now Time Warner plans to move dozens of channels to a tier CableCARDs can't access.

3. TV blogs that ask “What do you think?” Begging for comments has gotten out of hand on the interwebs. It's not only unnecessary but annoying. If you disagree, log into TVBarn.com and say so.