What's working for me...

1. Huge number of Emmy nominations for "30 Rock." It's like "Cheers" with half the audience.

2. Ray Bradbury. The senior statesman of science fiction proposed starting every kindergarten-age child in America on a heavy diet of "Peanuts" and "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strips.

3. Lance Armstrong. The 37-year-old rider's attempt at a comeback championship in the Tour de France fell just short, but he was hailed as a champion. Not Alberto Contador, who won but cost a teammate a spot on the podium with a poorly timed breakaway in the mountains.

... and what's not

1. Pitiful number of new shows nominated for Emmys. Some categories were carbon copies of last year. This is why the Academy needs to create a Best New Show category -- viewers hate reruns.

2. Inside-baseball coverage of health care reform. OK, I get it, blue dog Democrats are terrified of the proposed legislation’s spiraling costs. But why? Despite the story’s nightly presence, I’ve learned less about the particulars of health care reform from TV news than I did about prescription-drug reform (and that's saying something).

3. All-Star Game at Kauffman. Personally, I think it should be earned on the field, not by the field.