h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I spent 12 hours in bed not-quite-asleep because I'd forgotten to set the "Sleep Off" timer on my bedside radio. When I did doze off the World Service provided some *really* dreams.

I'd been up for about 2 hours and was just on the verge of doing something productive with Hackintosh 2.0 when James "the Weird Person" showed up at my door. I played him the first couple of episodes of "Hot in Cleveland" and the latest "NCIS" while feeding him laced with . In return, he took a couple of my bin bags downstairs as he was leaving.

He'd been gone for about 40 minutes when Sue showed up with my veg. box - I had completely forgotten about it! I'll be missing the next one, as she's off on holiday, but hopefully that'll force me to use up the less-appealing-but-longer-lasting veg.

Apart from "Hot in Cleveland" and "NCIS" I watched "The Daily Show", "Law & Order: UK" and "Dark Blue". I recorded "Ugly Betty" to watch tomorrow, and when I finish posting this I'm going to sit down with a couple of chicken pate sandwiches and watch the first two episodes of the new season of "NCIS: LA".

Hi Peet, is "NCIS LA" really worth watching? I haven't seen it yet as I cannot imagine an "NCIS" without Gibbs (or Abbie is that how you spell her name?).

I cannot imagine spending 12 hours in bed - well not now anyway - I sleep about 5 hours a night or early morning. Since I retired my night owl predilection has taken over so I seem to be always dazed and confused and away with the . Thank heavens for satellite TV, I've caught up with some really weird and wonderful programmes, have you watched "Boston Legal"

What is "Hot in Cleveland" about? Don't think I've even seen it advertised yet.

May I be terribly bold and ask which cheese you christened and where this momentous (I am sure)? happening happened?

I cannot believe that I have even managed to find this page!!!

By the way I'll take your bin bags downstairs any time in exchange for a laced with

"NCIS: LA" is, like "NCIS", essentially a small-scale soap opera with the pretence of being a cop show. One of the stars ("Hettie") is the tiny, slightly odd-looking woman who played a judge in "Ally MacBeal". The plotlines are even more ludicrous than "NCIS", where any seemingly random death in the street, say by someone who walked out in front of a cyclist, is eventually linked to terrorism, and not an episode goes by without somebody's car exploding. I like it.

Oh, and "Abbie" has guest-starred in a couple of episodes.

"Hot in Cleveland" is a US comedy series that probably won't make it over here. It stars, amongst others, "Daphne" from "Frasier" and Betty White. Essentially, there's a house in cleveland with two 40-somethings and a 50-something from LA living with Betty White; it's what you would have got if you had set "Sex in the City" in Cleveland. It's silly, but exceptionally well written, and I'm looking forward to the second series.

On the cheese naming front, a couple of years back there was a major plotline in The Archers about a new cheese being developed that they couldn't come up with a name for. Mister Keri, the board's Host at the time, set a contest for the best suggestions with two prizes, one for best serious suggestion and one fr best "silly"... I won best "silly" with "Curdish Uprising". I won a book and something else. (I forget what...)

You never know, I might take you up on that bin bag offer. The problem is that while I can generally carry one bin bag downstairs, often I then wouldn't be fit to climb the stairs back to my flat afterwards. (My legs ain't what they used to be, and my back is killing me...)

It's looking good for Saturday afternoon.

Can I make a request? I'd really like to see House 7:1...

I can do that...

Betty White AND Daphne? Oh, yes yes yes, I want it.


Douglas

I thought you might.

I'm currently having some trouble with THE PENGUINATOR - its DVD writer isn't recognising blank discs - but as soon as it's working again I'll burn the series (10 episodes) off onto DVD.