Friedrich --

The usual thing to do about TV is complain about the amount of crap that's on. Me, I'm amazed and overwhelmed by the amount of good stuff that's there to be found.

It does take some digging to find what's worthwhile. But if you're handy with TV schedules, VCRs and Tivos, you can always have yourself something more-than-decent to watch. The Wife and I, for instance, both picky TV-watchers, have nonetheless accumulated a couple of shelves full of promising videotaped shows and movies. They sit there ready to be enjoyed at any time, and entirely at our convenience.

I have to admit that I'm more of a fiend than most for combing through TV schedules -- and the Wife claims (jokingly, I hope) that setting the VCR is one of my few true talents. But, hey, that means I've got something to contribute!

So with this posting I'm kicking off TV Alert, an occasional new 2blowhards service, pointing out TV programming it'd be a shame to let slip by.

Tonight at 8 pm EST, on Turner Classic Movies: "The Tramp and the Dictator," an hour-long documentary that compares the lives of Adolf Hitler and Charlie Chaplin. Sounds a little iffy to me, but the man behind the documentary is Kevin Brownlow, one of the classiest of movie historians. Following the documentary, TCM (at 9 pm) broadcasts Chaplin's satirical attack on Hitler, "The Great Dictator" (and then re-broadcasts "The Tramp and the Dictator" at 11:30 pm).

Best,

Michael