This article is for people who are bored. This encompasses those who did not take any lessons this summer, did not apply for any summer job, and are sick and bedridden. You are probably bored. Why else would you be roaming around the net, reading blogs, especially obscure ones like mine? Enjoy…

Out sheer boredom and the uncanny urge to fill up my blog, I have come up with a list of the best TV shows to watch this summer. In my current list of 16, I have 5 sitcom re-runs, 2 that are still running, one talent show, 2 identical makeover shows, 2 entertainment news shows, a crime drama, a comedy-sketch show, and 2 late night shows. Since I am a Destiny Cable subscriber, I am deprived of certain channels like Star World, so don’t be surprised if I’m lacking some good shows. I’m going to update this list if ever I discover any more shows or any timeslot changes. If you think I missed mentioning a good watch in this list, feel free to suggest it.

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Joey (Studio 23: Sun@8:30pm)
Starring: Matt LeBlanc, Drea de Matteo, Paulo Costanzo, Andrea Anders, Bobbie Morganstern
My first post in this blog was solely about this show. You can just scroll down to see what I have to say about it.

Friends (ABC-5: Mon@7:00pm; ETC: Mon@7am&pm/Sat&Sun@2pm)
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer
My favorite 90’s sitcom. Right up there in my list.

American Idol (ABC5: Wed&Thu@10pm, but it’s usually delayed, so don’t hurry)
Starring: Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell
I still like Season 3 better, especially after they voted Anwar Robinson off. Nevertheless, the contestants are still very talented, and it’s still a fun show to watch. Many people who have Star World sneer at the ABC5 editions, thinking that they’re weeks late. Excuuuse me, but we’re as up to date as you guys are.

Bewitched (Studio23: Tue&Thu@2pm; Hallmark: Sun@12:30pm/Mon-Fri@2pm&6:30pm&12:15am)
Starring: Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, Dick Sargent (later episodes), Agnes Moorehead, David White
Studio23 used to air this in the same hour as I Dream of Jeannie. These two rival shows were both filmed at the same time and at the same lot. That’s why they used to use each other’s sets. Montgomery’s role as the witch-cum-housewife Samantha Stephens is a pop culture figure, famous for twitching her nose (her lip actually) whenever she wanted to make any magic. The jokes and special effects may be a bit dated already, but it’s still fun. Trivia: The role of Darrin Stephens was played by two actors. Dick York left due to health problems, so they brought in Dick Sargent. By the way, my dear friend Samantha Potenciano was actually named after Samantha Stephens. Also, they’re coming up with a feature film version of this show this year. It will star Nicole Kidman as Sam and Will Ferrell as Darrin.

Who’s the Boss? (Hallmark: Mon-Fri@2:30pm&6:00pm)
Starring: Tony Danza, Judith Light, Alyssa Milano, Danny Pintauro, Katherine Helmond, Rhoda Gemignani
Think of Tony Micelli as an 80’s housekeeper version of Joey Tribbiani. Isn’t that fun? Tony Danza’s daughter Samantha is played by a very young Alyssa Milano.

Seinfeld (ETC: Weekdays@6pm)
Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander
One of the most popular and highest-rated sitcoms of all time. It was the show to watch. I was too young to really appreciate it back when it was still running, but it hasn’t aged one bit. Elaine’s hair may already be too early 90’s for us, but the jokes are still one of the funniest, wittiest, and cleverest ever to be uttered on TV.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (ETC: Mon@9pm/Sat@7pm)
Starring: Kyan Douglas, Ted Allen, Jai Rodriguez, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley
The best makeover show. One of the best TV imports of 2004. It’s peculiar how a show for straight guys appeals mostly to females. I don’t know. Maybe it’s Kyan Douglas.

Queer Eye for the Straight Girl (ETC: Mon&Tue@12nn/Thu@9pm/Sun@7pm)
Starring: Honey Labrador, Robert Laughlin, Damon Pease, Danny Teeson
Just like the original, but not quite. Though not as good as Guy, the girls seem to be more pampered and rewarded than the guys.

Entertainment Tonight (RPN9: Mon-Fri@1:30pm; ETC: Mon-Sat@10pm/Sun@11pm)
Hosted by Mary Hart, Jan Carl, Mark Steines
This was the show that filled the void left by E! when E! suddenly disappeared from Philippine TV. (I hear E! is now back in Lifestyle.) ET keeps me updated on the industry that I would soon want to enter. Like American Idol, ET is up to date.

The Insider (Studio23: Mon@11:30pm; ETC: Tue-Sat@10:30pm)
Hosted by Pat O’Brien and Lara Spencer
Another Hollywood news show. The hosts don’t overact as much as the ET hosts do.

Saturday Night Live (ETC: Mon@9am/Sat@3pm&9pm/Sun@3pm)
Starring: Depends on the season
Many comics have come and gone to pursue successful film careers, but SNL still retains the classic hilarity that made this show so phenomenal. ETC used to air the classic episodes with the legendary originals like Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, etc. I’m not sure if still does, but the ones that I’ve seen lately are several months late.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (ETC: Mon&Tues@1pm/Wed-Sun@6am&12nn/Tues-Sat@11pm)
Starring: Jay Leno, Kevin Eubanks, John Melendez
The Tonight Show’s long history has proven it to be one of American television’s greatest contributions to the world. Jay Leno has kept up very well with the show’s reputation

Late Night with Conan O’Brien (ETC: Wed-Sun@1pm/Tues-Sat@12mn)
Starring: Conan O’Brien, Max Weinberg
Conan is wackier and zanier than Jay. He’s a very funny guy and has gained a lot of fans with his show, so it’s just right for him to be named as Leno’s successor. Now, I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about something that has been baffling me: I have been likened to Conan O’Brien several times, and frankly, I don’t really know how to react to these comparisons. I mean, sure, Conan is a comic genius. He never fails to crack me up, but I don’t exactly want to be him. Maybe it’s flattering, or maybe it’s their effort for me to further despise John Stevens. I mean, if you’re going to liken me to a comedian, why not a comedienne? Why not Tina Fey? Well, I guess this is the closest I can get to achieving my dream of becoming a redhead.

Will & Grace (Studio23: Sun@9pm; ETC: Mon@7:30pm/Sun@2:30pm)
Starring: Erik McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, Sean Hayes
I started watching this show only recently, sometime during Friends’s last months. I guess it helped in making the end Friends easier for me. The whole ambience of the show reminded me so much of Friends. The shows’ jokes, the characterizations, and the sets have similar styles. Also, Grace Adler is very Rachel Green-ish, and while we’re at it, Debra Messing reminds me of Jennifer Aniston. Sean Hayes is hilarious as my favorite character, Jack McFarland. Friends worked for me, and so does Will & Grace.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Studio23: Wed@8:15pm)
Starring: William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, George Eads, Jorja Fox, Paul Guilfoyle
It took some time for me to start getting into this show. Maybe it’s because I never really ventured into crime drama shows before. Maybe I was scared of watching crimes being committed and seeing the inner workings of a dead human body. Maybe I have a hard time appreciating a show when I am constantly being coaxed into watching it. I eventually accepted and admitted that I liked the show, simply because it was cool.

Mr. Bean (Disney Channel: Sat&Sun@9:30pm&12:30am; Studio23: Sat@6:30pm)
Starring: Rowan Atkinson
The earliest memory I have of my best bud Patty was in 2nd grade, when I ended up as her seatmate after one of those quarterly re-shuffling procedures. I remember that her crayons were labeled “Nica.” Back then, I didn’t know Dudu yet. We weren’t close at first, but the silence was soon broken when she asked me, “Do you watch Mr. Bean?” The rest, as they say, is history. Well, it still took 5 years before we actually became best friends. Anyway, that’s how much Mr. Bean appealed to us. Just like my all-time favorite sitcom Mork & Mindy, Mr. Bean is the kind of show that makes kids laugh without severely polluting their minds and entertains the adults who are babysitting them, simultaneously.

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Well, that took me hours to write and edit, and if you’re still bored, here a couple of channels that have good shows and movies to watch. I’m not sure, though, if other cables have these channels.

WOWOW (Channel 55 in Destiny Cable)
This Japanese channel (I’m assuming it’s Japanese because it always features Ichiro Suzuki, Hideo Nomo, Hideki Matsui, and David Beckham. Then again, it may be Korean. Don’t blame me. Those Caucasians always mistake Filipinos for Thai, Malays, even Latinos)…okay, I have digressed…WOWOW airs great movies and shows. I don’t really know it’s schedule because it’s hard to read their website (it’s in Japanese). To give you an idea, I’ve caught movies and docus like To Kill a Mockingbird, Dog Day Afternoon, The English Patient, Fahrenheit: 9/11 and shows like Joey and CSI: Miami on this channel. Warning: This channel is very lenient when it comes to cutting violent and R-rated scenes. In fact, I don’t think it censors anything at all. It even has adult movies at night. Also, it has bad audio reception. It actually gets annoying sometimes. Plus, since it's Japanese, it's also hard to watch Japanese-English films (i.e. The Last Samurai). They provide Japanese subtitles for the English parts but naturally have no English subtitles for the Japanese parts.

Series (Channel 30 on Destiny Cable)
Series is a channel under the M-Net network in Africa. It’s dedicated to all kinds of new and old TV shows. You have your teen romance-drama, your soaps, your sitcoms, and your reality TV. So if you want to want to see young David Hasselhoff with big hair, talking to a talking car, post-I Dream of Jeannie Larry Hagman as a really rich Texan scion, or the original cast of E.R., then this is the channel for you. Do Beverly Hills, 90210, The Cosby Show, Jerry Springer, The Simpsons, Cheers, and Growing Pains sound familiar? You can watch American Idol, Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City, and Dawson’s Creek re-runs on this show. I’m not saying I like all these shows. I just mentioned them in case you liked them.

Discovery Travel & Living (Channel 22 on Destiny Cable)
You can never go wrong with this channel. If there’s nothing to watch on any other channel, you’re almost always certain that there’s something good on Discovery Travel & Living. If you love food, you can watch The Naked Chef, Nigella Bites, Made to Order, A Cook’s Tour with Anthony Bourdain (I don’t really like him though.), Kylie Kwong: Cooking with Heart & Soul, Floyd Uncorked, and more. If you love to travel like me but can’t get anywhere with a tight budget and 4 sisters who are too young to appreciate world cultures, then you may enjoy the original Travellers, Globe Trekker, and the other travel shows. If you like home makeover shows, then you might tolerate the Aussie accents in The Block and the interesting concept behind While You Were Out.

Now, you can go off to your TV and enjoy your life away, or at least until summer ends…but remember to also watch some news, exercise, and go outside once in a while. BBC makes the best documentaries.