To someone who asked, yes, "tomreedtoon" is a variation of my name, Tom Reed. Thank you, Mr. Anon-o-mouse, or whatever cowardly pseudonym you enjoy using. Afraid much? Or should I say, legitimate much?

To be jealous of Havrilesky, I'd have to be one of those dodos who fawn over her at Starbuck's...you know, the people not macho enough to get the job at McDonald's they would otherwise have. In fact, to take the metaphor further, I suspect a lot of the people who support Havrilesky, no matter what she does, resemble the gay guys who cruelly attended the concerts in Judy Garland's latter career, enjoying the sight of a female falling to pieces. They didn't believe in her art or her as a person, they just wanted to watch a human car crash. I, at least, have legitimate complaints against her; they hate her much more viscerally but pretend to be her biggest fans.

Now, for WeikuBoy...if you are unable to fake admission to Free Republic, you're not really trying. They're idiots over there. I recommend you check www.democraticunderground.com and read the posts of people who have easily and simply snuck under the noses of the Freepers. What I was saying to you (as I recall) was that you were posting an anti-Bush statement in a TV column. That makes as much sense as picketing the White House to demand the return of "Twin Peaks." If you have trouble getting your posts accepted at other venues, and you have to post them where nobody challenges them...well, you might want to think about what you're posting.

Finally, Megbon: I fully agree that TV has much that is worthwile. That's the reason I went into the business, of which I am still a very minor cog. Unlike a lot of people where I work, I still believe in the potential of the medium. To most of them, it's just another damn job. To me, it's still service to the community...not as great a service as we used to perform when the Fairness Doctrine and limited station ownership FORCED us to provide service, but service nevertheless. And occasionally, rarely, but more often than feature films (as you said) TV can be excellent.

And that's the reason I will continue writing this stuff. Havrilesky and her cappucino servants think TV is a bad joke, and writing about it is a toss-off job. I believe television, and its viewers, deserve better treatment and respect than that.

Kate-SoFla, thanks. I think that Rob and I, and anyone who puts Havrilesky's feet to the fire, get criticized for the wrong reasons. It's the old pop-psych idea of "you hate in others what you hate in yourself." They call us trolls because they believe all of life is just a game of Vogue, where one-upmanship and snotty insults gets you ahead.

And speaking of snotty insults...yes, folks, the gays of the 1950's DID laugh as Judy Garland drugged herself to death. What passes for "gay culture" is that cruel. And I think that's what kept a lot of gays and lesbians in the closet so long; they didn't want to be identified with that kind of stuff either. (Take it from a six-year veteran of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I know.)

It would be so easy to insult Havrilesky and limit comments to that. But since this is supposed to be a TV column, it's better to really talk about TV, if for no other reason than to show how a TV column should look. (No, I'm not vying for the job. But somebody ought to.)

For instance, there are reports that the new season of 24 is taking steps avoided by most techno-thrillers, like the many sequels of "Tom Clancy's Facist Force." People who have seen it in advance (not me, it was "Hercules" over at AICN) say that it's showing the political and social effects of all this terrorist nonsense of the show's previous seasons.

*SPOILER ALERT*

The rumors say that the show will have thousands of Americans killed all across the country with terrorist attacks. Our latent racism comes out of the closet; neighbors bust in the doors of anyone who even looks Arabic. The government is constructing (or is it only re-activating?) detention camps, and a character offers a spirited defense of the Nisei detention during World War II. In other words, It Has Happened Here. The voices of reason have been drowned out by the lunatics. Kind of like America, 2007, and this letter column.

*END SPOILER ALERT*

If the rumors are true, 24 has finally put put some teeth into the techno-thriller. It isn't just isolated spies like Jack Bauer who suffer and go nuts, in the comfy isolation of the spy world. Actions have consequences for ALL of us, something ignored by the SUV-and-magnetic-ribbon Americans and our leaders. It should get people upset, and that's good. When was the last time anyone got upset by something on TV besides breast exposure?

And now that it's been mentioned, will Havrilesky write about it, now that someone has told her about it so she doesn't have to watch it?