I don't have time for this right now. Too much TV!

I'm not ready for the return of Survivor, but I'm certainly intrigued by the new twist to this fourth installment: The "castaways" get no food. Producer Mark Burnett and his pals have determined that there is enough food and water and fish available on Marquesas that they won't be giving the contestants any rice this time. Way to go! Brings it one step closer to really feeling like stranded travelers.

I guess the Olympics kept me occupied or I enjoyed the freedom and lack of stress at not having to coordinate setting the VCR and keeping up with watching all the shows I taped, because I didn't really miss Ed or The West Wing. But since I was out last night and then stayed at Casey's, those two are waiting for me when I return home tonight. Not to mention Survivor and tonight's NBC lineup because, yes, I'm still hooked. Sorry.

I've also decided that, after not watching a minute of it this season, I'm going to follow the final 11 episodes of The X-Files. I didn't watch religiously from the start, but I watched enough of the good years to be interested in how it all plays out. I figure I won't be too lost. Now that I need to consider that when setting the Sunday night tapes, I'll have to use the living room VCR for Alias, and I can't tape Six Feet Under, at least not on its first weekly showing Sundays at 9 p.m. But the beauty of HBO is that they'll rerun it several times during the week, so there should be an opening during which I can set the tape.

I tried giving up The X-Files, but their pitches for the final stretch run and the few articles I've read have piqued my interest, so I'll come back for the finale. I was all set to bid adieu to Ally McBeal this season, but then they announced they'd brought Jon Bon Jovi on board, and that there'd be a cast overhaul, so I thought I'd see how that went. The show nearly lost me during the first half of the season, but then Bon Jovi came along. And, I have to admit, they're doing a good job with this whole Ally-has-a-daughter storyline. I was skeptical, but they've worked it in well, and it certainly explores the character of Ally McBeal more thoroughly than they've ever done. It's brought in Amy Pietz as the girl's aunt, and it's good to see her back on TV -- she was easily the best character on Caroline In The City. Also, Boston Public is on my personal endangered series list, and I'm not sure how much longer it will last with me. Last week's subject of Randall Kennedy's book was intriguing, but I don't know how much longer I can believe this is what life in a public high school could be like. It's the storylines that are wearing on me more so than the acting, which is consistently strong and superb at times. But Kathy Baker's "Hook Lady" character still rubs me the wrong way.

AND, on top of it all, Heather's show returns tonight, and I'd totally forgotten. Like Six Feet Under, it'll be rerun copiously, so I can catch up, but I feel bad for not flagging this date.

I should sit down with some sort of spreadsheet or graph of the week's primetime lineups and figure out how to coordinate it all so that I can just set the VCRs to record weekly. The difficulty comes in remembering to watch the tapes regularly so that there's always enough room left to record, and switching the tapes on time, mainly with regards to Ed because I keep all the episodes.

Of course, what I should really do is cut back on what I watch, not add shows, as I've done with HBO programming, Alias, Undeclared and the inclusion of Casey-influenced viewing of Gilmore Girls and Real World Chicago.

One of these days I'll learn.

Really.

No, I swear.