Welcome back, life-sucking machine...

When I had my broken old tv, I was worried I was pretending to use it as my convenient excuse that forced me to watch nothing but vapid MTV shows.

Much to my relief, it turns out that I don't watch much MTV anymore with my new tv. Thank goodness I have some taste.

However, I have since discovered a new tv show addiction: The O.C.

Yes, a year too late, I am addicted to this show, because I bought the first season dvd set on a whim at Target (the source of all happy things). When I first heard of The O.C. way back, I scoffed at it, because when I think of Orange County, I think of the sprawling, monotonous, boring suburbia filled with ugly strip malls. However the show focuses on the wealthy, pretty part of O.C., Newport Beach.

It turns out that the show is part soap-opera craziness plus Mean Girls bitchiness plus romantic comedy.

And it is way wittier than any soap I've seen --mostly due to the comic relief character, Seth Cohen. He and his girlfriend Summer are the cutest couple ever --in real life and on the show. Plus I like Summer's spunk.

Plus they use PUNS! Sample puns: "Seth, you might have the Summer flu. Or maybe you need Anna-biotics."

And despite Peter Gallagher's crazy caterpillar eyebrows, he plays a very charming father and husband. He even turned a horrific key party episode into a romantic ending (he made sure he took his wife home). I don't care as much for Marissa and Ryan, but they are necessary to keep the drama going.

Plus the main teenager characters are the outcasts in an annoyingly wealthy high school --to which I can relate. Except I was way more boring than these people (no dates, fights, drugs, overdoses, shooting, alcohol, sex, car crashes, or running away). I was kind of like lonely, sad Seth before Chino-cool Ryan showed up.

I am told, however, that second season got wierd and lame. So maybe I'll just skip that second DVD set and hope that the new Season 3 gets back to the good old O.C. charm.

Eh, who am I kidding. I'll still watch as long as that yummy Adam Brody is on.

Also I'm excited about the new shows Supernatural and Out of Practice -- because people I knew from college are working on them! Plus Ellen, my favorite daytime talk show host, is hosting the Emmys, and Arrested Development, the best sitcom on tv, is starting up next Monday. And I'm looking forward to the new Desperate Housewives.

I hope I can restrain myself from the new Apprentice. But I will probably get sucked into the new Martha Stewart version. And what about America's Next Top Model??

I am so screwed. My life is over.

On top of that, BK is giving me a promotional free month of Netflix. You can thank my friends for trapping me in their sordid little black hole of tv addiction.