I Like to Watch: Discovery's "Alaska Experiment" takes "Survivor" to hungry-bear-filled hinterlands (Tom Cruise takes Oprah there, too!), while "Battlestar Galactica" is darker than ever!

Heather Havrilesky — Sun, 11 May 2008 04:30:00 PDT

Dead horses, deadly cyclones, erupting volcanoes, evil monsters, priests floating away on helium balloons, never to be heard from again, plus even more dumb people withbabies ... The news is so dark these days, it's not surprising that all our favorite TV shows are doing their best imitations of a Lifetime movie of the week -- you know, the one where the kid and the kid's pony die at the end?

But you know what makes all the little children feel better about how dark and scary the world is? Fairy tales. So let's start with a fairy tale about a little prince named Tom Cruise.

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I Like to Watch: The mundane gives way to flights of fancy as Showtime's "This American Life" returns for a second illuminating season

Heather Havrilesky — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:30:00 PDT

Some days you merely survive. You brush your unwashed hair and pack something crappy for lunch. You trudge from the car to your office. You sit and check your e-mail, the highlight of your day. And now the real work begins. You pick up the phone and close your eyes. Your co-workers say "Hi!" and you struggle to muster an appropriately chirpy yet professional response.

And just when you think the day is all about getting by, a glimpse of sunshine out the window or a melancholy song playing in your headphones sends you out of survival mode into some dreamy, nostalgic state that makes the pragmatic world of work feel horribly mundane. Your quest to simply get through the day is replaced by a painful longing for more. The world is full of hope and heartbreak and lukewarm coffee and glasses that don't fit quite right, and you have to do something about it. You want to walk outside and spend the day wandering around in the springtime sunshine. You want to pick your kid up from day care and take her to the park. You want to bail on that lunchtime meeting and go see a movie down the block. You want to get a pedicure, and then have a sandwich and a big glass of iced tea. You want to stare at the wall and let your eyes go unfocused.

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Salon: I Like to Watch

I Like to Watch: Discovery's "Alaska Experiment" takes "Survivor" to hungry-bear-filled hinterlands (Tom Cruise takes Oprah there, too!), while "Battlestar Galactica" is darker than ever!

I Like to Watch: The mundane gives way to flights of fancy as Showtime's "This American Life" returns for a second illuminating season