PBS

gotta say i've been enjoying the programs on PBS far more than anything else on the tv... well, except for maybe Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.  Nova Science Now is back and they've had some really interesting programs, like the intelligence of dogs and dolphins and parrots... very impressive was the dog that knew over 1000 words and could even reason things out.  the "tester" put out several of the toys the dog knew the names of, plus one he'd never seen which they gave a name to and told him to go get that one.  the camera  showed him looking at them all and finally choosing the unfamiliar one.  pretty astounding dog, that one!  the same night, there was a program on the robot, Watson, which will compete on Jeopardy with the 2 winningest contestants.  4 computer guys at IBM have been working 4 years on this project... and you can read about it here: PBS-Nova
i love the saturday night programs, too - i've seen a lot of the world thru their travel programs, and even decided we want to go to Croatia next year, after watching an hour feature done there!

and i will unabashedly make a plea here for donations to PBS.  there's a strong possibility that congress will cut federal funding to PBS, and i think their programming... the entertaining and the educational is very worthwhile and would be sadly missed by many people.  so, come on folks, go to pbs.org and support excellent programs.  it will make me happy and big bird will be happy, too!