Washington Post staff writer Paul Farhi was online Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m. ET to talk about the latest news and personalities from the pop culture world.

There's no post-election letdown on Station Break, only a pre-Thanksgiving lethargy. Bring your most outrageous opinions about all things pop culture and wake this party up. Otherwise, Farhi will have to do it all by himself. And don't think he's not capable of it.

A transcript follows.

Farhi is a reporter in The Post's Style section, writing about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental car lot guy) before devoting himself full-time to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 500 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.

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Paul Farhi: Greetings, all, and pull up a comfy office chair....Not a sermon, just a thought: What if everything you assumed about a certain topic for the past 40 or so years turned out to be wrong? Not dead wrong, but kinda wrong? Well, surely it would kind of blow your mind. And that's what's happening to radio right now. Assuming you buy the results (and that's still a big if in some quarters) the preliminary results of the new portable people meter ratings (PPMs) are challenging many of the established assumptions about what has been deemed popular on the radio for decades. Hip hop? Not so much. Guy talk? Um...not really. News? Oh, yeah. Rock music? Better than you thought. Country and oldies? Well, less than we thought just a few weeks ago. All of this will be sorted out in time among the stations, but my question is: What about the past? Did we assume more than we really knew? Did we think some kinds of music were really more popular than they truly were? (This might explain the careers of certain "artists" who I will not bother to name). Anyway, not much point in going back; we can't re-write it now. But imagine if the entire history of something were utterly misunderstood. That's the era we're in now. As I said, mind-blowing.

Let's go to the phones...

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Purcellville, Va.: Paul, what do the PPM numbers mean for WJFK? They have seen a massive slide and I am distraught at the idea that the Junkies and the Big O and Dukes could go away. Is the format dying in general with the new system or do you think there will be a bounce back at some point?

Paul Farhi: There's a place for "hot talk," or whatever the industry phrase for WJFK's guy talk is these days. It's just not as big a place as we once thought. Which means, as one local radio guy told me recently, it will be hard for CBS/WJFK to keep paying big money to "talent" that really isn't drawing what they thought it was.

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The Airless Cubicle: Hi, Paul. What are your thoughts on the Arbitron PPM ratings? They show a much different picture than the diaries. Urban stations are no longer in the top 5, though they are in the top 10. Another interesting metric spelled the decline in real listenership in WJFK and WTEM.

I had a clue that WTEM was suffering in billing when they started to include ads for gambling prognosticators; they never do that when they are billing more lucrative clients. Now WTEM has been playing ads for Scores East, a "gentleman's club". Ha! Real gentlemen don't have to buy overpriced beer to meet attractive women.

If the PPM metrics continue to show fewer real bodies are listening to these stations, perhaps we can see the end of the plague of programming aimed at young men with more money than brains and start getting real sports programming. Let's move Westwood One's NFL coverage to the FM band.

From the Airless Cubicle (Let me out!)

Paul Farhi: WTEM, like WJFK, is an interesting case. I'm not sure what the problem is with men, and young men, but they appear not to be very loyal listeners of anything. And if WTEM can't make its numbers during Redskins season, then yikes!, the entire basis for Dan Snyder's radio empire needs to be reevaluated.

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Arlington, Va.: So Brooke Shields had this to say about the alleged cancellation of her show "Lipstick Jungle":

"I mean, we're basically No. 1 if you look at DVR. And you look at all that. So the public is watching it."

Ahh - if we look at all that we'll determine that their show is Number one. Number one in what? Can't be prime time ratings...

Paul Farhi: Well, NBC DID look at DVR when it decided to cancel "LJ." EVERY show is evaluated on the basis of DVR viewing these days because Nielsen captures those numbers along with "real-time" viewing these days...And I have no idea what Brooke is talking about. Her VW ads maybe?

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Downtown: Paul, why isn't there a link to your recent articles from the chat? All the other chat hosts have that. How am I supposed to prepare for today's chat if I can't easily find your recent articles? I'm too lazy to do a search.

washingtonpost.com: Sorry about that! Here are two of Paul's recent stories:

Read 'Em and Bleep? Carlin's 'Seven Words' Spell Trouble (The Washington Post, Nov. 15, 2008)

N.Y. Times Executive Chosen as Head of NPR (The Washington Post, Nov. 12, 2008)

Paul Farhi: The People must be served! Thank you, Kindly Chat Producer.

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Mississippi Gulf Coast: Good morning, Paul. You're my last hope! What would you do if you were hooked on an incredible British TV show, "Doc Martin," that has run successfully in England for at least five seasons, but only has season one available on American format DVDs? Netflix, Amazon, Acorn, etc., have only had season one for almost a year. It's so frustrating to see that if I were in Australia or Canada I could watch it all! Suggestions, please?

Paul Farhi: Never heard of "Doc Martin," which I assumed was only a brand of shoes. My Anglophile (and former Anglo colonies) TV watching these days consists of "Little Britain" (I'm not in love with it, tho) and "Summer Heights High" (which I am in love with) both on HBO. "SHH" is quite hilarious; plays as a perfectly good parody of an American high school, though it's set in an Australian school. Chris Lilley, who created, writes and stars in it, is quite the Man (and girl) in this series. Joe Bob says check it out.

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Bowie, Md.: Did the method of selecting the people in the sample change when they moved from diaries to PPMs?

Paul Farhi: Yes, and that's a very complicated--and contentious--issue these days. Short version: Arbitron says its sample is valid; critics contend it's short on African Americans and Latinos, particularly young ones. I'll the courts decide who's right (Arbitron has been sued by attorneys general in New York and New Jersey to stop the PPM survey until an independent group certifies that Arbitron's sampling methods are valid).

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Doc Martin: Did you check iTunes to see if they have it?

Paul Farhi: Capital suggestion!

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Old Blue in Exile: RIP Pete Newell, who died yesterday at age 93, the only basketball coach with teams ever to win the trifecta: NIT (back when it was the more prestigious college tournament), the NCAA championship (Cal '59) and the Olympics ('60). Not to dump too much salt in your Bruin wounds, but his Cal teams also beat John Wooden's UCLA teams 8-0. I had the pleasure of being casually acquainted with Mr. Newell a few years later when I was a student and he was Cal's Athletic Director, and I found him to be unfailingly gracious and courteous. He was also movie-idol handsome back then, so it was not surprising to learn that he'd been a child actor ("Our Gang," candidate for Chaplin's "The Kid," a role which ultimately went to Jackie Coogan) before switching to concentrating on academics and basketball. After he left the university environment, he continued coaching at camps etc., including a couple guys even you might have heard of (Alcindor/Jabbar, Walton). In the spirit of cross-campus loyalty, Paul, could we please have one last "Go Bears" in memory of Pete? Thanks.

Paul Farhi: I say this out of respect to the great Pete Newell, and not so as to have my UCLA Alumni card pulled: Go Bears!

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Anonymous: Do you think Obama realizes that cuddly little lap cat he called "media" will be a full grown extremely feral tiger by Jan 21 ?

Paul Farhi: Grrrr...Media-bias wise, may I refer the caller to a study on campaign coverage undertaken by the esteemed Project for Excellence [if any] in Journalism. The PEJ found, among other things, that the tone of the coverage TRAILED the ups and downs in the polls--i.e., when things were going well for McCain the press coverage was favorable, and vice versa. Read it, and I don't think you'll come to such an easy conclusion about the "cuddliness" of Obama's coverage...And, yes, the coverage will soon get vicious. Because it always does.

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Rockville, Md.: What's up with Weasel at 94.7? What a shame -- it was the best morning show in the market. Really.

Paul Farhi: Local legendary deejay Weasel is being "reassigned." He'll still be on the air, somewhere, on WTGB-FM (94.7), just not in morning drive. And maybe not regularly. Is too bad--the guy really, really knows his stuff.

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Still Deaf: Did you happen to catch AC/DC at the Verizon Center on Saturday night? What a &%;#$- great show - but man, I think my ears are still ringing. That's right. I'm old.

Paul Farhi: Excuse me, Still Deaf, but this is a family-friendly chat. We don't use that kind of punctuation around here!...Now, then: No, I did not catch AC/DC's show. But it sounds like it was great (even &%#$ly-ing so).

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Arlington, Va.: Paul, ever since 94.7 changed their format recently, it has become totally unlistenable. I hear one good song (say from the Cars), and then the next song is 38 Special. I hated them in the 80s, still hate and nearly indistinguishable from Big 100.3's playlist. Its no wonder sales of iPods continue to be strong. I'm sticking to podcasts and music from home.

Paul Farhi: They're not exactly like BIG or WJZW ("TruOldies"), but it's easy to make that mistake. All of those stations seem to be converging on the same audience, or major parts of the same audience (I see Venn diagrams floating before me, indicating the overlap in the oldies/classic rock demographic). Anyway, I do wish one of those stations would distinguish itself a bit more...

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Crofton, Md.: Who would now play the younger Woodward and Bernstein in the HBO film about Katherine Graham? Who would play Ben Bradlee?

Paul Farhi: I am available for the Robert Redford role.

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Silver Spring, Md.: What do you think of Howard Kurtz's criticism of the coverage of President-Elect Obama and his family? I think the media is only giving the people what they want. Look at the ratings for 60 Minutes and the demand for newspapers from the day after the election day. The public is interested in this because it is a huge ongoing story. That's the way it should be covered.

washingtonpost.com: Making Nice (The Washington Post, Nov. 18, 2008)

Paul Farhi: We're in the honeymoon phase, of course. Obama hasn't made one official decision. He, and the press, are coming off an emotional election. There's good feeling about the "historic" nature of his victory. And, of course, all this will change very quickly. Like, say, Jan. 21.

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re: we're basically No. 1 if you look at DVR.: She said "basically" which is another way of saying "it's not" while seeming to say "it is."

Paul Farhi: Basically, you're right.

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Re: Doc Martin: Have you checked in to getting a multi-region DVD player? I think some of these include PAL to NTSC conversion, so you should be able to play DVDs from the UK.

Paul Farhi: Ah. Thanks for that! Man,(shaking head)The People know everything.

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Bethesda, Md.: Went to a David Byrne (ex- Talking Heads) concert at the Warner a week ago and was struck by how 80 percent of the audience seemed to be 50+ Any thoughts on how long the rock thing can keep going before we start seeing canes and walkers at shows?

Paul Farhi: I actually was looking for a cane and/or a walker at a Springsteen show a few years ago. Someday, in the not-distant future, there will be an entire nursing home of people banging their walkers and canes to "Born in the U.S.A."

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Silver Spring, Md.: With the state of the economy and the new ratings data, will there be a massive reset of the cost of producing my radio content? I know guys like Rush and Stern can justify the big ad dollars and long commercial breaks but what about the rest? Can we expect networks and stations to dump older talent and large on-air casts of characters to be replaced a younger no-names that can carry the show by themselves? Any names on the chopping block?

Paul Farhi: I know of no names on the chopping block, but the combination of PPM data and the godawful economy will revolutionize the radio business (well, the media business altogether). I don't think it's farfetched to say that everything is up for reconsideration. Everything.

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Joppatown: Angus Young is something around 60 years-old -- and he still wears a British school kids' uniform in concert!

How many sixty-something men who you know would do that on a regular basis, without alcohol?

Paul Farhi: Well, I do that. But then, I'm not 60.

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Sirius/XM: Count me as one of those who are rather upset at the new program line up on XM. Admittedly most of my pre-sets were unaffected and the addition of the NPR station was welcome, but CINEMAGIC is gone. Yeah it still shows up and yes they say it will return in January but subscribers are familiar with Mel's promises. I really enjoy film score music and its presence on XM was the tipping point to my subscribing to them over Sirius. They don't even explain the reason for the so called hiatus in their looping recording on channel 76. What could ever be the reason for the interruption?

Paul Farhi: The whole Sirius-XM programming merge-purge seems--I stress the word "seems," which is probably as weasely as "basically"--not to have created the listener firestorm you might have expected. I'm not sure it has gone entirely smoothly, but I'm hearing less wailing about lost and found channels than I expected. We'd hear far more complaints if we tried to mess with "Beetle Baily" or "Family Circus."

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Bowie, Md.: What do you think about Radio One's really poor performance recently? They lost big time in the recent quarter; are they living on borrowed time? Or will they rebound with a new look? Cathy Hughes must be very upset with her son/CEO.

Paul Farhi: Radio One's stock has been a rocket to the bottom of the ocean. I don't know if it can go any lower. And I'm still mystified by it. I know the whole radio industry has been punished in this downturn, but RadioOne has just been beaten silly. I guess once the going got tough, advertisers turned their backs on the "urban" audience first. And "urban" is Radio One's middle name.

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Falls Church, Va.: re: 94.7. This morning I heard Born To Be Wild (which they seem to play every morning) followed by Mony Mony (which they also seem to play every morning). I can't stand it. It's probably good that Weasel is no longer there to be a part of that.

Paul Farhi: Mony Mony on a classic rock station? Really? Makes no sense. By the way, I heard "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes" on WJZW this morning. That song is a little bit o' joy. Although no one has written a love song to someone named Rosemary ever since. And possibly before, too.

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Cleveland Park, Washington, DC: re: old folks at concerts

You should have seen the crowd at the Arlo Guthrie show a couple of weeks ago. I'm 47 and I felt like a youngster.

Paul Farhi: You'd kind of expect that, no?...And one quick, random fact about Arlo: He studied for his bar mitzvah'ed (yes, he's Jewish) under the supervision of the late radical rabbi Meir Kahane. Thought you should know.

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Chicago: Actually, Angus Young is only 53. Still too old for his outfit, but at least a decade younger than I thought he was.

Paul Farhi: Ah. Perhaps it's only his voice that has aged (how does he DO that?).

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94.7: I couldn't agree more with Arlington about 94.7 -- totally unlistenable. It's like they play the WORST of classic rock -- I would not be surprised if the station has its employees compete to figure out the worst song from every band so they can play that one. I seriously am a great fan of music but that station solicits such negative feelings in me when I'm waking up (I really just listen in the morning on my clock radio) that I get up in a bad mood. Who else plays music in the morning that I can listen to instead? I cannot stand the morning chatter.

Paul Farhi: One word: Foreigner....Okay, four more words: Get rid of 'em.

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Man, but not so young anymore: "I'm not sure what the problem is with men, and young men, but they appear not to be very loyal listeners of anything."

We are loyal, we just don't like listening to commercials and when the morning drive consists of 10 minutes of talk and 5 minutes of commercials, it's time to find something different...

Paul Farhi: I'm not a young man, but I'm totally with you there, bro (if I may be so bold as to refer to you as "bro," given that we are not, ipso facto, related in any way. Can you tell that I'm not a young man?)

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Reston, Va.: Hi Paul: Was wondering if you are a South Park fan. If so, have you been watching the new season? I've been finding particularly funny. The post-election episode was hysterical. I keep waiting for these guys to be un-funny, but they exceed my expectations from week to week.

Paul Farhi: I have dipped in and out, but I'm with you Reston, bro (if in fact you are a male; if not, I shall rephrase: I'm with you, sis). "South Park" is the rare show that has a) remained funny over a lot of seasons and b) often improved with time.

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Trivi, AL: Little know fact about "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes" -- written for onetime songstress and aunt-to-George, Rosemary Clooney.

Okay, not really, but, c'mon, how many times to you get the chance to work a Rosemary Clooney reference into a WashPost Online Chat?

washingtonpost.com: Very rarely!

Paul Farhi: We are nothing if not eclectic! (Actually, "nothing" is an acceptable answer, too).

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"Summer Heights High" Really?: Watched it and found the Kiwi-centric vent on the "troubled" teen a little too, umm, I don't know, distasteful, maybe? Given the social problems that Pacific Islanders face, I thought trying to wring comedy out of his maladjusted, in-your-face-attitude was much the same as if someone tried showing on Australian/New Zealand TV a similar high-school "comedy" set in America in which one of the three main characters was "Laquesha" who was battling illiteracy, low self-esteem and possibly, just for kicks, teen pregnancy -- and playing it for its inherent comedic value.

I know this sounds like some kind of PC screed, but that's not the intention -- I'm just saying that I failed to see the humor in anything the show offered; the other two characters (the drama teacher and the "mean girl") were characters we've seen before, and, have been done better. Granted, not as offensive as the Native kid, but: Just. Not. Funny.

Paul Farhi: You know, here's what a dope I am: I didn't realize the "tough" kid was supposed to be a Pacific Islander. But that does change things a bit. And, frankly, that portrayal seems less funny than ACCURATE (that's how the troublemaking kids always acted in my day, too). So I'll fall back and defend the Ja'mie (rich girl) and Mr. G characters.

And isn't Kiwi a reference to New Zealand, not Australia?

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The Dickies did a song about a Rosemary.: She's my girl, she's so wonderful, I love her so, Rosemary. Kisses galore, and I think the whole world of her, Rosemary.

Rosemary, she's the girl that I adore, she's Rosemary and I'm going out with her now...

Paul Farhi: Well, there you (or possibly I) go.

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Philadelphia, Pa: It's "Beetle Bailey", and Bailey is spelled with an "e". Show some respect for our men in uniform!!

Paul Farhi: Thanks for the correction. But my favorite character is Sarg.

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The return of appointment radio?: Back in the '80s and '90s, it was accepted wisdom in radio that listeners only tuned in for the format, rather than for a program at a set time. Nowadays, NPR has several "appointment" programs ("Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," the "Car Guys," etc.), while some talk hosts like Rush Limbaugh have definite followings. Does this foretell a paradigm shift in radio usage, or are such programs a fluke?

Paul Farhi: Rush, et al, DO have large and loyal followings. But what we're finding now (if you believe the results) is that they're not as large, and possibly as loyal, as once thought.

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Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.: Paul - am I misinterpreting the Cox cable ad where the guy mentions how he bought the phone service for his wife? Is he basically saying that women like to yak on the phone all day?

Paul Farhi: Good gawd! That is my candidate for the worst commercial of the year, and maybe all time. Everything about it is wrong--the casting, the script, the setting. The guy not only says his wife yaks on the phone all day, but the commercial shows his wife yakking away.

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Baltimore, Md.: Apparently the last Little Tavern closed down a couple of months ago -- and it barely got any media attention. That chain was in existence for at least 50 years, maybe 60 or 70 years! And the last one just closed, this year! That deserves something!

Generations grew up on those places -- especially at 2 a.m. in College Park after a night out on Route 1.

Paul Farhi: No mention of this milestone? That's wrong. How about Hot Shoppes? Any of them still around?

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College Park, Md.: This is a true story: Walking out of a concert by The Who at the Verizon Center in 2007, a man was walking with his 12-year-old son, and they were just coming out of the concert. "Well, I hope you remember this concert," the man said, without much irony or sarcasm or humor. "Because it's all downhill from there." We laughed, because we hoped the man was trying to make a point, but that he was also being a bit facetious at the same time. The concert was great, though.

Paul Farhi: You mean your greatest concert-going years are at the age of 12 or so? Or that no one will ever be as good as the aged Who?

On the first premise: I didn't go to my first show (Peter Frampton) until I was 16. It was memorable (if not all that great) but there were many, many better nights ahead of that one...

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Greater Green Bay, Wisc.: Since you won't say it (preferring to stay employed) I will. As Woodward and Bernstein: Owen Wilson and Keanu Reeves. As Ben Bradlee: Gilbert Gottfried.

Paul Farhi: Hahaha! (Note to management: I didn't say it!)

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Erratum (though the NIT was a runner-up tournament by the time Knight and Smith won it): Triple crowns Only three coaches have won NIT, NCAA and Olympic titles.

Pete Newell: '49 NIT (USF), '59 NCAA (Cal), '60 Olympics

Bob Knight: '79 NIT (Indiana), '76, '81, '87 NCAA (Indiana), '84 Olympics

Dean Smith: '71 NIT (North Carolina), '82, '93 NCAA (North Carolina), '76 Olympics

washingtonpost.com: Pete Newell: Basketball coach and teacher (San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 17)

Paul Farhi: Thanks. We're all about the erratum (and the erratic) here on the 'Break....

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Fairfax, Va.: Arlington: All music is, of course, subjective. We all make fun of Britney Spears -- but her last crappy album sold a million copies, and her previous crappy albums sold several million. Same with about 500 other crappy performers. So someone has to play that stuff! And elsewhere on the dial, guess what? Some of us out here actually like southern rock and roll and .38 Special -- including me and many friends. We also like the Outlaws, ZZ Top, The Charlie Daniels Band, Pure Prairie League, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Rossington Collins Band, the Band, Black Oak Arkansas, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, the Allman Brothers, Gov't. Mule, The Dickey Betts Band, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. So get off yer high horse!

Paul Farhi: I hear a guitarmy warming up in the background....

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To Still Deaf: This is not a new phenomenon, alas. Over 30 years ago (while still in our 20s) we attended a performance by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons at Wolf Trap, and found the volume so painfully loud that we left at intermission. Years later, Valli publicly revealed that he'd suffered so much hearing loss that he required hearing aids. Hardly surprising.

Paul Farhi: Hard to imagine that the Four Seasons would cause Valli's hearing loss. Were they that loud as a lounge act? I mean, I love the FS, but loud?

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Gaithersburg, Md.: Can everyone stop saying, "I know, right?" And stop saying "I'm going to grow the company's line." And stop saying "We're branding the product." And stop saying, "You know?" in professional situations.

Geez, people, I mean, like, get a grip, you know?

Paul Farhi: The verbal tic I can't stand: "Sort of," slipped into sentences to make the speaker sound smart, or humble, or something. As in, "I went to the Grand Canyon, which was, you know, sort of awesome."

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The Merger...: My father had what I think was XM and he was a little distraught that they got rid of a lot of the channels he listened to. They got rid of Fungus and replaced it with a channel that played ACDC all the time. Not to comment on the quality of the band, but is there really a need for a station that plays only one band all day long?

Paul Farhi: Sure. Sirius had (has?) an all-Bruce Springsteen channel. Ain't nuthin' wrong with that...

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Wilmington, Del.: Can you tell me why my local "Oldies" station has shifted to late 60s-early 80s music (away from the 50s/60s stuff), and what I can do to make them change back?

Paul Farhi: They've shifted to later oldies music because they're targeting younger (i.e., 40-ish) listeners. See, in radio, no one cares about anyone older than 55. The main audience (for advertisers) is aged 25 to 54. What can you do? Get an iPod maybe. Or learn to like Fleetwood Mac.

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Bad Commercials: OMG -- have you see The chimney sweeper commercial? Amateur local production values, bad jingle -- perfect bad TV.

And I'll argue that, no matter how bad the Cox cable commercial is, nothing is worse than the "He went to Jared" commercials.

Paul Farhi: I think the chimney sweep commercials are self-consciously bad and cheesy, like the Senate Insurance ("Kiss my bumper") ads. Nothing wrong with that (in fact, I like self-consciously cheesy ads), but that's a separate category. The Cox ads are in the earnest category. Cox really thinks these are good-good, as opposed to bad-good. But they're not good-good. They're terrible-terrible.

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Peter Frampton: Really?

Paul Farhi: Yes. Thank you very much.

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RE: Messin' With Beetle Bailey: Thanks for this. I am laughing at my desk, remembering how Beetle would look beaten to a pulp after Sarge got through with him. And also, remembering when it was OK to laugh at corporal punishment-related humor.

Paul Farhi: People still laugh at Beetle Bailey? This is news to me.

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Have you ever been to a concert: and were surprised at how young everyone was? I went to see Metallica some years back when I was 26. Most others in the audience were getting dropped off by their parents.

Paul Farhi: Thanks, old timer....But you'd think Metallica would attract a much older crowd than 26-year-olds (and pre-driving age kids). I mean, they're an oldies act now.

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Re Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons, again: Yes, they were amplified beyond the pain threshold, at least at Wolf Trap.

Paul Farhi: Very odd. What's the point? Didn't it kill the harmonies? But maybe it was the only way Frankie could keep time, given his hearing loss?

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Washington, D.C.: What happened to the Globe? Why did they switch back to their classic rock format? I used to LOVE their new format, which was just the right mix!

Paul Farhi: The audience didn't agree with you. So they went back to classic rock, which is what they were doing when they were Arrow 94.7, before the let's-get-on-the-environmental-bandwagon repositioning of "The Globe."

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Radio City: One listener thinks the Cars are great and .38 Special sucks and, oh, Foreigner is no good, and don't play the classics that you've played "too many" times, you know, those.

I'm no program director but I think I'd have to say "I can't please everyone - why don't you listen to your iPods, you whiny losers!"

Paul Farhi: If you said that, you should be fired. Yes, the audience is demanding, and yes, it's full of whiny losers. But as PD, your job is to please as many whiny losers as you possibly can.

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Washington, D.C.: I bought a DVD player from Best Buy for about $60 bucks that will play PAL and NTSC discs. I wanted a show from the UK too that wasn't available in American format. I bought the DVDs from Amazon.uk and they play perfectly in this cheap Philips player!

Paul Farhi: News we can use! Thanks, DC.

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Paul Farhi: Folks, I better wind 'er up here (I have the difficult assignment of sitting on my butt and previewing the forthcoming "24" TV movie, coming Sunday). But glad you could stop by. What say we try again next week? Same time, same computer. It's our big, big pre-Thanksgiving show (potluck--who's wants to bring cole slaw?). You're busy? Oh...Well, set your DVR to stun and catch us that way. In any case, you know the old saying: Regards to all! --Paul.

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