Some years back, I tried writing a TV column for the Times-Gazette. It started strongly, but then petered out. I mostly wanted to write about TV shows that I enjoyed, and in order to have done a good job with the column I'd have had to familiarize myself with a broader base of TV shows, including some that don't interest me in the least.

So I set aside the idea of a regular column. But that doesn't mean I can't tell you every now and then about some shows I enjoy watching, on the chance that you might enjoy them too.

"The Soup," 9 p.m. Fridays, E! : This is a successor to E!s "Talk Soup," which launched the careers of Greg Kinnear, John Henson and Aisha Tyler, among others. But instead of just focusing on clips from talk shows, Joel McHale makes fun of talk shows, reality shows, gossipy entertainment news shows and celebrity news in general.

McHale often covers much of the same source material as "Best Week Ever," which airs an hour later on VH-1. But McHale's take is consistently funnier.

The show is rerun several times over the weekend.

"Cheap Seats," 6:30 p.m. Mondays, ESPN Classic: Because I don't have digital cable, I have to depend on my brother in California to keep me stocked with episodes of this little gem. Think of it as the sports version of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Hosts Jason and Randy Sklar screen edited versions of some of the goofier sporting events in the ESPN library, from dog shows to miniature golf, while injecting their own smart-aleck comments and references in voice-over.

The original title, by the way, was "Cheap Seats without Ron Parker," based on the first-season opening credits, which established a (fictional) premise that Jason and Randy were ESPN tape librarians who stepped in at the last minute to host the show when a cabinet filled with video tapes fell on its original host.

"Doctor Who," 7 p.m. Fridays, SciFi, and 9 p.m. Tuesdays, BBC America: I've run into several people who fondly remember the original "Doctor Who" but weren't aware of the new version.

For the uninitiated, the original "Doctor Who" aired in the U.K. from 1963 (three years before the original "Star Trek") through 1989. Many public TV stations in the U.S., including the one in Nashville, picked it up in the 1980s. The show's main character -- who is actually called "The Doctor" -- is an alien who travels through time and space in a device called a TARDIS which, from the outside, appears to be the size and shape of a telephone booth. Because the stories established early on that The Doctor can change his appearance, the show has survived numerous cast changes. Seven different actors portrayed the character in the original series, although the most popular -- by far -- was Tom Baker, a curly-haired, droopy-eyed fellow whose costume included an incredibly-long multi-colored scarf.

A decade ago, an American movie studio tried producing a new version of "Doctor Who" in Canada. A two-hour pilot episode was produced and ran on the FOX network as a TV-movie. But it got a lukewarm reception and didn't lead to a new series. Then, a couple of years ago, the BBC finally decided to resurrect the show itself. Christopher Eccleston starred as The Doctor in the first new season; he left, not wanting to be typecast, and was replaced by David Tennant. SciFi is now running the Tennant episodes, and if you have digital cable or satellite, the Eccleston episodes are now being re-run by BBC America. (Both are fine, but I liked Eccleston a little better.)

The producers of the new version of the show have done a great job preserving the fun and whimsy of the original while bringing it into a new century.

Eccleston, by the way, is reportedly joining the cast of "Heroes" in January. I haven't started watching that show yet, but I may need to start.

John I. Carney is city editor of the Times-Gazette and covers county government and other topics. His home page is lakeneuron.com.