Previously in Test Pattern: They See Dead People Stunning visuals and genuinely creepy plot make "The Others" more than just "Sixth Sense: The Series." Ally's Kid Cousin Miss McBeal and "Malcolm in the Middle" may not be blood relatives, but they live in the same part of Dreamland. The Realer World "True Life", MTV's first genuine documentary series, is downright freaky. 'Quiz Show' Redux NBC's revamped "Twenty One" is even stupider than the scandal that sank the original. Year of the Television A year end countdown of the top ten, uh, seven things we learned from TV. Plus: How many new game shows are there? You'll Shoot Your Eye Out A wonderful life? Whatever. Blasting capitalism with a hail of satiric BBs, "A Christmas Story" is the greatest holiday movie ever made.

True, Maher may be a capital-A asshole sometimes, even overstepping the boundary between devil's advocate and dickhead. And his sexism and ageism make him sound more like a stodgy old man than the progressive libertarian he professes to be. But while Maher's approach and philosophy riles his critics and annoys some viewers, that approach unquestionably gets his guests talking and arguing about real issues. And in the era of extremes — talk shows are either the fluff-filled and scripted variety or the chair-throwing, screeching type — the societal and political debates that occur make Maher's show the most substantive talk show on TV.

PI faltered a bit as it jumped from Comedy Central to the post-"Nightline" spot on ABC a few years back, but it's definitely rebounded. And it does have some flaws: the stand up routines and occasional sketches at the start of the program need to be dumped to leave more time for conversation. (Although some of that is inspired, like the "Strange Bedfellows" feature that had Al Franken and Ariana Hufington commenting from an actual in-studio bed during the 1996 campaign.)

While the heated debates take place partially because of Maher's intervention and forceful prodding of the conversation, the eclectic assortment of people who occupy the other four chairs are largely responsible. It's the pairing of guests that's the most fun: where else are you going to watch Dave Matthews face down a stuffed-shirt Republican congressman? The nightly guests range from the current A-list to the people who were someone, and draw from Hollywood, the Beltway, and everywhere in between. Even when it has taken the public relations route and featured only the cast of an ABC show — "The View" or "Boy Meets World" — the conversation hasn't been promotional fluff.

Besides the lame stand-up and Maher's occasional butting in for the sake of a witty one-liner, the show only suffers because an unresolvable catch-22 is a byproduct of its greatness: the smartly selected guests usually start talking and arguing, like they're supposed to do on "Meet the Press," and pretty soon, it's impossible to hear anything. The transcripts posted on PI's site say "all talking at once" frequently; it's often impossible to really hear what they're saying.

But that's leaps and bounds over "Crossfire," which is less confrontational than a water gun fight between two bedridden 120-year-olds. "Crossfire"'s guests are polite politicians and aware journalists who realize their words will be captioned and sound-bitten to death, so they speak carefully and play nice. On PI, anything goes, and the guests know that. But even though the guests are having fun, and even though PI has achieved a strong audience following and somewhat of a cult status as a talk show — Maher had cameos in both "EdTV" and "Primary Colors" — it's still not respected. But that's okay, because who besides the self-congratulatory jackasses who appear on "normal" talk shows really care? Maher's half-hour show entertains us and takes a hard-hitting, if inconclusive, approach to important issues.

PI's philosophy seems to be that if you're going to play in (on?) the sandbox, you might as well throw sand, and get it in your mouth and ears and eyes while you're at it. Otherwise, what's the fun?

What else is on?
TV recommendations for the coming week...Leftovers
[These recommendations are old. Click here for the newest in new.]

During most of the weekend (and week) after Thanksgiving, you're left with the remnants of the big feast: leftovers, lethargy, et cetera. And after sweeps month — when the networks throw out the best they have to offer to up their ratings — they, too, have a bunch of stuff left over. So out come the repeats, and they're pretty much here to stay until January. Not that a good second helping of "Angel" or "Felicity" isn't a good thing, but fresh tastes better. But since this is what's in the fridge, warm up a plate of turkey and get ready.

Wednesday, Dec. 1

Cuba Gooding Jr. will witness a televised repeat of his career high tonight, when Jerry Maguire hits network TV. Minus Cuba's rear, we're assuming...The only repeat here is acid reflux, as we get two Christmas specials in a row featuring a cast of nauseating characters. First, watch as Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Scott Hamilton, 'N Sync, Britney Spears, and Enrique Iglesias light the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree...As if that wasn't enough, NBC delivers a double-whammy by following it with Garth Brooks and the Magic of Christmas. And it's not just Garth, but Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole and Trisha Yearwood, too. Thank god they don't replay this stuff.

Thursday, Dec. 2

Even though Regis has packed up his Millionaire suits and headed back to the chair opposite Kathie Lee Gifford, you can still get your game show fix by pretending that Greed is "Millionaire" all over again, just with an extra helping of mean-spiritedness...Someone at ABC realized that it's much more fun to watch horrific car wrecks than it is to be in one, so the network follows Fox's lead ("The World's Most Funny Projectile Vomit!"; "The Century's Most Horrific Amputations!") with Totally Out Of Control-- Vehicles.

Friday, Dec. 3

Time to revert back to our childhoods with the same Christmas specials we've been watching for the past few decades. Start with A Charlie Brown Christmas, wherein Charlie learns that commercialism sucks, especially at Christmas. Maybe this show should be required viewing for those corporate executives who start selling Christmas crap before Halloween...Next, there's Snowden's Christmas, a sort of rip-off of classic Christmas specials. Where's the original stop-motion Frosty when you need him?...Gun control takes center stage on a Law & Order repeat.

Saturday, Dec. 4

Football isn't just a Thanksgiving Day tradition. In this oft-repeated match-up, Alabama and Florida face off in Atlanta for the Football Southeastern Conference Championship Game ...If you pay for HBO, time to start regretting it, as the network shows You've Got Mail. It's not bad just because it has a grammatically incorrect title and a totally predictable plot. It's bad because it's just a big-screen rehash of "Sleepless in Seattle." Rent that instead...Christina Ricci. Beck. On SNL. Do I need to say it again?

Sunday, Dec. 5

With all of her hair intact, Felicity is back at school for her sophomore year in a repeat of this season's first episode...No repeats of "Snoops" or "The Practice" tonight; instead, Oprah Winfrey presents the TV-movie version of the acclaimed book Tuesdays With Morrie, starring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria...Or watch a carbon-copy of every action/disaster flick ever made as Sylvester Stallone tries to find Daylight...The VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards try to copy MTV's hip movie and video award shows with this annual presentation, and they don't do that bad a job. Puff Daddy and Heather Locklear co-host.

Monday, Dec. 6

Catch Bebe Neuwirth's great guest appearance as a ruthless modeling agency executive again on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit...For lots of post-Thanksgiving fun, compare tonight's Ally McBeal repeat to tapes of last week's new episode to see if Calista Flockhart has really lost as much weight as her critics claim.

Tuesday, Dec. 7