Meet the bloggers: Malavika Jagannathan

First, a confession - I love, perhaps even heart, TV. It's probably why I jumped on board this project quicker than you can say DVR, although it's a far cry from my day-job as a metro reporter for the Press-Gazette.

Sure, there's a lot of tawdry trash on the airwaves (or digital signals) - and, admittedly, I watched at least three episodes of "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" in one sitting last week. But it's those rare half-hour and one-hour gems that linger in between all the refuse that make it worth my monthly cable bill.

I probably won't give you any episode recaps or essays on plot twists because, well, that's lame. Instead, I hope I can offer some insights into some of my - and hopefully some of your - favorite shows. Maybe I can even attempt to tackle some of those burning questions we all have but are sometimes afraid to ask. Like, how did Rob Lowe go from sex tape star and Brat Packer to the new and far more convincing version of John Slattery (i.e. that guy who always plays the "politician?") Or how will the new crop of twenty-somethings playing teenagers on CW's "Gossip Girl" ever get into those Ivy League schools if they never actually do homework?

I really can't justify my love, except to say this: the day that "Law and Order" is no longer in syndication is the day I officially call it quits with my lifelong relationship with television. Guess it's not ending anytime soon.

All-time favorite TV shows: The West Wing, M*A*S*H, Gilmore Girls, Seinfeld, Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, NewsRadio, Veronica Mars, Sex and the City, Law and Order, My So Called Life, Murphy Brown, Northern Exposure
Current favorite shows: The Office, Heroes, Project Runway, Pushing Daisies, House, Gossip Girl, Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, Flight of the Conchords, Law and Order: SVU, How I Met Your Mother
Guilty pleasure: Beauty and the Geek
Go-to channel when there's absolutely nothing on: Food Network
All-time TV crush: Josh Lyman from The West Wing (who says Wisconsin's own Bradley Whitford isn't a sex symbol?)
Pick your TV family for one day: Frank Costanza, Claire Huxtable, Alex P. Keaton and "Uncle" Jesse Katsopolis. No explanation necessary.
If you could be an extra on a TV show: the person on Law and Order who discovers the body in the opening sequence
If you had to save one TV on DVD set from a burning building: Freaks and Geeks, special edition
Reality show you're not ashamed to admit you like: The Amazing Race
Favorite old-school show from childhood: The Cosby Show
Show you are into that others could care less about: Top Chef
Show others are into that you've never paid attention to (but wish you had): 24
TV channel I wish I could afford on my journalist's salary: BBC America or Showtime
Favorite TV-related Web sites: Television Without Pity -- the best site to get the snarkiest and most comprehensive recap of your favorite show you either missed or forgot to DVR, Entertainment Weekly's Pop Watch Blog, Chicago Tribune's The Watcher, Washington Post's Channel This, Tuned In from the Detroit News

-- Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com