The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

As someone that has worked so many different sides of the media there are times when I question why I watch TV and still even like certain people on TV.

What is it that makes me unable to fall asleep at night unless I get a last minute peek at Don Shelby?

I had lunch with a buddy of mine recently and asked him if there was ever a person he admired and respected for their TV work.

The average couch tuber probably isn't tracking this TV writers strike too much. Not beyond fretting over an early end to Heroes and no new Daily Shows. Beyond that the affected "workers," a lot of smart-ass Bimmer-driving West L.A. espresso sippers, are never going to win an outpouring of empathy from the people who obsessively consume their programming.

HBO unveiled Six Feet Under in 2000, at a time when nobody thought TV could top The Sopranos in terms of first-rate drama. But Alan Ball’s show, centering on a family that runs a funeral home in Los Angeles, immediately proved to be as addictive as the mafia saga, and even more so. Having just begun its fourth and much-anticipated season, the show has become as rich and engrossing as a skillfully written novel.