Three Fun Shows for Half-Watching

Things have been hectic this fall, as you can tell from TLRM's protracted silence. But Ann and I aoften try to find some tube time when we collapse in the evening. Right now, when we're in "pay attention" mode, we're watching Mad Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, 30 Rock, and The Office. But we're also DVRing some series that make for good "half-watching," while catching up with the newspapers (we still like that form factor) or syncing up our calendars. Three of our current favorites: Man Shops Globe on Sundance Channel, where Keith Johnson, a buyer for Anthropologie stores (and, I found out, a near-neighbor here in Chestnut Hill), flies to France, South Africa, and other interesting locales to find the kind of store furnishings and home items that make those stores such fun; House Hunters International on HGTV, enjoyable global real-estate porn that has me thinking about Malta, the Amalfi Coast, and the south of France; and one that I'm about to add to my list based on good reviews, Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth on PBS, in which the editor of the soon to be late and lamented Gourmet Magazine visits famous kitchens.