We Interrupt This Broadcast...

I'm a creature of habit. I get my routine, I stick with it.

So I hate it when my set of TV shows are interrupted for an evening, regardless of the reason.

Tonight, Pres. Bush will have a speech scheduled to last a half-hour, beginning at 9 p.m. He is expected to announce sending more troops to Iraq.

Yes, this is an important subject that a lot of people have a vested interest in. But why not make the announcement on the various 24-hour news channels that dot the airwaves? If you don't have an interest in what the speech is, you're pretty much stuck.

Plus, the broadcast usually isn't limited to the speech. There's the opposition response, the post-speech analysis by the pundits, etc. I'll be very surprised if they keep it within the half-hour.

Anyway, just a rant. Enjoy the speech.

TONIGHT'S BEST BETS: Well, almost nothing. A lot of original episodes of normally scheduled programs, such as "Knights of Prosperity," for example, are postponed because of the Bush speech.

However, fortune has smiled on The TV Guy, because the normally scheduled new episode of "Friday Night Lights" (NBC, 8 p.m.) is still likely to go, which is really all I cared about anyway.

Also, I should point out that somewhat misnamed A&E network will begin its broadcasts of "The Sopranos" reruns, beginning with the pilot tonight at 9 p.m.

Some would say that watching "The Sopranos" without the language, violence and nudity that the TV gods intended would be rather pointless; I'd be one of those people. However, if you don't get HBO and have never seen what will go down as one TV's all-time great dramas, this might be the way to go. Season 1 was highlighted by the late, great Nancy Marchand's stunning performance as Livia, Tony's rotten-to-the-core mother.