Jason Unger

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We never had HBO until last year. We've always been big movie people, but it never seemed worth it to pay extra to Comcast for a bunch of flicks that we could have watched on DVD months earlier.

Then came The Sopranos.

Yeah, you think you know where this is going … but hold on.

We got started on The Sopranos way late. My dad was a fan, so for one of his birthdays we got him the first few seasons on DVD. As it turned out, we ended up watching them instead.

We finished the first five seasons (and a half? six? whatever) right before the final half of Season 6 and decided it was worth to subscribe to HBO — and haven't looked back.

From Big Love to Entourage to Curb Your Enthusiasm to Ali G, HBO has the best original series on TV.

We also watched this show Tell Me You Love Me, which was basically softcore porn with a plot.

Now we're watching John Adams, the mini-series based on David McCullough's book of the same name, starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. It's a fascinating look into the birth of our country, no matter how inaccurate the depiction of their teeth.

(I'm kind of hoping Giamatti says something about merlot at some point during the series, but I'm not holding my breath.)

For people who watch a lot of TV — like we do, yes, I admit it — HBO is worth it. We've been entertained way beyond the $10 or $15 a month we're paying for it, and we haven't even started The Wire, Extras or Rome.

When you think about paying $30 for two people to spend one night at the movies, a month of HBO is a steal.

And that's how it became our favorite channel.

Tuesdays are newsletter days for CE Pro, and I was inserting the ads for today's issue I noticed a pleasant surprise:

I've been kidding with Jenni, who manages ads for us, about getting a banner for jasonunger.com in an open newsletter spot for a while — and it finally happened!

Debbie and I finished the third and final season of Veronica Mars last night and SPOILER ALERT we were obviously disappointed.

We've watched all three seasons over the past few months (thanks, writer's strike) and really enjoyed it. But the haphazard ending, thanks to its cancellation left us unfulfilled.

When I tell people about the show, I compare it to a high-school version of Scooby-Doo (minus the talking dog). Veronica, the way overachieving high schooler, solves mysteries as a private investigator, and seems to run in to scandal and murder wherever she goes.

The show wasn't that realistic (seriously, can one person have so much death in their life and still crack jokes on a regular basis?), but it was well-written, and it spoke to a generation. The characters were mostly well-developed, and the plotlines were engaging.

It's too bad that the series finale left so much unanswered — and didn't get Veronica and Logan back together — but at least we get more Kristen Bell in Heroes.

If you have some time and enjoy serialized, California shows (24, anyone?), give Veronica Mars a chance.

I used to never be able to do these, but I learned on the back of a box of Golden Grahams.

Did you get the message?

All it costs is your humility.

Why are all the most ridiculous viral videos from foreign TV shows? Hollywood, take note.

PS - sorry for the shorter posts. These tradeshows take up a lot of my day, and when I do have time to relax, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer.