Gay.com Column: Four Shows to get into during this Strike Time

So I was looking at my must-see television schedule, and next week marks the beginning of the WTF period. No more episodes of "Desperate Housewives", no more episodes of "Brothers and Sisters". No more episodes of "Heroes" after Monday, and "The Office" and "30 Rock" have already said goodbye. Sure, "Friday Night Lights" will still be brilliant on Friday nights, but what the hell was I going to do with my new television wasteland?

It was then that the answer came to me. Netflix. There have been so many shows that I've missed over the years, and now was the perfect time for me to get into them. "The West Wing". Early "Friends" and "Frasier". Heck, what about rewatching some of that brilliant "Freaks and Geeks"?

And it was while I was making my Personal Primetime Schedule, that the other obvious thought popped into my head. You know how you miss one episode of a show, and then you miss another one, and then suddenly you can't be bothered to keep up with the damn series? Or when your friends start talking about this brilliant new series, except the show's already on the tenth episode and you'd be hopelessly behind? What about using this strike time to catch up on those shows?

There are so many current shows that could use an extra fan, and these shows will need as much as help as they can when the strike is finally over. On that note, I'd like to recommend four of them to you. I realize not everybody will like every one of these shows, but if even one of you becomes a convert because of this post, I will consider this post my best one ever.

And so, without further ado, the four shows you might want put on your Netflix queue circa now:

"Damages": Little watched despite its star power, this sharp-edged series follows a single class-action lawsuit ala "Erin Brokovich". Where the movie is about one woman versus a criminal corporation, "Damages" pits Glenn Close against Ted Danson. Close plays yet another hard and brilliant woman, a ruthless lawyer who will do anything to win the legal battlefield. Danson, on the other hand, in a turnabout from his usual comedic roles, plays Arthur Frobisher, a corrupt and equally ruthless CEO. Toss in Rose Byrne ("Troy") as the ingenue who gets caught in the crossfire, mix it up with a dozen plot twists that will leave you reeling and slackjawed, and you get a sense of how intense the first season is. Despite low ratings, positive critical reception has led FX to renew this series, so now is the best time to get in on the action if you haven't already.

"Battlestar: Galactica": With the fourth and final season (hopefully) premiering in January, there's no better time to marathon-watch the first three seasons. Robots that look like human beings, a textured parable about what it means to be human, giant spaceships in space and - best of all - Jamie 'More Towel Scenes, Please' Bamber: seriously, what's not to like? Even if you're supremely anti-science fiction shows, this particular series will blow your mind. Just watch "33", the series pilot. After most of humanity gets annihilated in a single robot attack, the remnants try desperately to outrun the waves of following massacres. A superbly crafted hour of nail-biting escalating tension, what have you got to lose by watching it except maybe a few pesky nails?

"30 Rock": Otherwise known as 'the other behind-the-scenes show', "30 Rock" was all but crushed in the publicity battle with "Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip". Fast forward one season later, however, and "Studio 60" has been consigned to television purgatory, while "30 Rock" continues to, well, rock. "SNL" veteran Tina Fey provides snappy and quotable dialogue; she also stars alongside Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski and Tracy Jordan. If you haven't seen 'Werewolf Bar Mitzvah' - "where boys become men, and men become wolves" - or any of Baldwin's hilarious scenes, You. Are. Missing. Out. And that's all there is to it. Other highlights of the first season include Emily Mortimer as a gold-digging hollow-boned faux-Brit, Isabella Rossellini as Baldwin's estranged wife, Will Arnett as a gay short robe-wearing exec, and fellow "SNL" veteran Rachel Dratch as, well, just about everyone and everything.

"Friday Night Lights": I know, I know. How original, recommending "FNL". But I just wouldn't feel right without including this brilliant series. I mean, think about this: I'm a skinny Asian kid from the other side of the world, and I've never understood the point of football. But this damn show still has me crying like a crying crybaby cryster. The Panthers score the winning touchdown. I cry. The coach's daughter has the birds-and-bees talk with her kick-ass mom. I cry. The bad girl and the good girl join forces to get the footballers to strip. I - okay, I'm not so much crying as I am drooling, but that's beside the point. The point is, "FNL" is so rich, so full of great characters and actors, so freaking god-blessedly / godawfully real, that I dare you to watch it without leaking. It can't be done, I tell you! You'll be stocking up on Kleenex before the end of the first disc.

And that's the last of my four recommended shows. If you know of another series that deserves some love, remember to start telling people to watch them during the strike! If we all band together and support those shows when they come back, we might just be able to stave off that dreaded cancellation heartbreak.