My latest television fix: Ninja Warrior on the G4 network. Its a Japanese game show where the contestants have to complete obstacle courses. They start off with 100 contestants going through the first "stage" one at a time in a set amount of time. If one falls off the course and into the water below, they're out. As they go through the course, the announcer makes funny comments about them, and, as its a Japanese show, you have to read the subtitles. After the first stage, the remaining contestants go on to the second, third, and fourth stages. Some of the contestants wear the uniform of the profession they do in real life - they are usually the ones that don't make it too far. The few that get all the way to the end of the final stage are then named "Ninja Warriors."

They have different courses for males and females. I find it interesting to see how they solve the problems of getting through each obstacle along the course. Some are pure physical challenges like lifting something very heavy. Many are balance related - walking on a moving object, or stepping from one unstable post to another. And others are somewhat mental as the solution to going through the obstacle isn't intuitively obvious.

So if you're bored one night during this writers' strike, take a look at Ninja Warrior.