Buffy The Vampire Slayer

ROUSH REVIEW

Too Much of a Good Thing Wednesday at 9: TV’s Most Overstuffed Hour

You know how some nights there’s nothing on? Doesn’t apply to Wednesday - especially the hour of 9 pm/ET, the week’s most overcrowded time slot, with not a loser in the block. I could make an argument for watching all of these shows.

The incumbent. Though lately it seems all the president’s men and women are in a sullen funk, NBC’s The West Wing remains appointment viewing for fans of that rarest entity: a TV show of impassioned ideas.

The class clown. Successfully moved from Mondays, CBS’s The King of Queens reigns as the hour’s sole comedy choice (paired with Becker). Kevin James may have slimmed down, but he’s lost none of his overgrown-kid appeal.

The reality fix. I’m no fan of dating shows, but I’ll concede that ABC’s The Bachelor can be hard to resist, especially as the field narrows. Even so, can Trista and Ryan just get married already? Bring on the next Bachelorette, please.

The guilty pleasure. The O.C. is Fox’s deliciously junky return to teen-soap delirium, so self-aware of its buzz that it already has begun poking fun at itself.

The cult hero. WB’s Angel nicely carries on the Buffy tradition of humor-laced horror, juiced up this season by the addition of vampire rival Spike.

The underdog. With this many choices, there’s inevitably a ratings also-ran: UPN’s charming light adventure Jake 2.0, about a computer geek-turned-superspy. The good news: UPN picked it up for a full season. When everything’s in repeats, do yourself a favor and check this out.