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BOTTOM LINE: TBS is my go-to channel when I want to laugh out loud. It strikes the perfect combination between world class sitcom reruns and feel-good movies.

Grade: B+

When I'm feeling bad, bored, or blue, TBS is just what the doctor ordered. The network that declares itself "very funny" definitely lives up to its own billing.

CLASSIC SITCOMS

TBS's stock in trade is showing encore performances of long-running, classic situation comedies. There's something for everyone in the TBS lineup: Sex and the City; Seinfeld; King of Queens; Fresh Prince of Bel Air; My Name Is Earl; and much, much more. Even if you think you've seen every episode of these great shows, you'd be surprised how often you notice something new while watching them on TBS, and how good it feels to know when a big punch line is coming up.

ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING

In addition to "best of" sitcoms and lighthearted comedy films, TBS produces an impressive slate of comedies in its own right. With so many other networks focusing on reality programming and crime dramas, it's a relief to know that TBS is carrying the comedy torch.

Set in Denver, The Bill Engvall Show features its title actor as a family counselor whose own family's antics bring to mind the old cliche, "the cobbler's children have no shoes." Another family based comedy, Tyler Perry's House of Payne,

Ten Items or Less is the story of a prodigal son who inherits a grocery store from his father. Improv comic John Lehr stars, and the show moves quickly as the stock boy, the cashier, the butcher, and the produce-primping girlfriend move effortlessly from scripted lines to improv routines.

Our Massive Planet is a hilarious nature show in the tradition of Planet Earth, but with clueless nature narrators played by comics Jim Gaffigan and Jordan Rubin.

COMMERCIAL BREAKS WORTH WATCHING

TBS knows how to make old movies seem new again, with its two blockbuster movie night shows: Dinner & A Movie and Movie & A Makeover. In Dinner & A Movie, viewers enjoy watching hosts Paul Gilmartin and Janet Varney and chef Claud Mann prepare and enjoy a menu and meal themed to go with the night's movie. Eight years in the running and going strong, Dinner & A Movie is a unique formula that works for TBS.

Another winning formula is Makeover & A Movie, which airs on weekends. On this popular program, viewers enjoy a funny weekend feature film while host Mia Butler walks the through a dramatic makeover - of a couple, of a girl on a first date, of a dull dining room or an overgrown garden.

Movie Extra combines feature films with entertainment news breaks, and Weekend Extra takes Movie Extra over the top to give viewers an experience that makes them feel like entertainment industry insiders.

EARLY DAYS

TBS's comedy theme is a fairly recent development. The network began as "SuperStation WTBS," a national cable channel based in Atlanta that aired hours of local sports programming. In 2007, WTBS and TBS became two different channels. The new channel WPCH, known as "Peachtree TV" broadcasts 45 Atlanta Braves baseball games every season, along with some of the same sitcoms and movies that TBS now offers.

Learn more about this author, Marilyn Lindblad.
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