It's 9 p.m. on a Thursday night, and I am overcome with guilt.

Maybe "overcome with guilt" is too strong a way to put it, but I do feel regret over missing dinner with some out-of-town relatives for 60 minutes of television. (It's actually 44 minutes if you don't count the commercials.)

With the ongoing writers strike, I've been keeping close tabs on the few shows I regularly watch. There was only one episode left for "My Name Is Earl" and "30 Rock." Those episodes were just broadcast, and I was watching them.

But my relatives, who I get to see once a year, were dining without me.

Does that make me a bad person?