Besides watching the (not available for preview) "Cavemen" premiere last night, as well as recent doses of "Carpoolers," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Aliens in America," "30 Rock," "The Office," "My Name Is Earl," "How I Met Your Mother," "Two and a Half Men," "Girlfriends" and the overall picture is, well, mixed. …

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One of the best episodes of "The Wonder Years" had young Kevin going to his father's office and seeing, up close, what made his father such a grump at home. Tonight, "Everybody Hates Chris" used much the same theme. Chris, needing money for a leather jacket, worked for his father at the old man's newspaper-delivery job, and saw his father through other adults' eyes. As was the case on "The Wonder Years," he also got a taste of how a paycheck puts a limit on personal independence and dignity.

It was a pretty good episode, with two nice caps to the leather jacket story — one when Chris's father pays him for his work, another when Chris finally gets the jacket.

I bring this up not just because I like "Chris" but because anyone who watched "The Wonder Years" should also be drawn to this show. You've got the adult narrator, the self-aware kid, the warm but not overly idealized family, the humor and the thoughtful view of life. "Wonder Years" was more deliberately dramatic, where "Chris" prefers a gentler touch to serious issues. But they're both sharp shows, with a great deal in common.

Then again, I may have just felt something in the air. After all, Fred Savage is on Thursday nights, too, over in the ensemble on the improving "Crumbs,"

My friend and colleague Diane Werts has written a new book about Christmas on television. It's one of those "gee, I wish I thought of it" ideas, and one that Diane has been working on for years, and a topic that could call for regular, newly updated editions of the book.

When she gets around to a new edition, I hope she gives all praise to the Christmas episode of "Everbody Hates Chris," which was about as realistic a portrayal of the holiday season as you can find in a TV show.

For those of you who missed it — and you have a second chance to see it at 8 p.m. Monday — it has Chris wanting a special gift for Christmas. But the family has an unexpected expense and can't afford it. Gifts have already been bought for Chris's brother and sister, so they won't suffer, but Chris has to be satisfied with an explanation of why he won't get his gift.

So what happens? Chris handles it. He accepts his situation, even puts on a positive face for the rest of the family. And — this may be the best part — he still doesn't get the gift. There's no phony-baloney, present-from-heaven ending on this. He just doesn't get it. In fact, the show ends with a moment of charity that is so wrong-headed to Chris's family, you can see that they don't mind doing without some things; they're still proud of what they have managed.

It's great stuff. There are also some laughs along the way, and a subplot about Chris's sister that is nicely handled, but I keep coming back to how well the show deals with Chris not getting the gift. (The replay on Monday is also the first of four "Chris" replays this week, at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, so you have several chances to see the show if you haven't already.)

In doing so, it avoids a mistake a lot of shows make. They assume that there has to be a big, sentimental payoff, a gratification of a wish, a reward for a good deed. Life doesn't always work that way. We have to find our happiness in the life we have, and in the emotions we feel, and not in the stuff we get.

There's an old Richard Pryor routine about — as well as I can remember it — a mean dog. And one day, when Pryor is feeling bad, the dog actually feels Pryor's pain and is momentarily sympathetic. But the dog also warns Pryor that, the next day, he's going to be back on Pryor's case. Christmas is like that, too. We get a day that should be warm and fuzzy, but the next day, we're back to our old lives. So we have to forget about the stuff and hold onto those feelings that will carry us through the day after Christmas, and the day after that.

I mean, "It's a Wonderful Life" is the best Christmas movie ever made, and it has that happy ending, but like a lot of Frank Capra's work, it doesn't pretend that the world is suddenly all better. George Bailey has gotten out of a jam, but the savings & loan will still struggle. Potter is still out there, spinning his webs (and now he has some of the Bailey money to spin them with). George's vision of his impact on the world is also a reminder of how easily things can fall apart for people. But George has a good heart, and a strong will, and they will help him get through any struggle.

Chris's family is also strong and good. Their life is not perfect, but they have the hope, love and determination to get through bad times — and to make even the bad times feel pretty good.

This was Saturday night at the House of Heldenfels: While my wife ironed, I worked on a newsletter for the arts-booster group at our son's high school. When the ironing was done, we worked together on the newsletter.

This was Sunday night: Having made 500 copies of the newsletter that afternoon, we folded them and stuffed them into envelopes. Next up is labeling, followed by getting them mailed.

In between, we saw our son perform twice in a show at his school. Students had to pick and perform show tunes, and he did a little comedic piece that showed him off well. Such moments bring out the proud papa in me — I can't deny I have a certain amount of bias in favor of my son, but I can also see how he has grown and improved at performing. Then there was the putting up of a new storm door on the front of the house.

It went well until it came time to put the handle on, when the limitations of my drill, and my limitations at drilling, became evident; we have someone coming to take care of the handle today. (Later Monday: It's fixed, just in time for the crummy weather heading our way.)

On the TV side, I caught a little bit of football and managed to catch up on some TV from the last couple of weeks: "My Name Is Earl" (still funny), "Everybody Hates Chris" (not as good as usual last week), "The Office" (liked the Friday/Saturday prank, thought the main plot dragged), "Gilmore Girls."

I wasn't entirely pleased to see the Lorelai/Rory reconciliation because it felt so abrupt; even if Rory had been worrying about her life for some weeks, the Jess-inspired epiphany seemed like a let's-get-this-done-during-sweeps story. (Similarly, the Luke-has-a-daughter plot looked like a clumsy way to keep the wedding stalled.) And trust me, if you tried to stake out the Beacon Journal's office to get a job, you would not find the success Rory had. So I'm hoping that there will still be issues between Rory and Lorelai, not a return to their old relationship as if nothing happened; at least we know that Emily is not done feeling hurt.

I hope to catch up on some other things, and to file a few more posts here before Thanksgiving. Definitely planning a few notes about tomorrow's "Nip/Tuck," where a former "American Dreams" star goes for a big makeover — and I don't mean the plastic surgery kind.

As I said in a previous post, I've had the TV blahs this week. And on Thursday night, "Survivor" just added to the feeling. But before I went to sleep, I gave one more show a chance, pulling "Everybody Hates Chris" off the DVR. And felt better for doing it. What a good show — funny, sweet, unpredictable, with characters I'm happy to spend a half-hour with every week. If you haven't found the show yet, you get a couple of chances next week — in the show's regular time slot at 8 p.m. Thursday, and in back-to-back reruns from 9 to 10 p.m. Tuesday.