True, cable has its limits. It's best for watching movies, old and new, usually uncut and uninterrupted. It's good for confirming one's suspicion that the wonderful world of politics is dominated by scoundrels and idiots and their admirers. There's news 24 hours at your beck, though about 80 percent of it is of the inconsequential feature variety. There's sports, if that's your taste. And The Weather Channel. And local access, which is like watching paint refuse to dry. But despite the fact that the cable revolution has been thus far a bit short on new ideas (though let's not undervalue those movies), it's still got the networks beat all to hell, content-wise—which is why, when Pat Robertson recently crowed that network viewing was down by at least 50 percent (he managed to imply total responsibility for this phenomenon), I figured that even if ol' Pat's as unreliable as any zealot when it comes to cold hard facts, this time he was probably on the money.

As if that weren�t sad enough, the beleaguered networks now face another threat—a fourth entity, the Fox Network, alternative TV you don�t need a cable for, or so goes the hype. The Fox shows are scheduled to appear on one of your local UHF stations and by the time this is printed will no doubt be well on their way toward establishing a prime time beachead. Fox started with The Joan Rivers Show last fall (no comment) and, as I write, is attempting to take over Sunday night. I�ve caught a few episoded of their first three series and, in that endearingly unfair way I have, am ready to render judgement. Now, remember the premise: alternative fare, something you won�t see on the old networks, hip, brash, the cutting edge of commercial TV. Got it?