WHEN IT COMES to television, I’m not a big fan. Most of what I see on TV makes me want to spit and rinse. But somehow, inexplicably, I’ve been invited to two boob tube extravaganzas recently. One was for the Super Bowl — the mother of all TV days. The other is a Sopranos season opener at the hills home of Big Rick Stuart and Audio Vidya. Yes, these are radio DJs (Rick is on KFOG and Vidya is a Live 105 alum), but they’re also HBO junkies, and they’ve turned me into one, too.

Still, I’m not so hooked on a TV show that I watch it with the neighbors — clad only in pajamas. This is how far things have gone on Trestle Glen. And, coincidentally, it’s more radio people.

Katie O’Shea (KGO Traffic) and Dianne Nicolini (mid-days on KDFC) are part of a group that meets every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. to watch “24.” “At three minutes to 9, we all arrive, and there’s really no talking until the commercials,” says O’Shea, who adds that the host of the week shares a little wine and a treat or two.

And why the pajamas? Because radio folks don’t worry about what they wear. They’re never seen!

Speaking of TV

Have you heard of the new reality TV show where mothers swap families? Reader Heather Marchman says there’s a casting call right now for this new show, which doesn’t have a name yet. But out of the 41 reality shows that are currently in the works, this one sounds the most interesting. After all, what mother hasn’t had this fantasy — at least for a moment?

Have a heart

Chuck Harrison, a big force behind the new large mailbox at Mountain and Colton, is healing after a double bypass on Jan. 29, according to his wife, Cathy Harrison. Chuck felt an odd pain in his chest. Fortunately, he had it checked out. It was caused by blockage due to calcification.

Doctors at Summit Medical Center debated the right course of action — at a public conference forum going on while Chuck’s health plans were being formulated. Now, as a “model patient,” he’s become the hospital’s hero.

E-mail bag

My recent column item on what travel writers see in our town triggered this e-mail from Troy Christmas: “I just read your column and I couldn’t agree more about the need to trumpet Oakland.” Troy runs a community resource Web site — weloveoakland.com — and says he’s adding Oakland-centric e-cards and a local scholarship board soon.

If you have any other ideas on how to promote Oakland, contact Troy through his Web site.

Back in time

The 21st century has barely begun, and already I want to go back. Back to a time when entertainment meant music, dancing, laughter and jokes. Back to a big band dance on the USS Hornet.

On New Year’s Eve, I watched in amazement as couples boarded the ship in World War II clothing. They danced the Lindy and the Jitterbug with reckless abandon, flying across the floor while the orchestra played.

Word has it that spirits haunt the Hornet — the ghosts of sailors who died on the ship. But if there are phantoms, they’re friendly, and love a good party as much as the rest of us. Log on to http://www.uss-hornet.org to fine out more about the next big dance on the ship that’s called “The Gray Ghost.”

Punny plates

John S. spotted this on a colossal vehicle in Piedmont: the vanity plates “Whtwail.”

And Cynthia T. passes this along from her commute down Park Boulevard: the plate “75swngr” on a vintage sedan with a bobbing hula girl in the back window.