It's Memorial Day. Do You Know Where Your Remote Is?

In between grilling copious amounts of brats and burgers, remembering our troops and taking naps outside, please note that Memorial Day also offers a great opportunity for TV watching.

Like the days leading up to Christmas, Memorial Day is rife with TV marathons. If you have an addictive personality, just need to catch up on some old favorites, or if you just have nothing else to do and hate the sun, today is just for you. Here's what's coming on:

• TNT is showing 13 episodes of the original Law & Order today. With so many episodes at their disposal it would have made sense to have a theme for the episodes like "creepiest criminals," "make-ups and break-ups," etc. That was kind of a missed opportunity.
  

• Jon & Kate Plus 8 takes over TLC today.
  

• Oxygen is running back-t0-back episodes of Bad Girls Club this morning followed by Deion & Pillar: Prime Time Love this afternoon. I tell you this just so you can avoid that station at all costs today.
  

• Animal Planet is running their popular advice show It's Me Or The Dog. I always thought this show was truly an ultimatum and a boyfriend or girlfriend would have to decide between the dog and the partner. It's really just Dog Whisperer with a second-hand Cesar Milan. My show would've been a lot more interesting.
  

• In an odd choice, FX decided to run back-to-back episodes of That 70's Show. Even if their original shows (Nip/Tuck, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) are too raunchy for daytime, they could've at least picked a good comedy, or maybe just some old movies.
  

• MSNBC is running one of my favorite series' Lock Up. Sidenote, my roommate and I were watching the show last night and at Kentucky State Pen, prisoners with good behavior can get moved to the minimum security house. The house has cable, a stocked fridge, a vegetable garden and it's on the lake. Basically, it's better than our apartment.
  

• For those of you who like to kick it old school, BET is airing Diff'rent Strokes all day.
  

• And in an odd twist, MTV is running back-to-back eps of American Gladiators. I'm not quite sure how or why.
  

So have a safe and happy Memorial Day. Don't drink and drive, wear sunscreen, and avoid the Oxygen at all costs.

Prison Shows: Or Why I Should Probably Get Out More

Since I started grad school I have had a weird obsession with prison documentaries. I don't know if the two are related or not. Maybe I empathize with people who are locked in to the system, and can't go home anytime they choose. Or perhaps I'm just super lame now and I have spent more Saturday nights at home, primetime for jail shows.

I started with MSNBC's Lock Up. This series profiles life inside America's most dangerous prisons. Each episode takes us across the country to a new correctional facility where we learn about the gangs, the worst offenders, the food, the homemade shanks and what happens once people leave. Now, MSNBC is doing extra episodes at San Quentin. The series, Lockup San Quentin: Extended Stay, discusses everything you always wanted to know about this place. There is even a whole hour dedicated to the conjugal visit, and trust me, those things are a lot different than you'd think.

Last night, I watched a similar series on the Discovery-Times channel called Locked Up. (I guess prison documentaries are running short on names.) This series profiled inmates at the Dixon Correctional Institute in Louisiana. From what I can tell, this program only has three episodes titled, "Settling In," "Doin' Time,: and "Getting Out." Each one provided insight into life in Dixon. It was surprisingly more interesting than expected because in Louisiana, every prisoner is required to do hard labor. The show followed new arrivals on their first trip to chicken processing plant. Yikes. One guy almost threw up from the smell. In a different episode, workers who earned trustee status were highlighted. Their jobs included training and grooming horses on a ranch and working as a custodian at the state office buildings.

These documentaries not only showcase an intricate system that most people know little about, but it also humanizes a population that is too quickly forgotten and/or brushed off.