Behind the Wall

So last night, my 15-year-old TV in the bedroom has decided that it's going to start going tits-up on us. The image will randomly carry any of the following symptoms:
1. Static, ranging from light to heavy. In other words, picture would become snowy, black and white, etc.
2. Vertical orientation pushing image to the bottom of the screen
3. Vertical picture compression.
4. Audio would be nothing but static.

Providing blunt force to the unit worked, but very briefly, then not at all.
I tried the following troubleshooting procedures:
1. Removed the RF adaptor from the equation, putting the cable box directly to the TV. No joy.
2. Swapped cables between cable box and TV. No joy.

Since the TV in the living room did not suffer any of these problems, I think we can rule out cable problems.

So, we're going to look for a new TV. SInce Circuit City is also going belly up, we're going to go there tonight and check out flat panels.
I'm looking at anywhere around 21", hopefully under $200 or so.
If that fails, I'll settle for a flatscreen tube that's under $200 from anywhere else.
I'm already building my comparison grid.

I just read that SciFi Channel is not going to continue with Stargate SG1 after the end of this season.
*sigh*
Another favorite show ends its run prematurely, in my opinion.

I wonder how far in advance this was planned. Are they now going to rush the current storyline, like they did with season four of Babylon 5, compressing at least another season's worth of material into just a few short weeks?
How are they going to wrap this up? When will the Silly Switch be thrown? Shall we prime the shark?

When is the Fall Preview issue of TV Guide going to hit the stands? I'd like to plan my Friday nights now, since my usual shows are ending their seasons either soon or already (Monk, Psych, SG1, Atlantis...).