So the President gave his annual report to Congress last night, and like usual I didn’t pay much attention. No matter who is in office I normally skip these speeches. For some reason listening to new programs being suggested, and even more ways to waste money Uncle Sam doesn’t have, isn’t high on my list of things to do during the course of an evening. For the record, I also don’t tune into political conventions. I hear enough of this crap throughout the year; watching these staged weeklong celebrations would be enough to send me over the edge.

Despite my dislike of State of the Union speeches, I did catch a few minutes of this year’s edition. While flipping channels I noticed that MSNBC and CNN had a slight delay in-between their broadcasts, so if I went from CNN to MSNBC I could catch the same three-second sound bite, which made whatever it was Bush said sound much more important than it probably was. And even though I loathe the beast, I had to laugh when Hitlery and friends stood up and applauded after Bush said his Social Security reform plans were killed last year.

The only reason I watched any part of the State of the Union speech was because I was waiting for my favorite show to start – "The Shield." I’ve been a viewer of this program since it first aired in 2002, and ever since “NYPD Blue” ended, “The Shield” is the only show I regularly watch when it is a first-run broadcast.

This past Christmas I bought seasons 1-3 of the “The Shield” (retail priced reduced by more than $30 each of course) and watched them again from start to finish. It was interesting because not having to wait a week (and sometimes a year in-between seasons) to watch new episodes I saw a number of the characters in a different light. For example, my opinion of Vic Mackey diminished while I felt more sympathy for Claudette after she lost her shot at being named captain of the Barn. However, some things remained the same: I still can’t stand Shane’s wife, and Dutch, despite being one of my favorite characters, is still on my shit list for killing that kitty a few seasons ago. (If you haven’t seen this show chances are you have no idea what I’m talking about. Too bad.)

Some other thoughts I have regarding characters on The Shield:

Detective Vic Mackey: The main character, he tries to have a love/hate relationship with the viewer. When he’s not busting bad guys, he’s making deals with them and taking a little drug money off the top. Vic is the face of the show, and although he’s not my favorite character he is what makes many viewers tune in every week.

Detective Shane Vendrell: Everybody’s favorite redneck cop in Los Angeles. Like Vic it’s hard to feel sympathy for him, especially since he married that bitch he calls a wife. What I find amusing about Walton Goggins, who plays Shane, is that I can’t stop thinking of his role in the 1997 movie “The Apostle.” In that film Goggins plays a wholesome, god-fearing man named “Sam,” who is the pretty much the opposite of his Vendrell role.

Detective Curtis “Lemonhead“ Lemansky: Lem was one of those characters who I didn’t really think too much about when I was watching first-run episodes, but when seeing him on DVD I started to take more of a liking to the “surfer” of the Strike Team.

Detective Ronnie Gardocki: Eh, he’s there. He got skin from his BUTT and had it put on his face after being burned by that guy in season 2. However, I think he’s the father of Danny’s baby. If a member of Vic’s team is going to be taken out, it’ll probably be Ronnie.

Officer Julien Lowe: Ah, gay Julian. He was featured prominently in season 1 with his “I-not-a-homo-but-I-love-the-cock” dilemma. It’s a shame Gay Julian hasn’t resurfaced, because he was one bad mo’ fo. I do like the fact that the rookie officer he’s now in charge of training is prissy little bitch because as of right now there is absolutely no sexual tension between the two, which makes it funny to watch her screw up and unable to rely on her looks to find an easy way out.

Officer Dannyelle “Danny” Sofer: Next to Dutch, Danny is probably my favorite character on the show. I laughed out loud at last nights episode when Gay Julian’s partner was trying to say that Danny was no longer the “Queen B” around the office and then made a remark about her pregger looks. After seeing all the dues Danny has paid in the first several seasons, it was funny listening to her rip into this rookie who had no idea what she was getting herself into.

Detective Claudette Wyms: I really dug her character in the first season, but after she got screwed out of being David Aceveda’s replacement as captain, she has seemed to be without a purpose. Sadly, it looks like they might be writing her out this season with the medical problem she’s coping with.

Detective Holland “Dutch’ Wagenbach: My favorite character on the show. Quirky and brilliant, he’s made me laugh a number of times with his off-color remarks. But like I said earlier, even with all these positives, there’s a special place in hell for those that kill cats. Him and Claudette had some great interaction early in the series, but it seems to have tailed off.

Captain/Councilman David Aceveda: The Captain turned City Councilman. I think of him as Vic Mackey with a suit. In some ways, I feel more pity toward Aceveda, especially since he was raped a few seasons ago and couldn’t really tell anyone about it (look at how his power-hungry wife flipped out over hearing that news).

There are other characters to comment on, to be sure, but some have been written out (like Glenn Close’s Captain Monica Rawling character) or have yet to really make an impact (such as Forest Whitaker’s Lt. Tom Kavanaugh character this year). And while this is my favorite show on television, I only hope that this series ends the way it started: with a bang.