Filling in for TV Watch regular Wayne Friedman while he’s on vacation today. Wayne and others have their own approaches to this column, but I always viewed it as news analysis piece summing up the TV industry story of the day. So whenever I fill in, I usually start the same way: I go to Google News and type in “television” -- and voila, my column is almost written for me. Nah, seriously, TV is a subject people love to talk about, and write about, so it’s almost impossible to get a fresh angle on it. Unless you pull way, way back and take a meta view of it. So that’s what I’m doing today -- putting the way the media covers TV on the couch, so to speak -- and analyzing it from a broader perspective.

So here’s how the past 24 hours or so stacked up:

No. 1: “Breaking Bad.” Um, not much of a surprise there, right? It’s only one of the best shows -- ever -- on television. And there are only seven episodes left after Sunday’s resumption of the series on AMC. By the way, as an interesting side note, when I went to the AMC website to fact-check that, it recognized my ISP as Optimum Online, and kept popping up windows offering me to watch full episodes on AMC.com (take that, Time Warner).

Most of the coverage surrounding “Breaking Bad’s” return, not surprisingly, had to do with its impressive ratings. But a few critics groused about it’s lead-out, the premiere of new AMC series, “Low Winter Sun.” I didn’t see it, because much as I am a “Breaking Bad” fan, the promos did not connect with me. So I don’t suppose I’ll be using AMC.com to watch the full epsiode anytime soon.

http://qz.com/114483/amc-is-succeeding-by-breaking-the-rules-of-legacy-television/

No. 2: “Low Winter Sun.” Say no more (see above).

http://www.freep.com/article/20130812/ENT03/308120114/Low-Winter-Sun-ratings-Detroit

No. 3: The future of television. Actually, this was part four in an excellent series about the medium’s inflection point published by Motley Fool. In this installment, author Doug Ehrman explores new “advanced options” for accessing television, including Intel’s OnCue, Google (YouTube), and Disney’s and Time Warner’s over-the-top plays. Might as well add AMC and Cablevision’s Optimum Online service to that mix (see above).

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/08/12/profiting-from-the-battle-for-the-future-of-televi.aspx

No. 4: Fox’s “Hillarygate.” Seriously, are these guys still fuming about the fact that Fox is producing a miniseries about Hlillary Clinton for NBC? Apparently, some nerves have been calmed in GOP circles about this, which only leads me to believe what I’ve been speculating on all along: that it will be produced by Fox News Chief Roger Ailes (that's just my speculation, of course).

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/08/12/hillary-clinton-nbc-miniseries-fox-television/

No. 5: Children’s poor motor control skills linked to watching too much TV. An American Academy of Pediatrics study found that exposure to more than two hours of television per day can diminish children’s vocabulary, math skills and ability to pay attention. Thay dident sey anyding abowt spellen, thoe.

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2013/08/10/study-childrens-poor-motor-social-skills-linked-to-too-much-television-watching/

No. 6: Don’t turn that dial (um, what’s a dial?). So much for those motley fools at Motley Fool, it seems like the next advanced option for television may involve turning the dial. Consumer electronics markerer LG is introducing a new TV set that uses an old-school rotary dial. Go figure.

http://www.gizmag.com/lg-retro-classic-tv/28663/

No. 7: Anthony Weiner exposes TV spots. The New York City mayoral hopeful released his first TV ad Monday in which he casts himself as the anti-establishment prick for City Hall. (Sorry, that should have read pick, but I’m sure you can blame that on the fact that I watched way more than two hours of television a day when I was a kid.)

http://news.yahoo.com/anthony-weiner-unveils-first-television-ad-in-nyc-mayoral-race-120857851.html

No. 8: Chinese spending a tenth of each day watching television. A China Central Television study estimates the average Chinese citizen watches two hours and 38 minutes of TV per day -- which, if the American Academy of Pediatrics study is applicable, means the U.S. has nothing to worry about from the next generation of Chinese.

http://www.china.usc.edu/(S(dxz3pp550rqson4540j5dm55)X(1)A(4HE_iQq1zgEkAAAAYWVhYWY4ZTktN2FhYS00ODgxLWIxNTYtN GNmYzc4NjkxMGY4gp0MZeklo2VjxqN4gPamhikkUmk1))/ShowAverageDay.aspx?articleID=2446

No. 9: Twitter’s long tail begins wagging TV’s old dogs. Following a New York Times expose on how real-time tweets from TV fans is beginning to influence the way TV producers and writers make TV, a number of critics, bloggers, and yes, tweeters, have weighed in on the “Twitter effect.” Actually, I predict a show with that title will be on one of the networks’ prime-time schedules next fall, though it definitely will not be on AMC’s.

http://io9.com/how-twitter-has-changed-the-way-that-television-is-made-1094365400

No. 10:  The water cooler gets cool again. Partly due to the  Sunday Times’ “Post-Water-Cooler TV” piece by Lorne Manly, water coolers are cool again. Or at least, people -- like Wired’s Ryan Tate -- seem to be weighing in on the fact that media is becoming so personalized, we might be losing the kind of connective tissue that TV and water coolers used to represents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/arts/television/how-to-m ake-a-tv-drama-in-the-twitter-age.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.wired.com/business/2013/08/personal-television-horror/