Special guest star

We welcome a diversity of voices here on "Channel Surfing," and from time to time will run insightful, witty and well-written guest pieces. This one comes from loyal reader "Smitty," who is very enthusiastic about "Cash Cab;" so much so that it has made him think that Bob Barker is the host of "Family Feud" and not "The Price is Right."

Can we talk guilty pleasures? (You know, besides hunting down that Screech porno ...)

Have you seen "Cash Cab?" It's a British game show import -- those wacky Brits, always thinking of goofy television when they should be focusing on dental hygiene -- that airs on the Discovery Channel during the day. You know, that time y'all are working and I'm still padding around the living room in my feetie pajamas, kicking a hangover.

Hosted by a stand-up named Ben Bailey -- an affable everydude with a Class E license, it seems -- the show picks up people off the street and gives them a ride in a tricked-out taxi that Bailey drives while giving out trivia questions.

The more questions you get right, the cash prize goes up. Get three wrong, he pulls over and you have to hoof it to your destination yourself. (I've seen the heartless bastard kick people out into the rain.) Then again, if you need help, you can phone a friend (that ol' "Millionaire" gimmick) or even ask somebody off the street. Which tends to be hilarious and/or surreal.

The best part about "Cash Cab" is that, like all game shows, you watch it with an element of fantasy projection. We'd all love to hop into a cab and play some stranger a round of Trivial Pursuit for a cool $1,000. Hell, most of us would just dig getting a free ride. The last time I took a taxi, a couple of weeks ago, the guy found out I was a reporter and tried to get me to review the book he self-published.

It's about a white guy who, like Camus' "The Stranger" on an "American Psycho" bender, starts killing Muslims left and right, apropos nothing. Osama's on the cover, he says. Not my bag of tea, I told him. He sounded depressed.

But I digress.

"Cash Cab." Set your TiVo. Call in sick. It's the best thing to happen to daytime since "The Family Feud."

(Side thought: The only things now keeping "Feud"-master Bob Barker alive are the series of levers, pulleys and spokesmodels propping him up and the continuous infusion of protein-rich leftovers from spayed and neutered animals, which gets fed to him via a tube into that coat pocket where he keeps 100-dollar bills.)