What shows have you watched out of desperation as you wait for the strike drought to end?

Several years ago, after a friend of mine ran the Marine Corps Marathon (and I slipped on a banana peel in the finish area), she told me that the last two-tenths of a mile had been the hardest for her. She’d been so focused on getting to mile 26, she’d forgotten all about the .2, and had to force herself to mentally regroup. I wonder if we, the TV addicts, will experience a similar fate in regards to the writers’ strike. Were we so focused on getting a deal signed that we didn’t think about what would happen next: Will these final weeks until our DVRs are flooded with new episodes prove the most difficult?

According to an informal poll taken last night at my friend Sheila’s birthday dinner, sometime during the second pitcher of sangria, the answer may very well be yes. We went around the table and talked about our lowest point during the strike, when we watched a program that we never would have sat through had the season progressed as usual, and those moments were all recent. Apparently, after Sheila blew through all five new episodes of In Treatment as soon as they appeared on HBO on Demand, she found herself turning to what many of you will consider the unthinkable: Two and a Half Men (pictured). Our friend Ian, it should be noted, involuntarily outed himself as having seen an episode when he joined us in singing the “Men, men, men, men, manly men…” theme song — which we did only to prove to the other side of the table how annoying it is. As in, I used to tape the show, and the song was the reason I stopped.

My friend Robb then attempted to top Sheila’s confession by admitting that he’s seen every episode of Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle, and had just watched a 1997 TV movie called Every 9 Seconds, starring Caroline in the City‘s Amy Pietz, on “one of the Lady Networks.” His argument would’ve been stronger had he not added that Christopher Meloni, playing Gail O’Grady’s abusive husband, appeared shirtless.

Your turn. What has been your low point during the strike, and how do you plan on making it through these final weeks? (A new episode of Bones airs April 14, friends. We can make it if we stick together. The center must hold.)

addCredit(“Two and a Half Men: Greg Gayne/Warner Bros”)