By MIKE PEARSON, Scripps Howard News Service

You've spent the day on the slopes and now you're exhausted, but not quite ready for bed.
How to unwind? You could close down the hotel bar, but that might leave you a bit sluggish in the morning. Or you could watch something to help take the bite out of the frost.

This week marks a fairly momentous occasion in the annals of pop culture: It was 40 years ago this week that McDonald's introduced the Big Mac.Small potatoes, you say? Not when you consider that the Big Mac is now sold at stores in 120 countries worldwide.

What is it with the British and nature documentaries?David Attenborough has created a cottage industry with multipart series such as "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet" and "Life in Cold Blood."

Remember the days when, if you wanted to watch a vintage TV show -- say, "Three's Company" or "The Pretender" or "Air Wolf" -- you dusted off the VHS tapes in the closet or trotted to the video emporium?You can still do those things, but TV networks, movie studios and others are making viewing the past just a mouse click away on your computer.

Forget Big Brother (surveillance cameras on street corners and in malls).Television must be considered Big Mother: It comforts us, coddles us, lectures us and -- yes -- infuriates us. Turn it on, and it'll fill an empty room with its presence.