But even though this Delta touch screen didn’t include VH1 Classic – thus depriving me of the 829th viewing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony – it did come equipped with a dozen or so movies and the entire HBO stable of series. Sounds great, right? Yeah, and then comes the bad news that each movie costs $6 and each HBO ep $2.

The even worse news is that after I successfully coaxed my husband into handing over his credit card so I could watch “Charlie Wilson’s War,” the card wouldn’t properly slide through the payment thingy.

I should have taken that as a pre-Vegas omen, considering the way the rest of the weekend went.

But anyway….now left without entertainment I could pay for, I went for the free stuff. Delta’s channel selection consisted of NBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Bravo, FX, and a couple of others – many of which weren’t working, anyway – as well as the Food Network.

I’ve gotta say, I never got on the Food Network bandwagon. My husband is a fan of Giada De Laurentiis – though I’m pretty sure it has absolutely nothing to do with her culinary abilities – and I’ve watched the occasional Bobby Flay Throwdown, mostly because his ego is so astounding, it’s hilarious.

But, stuck on the flying bus for three and a half hours (and unaware that my new boyfriend, Rafael Nadal, was whipping someone’s butt in the Wimbledon’s semi-finals on NBC), I tuned into “The Next Food Network Star” for a few minutes.

And then, as unfortunately happens to me with reality shows, I was instantly hooked.

The episodes I watched – yes, plural – were from earlier this season, as most of the wannabes were still there, trying to impress Martha Stewart with their concoctions of marmalade and brie and weirdly textured peanut sauce.

But what impressed me the most was the brutal honesty of the selection committee – Flay, marketing expert Susie Fogelson and VP of Programming Bob Tuschman. They cut these hopefuls no slack.

When directed to tell a personal story about their chosen food dish – just like any good Food Network host—those who merely talked about the food where instantly dismissed. And even when the group was paired up to whip together their version of demanding dishes such as Beef Wellington and Turducken (a food that, frankly, scares the heck out of me) in a mere 30 minutes, the committee was ruthless in its critique of the food.

I’ve since checked the Food Network Web site to see which contestants still remain, and I was dismayed to see the sassy Shane the most recent castoff. But my money is on the perky, yet somehow not nearly as irritating as she should be Kelsey Nixon, the self-proclaimed “mini Martha Stewart” who actually fed Stewart her Sloppy Jane’s (OK, so she’s a little precious).

I’m not sure if I should be more thankful to Delta for providing me the opportunity to become addicted to another TV show or for actually serving me one of those tasty Biscoff cookies – yep a whole package of two cookies over nearly four hours in the air. Man, flying is just awesome.

Update: Another reason to fly Delta - http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-0709usairwayspoll,0,2581643,post.poll