Arachnavision

On Sunday a couple nights ago, I sat down to watch the newest episode of The 4400. A few minutes into the show, I notice a modest-sized spider sitting on one side of my screen. So I hit pause on the TiVo, go over and grab a paper towel, and come back to pick off the offending critter.

Imagine my surprise to see the little guy still there when I pull my hand away.

I tilt my head a little bit and realize that there's no spider on my TV. It appears to be one of those little "gotchas" that sometimes creeps up in commercials or movies (or the kickass video game Eternal Darkness). I can't decide whether to be amused or annoyed that I've been had.

But then I stop and think about it for a second. Why in the hell would they just randomly put a spider on the screen in an episode of The 4400? So I grab my remote again and change the channel.

And the spider is still there.

See, I'm not one of those FancyPants with a plasma or LCD TV. I'm still rockin' the rear projection (and liking it just fine, thanks). And a spider has actually somehow crawled inside it and is now sitting on the other side of my screen, perfectly silhouetted in the projection. And it's utterly content there, it would seem -- it hasn't moved a bit since this whole escapade began.

Or maybe it's dead and somehow stuck there?

So I gently start smacking the edge of the box to maybe try and shock the thing to life. Sure enough, it starts to skitter for the far side of the screen and soon vanishes from sight.

I haven't seen the spider return in the two days since, but I've got my fingers crossed that it wasn't an egg layer that actually set up long-term shop inside my prized possession. Halloween may be coming up soon and all, but as freaky-fun as it might be to suddenly see a dozen spiders crawling across my screen when I invite someone over for a scary movie, the novelty would surely wear off almost immediately.