She, and 'Law and Order'.

Cable TV is crawling with Sandra Bullock.

'This is also a fact. It's much less of a freakout than the germs and viruses, but it's just as true. This week alone, on four different channels, you could watch 'Hope Floats,' 'Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous,' '28 Days' and 'The Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood.' The last three are on twice.

In my life, these two phenomena are inextricably entwined. Now, 'Premonition' notwithstanding (a film I saw in a private screening room two weeks ago because my job is to review movies - fancy, I know), I don't often watch Sandra Bullock's work in theaters, seated upright or wearing pants. I'm usually on the couch, in pajamas, covered in a blanket, eating soup. Because I like her best when I'm sick.

In fact, I've seen all of her post-'Speed' films - the only ones I care about, really - while ill. And I feel like they're a vital part of toxin elimination. They flush you. Their plots are generally simple, human motivations are clear, the comedies are funny enough, the dramas are more or less moving, cute men (and Harry Connick, Jr.) tend to want her, and the endings are unambiguous and satisfying.

They're very similar to a mild cold virus themselves: temporary, innocuous, easily battled and soothed with NyQuil, hot tea and my friend Kimberly's onion-and-garlic soup. So in a very real way, Sandra Bullock is my Hollywood nurse.'