Must see TV.

You know how it goes: You're channel surfing and come across a particular movie, and no matter how much time is left in the show, you stop and watch the rest. These movies have some kind of hold on us, whether it's great film-making or simple nostalgia.

For me, the original must-see movie on TV was Dirty Dancing. The first summer that we had our college apartment, my roomies and I had super cheap (maybe free?) HBO for the first few months. This was 1988, and DD was in heavy rotation. It seems like anytime we'd turn on the TV, we'd see Johnny and Baby, dancing away, always having the time of their lives while carrying a watermelon. It got to be a joke: If a movie was on TV, nine times out of 10 it was Dirty Dancing.

Just a little while ago I was looking for some football and came across Dirty Dancing's last two minutes. Yet again, I stopped flipping channels, just so I could see that dance floor filled with Kellerman's guests, dancing at the end-of-season show. Oh, Swayze. What a looker you were!

But it's not just that movie. Several others—romantic comedies all—have joined my must-stop-flipping-and-watch list. Among them, in no particular order:

• Overboard - There is absolutely no reason why I should like a movie about a woman who is kidnapped and put into slavery. But with that kind of realism, how could I NOT? Speaking of heavy rotation, somebody must've paid TBS to run this puppy. Seems like it was on three times a day for a while there.
• When Harry Met Sally... - I never get tired of this one, and with so many fall-over funny scenes, it's a can't-miss movie. I still have an unfulfilled longing to visit NYC in the fall (and wear cheesy '80s sweaters) because of this one.
• 50 First Dates - Gotta love a good amnesia story! Another preposterous plot (she REALLY gets caught up on all she's missed with one videotape every single day?), but what a cute couple. This movie's the Cool Whip of rom-coms: fluffy with just enough sweetness. 
• You've Got Mail - Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, exploring the worldwide web of romance? Oh, yeah. Even though the bookstore scenes kill me, the couple's chemistry is so much fun to watch. I still think of this movie every time I sharpen a new batch of Dixon Ticonderogas in the fall.
• Sleepless in Seattle - Again with the on-screen chemistry. Meg and Tom (as Annie and Sam) are so good together, and even though they're not actually TOGETHER for 99 percent of the movie, it's still fun to watch them heading toward that first touch. (But good grief, that look they give each other at the end? Awkward!)
• The Proposal - A recent addition to the list, this flick has a quirky kind of appeal. Plus, any movie that includes The Office's Oscar performing a striptease can't be all bad. (Ryan Reynolds ain't too shabby, either.)

What's funny is that I own most of these on DVD, but that doesn't keep me from stopping should I come across one on U-verse.