The evolution of the television set over the past decade has been almost unimaginable. With the death of ye olde cathode-ray tube, there’s little the modern hi-def monitor has in common with your parent’s 36-inch Toshiba much less your grandparent's black & white cabinet set.

And yet 1950s retro-futuristic technology made a mad comeback at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Yep, 3D TV inspired by far the most buzz, with Panasonic's TC-PVT25 3D plasma declared CNET's best in show and most every media outlet going gaga over newfangled 3D sets from Toshiba, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and LG.

The big question is do they work? Well, yes, and better than the ol' blue 'n' red glasses did in the drive-in days. But you still have to wear goofy glasses. Or rather, expensive goofy glasses which could run as high as $200.

I’ve never actually watched TV on a 3D set—because, well, there isn't really any 3D TV to watch yet—but I have played videogames on one. And while it was pretty jaw-dropping to play Ubisoft's Avatar game in three actual dimensions, it also messed up my aim something terrible. Enough time and I would have been able to suss it out, I hope, but it seemed more gimmick than gameplay. We’ll see if TV can do better.

So far a few 3D networks have already been announced—and as with regular high-def, sports and nature docs look the gee whizz-iest so ESPN and Discovery/IMAX/Sony are already on board. Still, it may be some time yet before the rest of us get up on that bandwagon.

For more pressing developments out of CES, Skype is coming to a TV set near you, further eroding Ma Bell’s retro landlines by bringing Jetsons-style video phones to the masses. The internet in general is coming to TV, with sets jacking directly into your wireless signal—though some will only connect to sites like Pandora, Netflix and Blockbuster while others will have fully functional browsers. Also, expect iPhone-style apps to start appearing on TVs, threatening the hegemony of cable and satellite companies. 

Still, those are but small steps for TV while the message out of CES is that 3D is one giant leap for TV kind. Then again, we never really did go back to the moon much, did we?