LINCOLN – If Samuel Wallace had to choose between watching the Boston Red Sox win a World Series game or getting a three-hour daily dialysis treatment that helps keep him alive, he probably would choose the latter.

But it would be a very close call.

And anyway, the 51-year-old Highland Falls resident thinks he really should have it both ways.

Wallace and 14 other patients at the Lincoln Lakes Regional Dialysis Center want their MTV, their Red Sox World Series wins, their soap operas, their Jerry Springer and their Oprah – even their tacky reality TV shows.

The patients complain that the center’s lack of cable television service makes the center a miserable place to get dialysis treatments, which can take as long as four hours to complete.

“It’s a long, boring day if you don’t have anything to do,” said Wallace, who suffers from almost total kidney failure. “A lot of the folks here end up sleeping through most of their treatments, so it throws off their day and their ability to sleep at night.”

Some patients try to read or talk among themselves, but those are stopgap measures, especially for patients who endure daily treatments or can’t see very well, said Dawn Cavley, a nurse from Millinocket who helps patients at the center. Center workers set up card or bingo games, with equally mixed results.

“There’s just not much to do except watch television,” Cavley said.

The situation is exceedingly awkward for patients. A dozen new televisions have been on-hand since June awaiting cable service that is at least partially a gift.

Acting upon a request from Town Manager Glenn Aho, Adelphia Communications of Augusta has agreed to waive about $1,200 in installation fees, plus give three months of free service, to help out the center, Shelley Winchenbach, a government relations manager for Adelphia Communications, said.

“We decided it would be a good thing for the dialysis center because people often go for four hours at a time for their treatment without something to pass the time,” she said during a telephone interview. “Now they can watch television.”

The service has been delayed because Adelphia has been awaiting the installation of a new utility pole, Winchenbach said.

“It just takes some time to set up,” the spokeswoman said. The installation should occur within the next two weeks, Winchenbach said.

The patients are grateful for the contribution. They said that since the center opened in June, it has been a godsend, sparing many of them long daily trips to Bangor.

Now they look forward to seeing Boston win the World Series – if the installation occurs in time.