I downloaded a sample to do list spreadsheet from the Microsoft templates
section. It uses autofilter to create the drop down filter for "done" items.
It filters the three orginal tables & headers that came with the template.
That is to say that it retains and shows the headers of even empty tables
which is what I want. I then copied and pasted a fourth table, but the
autofilter really only affects the original three. None of these table are
yet very long (average 24 rows each), but I wish to expand beyond three
tables with headers.

If you can, you can quickly see the template at:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/te...CT062640421033