TV Shows

CW Returns to Cablevision Subscribers

I complained bitterly a few weeks ago about my cable company’s fight with Tribune, and how the result was that we, the viewers, were being punished by losing access to the CW network (and, apparently, Fox if you live in Connecticut). However, I was overjoyed to get the following email from Cablevision this morning, even if it was a bit stiff: Thanks for bearing with us while we negotiated with Tribune, the owner of the stations in your area that were recently removed from Optimum. The process took longer than it should have but simply conceding to Tribune’s demands could…

Editorials, Game Diary

Two Longest Running TV Shows Dedicated to Video Games to End

Enjoy watching “X-Play” and “Attack of the Show” while you can because the cable channel G4 will cancel them by the end of 2012. “X-Play, which began airing on April 28, 2003, and now airs on Weeknights at 6:30 p.m. EST with new episodes from Monday through Wednesday, and “Attack of the Show,” which began on March 28, 2005, and is now airing live on weeknights at 7 p.m. EST, will only have original episodes until the end of this year.

Gear Bits, News & Features

CBS Cancels ‘Made in Jersey’, NBC Sends ‘Saving Hope’ To Web – How Are YOUR Shows Doing?

The fall of 2011 was a virtual bloodbath with how quickly shows were axed en masse by pretty much every network. So I was surprised that we got all the way into the middle of October before I started hearing about shows getting cancelled. Turns out that it was happening – just a little more quietly and in different ways than before. Let’s start with a traditional axe – ‘Made in Jersey’ got whacked after two episodes due to dismal ratings and abysmal viewership: We have the first official casualty of the 2012-13 season. CBS has pulled low-rated new drama…

Editorials, Gear Bits

NBC’s Olympic Coverage Punishes Broadcast TV Watchers

There’s been plenty of ink spilled about how NBC is mishandling the Olympics. But Sarah and I are watching them tonight, and she just went on quite the rant that I hadn’t considered. See, NBC ran a whole special on the 1996 Women’s Gymnastics game, and Kerri Strug’s inspirational vault to seal the gold medal. It was followed up by an interview with Bela Karolyi. Both were nice to watch, but they highlighted a huge fail of NBC’s coverage: for so-called “prime time” Olympics, it was 8:30 before any current sports were shown! Yes, NBC has apps. And there are…

Gear Bits

Two Weeks Until the Olympics!

(image courtesy London 2012) There are only 15 days until the Summer Olympics! Are you excited yet? Of course, until the opening ceremonies all we have are the trickle of bits and pieces of trivia and news on the coverage, but it’s better than nothing! First of all, NBC and Facebook will be working together to promote the games. Apparently it’s a better deal if you plan to watch through the BBC, since you can stream right from Facebook there, but if you are watching on NBC there will be some synergy at least. Even better, the New York Times…

Gear Bits

Revisiting an Old Geek Love, or the Amazing Endurance of Deep Space Nine

(image courtesy DS9 encyclopedia) Sarah was away camping all weekend, so I was left to entertain myself. Normally I catch up on the DVR on these kinds of weekends, but there is slim pickings this summer. So I fired up Netflix, started flipping through my queue, and remembered that I had wanted to rewatch “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine“. I expected to spend a few hours catching up on the first season and reminiscing about my insanely geeky childhood. Instead, I have rediscovered a show that is surprisingly current, despite being almost 20 years old! The premise of DS9 is…

Gear Bits

Using YouTube to Relive My Favorite Childhood Show

When I was a kid, I loved educational television. Sure, 3-2-1 Contact was fun, but my favorite show of all time was Square One! What was Square One? Only the greatest show of all time…about math! From Wikipedia: Square One Television (sometimes referred to as Square One) is an American children‘stelevision program produced by the Children’s Television Workshop to teach mathematics and abstract mathematical concepts to young viewers. Created and broadcast by PBS in the United States from 1987 to 1994, the show was intended to address the so-called “math crisis” among American schoolchildren. The show was revived for the 1995–1996…

Gear Bits, News & Features

In a Sea of Canceled TV Shows, How Did YOUR Favorites Fare?

I had started to write about canceled shows last fall after the abysmal Charlie’s Angels was unceremoniously dumped along with Playboy Club and a couple of others. What stopped me? The cancellations never seemed to end! But then the season settled in and suddenly it was time for holiday breaks, then mid-seasons shifts and so on. But now we are nearing the end of Season Finale month, and the networks have spent the last few weeks compiling lists of shows that will or will not be returning – and they have been BRUTAL! I will list them all out in…

Gear Bits

Modern Family Reimagined as Horror!

The ABC sitcom “Modern Family” is a sweet, funny look at what it means to be a family today. Each character has a mix of unique and stereotypical traits, and the kids are no exception. Alex, the middle child of one family, is the brainy daughter, and she often plays the straight man/outsider to the wackier elements of the show. One fan took those clips and reinterpreted them in a decidedly non-comedic way. What if Alex wasn’t just the brainy, put-upon middle child, but the brainy, put-upon, sociopath middle child? Fans of the show will know many of the out-of-context…

Gear Bits

The 50 Best “Very Special” Sitcom Episodes

Coming out of the 1970s social awareness which turned into popular After School Specials and dramatic mini-series ‘events’, the early 80s spawned an endless stream of ‘Very Special Episodes’ in sitcoms, which continue to plague shows as some of the worst and most awkward moments in the series. The folks over at Jest Comedy have compiled a video of 50 memorable episodes, from caffeine pills to shoplifting and more. Here is the info: The people at Jest Comedy bring us this supercut of the best of those very special episodes, from peer pressure to deadbeat dads. Enjoy reliving some of…

Gear Bits, News & Features

All the Things a Star Trek Doctor is NOT!

If you think of quotes from the classic Star Trek, one of the first few would be ‘I’m a doctor, not a …’. These were uttered brilliantly by DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy in the series, and have become a standard line in later series entries. You heard it in Deep Space 9, Voyager and even the Enterprise prequel – but ironically never from Dr. Crusher on The Next Generation. Anyway, here is a great video showing a ton of these lines! If you are interested, there is a great list of sayings from Star Trek fan site ‘Memory…

News & Features

Miso Media is the Latest ‘Shark Tank’ Attention, um, Seeker

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about Scott Jordan of SCOTTEVEST appearing on the ABC ‘reality investment’ show ‘Shark Tank’. It was an episode my family had been anticipating all season for a few reasons: Scott Jordan has worked with Dan and Judie in the past, I have several SCOTTEVETST items and LOVE them all, and finally because Scott appeared in all of the previews to be a total arrogant confrontational jerk on the show which we figured meant some good theater … and we weren’t disappointed. What my family remarked on, which has been discussed here and pretty…

Editorials

Scott Jordan Appears on Shark Tank, but Who Was the Shark? And Who Was the Bait?

If the name Scott Jordan sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen it in the context of his clothing line, Scottevest. We’ve reviewed many of their products here, and I will say I personally use my SeV gear quite often. However, after seeing Scott on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and witnessing his attitude on the show, I can’t help but wonder how he runs his business! In case you missed it last night, here’s a shot from Scott’s segment. (The episode is available on Hulu+) To make a long story short, Scott doesn’t want to sell SEV; he just wants to…

Editorials

Apple TV All About Social Media? Nah.

Image courtesy of iJailbreak Tech-head Dave Winer is a smart guy, and has been writing interesting things about technology for pushing 20 years now, and he is one of the few in that category that I really respect. But in his recent post about Apple TV, what he thinks it will offer, and why he thinks it will succeed, I think he’s, well, just wrong:

News & Features

Wait … Apple TV Is More Popular Than Roku?

There is always loads of data to mine in corporate earnings announcements, and yesterday’s Apple announcement is no different. Dan covered the highlights including iPhones, Macs, iPads and iPods … but I noticed a mention at GigaOM about AppleTV sales. Apparently AppleTV sold 1.4 million units during the last quarter. I really didn’t think too much about that because I am constantly reading about how more and more game consoles are serving as full-service home entertainment systems since they can run Netflix, Hulu and more. I also just assumed that Roku and other ‘set top boxes’ were dominating much like…

Editorials

Lowes Learns About Viral Marketing (and Not Being Bigoted) the Hard Way!

Sarah and I have been watching “All-American Muslim” on TLC. It’s a glimpse into what it’s like to be both Muslim and American in Dearborn, Michigan. And while admittedly it’s slow at times, we’ve really enjoyed seeing how different people approach their religion and learning more about the different ways people practice, even within their own families. So we were very surprised when the hardware store Lowe’s pulled their ad support after the “Florida Family Association” complained about the show. What Lowe’s didn’t realize, but should have, is that controversial decisions in 2011 don’t fade quietly away. People were angry…

Reviews

The Sceptre 24″ E246BD-FHD LED HDTV / Monitor with DVD Player Review

When we built our house, for various reasons we decided not to put a TV in every room; we installed one 55″ LED VIZIO on the wall in the living room with all the home theater options, and we called it good. Well, sometimes the best laid plans don’t quite work out. Over time, we realized that it would be handy to have a second television as backup, so that the girls could pop in a DVD when we were watching something “boring” like the San Diego Chargers and Texas football games, or the Tour de France. Because this second…

Music Diary

Music Diary Notes: No, The Irony of MTV Having a Video ‘Music’ Awards Show Was NOT Lost on Me!

I feel I need to make a few comments on the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). But before I get started, let me share the one opinion that many, many long-time music fans share, as told on Twitter by Adam Levine, front man for pop group Maroon 5: As I said, at this point MTV hosting the VMA show is much more a matter of tradition than one of them being at the vanguard of music videos … or even very much involved in them at all! There was an early moment of self-irony when they had the case of…

News & Features

What Book Is That Movie Based On? Check ‘Based on the Book’ to See!

How many times have you read a great book, only to watch it get destroyed by a sub-par movie? Plenty of times, I am sure. But how about things going in the other direction? How many times have you thoroughly enjoyed a movie or a television series, and yet you finished the show feeling like something was missing — maybe you simply wished you’d had a little more back-story on the characters? One of the best examples of a great series that has been adapted from a book to a show is Dexter, a long-running Showtime series (season 6 starts October…

News & Features

Secrets of “The Real World” Cast Contracts

When I was in high school, I remember watching MTV’s “The Real World”, and wondering how long MTV had the cast under contract. Since they all seemed to appear with regularity on various MTV reality shows, I assumed it was because it was a requirement, and not because they truly loved being on MTV. As it turns out, the Village Voice managed to get an actual “Real World” contract, and the terms are, to say the least, eyebrow-raising. A few choice excerpts [note that the BOLD is from the Village Voice, and the italics are my interpretation]: Producers are under…

Music Diary

Music Diary Notes: MTV Turns 30 … What is YOUR Favorite Music Video?

MTV Launched 30 years ago today, on August 1st 1981. Over the decades, the music video art form has changed in some ways yet remains a product in service of a song. The channel itself has become somewhat of a joke in many ways, as in the late 1990’s the ‘music’ part became a minority share, and now we have a channel more focused on Snooki (Jersey Shore) and Amber (Teen Mom) than Katy or Kanye. But over the decades MTV has done many other things as well. While it wasn’t the originator of music videos as art and entertainment…

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