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Category Archives: Television
How to Watch Your Favorite Shows
When I was a kid, the way to watch television was to be home at the time the show aired and sit down at the television and watch it. If you were lucky, you had the cable hookup you needed to see it or it was on a local station. And if you were really lucky, then maybe your family was on the one of the block that had a recording VHS player. If this was the case, you didn’t even have to be home. You could watch the show whenever you wanted as long as the show was short enough to fit on a VHS tape.
Now, catching you favorite shows is a little easier.
There are three main methods for watching television that I can think of. Let’s discuss which you need and which create redundancies.
- Cable/Satellite/DVR
If you have a cable or satellite hookup, you’ve got access to LOTS of channels and probably also a DVR to record the shows so you can come back to them later. If this is the case, you can easily view current episodes and whatever episodes happen to be re-running. But if you want to see the past episodes of your fave shows, in order? That’s going to be a different service. One of the ones below, depending on the show. - Netflix
And here, of course, there are two sub-categories. They have the DVDs, and they have streaming. There are more and more shows and movies available via streaming all the time, but for some shows you’ll need the DVD service to catch up on past seasons. This means waiting for a couple days between disks (usually every few episodes) but it isn’t a bad service for the price. If you’re lucky enough to find the show you want to watch on the streaming service, watch out because it’s likely that you’ll get sucked it and end up watching entire seasons in one or two sittings. This is a major threat to productivity, so don’t say you weren’t warned. - Hulu
Hulu is a great source for past episodes of some shows, but not all, and usually you need to pay for Hulu Plus if you’re going to try to watch old episodes. The real bummer with Hulu is that even if you pay for Hulu Plus, you still have to watch ads during every commercial break. Yuck. That being said, it is streaming, so you don’t have to wait for disks to arrive like you do with Netflix. It’s a trade off.
If you have some kind of direct delivery service like Cable or Satellite, you may want to supplement it with Netflix or Hulu to get movies and past episodes, but if you have Hulu Plus and Netflix, it’s pretty easy to get by without Cable. My vote? Ditch the cable company and steep cable bill and just stick with a Hulu Plus subscription and a DVD subscription from Netflix.
And throw away that VHS recorder in the basement… It looks like you don’t need it anymore.
NBC Confirms New Seasons of Community, Law & Order: SVU
Bob Greenblatt, the new entertainment president at NBC admitted that the network had a “really ball fall” on 2011, but reiterated his hopes for a better year this year as new shows like “Whitney” and “Up All Night” continue to grow in popularity and as new programming like the network’s new show “Smash” that is scheduled to premier mid-season this year.
But NBC is also hoping to hold onto the viewer base it has left with shows that have been around for a while—after cancelling Law & Order, one of the network’s longest running series, fans were left with Law & Order SVU, a Law & Order spinoff starring Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay. But there’s no reason to worry about the cancellation of this show, which has also been running for a significant number of seasons. Hargitay says she’ll stay on the show and NBC has confirmed not only that there will be a new season of SVU, but also that Harry Connick Jr. will be appearing in multiple episodes as a love interest of Hargitay’s character.
Faithful viewers of NBC’s relatively new comedy series, “Community” were alarmed when a mid-season cancellation was followed by the rumor that the show was going to be gone for good—a rumor that Greenblatt dispelled during the same press conference. He reassured viewers that Community will be back, though he did not disclose when we can expect to see new episodes of the show.
Although the year has been rough for NBC in terms of ratings and corresponding income from sponsors, the network has dramatically outspent competitors in the area of new series development—an investment the network is hoping will pay off long-term. NBC is currently the 4th most popular network after being recently purchased by Comcast.
Hallmark is ditching “The Martha Stewart Show”
After a lengthy run on the Hallmark Channel, Martha Stewart’s daytime show is being cancelled, effective this summer. The show has been on the air for seven years, but has been reportedly declining in ratings over the last few seasons. The show’s current format is Martha and guests participating in crafts and at-home activities, like cooking and decorating. The rumor is that the network is in discussions with Stewart’s branding department about possible new formats and show subjects that might be more appealing to daytime audiences.
Stewart is now 70 years old and has been a central figure to America’s media outlets for years—she has authored books, been featured on television and even enjoyed a stint on the evening news in 2004 when she was sentenced for financially-related crimes and spent five months in prison. Since then, she has rebuilt her brand with considerable success. She was even given a spinoff of The Apprentice (“Martha Stewart Edition”) on NBC.
But, now the Hallmark channel is telling Stewart, “you’re fired,” although the possibility of another network picking up her show or a reformatting of the show, whether on Hallmark or elsewhere, is possible.
“We love working with the Hallmark Channel and are talking to them about daytime programming in the future as well,” Stewart told the Boston Herald. However, it’s questionable whether Martha Stewart can return to the favor of the public once she breaks from the classic daytime lifestyle format she’s been known for. Is it possible that the internet has replaced the need for lifestyle programming? Instead of waiting for a program to air, crafters can easily look up instructions and tutorials on the web, instantly—and often get more than one method of instruction. Could this be the end for Martha Stewart’s creative-arts centered conglomerate?
Is “X Factor” missing its own X Factor?
So, last night was the grand finale of the televised talent show, “X Factor.” Did you know? Probably not. Simon Cowell, the famed talent-finder behind bands like the Spice Girls and the show “American Idol” put together this show, the “X Factor” after leaving Idol last season. But the show has already fallen prey to all of the traps that I think cost Idol its grandeur.
The first season of Idol was truly spectacular—it felt like all of America was watching and was invested in the outcome. As every season came and went, it lost some of its appeal… and viewers. Sure, there was hype, but it was entirely self-contained. X Factor has already succumbed to the same meta-hype—the only people excited about the show are friends of the contestants and fans of the judges. The rest of us? Couldn’t care less.
Additionally, the contestants have very little broad appeal—the consequence of which is that now that the season is over, none of us will care about them or invest in their careers. I won’t, because I was never interested to begin with. But, neither will the few viewers of the show, who watched for the stunts and “wow” of the expensive-to-produce show. Was anyone really watching because they cared about h contestants? Maybe a handful of friends, but for everyone else, the stories of the contestants, even the winner, ends with the season.
So, what’s the point? Revenue for Cowell and the network, but at the expense of perhaps talented artists, who have wasted their shot on a self-sustaining self-promoting talent extravaganza. Just like Idol, the X Factor will continue not because it offers anything to the contestants (other than cash prize and maybe a short-lived recording contract) but because it’s lucrative to the producers. That’s just not worth watching in my opinion.
Alec Baldwin Gets Kicked Off a Plane?
Alec Baldwin spoofs the pilot who refused to let him fly
I’m convinced this story is so popular because so many people can relate to it. Earlier this week Alec Baldwin, known for his current role on NBC’s show 30 Rock, was asked by a pilot to get off a commercial airplane that was about to taxi away from the gate.
The incident occurred when the plane’s crew was closing the doors of the craft in preparation for taxing and taking off. As usual, the crew asked all passengers to turn their cell phones off once the doors were closed. Baldwin did not turn his phone off—because he was busy playing Words With Friends, the popular mobile game by Xynga, similar to Scrabble.
I feel like I can relate to Baldwin’s experience—it never really seems like turning off my cell phone is that vital to the functioning of the plane or the safety of our flight, plus the boredom of the flight begins to set in the moment they request all electronics be turned off. And really, asking someone to leave the plane because they didn’t turn off their device right away seems a little extreme. And hey, we all love Words with Friends.
Baldwin even mocked the event by appearing on NBC’s show Saturday Night Live during Seth Meyer’s signature segment Weekend Report, a mock news broadcast. During his appearance, Baldwin dressed as an airline pilot and pretended to be the pilot who had asked Baldwin to leave the plane. During the bit, Baldwin, as the pilot, issued a “formal” apology to Baldwin, the passenger, for asking him to leave.
The humor was tongue-in-cheek but now Baldwin is in trouble with somebody else—Greyhound buses—for making a crack about having to ride the bus instead of flying and implying that busses were an inferior form of travel. For Baldwin it seems impossible to please all of the people some of the time or to please some of the people all of the time.
Manufacturing Dispute Puts a Damper on the Oscars?
R.S. Owens & Company manufactures the 13 inch golden Oscar award statues given to winners at the Academy Awards, but this year there is a slight problem—a dispute between the company’s management and workers might mean that no new Oscars will be manufactured before next year’s awards ceremony.
The dispute is over a potential pay freeze and cute in benefits for the company’s manufacturing employees, and in the midst of the negotiations all manufacturing has stopped, meaning no new product off the company’s floor until some sort of agreement is reached.
Luckily, the academy says that they have enough on hand to proceed as usual—with or without newly minted Oscars. But the problem is more far reaching than just the Academy Awards—the same company also manufactures the awards that are handed out at the MTV Awards and the Emmys.
The next Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 26, and although the Oscars are good to go without a new set of awards, not all of American’s favorite awards show may have a “closet full” of their award statuettes ready, as an Oscar representative told the Huffington post the Academy does. Depending on how long the pause on production lasts, could 2012 be the year with no awards to give? And would our favorite awards ceremonies be as grandiose without the coveted prizes to be handed over as honors are awarded?
This potential shortage is important to American consumers because they represent an American tradition, and this news is significant to those in the manufacturing industry because the prominence of the product brings these negotiations to the forefront of news, for better or worse. What’s your opinion on these negotiations—or on the potential of annual awards shows without their symbolic awards?
Beloved show “Arrested Development” to return—on Netflix
Fans have been clamoring for more ever since Fox Searchlight cancelled the show in the middle of its third season in 2006. Seven years later, wishes will come true when the original production team and at least some of the original cast will return with the fourth season of the classic show, “Arrested Development.”
Executive producers Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Mitchell Hurwitz will be bringing the show back in 2013 with a full-length filmed rumored to follow. The show has become a “cult classic” and developed an extensive fan-base since its cancellation.
The show is filmed in a mockumentary-type style and tells the story of a real estate development tycoon and his family as they face legal and financial woes. Hilariously written and superbly acted, the first three seasons have become the holy grail of comedic television and kick started the careers of know well-known names in comedy, including Will Arnett, David Cross, Michael Cera and Jason Bateman.
The show will come back in a slightly different format than the original series. Instead of airing on Fox, the new episodes will be syndicated through Netflix.
“This innovative deal with Netflix represents a new business model that is extremely exciting and opens the door for a wide range of new collaborations.” Reads a press release by 20th Century Fox Chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman. This will mark a new type of content for Netflix, which may help it regain some of its customers after recent changes to pricing drove many away.
Fans of the show are eagerly awaiting more information, including an exact premier date, the list of cast members returning and the anticipated number of new episodes. Until then, the season one through three DVDs will get reviewed in excited anticipation.
Mid-Season Finale for Grey’s Anatomy
Grey’s Anatomy fans waited through a week of agonizing promo ads promising a “tragic” mid-season finale to see Thursday’s episode, which is the last to air until the season resumes in January.
Without giving away the plot, the episode was both tragic and suspenseful. The death of loved character, shocking news for Derek and Meredith and an ambulance accident that leads to the death of three people. The fans of Seattle Grace Hospital responded to the episode with mixed reactions.
Grey's Anatomy Mid-Season Finale
One fan comments, “I really can’t believe this episode…January better come soon.” And many wonder what will be coming in January. Both Patrick Dempsey, who plays the show’s leading man, Derek Shepherd (often referred to as Dr. McDreamy) and Ellen Pompeo, the “Grey” of Grey’s Anatomy have said that they will probably not renew for another season—so fans wonder if this could be the end of their favorite show, or at least their favorite characters.
Other fans comment, “Definitely the best episode of the season so far… I’m going to say the most emotional, gut-wrenching and suspenseful one since [season 3.]” And, “Bravo to the writers, director and actors for a fine episode! “
However, others responded less positively claiming the episode was “horrendous,” “rough,” and “overly dramatic.”
Die-hard fans will be sure to tune in come January, but the less-committed may have been discouraged by the complexity, drama and intensity of last week’s episode and unwilling to wait until January for some closure. Shonda Rhimes, the writer and produce of the show tweeted in regards to the show’s hiatus, “It is always better and preferable to run more episodes back to back so that there are no random weeks that air reruns right in the middle of say, February or March. This allows us to do that. It’s just better for storytelling. Also, hardly anyone watches new episode on Thanksgiving or in December. So we’re coming back in January with lots of new episodes back to back to back. We (cast and crew) will still be working and making lots and lots of new episodes during this hiatus for you to enjoy.”
Kim Kardashian Lawyers Up
In the last week, things have gone badly for Kim Kardashian as she copes with a divorce after just 72 days of marriage and a $20 million dollar wedding. Or has it gone badly? Some have speculated that the Kardashians were just after some easy publicity and the $17 million dollars the family made on the wedding after selling the rights to networks and enjoying donated wedding services and products from companies hoping to get in on the event viewed here and abroad.
So far, all of the speculation about sought profit and publicity has been just that—simply speculation. Although it’s easy to believe for anyone who knows anything about the Kardashians, there was no insider information saying that this was anything but a legitimate marriage gone sour after just two months.
Until now.
Publicist Jonathan Jaxon has come forward. Jaxon claims to have represented Kim for two years, ending in 2009. He told sources that Kim got married to honor contracts—media contracts with companies like E!—designed to keep the Kardashian media franchise going.
In response to Jaxon’s claims, Kim has hired a lawyer to seek a minimum of $200,000 of damages for damage to her reputation and told TMZ that she barely remembers him and that he was never her personal representative. She remembers working with him on a blog but asked him to sign a confidentiality agreement at the time.
Jaxon says he has a contract, but that it is unsigned by both parties. Marty Singer, the lawyer Kim hired to represent her has filed paperwork temporarily putting a gag order on Jaxon and noting that, “everything that he is saying is false and nonsense. This guy is in it to promote himself for his 15 mins of fame.”
This Week in Late Night Television…
I don’t watch late night television because it’s consistently funny—I watch it because it’s much more entertaining than infomercials and fresher than reruns of Friends in the middle of the night. But occasionally, there will be that one sketch that everyone’s talking about the next morning. It goes viral on YouTube and people end up watching it at work, at parties, at family dinners.
Something amazing happened this week… two of those fleeting, infamous, go-down-in-history late night television moments happened. The first? Jimmy Kimmel asks parents to tell their kids, “I ate all your Halloween candy” the morning after Halloween and record the results.
And, if that didn’t have you chuckling and sharing with your friends, then you need to see Jimmy Fallon’s spoof of Justin Bieber’s recent hit single “Baby,” mocking the allegations that Bieber is the father 20-year-old woman’s newborn child.
We’ve all been on pins and needles waiting for someone to take advantage of the fact that Bieber is at the center of a baby scandal just months after his song with the chorus, “Baby, baby, baby,” graced the charts. I’ll admit to feeling a little bad for the Biebster on this one, but major props to Jimmy Fallon for the moves, grooves and doing the most obvious thing possible with a lyrically inviting and catchy song.
It’s not often you turn on the radio during your morning commute and hear all the morning shows discussing not one, but two, of these types of bits in the same week—consider it a homerun week for late night comedy. And comedians named Jimmy, apparently.
As a side note, does anyone remember Jay-Walking? Does he still do that segment? That’s perhaps the most vivid memory I have of any comedy television from the last decade—hilarious and frightening at the same time.
