This is pretty interesting. I saw the terminator season finale last week and I was quite amazed. On the one hand the series can end now and it will not be a major cliffhanger.

Sure we don't know where John Henry went with Cameron's chip and John was been transported to the future where no one seems to know who he is but I see this as a setup for a sequel series or a series of movies (or comic books as has been eluded by some entertainment blogs).

I would like for the series to continue though so we can find out what's going on...

• Who is the weaverbot and why is she fighting skynet?
• Did Miles Dyson's son actually create Skynet? (was he in Terminator 3?)
• Where is John Henry?
• What are Elisson and Sarah going to do now?
• What are the dynamics that thrust John to be in a leadership position now that we know that he did not survive J-day (like terminator 3 says), but skipped it altogether?
• Will we see Arnold? (I hope so!)
• Will we see the original Cromartie? (I hope so!)
• What's the deal with the human Cameron?

The one thing that people are complaining about is that the series is now disjointed, there is no straight line to follow. Well, if you change something in the past, the future changes! If the future changes, the present will seem a little more chaotic, no?

I am hoping for a renewal!

Tags: television, entertainment, terminator, opinion

Survivors is a typical BBC show - six episodes long. It's sort of like 28 days later, but without the zombies

The whole premise of the show is that a disease has wiped out most of the British population (and presumably most of the world), but a certain number of "survivors" got the disease and survived it. What we don't know is if this is man made - like a nation attacking another nation, or an experiment gone wrong, like the storyline of resident evil.

I find the series interesting in that it challenges preconception of how you should treat fellow human beings, and how a major event can seriously change your world view and how you act not just with yourself but with others as well. How the different groups choose to rebuild society is also interesting. It's like viewing an MMO civilization game.

I am glad that they revived the series. I am looking forward to next season.


For more information...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivors_(2008_TV_Series)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/survivors/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1258189/

Tags: entertainment, television, BBC, suspense

I wasn't sure about this series when I first stated watching it but I have been convinced that it is good! It doesn't get a high score on IMDB - I don't know why!

This series has an interesting start. It wasn't picked up in 2004 when it was first shot, but because of the great writer strikes of 2007 in the US, the australian television execs gave it a second look and they gave it a go. Hey, if americans on strike give us great foreign shows, I say strike some more! (no disrespect meant to toward the writers guild! I just find that there is a void of good foreign shows on american TV).

Anyway, this series reminds me of Flashpoint (a canadian production, but currently also available on CBS). It follows a team of police officers - not quite SWAP (like in Flashpoint), but also not just patrolmen (Is there a something in between in the US?)

If it's not on a local station - go torrent it. It's worth watching.


For more information see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_(2008_TV_series)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1258216/

Tags: television, entertainment, australian, drama, action

Yet another (short) series on BBC that is worth watching.

This series follows the adventures of a Martin Shaw, a catholic priest, who happens to be an exorcist. Of course the Vatican isn't completely on his side which makes his job not as easy. As the series starts out they seem (to me anyway) to be skeptical of all this exorcism hog-wash, but as the series goes on it gives us (or at least me) the impression that the Vatican is taken over by demons.

The series is pretty good, and it's only six episodes, so it's worth investing your time to watch it if you're into spectral drama. I hope it gets renewed next year!


Here's some more info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparitions_(TV_series)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1140939/

Tags: television, entertainment, BBC, drama

Monk is quirky.
Monk is obsessive compulsive
Monk is a crime solver
Monk is a show you should be watching.

This series, now in its final (8th) year, follows a former police detective Adrian Monk. He has a big case of the OCD and it's this quirkyness that makes the series funny among other things. Monk's life hasn't been easy, and after his wife is killed in a bomb explosion, this throws him in a loop. He leaves work and eventually starts working as a police consultant on difficult cases to get income to pay his bills. (apparently freelance work is less stressful than a full day of 9-to-5...anyway).

The series is smart. Initially I thought it was kind of dumb, but I've warmed up to Monk. Each episode is self-contained so you can pick it up from any point in the series, in my opinion anyway.

I hope that USA makes a spin-off series with Stotlemeyer and Disher - that would be fun.

Tags: television, entertainment, hulu, comedy

One of my favorite new BBC comedies this past year was Lab Rats. The show reminds me of the sitcoms that I used to watch in Greece when I was growing up. The series follows this really wacky crew of post-docs (or grad students) in a university setting.

Among the motley crew there is a professor (maybe a faculty advisor), and three of his supervisees that are conducting various scientific experiments, that in the end go horribly horribly wrong and make us laugh (or some of us anyway). The professor is always preoccupied with a noble prize, Alex is looking to make a name for himself, and Cara and Brian just mess things up, one way or another.

As a subplot to the story, Brian (one of the lab rats) has a crush on the Dean of the college that they are in.

There were only six episodes in the first season during the summer of 2008. Hopefully the series will be back next summer.

If you live in the UK, check out the BBC for online episodes.



Wikipedia info
BBC Homepage
IMDB Info

Tags: television, entertainment, comedy, BBC

Jekyll is a BBC mini-series just four episodes long staring James Nesbitt.

It follows a man called Dr. Jackman who has two personalities. Dr. Jackman, the day personality, and what we assume to be Mr. Hyde. Neither personality can control the other, things just happen.

Once they discover each other they communicate with various tape recorded messages that they leave each other before they go to sleep.

The show was pretty nice, and I think that we get to see an evolution of Mr. Hyde from someone who cares just about himself to someone who cares for Jackman's family.

The overarching storyline here is that Jackman/Hyde is being chased by some corporation looking to use him because of his unique gift of having two personalities, and one of them being quite violent like Mr. Hyde.

I really hope that the BBC brings this one back for a full season, or gives it a second mini season. This series does show promise.

Tags: television, entertainment, scifi, BBC

Well, after Babylon 5 was over, there was a new spin off series created called Babylon 5: Crusade
. I was recently able to see all of the 13 episodes of the series. The series did have a rough beginning, but the series did get progressively better up until the time it was canned.

The series follows a prototype ship of human-vorlon-mimbari engineering that treks through the galaxy to find a cure for earth's plague unleashed by the Drakh at the end of the Babylon 5 series. It does have some good casting, and the story line isn't bad if you like the star trek type of story line. I liked the character of Captain Gideon, and the character of his first officer, a telepath, played by Daniel Dae Kim.

So what killed the show?

Well that's simple.
1. This show, just like Babylon 5, had some pretty bad writing. When I say bad, I mean really bad. JMS (the writer) needed to have someone proofread and edit his work because it was cheezy, corny, and highly unlikely.
2. It aired on TNT. This type of show should have been on the SciFi channel.

If you happen to see if in your local library, or on netflix, give it a go. Be forewarned of the bad dialogue!

Wikipedia entry
IMDB entry

Tags: television, entertainment, scifi

I could have sworn that I wrote about this before...but just in case I haven't, here's Burn Notice. Burn Notice airs on USA, and it's available for Free on Hulu. The story is about a CIA agent who's essentially given the pink slip (fired, made rendandant, call it what you like), but he does not know why.


If he were just fired, that would be one thing, but all of his assets and bank accounts are frozen, so as the intro says when you've been burned, you've got nothing, no credit, no job history and you're stuck in whatever city they (the CIA) decides to dump you in.


In his quest to figure out who burned him and why, he's got Bruce Campbell and Gabrielle Anwar as sidekicks. Bruce Campbell plays a retired special forces soldier who's got no money (and probably an alcohol problem), and Gabrielle plays a former (current?) trigger-happy girlfriend that was part of the IRA.


It is a pretty interesting series (even though one of the Engadget HD guys doesn't like it).


I think you should have a look.

Tags: entertainment, television, burnNotice, USA, spy

The invisible man is another scifi channel series that is free on Hulu.


Now, it's not a series that I would characterize as "must see", but rather I would characterize it as "if you don't have anything better to do, and want to see something that doesn't suck, but it's also not excellent, see this".


The main character is a professional thief who gets caught because he is also Mr. nice guy. In jail he gets a visit from his brother who wants to use him as a guinea pig for invisibility experiments, and as payback he gets pardoned. Good deal, right?


Well, things go wrong, and he now works for the company, with no end in sight. He does have a goofy sidekick, and the humor is a bit sophomoric, but all things considered the series is not that bad.


It's a good thing to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon, if you've got nothing else to do.


Also check it out on amazon - The Invisible Man: Season One

Tags: entertainment, television, hulu, scifi, humor

Farscape was a great series on the Sci-Fi channel before Stargate came into the picture. I remember the series being pitched as Star Trek's naughty twin, or something along those lines.

The story follows John Criton, and astronaut from earth who is supposed to perform some farscape jump, go farther than any man has gone before and come back. Well, things go wrong. He does go farther than any man has gone before, but he can't come back! To add insult to injury he is placed smack dab in the middle of a conflict.

In the end he is on the run, on an organic space ship, with a bunch of other (alien) characters who've escaped their political imprisonment. He is looking for a way home,and they are trying to not get caught again. The series follows Trek's 'alien a week' theme.

The series was quite enjoyable. It is a little different to get into if you've been watching trek, but give it a few episodes! You won't regret it.

Check it out on amazon - Farscape - The Complete First Season

Tags: television, entertainment, scifi, farscape, starTrek

Startgate Atlantis is the spinoff series to Startgate, on the SciFi channel.


On earth a gate is discovered which takes people to another galaxy. The trip unfortunately is one way because the power required for this trip is massive. An expedition is organized and they head to the other side. What they find is an ancient city, a massive floating ancient city - thus Atlantis.


The main antagonists in this series are the Wraith, a vampire like species that feeds on humans, essentially draining their life force. There are smaller enemies, and just like the regular stargate you do get to meet new civilizations almost every episode.


It's a pretty good series, but it only has five seasons - I wish it had more. You can catch the last season of Stargate Atlantis on the SciFi channel on Fridays if you are reading this now. If you've never seen SGA before, check the series out at your local library or amazon (Stargate Atlantis - The Complete First Season).

Tags: scifi, television, entertainment, stargate

A week (or so?) ago there was an insanely great parody of social networks on the IT crowd (a british sitcom). The social network? FriendFace! Have a look at the YouTube clip of the ad for FriendFace.

Also have a look here at the company's (employer) response to friendface

Tags: parody, entertainment, television, social, networks

Keen Eddie was a great show that was axed before its time (luckily The Complete Series is available on Amazon!). The show follows a New York cop who messed up and as punishment he was shipped off to England and was made an attache to scotland yard (if I remember correctly).



The store is really about a New York cop in England, and this theme (american abroad) has been explored in the past, but Keene Eddie was simply b~r~i~l~l~i~a~n~t!!!

Eddie owns a dog named Pete, who is extremely ill-tempered. Eddie attempts to leave him in quarantine at the airport when he arrives in England but Pete is rescued, by claiming Pete is a police dog.

Pete chews on everything and frequently destroys TV remote controls and cellphones. He also has strange sexual appetites, from Fiona's (Eddie's partner) cat to a fur coat to sleeping humans. More than once, he has aggressively cornered visitors at the apartment and forced them to stand motionless for hours until Fiona or Eddie come home. Eddie is just such a great dog!

I really wish they would add it to hulu so it could be viewed for free.



Check out IMDB to learn more.

Tags: television, entertainment, FOX, comedy, england

Firefly is a series that you SHOULD have heard of before (if not, have you been living under a rock?). Firefly is yet another example of an brilliant series that was axed before it's time.


Essentially there's been an intergalactic civil was between humans that are part of the 'empire' and those who are not (to use Star Wars terms). The separatists lost, and things did not turn out all that well for them, or the universe for that matter because the empire is corrupt (what else is new?).


The story follows captain Reynolds and his band of mercenaries that pick up odd jobs to get money. Most of their jobs are illegal cargo runs, but they are sticking it to the empire so it's OK. The series is 13 episodes long and a theatrical film is available that ties up the series. Both the series and the film are available for free on Hulu.


The Complete Series and the film are also available on amazon (for those interested) ~ I know they're on my wish list


If you have a weekend where you're doing nothing, I suggest making some popcorn, getting some pizza and beer and having a Firefly marathon! You won't regret it!

Tags: television, entertainment, firefly, whedon, scifi, FOX

All I have to say is LOL!

I recently watched this episode of the Simpsons on Hulu (I no longer watch FOX's sunday night programming live). If you haven't seen it, head over to Hulu and have a look. The Apple parody is simply awesome!

Here's an excerpt:

Tags: television, entertainment, simpsons, apple, parody, ipod

I was bored a while back, when there was no TV, and I started watching a series on Hulu called the Dresden files. I think this show was originally on the SciFi channel.


The series has as a given that there is such as thing as a wizard, and Dresden is one of them. You're born with the gift, although I never really worked out if this gift was because wizards were a different species (like the Harry Potter universe) or if there was something else going on.


In any case, there is a council that determines the rules by which wizards live by, and Dresden is sort of an outcast. He's got a sidekick, a wizard he calls "Bob" who practiced black magic (a no! no! according to the council) and as punishment he was made into a Ghost and forced to live forever in non-corporial form near his skull.


The series is actually quite entertaining, and it's a bummer that SciFi didn't order more seasons of this series. I would have been interested in seeing more.



The series is free on Hulu - go have a look-see.

Tags: entertainment, television, scifi, magic, wizard

A while back, maybe a year or so ago, BBC America had a series on called Life on Mars. The series follows detective Sam Tyler who is struck down by a car in present day Manchester, England and mysteriously wakes up in the the 1970s as a transfer detective to another police department.


His boss, Gene Hunt, is essentially an asshole cop who looks crooked but is actually trying to uphold the law. In the plot you've also got a couple of direct reports to Hunt that work with Sam. The humor in the series is derived when Sam brings modern investigation techniques to 1970s, and the rest of the force looks at him like he's got two heads.


Of course the underlying drama is that we don't know if Sam is in a coma and all of this is in his head, or if he did actually travel back through time. The ending I think is quite unique. The series had 2 seasons, and you can probably find it on the BBC's online store.


Highly recommended.

Tags: lifeonmars, BBC, television, entertainment, action

Another Freebie on Hulu. This series is a Canadian series centering around NorBAC, a collaborative research laboratory between the US, Canada and Mexico. They are like the CDC on steroids. If there is an unexplained infection of virus, they're there!

Each season has an overarching disease they are fighting (or trying to find its origins) while injecting other personal issues into the mix, such as the main character's megalomania or...rather a-hole-ness. He's sort of like a mild version of House.

The first season features a kid that kept hounding the main doctor in the series to test him because he thought that he was a clone. Weird, but interesting.

The one bummer is that the series has four seasons (and still filming I think), but Hulu only has two season available! I hope more seasons are available soon.

Tags: canadian, scifi, immunology, television, entertainment, hulu, free

OK, Life on Mars, the US version, started recently and MUCH to my disappointment the role of Gene Hunt is NOT played by Colm Meany but by Harvey Keitel. Now I had read the previews and I did not care much about the series because I felt that it could not do justice to the original BBC production. In addition, originally there wasn't an Annie in the story (a main character in the BBC version) - this was fixed.

I was willing to give the series a try because Meany was going to be Hunt but now that they've gotten rid of him and replaced him with Keitel - thanks but no thanks! There's a lot of other TV to be had and I don't plan on wasting my time with the US version of Life on Mars. Since I never say never...I may give it a try next summer on hulu (or the network's site) when there is generally nothing much on TV.

Bad decision ABC, bad decision!

Tags: television, WTF, BBC, ABC

The Knights of Prosperity is a series that was cancelled, I think it only had one season on ABC. The show is still available, as of this writing, to view online for free, on ABC's streaming site.

This sitcom's main idea was that there was a group of unrelated people who had one thing in common: they had financial troubles. What are they to do? Well, they decided that it would be a good idea to try and steal Mick Jagger's money... The story goes on from there, taking very comical twists and turns while the team tries to infiltrate Mick's home and steal his riches.

I think that this show is worth a look, before it bites the digital dust

Tags: ABC, humor, television, entertainment

Yet another Hulu discovery: American Gothic.

I have to say that this series was weird, X-files weird (or possibly the outer limits weird)!

I thought that since Gary Cole (Lumberg from Office Space) was in it, that it would be rather comical. I was wrong. The story revolves around a small town in the south that has a lot of inexplicable phenomena happening. If you make a deal with the Sheriff, your life is prosperous, but eventually you will have to pay him back. Throughout the series I was wondering if he was corrupt, if he was some sort of witch with supernatural powers, or if he was the devil himself!

Even though the series is rather dark and at times, I think, disturbing, I highly recommend it.

If you want some more info about the series, click here for the Wikipedia entry (SPOILERS WARNING!)

Tags: television, entertainment, hulu, officeSpace, dark, suspense

Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show !

Ok there isn’t much to say about this show that can adequately describe it! You just have to see it!
This is a series of short webisodes. The show is essentially a mocking of those crazy Japanese television shows, and the engrish and utter wackiness that you see in them.


Also check out their website: CLICK HERE

Tags: television, entertainment, hulu, japanese, humor

Whenever I see a western, I tend to turn tail and run the other way. This has been a result of really bad television westerns when I was a kid.

Every now and again I try to be open-minded and watch a western. The Peacemakers is a western that I like!

You essentially follow a doctor/coroner, a US marshal, and an oxford-educated-former-pinkerton-lab guy in a crime solving mission. It’s funny to see the lab guy undertaking modern forensics while the marshal is busy contaminating the crime scene (since he doesn’t know any better). In short, it’s like “CSI: Will West”. I have to say that I really like the series. Too bad it was never renewed!

Tags: television, entertainment, hulu, western, CSI

I am a big Terminator fan, that is why I am happy this series is coming back for another season!

I initially approached this series with skepticism, but it ended up being quite good! My reasons for being a skeptic were that I really could not see anyone other than Linda Hamilton taking over the role of Sarah Connor, and the idea of a high-school-aged terminator T800 was laughable (at the time).

Well the show has made me a believer! The action is great, the story line is good, and it essentially keeps you in suspense throughout the season. One of the things that was not answered in the movies was the origin of skynet. I know that in the third movie we wee the military makes skynet, but did this mean that it was fate? That skynet would be built no matter what? Or could the future be changed? As the season went on we saw a number of various possibilities as to the origin of skynet, and as one by one they got eliminated, you kept wondering just who and under what circumstances, made skynet.

I look forward to the new season, and to the recap of the first season starting August 10. I really hope that the Reese family is explored more, and we see more futuristic shots. I also hope that they tie in the third terminator movie. I am all for time paradoxes and alternate timelines, but I really do want some sort of tie in.

Tags: television, terminator, action, scifi

Thanks to Hulu, I have been exposed to yet another great television show (no I don’t spend all my time at home watching television).

Burn notice is a series about a CIA agent who’s been, well to put it bluntly, screwed. He’s off on a mission at the beginning of the series, tries to make a deal with some shady people on behalf of the US government and BAM! He’s cut lose! “We never knew you, we never heard of you” type of situation.

When he gets back to the US, he is essentially stranded in Miami, with an FBI tail, people trying to kill him, and all this time he is trying to work a few odd jobs here and there (utilizing his CIA skillset) so that he has food and a roof over his head. The series is pretty nice because the main character is not a Rambo ‘blow everything to bits’ type. He is a cool headed (most of the time) character that prefers non violence if possible.

If you do have some free time, check it out on hulu. You won’t be disappointed.

Tags: television, action, calmness, hulu

OK, so the television season has been over for a few weeks and we’ve now found out which shows have been orphaned, in other words cancelled. Here are four shows that I wish would get picked up by another television station:


Jericho: Network: CBS. Post nuclear USA. If you haven’t seen it, you should! It’s a season and a half of great suspense. The end of the second season leaves us with the Eastern state alliance (remnants of the ‘old’ USA), the Independent State of Texas, and the Western alliance (run by corporate interests who instigated the attack). I would be interested to see what happens next! Aren’t you?

Moonlight: Network: CBS. It follows a relatively young vampire (80 year’s old? I think). In any case, he is a private detective, has a fling with a girl he saved from the crazy vamp that turned him, so in essence he is like Angel. Good show.


New Amsterdam: Network: FOX. The show follows a Dutch man who has lived in NYC since it was a Dutch colony who’s been given eternal life, until he finds his soul mate, at which point they can live until death do them part. It’s a good show, it shows him being frustrated at not dying, seeing his kids die, and former loved ones, and he longs to just grow old with that someone special. I personally want to find out if he ever finds that special someone.


Aliens in America: Network: CW. My final pick follows a Pakistani exchange student in Wisconsin. The strength of the show is not only showcasing the cultural differences and similarities between Americans and Pakistanis - or non Americans (alien #1), but also the awkwardness of being in high school – the clicks, the classes, the popularity contests (alien #2). The show also does a good job at showing the hypocrisy of human nature (smoking cigarettes when you are not supposed to, saying that you are a good Christian but hating going to church, and so on). The show tanked in ratings and I really wonder why. I wish someone else would pick it up


There are two other shows that got the can, Cavemen and Carpoolers. I never tuned in specifically to see these shows, but I did enjoy watching them two or three in a row on ABC’s website. I really liked both of the shows and wish that they would resurrect them as regular 20 minute sitcom episodes, but available online and on DVD only.

Tags: entertainment, cancellation, television, annoying

OK for those who don’t read (or speak) Greek, the show is called “Greece’s Children”, it’s sort of slang for the young people that are military service. The show is about these slackers who serve in the Greek Air Force, their commander, the local snitch, and of course the General that comes in on surprise inspection visits.

The show is of course a comedy staring Yannis Bezos (not related to Jeff Bezos of Amazon, as far as I know), who also starts in a few other classic television favorites of mine. This is a series that I would buy on DVD, unfortunately Greek series on DVD are something that have not caught on in Greece.

Tags: Greek, television, comedy

I am surprised at how many people do not know of The Tick. The Tick is a comic book, that became an animated series, and then became a live action television show with Patrick Warburton (also known as Putty from Seinfeld). The series takes place in “the city” where anyone can become a superhero, provided that they get their superhero’s license. The tick is superhuman strong, but doesn’t remember much of his past, and is so into fighting crime that he sounds developmentally challenged when interacting with non-hero types.

Sadly, the live action TV series only lasted for a season, but it was a good one! It is available on Hulu (and on DVD). The animates series is not on Hulu, but both seasons are available on DVD.

Here is the first episode on hulu:

Tags: television, amazon, DVD, hulu, tick, entertainment, comedy

Back in 1995, there was an interesting FOX show called Space: Above and Beyond. It was a great show, about fighting off alien invaders called the ‘chigs’. What made this show interesting (beyond the sci-fi nature of it) were the various societal conflicts between the ‘invitros’, humans bred to fight the battles of ‘natural’ humans, and who are treated as second class citizens, except when they join the USMC.

There are also cyborgs that were made before invitros for the same purpose, but they revolted and they are still around. I guess the lesson is if you are not man enough to fight your own wars, don’t expect others to do it for you. The show was promising, but it was plagued by bad programming decisions on the part of FOX. It didn’t have a regular night, it kept being shifted from time slot to time slot, and it kept being postponed for baseball or hockey games. In the end, it was cancelled after one season due to low ratings.

The show is unavailable on Hulu, but rather cheap on amazon.com

The show might remind you of Startship Troopers, but just remember: it predates Starship Troopers and it is actually better than that movie!

Tags: SAAB, television, DVD, shows, FOX

This past week I discovered a show on Hulu called John Doe.

It revolves around John Doe, a person who does not remember his past, but has some amazing, rain-man-like, abilities. He knows everything about everything. The show originally aired on the FOX network. I vaguely remember ads for the show, but I do not remember the reason I elected not to watch.

The show did last one season, and most of it is available on Hulu. The annoying thing is that Hulu does not have four or five episodes (including the Series Premier and Series Finale!) which are the binding elements of the show and which make the show great! I had to go to a korean site and stream the episodes from there.

I really enjoyed the series, and in the end there was quite a twist! (I am not telling though). I really would have liked for the show to have a second season given the ton of questions that still remain (it would be like watching a season of Lost, and calling it a wrap).

I highly recommend this series. Check it out on Hulu and pandora.tv

Tags: television, entertainment, FOX, cancellation, show

For the past few days I’ve been looking on YouTube to find a commercial for the Royal Bank of Scotland that’s been playing on BBC America whenever I watch the morning news.

The scene is a scene of graduation (probably middle school), and an alumnus of the school (looks like a private school) is speaking to the kids about what he took away from school, “the gift of language.” This guy was a boring as can be, and quite long winded.

Finally he says “Words are the means with which to achieve…” and a kid cuts in, yells “THE END” and everyone claps.

It’s a great commercial; it’s also a good example of why I dislike graduation ceremonies

I wish YouTube had a video of it, alas no such luck!

Update: OK, I found it on the RBS media centre site.
Here’s a link to it: CLICK

Tags: television, commercial, RBS, gasbag

Recently I have started watching shows on hulu.com, and all I can say is “I wish there were more shows!” Hulu has really gotten it right when it comes to presenting streaming content with commercials.

1. I can pause the show, even overnight, and come back the next day and pick up without any hiccups. Fox and ABC’s players are almost the same in terms of the pause-quality of their streaming content, but CBS is by far the worst.

2. The commercials are timed just right, and shows just continue! Show-commercial-show, no need to click on anything. On CBS and the CW you are thrown out of full screen view to see the commercial and then you need to click again to get back to full screen. On ABC the commercials are not timed right, so the commercial might be over, but you are still waiting so that you can hit the “back to show” button – really annoying.

3. The audio levels of the commercials are on par with the audio levels of the show. This means that when you cut to commercial you are not BLASTED with audio. CBS and the CW are the worst offenders in this category, ABC, FOX and NBC are a mixed bag.

4. The video quality and audio quality of the shows is at least broadcast quality, if not better.

The only advantage of ABC.com has is that they offer shows in HD.

Tags: television, entertainment, online, hulu, video, streaming

I watched the series finale of Jericho a number of days ago. The second season was really accelerated, but it was still pleasant to watch. I really wish that the series would have at least one more full season, but I guess it wasn’t in the cards. The premise of Jericho was that there were a number of nuclear bombs throughout the USA, and we, the audience, did not know who did it, and where the government was.

We found out in season two that it was a corrupt corporation, and a coup d’etat type of plot. The series could have extended into further seasons but it did not (rebuilding, civil disobedience and civil war come to mind as possible plots.)

Oh well, this is a series to get on DVD – too bad CBS was short sighted.

Tags: television, jericho, finale

I came across this one on engadget this morning. It's pretty funny (if you remember what technology was like in 1994 anyways)

Tags: television, 24, humor, collegehumor, video

OK...After the Fox execs, come the CBS execs in the incoming class of B-school freshmen. Today I found out that Jericho is officially cancelled by CBS. What the hell do these television executives not get? Jericho was the best new drama on television (yes better than Drive!) and they cancel it! Of course there are the obligatory online petitions that people are signing in order to keep the show on the air (approximately 85,000 thus far). There is the send NUTS campaign, more of a guerilla tactic to show support for the show in a non-traditional way (approximately 21,000 pounds of nuts already sent). There are many, many, forums online where people complain, scheme and buzz about what to do to keep their favorite show on the air.

What really solidifies this, though, as a concrete case of being asleep at the (managerial) helm, is the fact that CBS execs have admitted that the signatures in the online petition and the buzz around this show have far surpassed similar means to bring back other cancelled shows. Yet they still stand firm in their decision to keep the show cancelled. WTF? The show was supposedly cancelled due to low ratings, but there are a lot of people, an unprecedented amount, chiming in about it, yet you won't budge? What business school did you come from? Un-frikking-believable!

Do you like Jericho? Complain to your local CBS affiliate, sign the petition, complain to CBS proper, send nuts (if you want to spend money), and tell your friends!

Tags: entertainment, complaints, television, jericho, petition

First they cancelled Space: Above and Beyond. Then they cancelled Firefly. Now apparently they have also cancelled Drive.
What the hell? Honestly, Fox needs to send their execs back to B-School or just fire their sorry asses and get new ones! I was in class last night, but I had set the VCR (yeah, I know, antiquated technology). No Drive! After a couple of weeks of absence from the airwaves on Monday nights, I decided to investigate. CANCELLED! WTF? Cancelled due to low ratings and the final 2 episodes will be aired on July 4th.
Excellent plan! I wonder who thought of that one. Maybe a gifted Fox Exec... So, they are basing their ratings on an antiquated way of statistical data gathering - the Nielsen ratings - that do no take into account people viewing their shows online, through both legal and illegal means, and they can the show. Secondly, there have only been four shows aired, the statistical sample is way too small! FURTHERMORE, they decide to air the series finale two months after the most recently aired episode. Who thought this would be a good idea? Instead of giving more people the opportunity to see the show on it's normal time, people that are used to watching Fox during that time slot due to Prison Break, for a completely random date in the summer. Are they planning on tying it in with Independence Day somehow? Dimwits!

Tags: stupid, television, drive, cancellation, management, marketing, entertainment