Recent Comments:
Bullied boys strike back with Cartoon Network's Commando {TV Squad}
Nov 5th 2009 6:27PM Note to Cartoon Network; stop getting show ideas from sources which you shouldn't really get ideas from. Like from here, MTV's "Bully Beatdown".
I don't care what they say about technology and blah-blah-blah. The best way to get back at bullies is just to ignore them completely and let them make an ass out of themselves. These 'get back at bullies' shows are one of the worst new genres of programming I've seen in years and only encourage acting like some kind of cocky vigilante as long as you have the backing of some network behind you.
Second copyright lawsuit news of the day: Ellen! {TV Squad}
Sep 11th 2009 8:07PM Yeah, uh record companies?
This is why the American public and your own artists treat you like a big joke. I highly doubt they're whining at you because they didn't get their five cents for playing their song on "Ellen". They probably made it up quite well in iTunes and album purchases after it became a wonderful earwig in someone's head.
Is there anything better the record companies can think to do these days besides litigation?
Gilmore Girls Watch: Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel on the big screen {TV Squad}
Aug 12th 2009 6:54PM "The Answer Man" is also available via VOD if your cable provider offers HDNet. I actually DVR'ed on a night that it was on HDNet Movies (it's one of those films that Mark Cuban buys and offers on DVD/HDNet/theaters/VOD at the same time) and I really enjoyed it.
Are you watching Millionaire? {TV Squad}
Aug 12th 2009 6:38PM I'm not watching it for two reasons;
A - If it's the 10th anniversary version, it better feel like the old-school game. Adding the gimmicks like the timer and the inexplicable celebrities, and changing around the lifelines feels downright silly and makes it feel as if was the sydicated episodes thrown in primetime with Reege hosting instead.
B - It's not in HD. I have built an inherit bias against programs on network TV that don't make the investment in utilizing the 16:9 screen (ahem, most reality shows on ABC and NBC). If you don't care about how you present your show in general and just do it the usual way it's been done for years, why should I care when you're happy producing the show the usual way? If it's the 10th anniversary version, it better be the best celebration possible, thus it needed to be in HD.
New TV Land promo will make you sad, angry and maybe a little sick {TV Squad}
Aug 4th 2009 7:41PM It's nice to be in a market with so many classic TV options where TV Land is treated like that senile old uncle who's suddenly getting a creepy inclination for younger cougars and hot tub scenes. In Milwaukee they now have both Retro TV and Me TV (plus WGN for a pay option), providing more than enough classic TV to keep anyone happy. If you're lucky enough to live around the south shore of Lake Michigan, you don't care what TV Land does at all, because broadcast TV is keeping you happy thanks to the magic alchemy that is the digital subchannel.
Engadget HD's recession antidote: win an Moxi HD DVR! {Engadget HD}
Jul 8th 2009 10:59PM After having the Charter version for so long, I'm so spoiled on MOXI and would love to recieve one of my own I don't have to pay $15 a month to rent!
Too much Soup {TV Squad}
Jun 29th 2009 7:45PM I don't ever forget that five long years ago, that The Soup started out as an awkward half-hour of TV hosted by Joel called the "What the...Awards". In those five-six shows the format was constrained by two things; having to give out actual award trophies to television moments and work comedy and writing around the premise, and trying to avoid being compared to "Best Week Ever". E! knew it was a disaster. Everybody knew it was a disaster. They could've cancelled it and released Joel from his contract.
Thankfully they came up with a Plan B format very quickly, which was "The Soup" we know and love today, and though it took a long time, the show found it's stride and within a couple of years, it was VH1 that was struggling and ended up reformatting BWE until it just felt like a pale copy of the show that used to pale copy itself.
I'm going to give "Web Soup" a fair chance. I know Chris Hardwick from his AOTS work and I know it took me a few weeks to adjust to Danielle on "The Dish" and Matt on "Sports Soup". It's just about tweaking the format until you find that perfect rhythm and remove the annoying parts and seeing what other web shows like "Tosh 2.0" and "DJ and the Fro" (which are both incredibly unwatchable) are doing wrong and just not doing that. It's part of the process with every one of these shows.
Spoilers Anonymous {TV Squad}
Jun 27th 2009 6:32PM Next time, make sure to place a cut in the XML feed for RSS readers, please! I ended up reading things I did not want to read.
Why Cat Deeley is better than Ryan Seacrest {TV Squad}
Jun 25th 2009 4:15PM I heard once in an EW article or blog post that she's always stationed as an emergency host for "American Idol" should Ryan get sick or collapse from exhaustion and not be able to get through the show. It would be interesting to see her host the show once.
Sarah Palin rips Dave a new one {TV Squad}
Jun 12th 2009 11:28AM I'm sorry, am I even reading a blog devoted to television anymore?
I don't care about this. It's a slow news week and the only reason this is in the news is because someone else who speaks "for us" deems that it needs to be covered. I usually forget most late night jokes the next day. Some of them thud and I move on, but the morning news shows, instead of covering y'know...actual news, play back late night clips to fill time. Thus the morning news becomes the news for the day.
I'm very troubled by the direction this blog has been taking lately, where articles more about political issues and low-tier TV shows nobody cares about are covered more by this site rather than the discussion of popular TV I came here for in the first place. The EW reality TV show list was talked about a week ago...how, if you have that whole ownership by Time Warner (at least until AOL is sold off) were you so late to the party with that one?
If I want to hear about news, I have TVNewser. And for politics there's Huffington, Politico, Talking Points...need I go on? Please stick to issues about television shows rather than mini-controversies we'll forget about in a week.
