I ♥ Television didn’t lose its signal in the switch from analog to digital. We’re just going through a transition of our own at the moment.
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I ♥ Television Speak
Friday, May 8, 2009
Now that it’s upfronts season, we’re back to reading the trades, anticipating pick-ups, and speculating on what Fall 2009 will look like. It’s a funny time of year when being able to parse TV speak comes in handy. Who’s on the bubble? How many new laffers did the Peacock go for? What pilots were picked up? Translations and answers after the jump. (Continued)
Don’t Lie to Me
Monday, January 19, 2009
Imagine a show where the protagonist is exceedingly brilliant. So brilliant , in fact, that his or her abiliy to solve seemingly intractable problems verges on the paranormal. Every word out of his or her mouth advances the plot without any other character’s assistance! Forget deux ex machina — this deux is frickin’ IN the machina. Thankfully, he (or she) is riddled with eccentricities — cold, brutish, aggressive — so rather than being an expository device, he or she is quirky! ooh!
Thank our mighty stars that Cal Lightman* has finally gone where House, Bones, and The Mentalist have dared not! Oh. Hmmm. I guess they all totally dared. Darn!
*Cal Lightman is Tim Roth’s character on Lie to Me.
Democratizing Television
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The transition from analog-to-digital television is slated to take place on February 17th, 2009. But President-elect Obama’s transitional team is recommending a delay in the switch on the grounds that the funds supporting the change are inadequate. The concern is that several million households in the United States are unprepared for the switch (see an example video after the jump), while the funding for digital converter coupons has run out. Those analog televisions currently receiving a signal over the airwaves that are not hooked up to a digital converter will lose their signal. The recommendation for a delayed transition shows a commendable interest on the part of the Obama team for equality of access to media resources.
In the meantime, Obama’s inaugural comittee has sold the exclusive rights to broadcast the inauguration celebrations next week to HBO. For the duration of the inaugural events, HBO will be available to all cable and satillite subscribers, whether or not they subscribe to HBO. Democracy! (Continued)
Be Seeing You
Sunday, January 11, 2009
AMC is currently in production on a remake of The Prisoner, the classic 1967 series starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan. As an early promotion for the AMC mini-series, AMCtv.com is presenting the original series in full.
The science fiction/spy thriller only lasted for seventeen episodes but has remained a cult classic for over forty years. McGoohan stars as Number Six, a British Secret Agent who, after resigning, finds himself being held captive in “The Village.” In each episode, Number Six stubbornly attempts to escape from his surreal prison. His mysterious captors, meanwhile, pursue ingenious means of interrogation as they attempt to understand the reasons for Number Six’s resignation.
The Prisoner was groundbreaking when it initally aired in 1967-1968 and still manages to seem fresh and modern today. The Village (not unlike Lost’s Island) is controlled by manipulative leaders and under constant surveillance. Number Six’s attempts to escape are framed by innovative story-telling and beautiful production design. Whether or not the remake manages to compare to the original, it’s great that AMC is actively promoting their source material. Check it out while you can!
TV is coming back! TV is coming back!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The winter hiatus has been long, dark and quiet (at least here on the blog). But with the New Year comes the promise of new television. Here’s an informal list of a couple of things I’m looking forward to this month:
Toni, Tony, Toné
- Lost (premieres January 21 on ABC) Every once in a while I think I know what the hell is going on on this show. I am usually wrong. But half the fun of watching is lurking in the Lost-obsessed chat rooms after watching an episode, trying to decifer what the megafans make of screen grabs and easter eggs. Doc Jensen on ew.com leads the pack with his bizarre but accessible assessments.
- Flight of the Conchords (premieres January 18 on HBO) I don’t have HBO anymore. We’re in a recession. But the folks at Home Box Office were kind enough to provide us prols with a sneak preview of the first episode here. The second season is the last, otherwise this might be a fun show to spec.
- United States of Tara (premieres January 18 on Showtime) A comedy about a woman with multiple personalities starring Toni Collete and John Corbett, executive produced by Diablo Cody and Steven Spielberg. Weird. I don’t have Showtime either, but Reuters reports that the show will be available for instant viewing on Netflix. See surprisingly good trailer after the jump.
- 30 Rock (premeires January 8 on NBC) It’s back! This week! With Salma Hayek? And Jon Hamm in February! (Continued)
Attack of the Two-ton Pushpins
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Look up in the sky! It's a really big pushpin!
I don’t get this adveristing campaign from Capital One. Am I supposed to consider an assault of airborne office supplies, destroying much property along the way, a positive thing?
Image from Post Magazine
A Mystifying Commercial
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
My assumption from watching it is that every IKEA kitchen layout is endowed with a specter who will comment in syncopated verse about the existential threat of children stealing chocolate.
“Everybody Hates Homecoming” – Everybody Hates Chris
Saturday, October 18, 2008
At the Huxtables
An excellent interlude in the second act graced this week’s episode of Everybody Hates Chris (CW Fridays 8:00 EST).
The ‘A’ storyline of this week’s show was Chris going with a girl named Jenise Huxtable to the homecoming dance. The second act opens with Chris coming to pick up Jenise at her house, which lo and behold, is a spitting image of the Huxtables’ home on The Cosby Show. It’s all there – the jazzy intro music! Dr Clint Huxtable (played by Orlando Jones) ambling down the stairway! His wife, Blair, a lawyer, gliding in from the kitchen through the swing door! Capping off it all off, the show, which is usually shot on film with one-camera, takes on a three-camera format and adds a laugh track. (Continued)
Your Ad Here
Monday, October 13, 2008
Last week, New York Magazine ran a feature article on the subject of product integration in scripted television. The author, Emily Nussbaum, discussed the growing trend and the way it pushes showrunners to plug products within the context of scripted television. Nussbaum makes 30 Rock the center of her discussion and uses Tina Fey as the key example of an enthusiastic adopter of the technique (although it takes Nussbaum several pages to get into her discussion about Fey, the article is titled, cheekily “What Tina Fey Would Do for a Soyjoy”).
What’s missing from the argument, however, is any comment from Fey herself. (Continued)