Sarah Silverman Program season 3 highlights

Holy crap! When did someone give this show a budget? Can't wait to see the new season.

The Sarah Silverman Program
Season Three Highlights
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Conan's Last Words on the Tonight Show

"Please do not be cynical . . . . Nobody in this life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and you're kind amazing things will happen."

Taiwan's NMA News breaks down the Conan/Leno drama

Even though it's in a language I don't speak, this is the best explanation of the NBC situation I've yet to see.

(tip o' the hat to @hyams and @jmerriman)

Tina Fey conquers the universe

Where by "universe" I mean "my attention."

Dig this interview with my TV girlfriend (as dubbed by my wife) in Vanity Fair, accompanied by Annie Leibovitz photos. And hey, here's some video of the photo shoot.

Fox releases X-Files branded iPods

Isn't this a few years too late? I haven't heard great things about the movie, but I suppose the X-Files fan base is strong enough to lap up a few of these puppies. Unfortunately the markup is about $100 just for the branding.

What Oscar the Grouch likes about public television

From the 1988 pledge drive season.

Culture. Morality. Patriotism.

A Muppet video made specifically for the Internet. Nice to see that someone in Henson-land is in charge of keeping the weirdness alive -- and taking their job seriously. Watch it all the way to the end.

'Torchwood' cut down for third season?

Despite bringing in some of BBC's best ratings in 2008, Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood will receive an abbreviated series for its third year. From Digital Spy:

Executive producer Julie Gardner told TV Guide: "We've decided to do a five-part mini-series, one big story that will run during one week. I wanted to make a really big noise about the show."

Gardner, who confirmed that John Barrowman will be back as Captain Jack, remained coy about any additions to the cast following the death of two regular characters in the second season finale. However, she said that fans of the show "will be pleased with the casting."

Read the full story at Digital Spy.

Update: two other quick bits of Doctor Who news - Steven Moffat (the series' best writer currently working) to take over as showrunner in 2010, and David Tennant dates his "daughter" -- who is also Peter Davison's real daughter. Holy incestuous paradoxes Batman!

First evening with the Netflix Roku box

Netflix Roku box
Originally uploaded by stomptokyo

Last night Christina and I hooked up our new Netflix Roku box, which allows us to finally take advantage of the Netflix "Watch It Now" program. About 10% of the titles on Netflix are available to watch as streaming video for no additional cost on top of your regular DVD rental subscription. I'd never really used it before because it only worked with Windows PCs. Not only is my primary laptop a Mac (and I never could get it to work with my Windows XP machine), but I dislike watching video on my laptop for more than a few minutes. When I want to watch a movie or TV show, I want to take advantage of my couch and the nice TV set sitting in front of it.

Enter the Roku box, which hooks up to your TV and streams the video from your Netflix account over your wireless (or wired) home network. You have to add movies to your "instant watch" queue on your computer before they show up as selections on your Roku box, but I actually prefer it that way. Once you select a program, it takes about a minute to spin up the show and then you're watching. Since it's streaming, network interruptions could result in video stutters or straight-up stoppages. Over the 90 minutes or so that we watched a couple of different TV show episodes ("A&E Biography" and the pilot of the original "Battlestar Galactica"), however, we never noticed so much as a blip. Video quality varies depending on the speed of your network, but even though we got the medium-quality stream (2 pips out of 4 on the little quality meter that pops up), it looked more than passable. Better than Tivo's "basic" recording quality, and we watch TV at that quality all the time.

Setup was dead simple -- plug into TV, plug into wall, follow on screen instructions. I was done in about 10 minutes, including a system software update. It was the most painless install I've done of a home theater component ever.

There are a few minor down sides, but I don't think they're deal breakers by any means. First, it's yet another box to hook up to your TV. But given the plethora of hookups most TVs come with these days that's less of a problem than it once was. Adding to the clutter problem, I can also see a time when I'm going to want to run an ethernet cable over to the TV to get higher quality video -- especially if HD content (which the box can handle) becomes available.

The Roku box's biggest problem is the dearth of content, which is annoying but not insurmountable. About 10% of the titles on Netflix are available on Watch it Now, and Netflix conveniently scans your DVD queue for the titles that are available to watch instantly. (You'll have to manage the queue of things you've seen manually so that you don't end up with a DVD in your mailbox that you've already seen on the Roku box.) The biggest rebuttal to this problem so far is that there's a ton of great TV content, including recent shows like Weeds and 30 Rock and classics like The Dick Van Dyke Show and a bunch of vintage Doctor Who episodes. If you've ever watched a series all the way through on DVD, devouring episodes like candy, the Roku box is for you. The ability to take a chance on something -- and bail consequence-free if it sucks -- is liberating. What's this? Knight Rider and The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries?

For more on the Roku box, check out David Pogue's review in the New York Times.

Geek Alert - extended interview with BSG's Ron Moore

Geeks, stop what you're doing now and read this huge interview with the (re)creator of Battlestar Galactica, Ron Moore. Among other fascinating topics, his extended critique of the original show, including this priceless tidbit:

The show was about an apocalypse. The show opens with a genocide, an apocalyptic destruction of 12, count em, 12 planets. Billions of human lives are lost. The survivors heroically run away, fleeing an implacable enemy that is determined to destroy them no matter what, and they're looking for a mythical place called Earth.

And the first place they go is the casino planet.

There's more to it than that, of course -- Moore has a lot of affection for the original show, but he used the franchise as a Trojan Horse to tell the kind of science fiction story he wanted to tell. I don't think it's going too far to say that sci-fi TV is richer as a whole for his efforts.

Just a handful of episodes left.

Read the full interview with Ron Moore on Wired.

Forsooth.

Battlestar Galactica complete recap thus far

I saw this on my Tivo last night and was pretty much intending to download it to DVD for my own nefarious purposes, but now I don't have to. Thank you, intertubes!



The fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica starts tonight.

Conan O'Brien on the Jon Stewart Show

As excerpted on the Colbert Report back in January.

Top Ten Reasons to Watch the New Season of Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica's new season begins this Friday on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Oscar, Oscar OSCAR!

In 2003 Scott and I wrote down the things we'd learned from watching that year's Oscars telecast.

To win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, it really helps to be an old white guy.

If you want to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, play someone's mother, or a hooker, or, if at all possible, both.

The Academy Awards ceremony has never, ever included a tasteful musical number.

I've taken a break from the Oscars for the last few years, tuning in briefly if at all, but tonight I'm prepared to soak it in. I even set up a real-time chat and Oscars pool over at the B-Movie Message Board. Hell, maybe Scott and I will even write about the lessons we learned this year.

Why the renewed enthusiasm? I'm not sure. Maybe it's the fact that I've seen a few more of the contenders this year than usual, or maybe I'm just psyched that the WGA strike is over. (I really want to see what Jon Stewart and crew come up with under this much pressure.) Last night the Indie Spirit Awards rewarded Juno and Diablo Cody in particular, which warms my heart, but it's too much to hope that the same film will fare as well at the Academy Awards. Wouldn't it be cool to see Cody give an Oscars speech though?

I notice that the Razzies went out yesterday as well, and that the Lindsay Lohan "thriller" I Know Who Killed Me swept the bad-movie awards, setting yet another record for most Razzies won. According to the Razzies, I Know is officially worse than Showgirls or Battlefield Earth. Somehow I doubt it. I haven't delved into the way the Razzies work, but it seems to have evolved into a flavor-of-the-month celebrity schadenfreude contest instead of a real examination of the worst movies made each year. But hey, it's their event -- let 'em run it the way they want.

Me, I'll be watching tasteless musical numbers on the Academy Awards.

WGA Strike Report - Day 95 Recap

TV Fodder sums up the news from a variety of news sources, highlighting the likely fates of some high profile TV shows.

-Good news: Shows like "Ugly Betty," “Grey’s Anatomy" and “Lost" could start filming within two to four weeks after the end of the strike and produce a month’s worth of episodes to finish out the season. Also, “Two and a Half Men," “How I Met Your Mother," “Back to You" and “Samantha Who?" could all complete more episodes, between seven and nine.

-Bad News: Shows like “Heroes" and “24" probably won’t be back for a long time. Both shows deal with long story arcs and wouldn’t have a chance to complete them in such a limited time. While “Heroes" could just come back in the fall, EW speculates that “24" might not be back until 2009!

Read TV Fodder's WGA Strike Report: Day 95 Recap.

Holy Crap - Daily Show, Colbert Report return to the air

I'm not sure how I missed this, but Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are back on the air, without benefit of their writers. If your Tivo didn't catch it, you can catch up on the first night back over at thedailyshow.com. And yeah, the whole "watch it on the Internet" thing is a large part of what the strike is about.

Reanimator - article on "Pushing Daisies" in the New Yorker

In this week's New Yorker, Nancy Franklin's article on the TV series Pushing Daisies reveals that its creator Bryan Fuller was responsible for two other quirky-brilliant television series, also favorites of mine. Dead Like Me ran for a brief two seasons on Showtime and Wonderfalls flared out after only four episodes. (Both shows are now available in their entirety on DVD.) In retrospect this makes a lot of sense; Daisies shares the precision of comedy that made both shows so delightful. The changeover to a male protagonist (both other shows featured young women as the focus) makes for interesting comparison, though Ned seems much less a protagonist than a human Maguffin around which the other characters orbit. If you're unfamiliar with the series, read Franklin's article for a good synopsis.

I don't know how many episodes Franklin got to see before turning in her final draft, but she skips over the show's most interesting feature by far: Kristen Chenoweth as Olive Snook, the waitress at Ned's restaurant and the rival for his affections. The third point in a romantic triangle is rarely given the charm and subtlety of character that we see in Olive, and given the problems inherent in a romance between Ned and Chuck, it would be nice to see the lovebirds come to some sense about their relationship and let Olive get her shot. For the purposes of drama, however, this is exactly what will not happen.

Franklin closes her article with this:

"Pushing Daisies" probably shouldn't last longer than a season; fairy tales aren't supposed to go on forever. It will then take its place proudly beside other worthy efforts that lived fast, died young, and left behind a beautiful DVD.

I disagree that the concept doesn't have the legs to last longer than a season; it could probably go three or four without going completely stale, but it needs to get past the Ned & Chuck romance stage in order to move on to more interesting things -- like the origins of Ned's power (which might take all the fun out of it), or perhaps some other interesting applications to be derived from it. (Could Ned resurrect famous figures from the past, provided their remains could be located?) Fortunately for us the ratings for Pushing Daisies are quite good. If it can survive the seemingly inevitable writers' strike hiatus, we may get to see more than a single box set's worth of stories.

Peter Davison returns (briefly) as the Fifth Doctor

You bet your ass it's time for some new Doctor Who. The BBC announced last week that Friday they'll be airing "Time Crash," a "new scene" in the Doctor Who universe created as part of the Children in Need charity telethon.

It's not long now until Friday night - and Time Crash, the special Doctor Who scene starring David Tennant and Peter Davison.

As well as Time Crash, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Graeme Harper, the Children In Need telethon will also feature the vocal talents of John Barrowman, who will be singing during the evening.

In association with Children In Need, the Doctor Who website team will be doing our bit to support this historic meeting of two Doctors.

If you're in the UK, you'll be able to catch the scene online for seven days after it's shown on TV, along with a very special behind-the-scenes featurette from the Doctor Who Confidential team.

We'll also be running a mini episode guide, including galleries, a fact file and full credits.

I think this underscores the special place that Doctor Who has in the hearts of the British populace. How many television shows in the States -- never mind science fiction shows -- have a following devoted enough to justify annual holiday specials for charity?

Learn more about the mini-episode here and here, and check out a nice large image of the two Doctors together here. Also, check out the "front" page of the Doctor Who section of the BBC's web site for yet another image.

Heroes, season 2 - the time of waffling

I think I've figured out why the second season of Heroes isn't really striking any chords for me. Here it is: as villains go, diseases just aren't very sexy. Part of Heroes' charm in the first season was its simplicity: take clear comic-book style heroes and villains and make them slightly more realistic (no spandex) or conflicted (Horn-Rimmed Glasses guy hunts heroes but also adopted one) and make things spin out of control.

This season introduced concepts and characters that aren't terribly dynamic (a brother-sister team that bring on a deadly plague but can also cure it?) or are difficult to represent on screen (the aforementioned unsexy disease). The best heroes were benched as soon as they reached some self-realization (Claire, Peter, Hiro) and the only interesting plot thread has been the murder mystery. At least these threads seem to be coming together as we finally meet Adam Munroe (the former Takezo Kensei, whose healing ability apparently keeps him from aging as well). I'm hoping they keep Sylar well out of the mix for a while, or at least keep him from acquiring a crapload of powers again.

From the events we saw last week, the players are coming back together for an (hopefully) action-packed second half (two-thirds?) to the season. Hiro has returned to the "present," Peter has regained his memory (partially) and come back from yet another dystopic future, and the identity of Adam Munroe has been revealed. Tonight we should at least find out the direction that the writers had intended for the series to go -- if only that strike weren't stopping production dead in its tracks.

Tivo offers lifetime subscriptions again - temporarily

My sister, knowing my devotion to all things Tivo, sent me this link to this Engadget blog post:

Call it a quick holiday cash-in targeted at current TiVo owners if you must, but you're not about to kill our buzz about the fact that TiVo's resurrecting the greatly missed Product Lifetime Service (aka lifetime subscription) for Series3 and HD owners -- temporarily, anyway, and for realsies this time. As of today -- but only through January 2nd, 2008 -- current TiVo owners can upgrade their Series2 to a Series3 or HD with lifetime, or simply upgrade the service on their current S3 / HD -- equipment aside, the service will set you back $399.

Tempting, but for some reason I'm just really slow to jump on the HD bandwagon. I think it's the lack of funds to pay for things like HD-ready Tivos and digital HDTV service. (We currently pay $15 a month for basic cable service - HD channels would be many times that.) HD will probably come to my house in the form of a cheap hi-def DVD player first (the jury's still out on HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray in my book), or maybe an Apple TV if they decide to start offering high definition movies for rent. Until then, we'll watch the same old regular definition shows that have been serving man since TV began.

Joss Whedon on the WGA Strike

I’ve done well, and I’m grateful that I can weather a long winter. Compared to what the studios have made off me my share is tiny and cute, but I’m in no position to complain. But take that differential, apply it to someone who’s just getting by when they deserve better. Now take it and… well, just take it, ‘cause when it comes to the internet and the emerging media there’s nothing there for the artists. There’s no precedent; these media didn’t exist the last time a contract was negotiated. We’re not just talking about an unfair deal, we’re talking about no deal at all.

Read Whedon's entire post here.

WGA strikers use YouTube to tell their side of the story

Brilliant, really. I wonder if the execs will clue in and try to set up an opposing YouTube channel. And if they do, who will write their videos for them?



Check out the other videos on the WGA YouTube Channel.

WGA Strike is here to save me from myself

The screenwriters strike is here, and I can't say I'm too broken up about it. We're just a wee bit TV addicted here at Stomp Tokyo HQ (Austin branch), so maybe the break from TV (which looks like it'll come right around Christmas or so) will let us get a few things done besides feed our eyeballs. There are obviously serious issues at stake here and there's a lot more than my personal productivity to consider, but on the most personal, selfish level I'm looking forward to the break from the Tivo onslaught. Perhaps I'll even remove a season pass or two, though I imagine my wife and I would have to fight over which ones would get the axe.

On a related note, it looks like Heroes: Origins has been put down, at least for now. Given the way this season of the flagship show has been going, I'm not sure that's a bad thing. It seems to be suffering some sophomore year loss-of-direction problems, but here's hoping the writers come back from the strike with some fresh ideas.

Cult Movies Podcast Episode 44

There's a whole lot of cult TV coming out this Fall, and we cover most of it in this podcast. We'll come back around to "Bionic Woman" in a future episode, if only so we can drag out that MP3 of the theme song from the original show. Listen to our expert dissections of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," "Pushing Daisies," "Reaper," and more.

Listen now.

The final word on Veronica Mars . . . ?

We've known for over a month now that Veronica Mars was cancelled. Dead. Kaput. There were some who kept hope alive with a viewer campaign involving Mars bars, but that work was apparently in vain.

Now there's this interview with series creator Rob Thomas at BlogCritics in which he mentions that DC Comics is interested in continuing it as a comics series. I thought it was interesting when Joss Whedon started Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8 as a comic, but that kinda sorta made sense, being a fantasy series and all. Veronica Mars, on the other hand, is a fairly straight teen detective soap opera. Very interesting.

Thomas is apparently hard at work on a new series, Miss/Guided starring Judy Greer (yay!). And Miss Mars herself (Kristen Bell)? She has a couple of movies coming out soon, including a Judd Apatow-produced comedy called Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

So RIP Veronica Mars, at least until we see you in the funny pages.

I can't believe it either, Bob.

What's that sound?

That distant cry like a thousand thousand nerds wailing in the wilderness?

It's the sound of a devoted fan base that just got told they have to wait until 2008 for more episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

If I were to guess (and why not guess, given that I have no journalistic integrity to uphold?) I'd say that there are some actors (and crew members?) on that show who are anxious to flex their newly-developed market muscle by taking an extended break to do some movie work, or maybe just take some time off from Cylon life. For us it's a pleasant diversion once a week; for them it's been three-plus years of constant life on the set of a space opera.

I'm looking forward to the next (and presumably last) season of Battlestar Galactica as much as the next geek, but I'm happy to give them their hiatus. Plenty of stuff on cable and DVD to occupy my time until then.

Just one question: when the heck does Veronica Mars start back up?

Edit: Looks like the answer to that last question is May 1st. Whee.

Ultraman Objects Exhibit

Reason number eleventy-twelve why Japan is the coolest country ever – they have a photography exhibit showcasing the art of Ultraman and it's actually taken quite seriously.

I quite like what they show on the exhibit's page, and if you click around a bit you can find some pictures of Ultraman toys (apparently on sale?).

If you want to learn more about Ultraman the best source is of course the Ultraman FAQ. Accept no imitations.

NBC posts "Heroes" online for free

NBC has posted the 11 episodes aired so far from its series Heroes on its web site for a limited time. If you want to catch up, this is a good, free way to do it. Personally I'm going to wait on this one for DVD – the TV landscape and my life are just too cluttered at the moment to try and keep up on a weekly basis. Since it has a continuing story arc it also looks like it'll be more fun to devour in rapid succession than with interruptions and commercials. But hey, if you don't mind sitting in front of your computer to watch a bunch of episodes, Heroes does look like a pretty good series and should be encouraged.

Check out the Heroes online episodes now.