See the Emmy Nominated Wallace And Gromit Here

Wallace And Gromit - A Matter Of Loaf And Death

DANMAN | MySpace Video

"A Matter of Load and Death"

Been "Off the Air" For Awhile

I've been .... pre-occupied with a dozen other things more important than blogging for the past few months, but for now, with a more stable situation, I return to the blogosphere invigorated.....

Sorry to read that Scrubs, Heroes and Better Off Ted will likely be cancelled at the end of this season. All were innovative shows that broke the mold... Who can forget the Scrubs all-musical episode? Such wonders as "Guy Love" and "It All Comes Down to Poo..." made me laugh out loud.
Thank God for Modern Family and 30 Rock.

This blog will become more specialized, towards TV coverage... as you see. I seem to make more time for TV in my day than others..... But this isn't 'True Confessions.' On with the show....

If you've never caught Friday Night Lights on NBC or DirecTV, the first 3 seasons are on Netflix's direct streaming PLAY NOW section. Kyle Chandler deserved an Emmy for Best Actor but the show has been largely ignored by the public, despite winning a Peabody Award...
From Wikipedia:

".....The show’s producers decided at the outset to allow their performers leeway in what they say and do on the show. Though scripted like any hour-long television drama, performers are given great leeway in the delivery of their lines and the blocking of each scene. If actors feel that something is not true to their character or a mode of delivery doesn’t work, they are free to change it provided they still hit the vital plot points.^[20]

The freedom that producers have extended to the performers is complemented by the fact that the show is taped without rehearsal and without extensive blocking. Camera operators are trained to follow the actors rather than actors standing in one place and having cameras fixed around them. This allows performers to not only feel free to make changes but to feel safe in making those changes because the infrastructure will work around them. Executive producer Jeffrey Reiner described this method as “no rehearsal, no blocking, just three cameras and we shoot.”^[21]

Working in this fashion has had a profound influence on everyone involved with the show, with series star Kyle Chandler going so far as to say “When I look back at my life, I'm going to say, "Wow, [executive producer] Peter Berg really changed my life."”^[22] Executive producer and head writer Jason Katims echoes this sentiment saying “When I first came on [the ‘FNL’] set, I thought, it’s interesting — this is what I imagined filmmaking would be, before I saw what filmmaking was

Nobody's Watching: The TV Pilot

Earlier, I've posted funny clips from the comedy team, Derek and Will, and the Producers of Scrubs and The Family Guy. Remember The Diet Coke and Mentos comedy clip, and the Lost parody... These guys are quite good. They did a pilot for the WB in 2005 that the suits were too dumb to comprehend, and it didn't get picked up. It's split into 3 segs on YouTube, it's rated 4.5 out of 5 stars, and has over 500,000 views...
Be 500,001 here.
The story behind the show is HERE. Very interesting notes about how future TV shows might debut on the internet FIRST, before primetime...

The Big Bang Theory: Very Funny New Show

My review of the show is Here.
Takes me back to my college days, where I knew EVERY ONE of the characters
on this show, especially the blonde... Hello Debbie's wherever you are..

Amazon Unbox Free Preview Episode of the Pilot is HERE.

My review of Prison Break's:
3rd Season Premiere HERE.

3 Great Actors Get Their Due

Best supporting actress, comedy series		Jaime Pressly, My Name Is Earl NBC - "Oh, snap! She won!!."
Best supporting actor, comedy series		Jeremy Piven, Entourage HBO - Powerfully funny as Ari Gold.
Best supporting actor, drama series		Terry O'Quinn, Lost ABC - He makes the show......

Fall 2007 Network TV Grid

My invalueable resource for Couch-Potato time, EPGUIDES.COM, has this falls listing of what shows will air when, so you can weep uncontollably that you don't have a dual-tuner Tivo figure out which shows you MUST see, and which ones you'll just have to pass by. The season "starts" next Monday. Make sure you try Kid Nation, Back To You, Prison Break, Reaper and Survivor: China, all premiering next week. Heroes premieres the 24th.

Fall TV Season Preview Shows Promise

TV Week has a sampler allowing you to figure out which (IF ANY) of the shows you want to Season Pass on the TIVO.
My early favorites, based on the clips and the vibe:
SUNDAY:
The Sarah Conner Chronicles - Based on Terminator 2 - Fox

MONDAY:
Chuck - NBC - Spy comedy ... Geek twist on Alias/My Name is Earl.
Samantha Who - ABC - Christina Applegate gets amnesia.
The Big Bang Theory - CBS - Nerds living with hottie
Aliens in America - Fox - Pakistani exchange student visits America.
All 4 are comedies, and look promising...

TUESDAY
Reaper - The CW - (Dead Like Me by Kevin Smith)

WEDS.
Pushing Daisies - ABC - Quirky, and visually amazing.
Private Practice - ABC - Good cast.
KID NATION - CBS - FASCINATING REALITY SHOW... Watch the clip!
Back To You - Fox - Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton Comedy

Thursday, Friday and Saturday? Nothing worth a damn appears to be out there.....


Daily Variety Magazine, the industry bible has a blog that did the same thing I did, but watched entire fall episodes... their picks and misses are HERE....
Of course, they largely agree with mwahh.

Time's List of 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time

Is YOUR FAVORITE on the list?

My Top 10 would include:
Deadwood
24
Friends
Lost
Battlestar Galactica
Wings
Frasier
Twin Peaks
Gilligan's Island
Bugs Bunny Cartoon Hour

(Pictured Above, Seth Bullock-Deadwood)

"TIVO" for the Web: My Beta Test first Impressions

I told you guys about a new website/software app called VEOH. It is a quick downlaod, easily installed, and gives you the look and feel of TIVO, whilst it searches out all the cluttered, ugly interfaces such as Google Video, YouTube, MetaCaafe and others, including TV NETWORK websites, and presents it in an elegant user interface.. There is NO GOING back to individual website surfing for video THIS IS THE BOMB!
It is configurable, allows you to store favorite clips you find, choose from video blogs, podcasts, create playlists of videos and much more...
107 Channels are available on the Channels Page.. some channels are:
National Lampoon
High Times Pot Cast
G4TV
TV Guide
NCAA
PBS/CBS/NBC/ABC/Fox/CW
Sportsbabes (LOVED IT)
News For Blondes
Wine Library TV
EcoGeeks
Billboard
MTV
I highly recommend it.

YouTube: So YESTERDAY.. You Want Veoh TV

I am not one to hype just any new product or website... I'm pretty picky... tough to impress..
I was IMPRESSED with TIVO in 1999.. IMPRESSED with Microsoft Suface... in 07...And I'm IMPRESSED with Veoh TV (Developed by Michael Eisner, Former Disney CEO).
It looks beautiful, and the video is nice... THIS is what internet video was supposed to be... it blows YouTube away...
Check it out here....

HGTV Dreamhome: Oregon

I just found out that a good friend's TV series she produced is re-airing this summer. It's a ten-part series that follows a couple in Portland Oregon as they tear down most of their existing home to build an extensive remodel and zany antics ensue, not to mention endless schedule and budget pressure and a surprise pregnancy.

Airtime is 11pm ET/PT, 9pm Mountain on the following Sundays:

Episode 1 – Sunday, July 8
thru
Episode 10 – Sunday, September 9

Season Finale Reviews - (Warning: Spoilers)

By now, everyone has caught up with their favorite TV shows in their Tivo Now Playing List, and I can comment on stuff....

LOST was.... AWWWWWWEEEEESSSOOOOOMMMMMEEEEE
That's AWESOME, for the ALL CAPS deficient readers... I got a little glassy when Charlie put his hand up against the glass and floated away.... Here's an interview with him about his thoughts on leaving the show... This was the BEST episode since the pilot.. Hurley running the Others down, Sayid snapping the guys neck..! I've wanted the Others to meet their doom in horrific ways, and they did! And the FLASH-FORWARD of Jack caught me off guard....
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I will miss The King Of Queens, consistently the funniest show on TV, but I understand everyone needed to move on.. Douglas Heffernen was quite the character... let's wrestle!
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I will also miss THE CLASS... I forgot to mention that show when I ranted about all my other shows getting cancelled... How the hell do you cancel a show that is either 2nd or 3rd in its timeslot and is from the Producers of Friends? Frakking idiots!
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Heroes was above average, but still a letdown...
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Desperate Housewives was nice, and it wouldn't kill me if that uber-slut was still swinging from the rafters when next season fires up.
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24... All I can say, is they cleaned up the slate, so Jack Bauer could end up ANYWHERE next season... Even Chloe could be gone.. That's fine... The show needs a new set of problems and characters.... Jack is just fine..
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There are a few good shows coming on this and next week in case you go into TV withdrawal.... First and foremost is Traveler.. I saw it back in September (I have a client in the show)... The pilot was almost as rivoting as Lost.. It's on Wednesday nights on ABC... FIND IT..
ON THE LOT was pretty interesting.. Creature Comforts looks like a fun show.
Monk will start up again in about 3 weeks, as will Entourage (HBO). I'm beyond hooked on Battlestar Galactica... Now I know why it won a Peabody Award.. It's not a sci-fi show this time.... it is a drama that just happens to be in space... Netflix it to catch up.... Savor the last 5 episodes of Studio 60, on Thursday night.. We won't see writing this good again until ???

Clean FM channel finder for iPods

(From Gizmodo)
I hate (car) FM transmitters for iPods, but I think Belkin's new service might make me hate them a little bit less. The company today launched a website that tells you what FM stations are the cleanest (i.e. least active) in your area. I'd like to see this combined with Google Maps, so that I'd know when and where to switch channels along an 800-mile road trip.
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I caught the premiere of "On the Lot" a new reality show from Survivor creator Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg... I'm already hooked. 35 wanna-be directors vie for a shot at a contract with the Dreamworks Team.
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Season finales of Heroes and 24 were.... okay... not dreadful or rockin...
I hope Lost is better...
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Open Letter To CBS, NBC & ABC

Dear Dipshits!
You've screwed me over for the last time... I've endured cancellations of Surface and Invasion, both excellent, riveting OFF-BEAT dramas in 2005, lived thru HBO cancelling Deadwood,
wept (on the inside) at NBC being too freaking stupid to put Studio 60 on, on its NATURAL night, (WEDNESDAY AT 10!!! Same as West Wing..OMFG smell the coffee!!) and now find out CBS nukes Jericho, because they've "overloaded on serialized dramas."

For years, everyone yammered on about how every issue in life is neatly wrapped up in 30 or 60 minutes, and accuse the networks of dumbing down their content for us, and demand more challenging programming... So you suits at the nets give it to us.... and then, when we miss a week here and there, making the show drop 2% week to week in viewership.... you panic and pull the plug... and replace the show with a show that ALWAYS fares worse!!
You don't have the slightest clue what the hell you are doing... Admit it.

Go ahead and put new dumb-ass shows back on that insult our intelligence.. We have no attention span... Fans of Drive, Threshhold, and other non-typical shows should realize NBC WILL CANCEL current darling Heroes next season, when it drops more than 10%, because they are chicken shit suits... nothing more...They do NOT care about quality, they only care about numbers. You risk getting the rug pulled out from under you when you watch a series on an alphabet net... Super glue your tuner on the SCI-FI CHANNEL and USA... They stand by their shows...Yes, bring us more SKATING WITH THE CELEBRITIES...

24 Producers To Change The Show...

With ratings in decline, and fans suffering from plot vertigo, the doom sayers of the media have begun picking the carcass of the once indestructible 24. While I pretty much agree that, despite its intensely cinematic beginning, season six has kind of lost me, I'm willing to give 24 the benefit of the doubt. Yes, the main plot ended early and some, including producer David Fury, consider that a mistake, but let's face it, the idea that all global political / terrorist crises last exactly 24 hours tests the bounds of reason.

24 has become a cliche of itself. Jack Bauer killing friends, or family, has become an expectation anticipated with mockery. The parade of ludicrous deaths has become more of a low rent cabaret of cartoon violence. The character turns have become so telegraphed, they exemplify satire in the theater of the absurd.

And the season is varnished with missed opportunities. Morris having to deal with contributing to a second nuclear explosion would have made much more interesting grounds for character development than having him half heartedly teeter on the brink of 'falling off the wagon', particularly since his alcoholism is something we have no experience with.

But fear not, hope is on the way. Both Fury and Howard Gordon acknowledged, in separate interviews, that 24 was due for a complete remodeling. In a New York Times interview, Gordon went as far as to say "I don't dispute it's been a challenging season to write for us, but it's reinvigorated our determination to reinvent the show. This year could be seen to be the last iteration of it in its current state." A statement that defies the fact that the producers knew their formula's days - or hours - were numbered.

Battlestar Galactica N Underbellies

I've updated my Netflix Queue to send me nothing but Battlestar Galactica series discs,
so i can get caught up with the series.. I'm still in season 1, and they're in 3.. Can't quite put my finger on what it is that is so irresistable about the show.... hmm... if you know, tell me... I'm curious...
One thing is for sure, this.. is NOT your father's Battlestar Galactica. There is a Marathon coming up on SCI-FI Channel May 16-17-18 on Season 3, for those who aren't purists about seeing it from the start... If you do, at least rent the MINISERIES first, and then watch the show... Season 4 starts... alas, in January 08.
Caught the Series Premiere of Notes From The Underbelly last night. Cute, funny, sharp zippy dialog, very similar to Studio 60... With a touch of pathos, like the vintage thirtysomething, of the 90's.... My client, Rachael Harris, plays the semi-slutty divorce attorney, Cooper. It moves to Wednesdays next week... Lost is filling in a LOT of blanks, finally after 2 seasons of stringing us along.. I finally know what the Other's reason was for being on that damn island.. Pregnancy and cancer research. The King Of Queens is down to its final five episodes.. It never won the Emmy for best comedy, but it should have...

Rachael Harris, above.

Family TV

Steven started Spring Break today, and I wanted to make sure he had a decent show to watch, once in awhile... He loves Star Trek:The Next Generation, but that is on Spike (Mens TV) and every commercial break is filled with ads about making your package bigger than a horse, and lasting for 6 hours adult items. It's sick, putting ads like that on what is ostensibly a kids show. Luckily, a new channel, ION (DirecTV 255) has a couple of shows for someone HIS AGE... He's outgrowing cartoons... They have THE WONDER YEARS from 10-11 pm pacific time nightly, and GROWING PAINS, at some other time. Both shows were well written, funny MONSTER hits.... Good to see them finally back on the air.
Heroes returns April 23, too... And if you want to catch up on LOST conspiracy theories water cooler chat, read on.

Battlestar Galactica: Peabody Award Winner

Surfing the web this morning, I discovered, that in 2005, Sci-fi TV show Battlestar Galactica won a Peabody Award, further fueling my desire to get caught up with the series.. I'm on episode 6. The show is probably airing it's oh, 55th or so this week..
How prestigious, I thought... The PEABODY... Then, I did a quick peek to see what other TV has reached such rarified air..... um............... The air ain't so rare...

SOUTHPARK
BERNIE (Freakin' )MAC
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
DEADWOOD
HOUSE
DORA THE EXPLORER
THE WIRE
THE OFFICE (BBC VERSION)
BOOMTOWN
SIX FEET UNDER
BLUES CLUES
BAND OF BROTHERS

THE SIMPSONS
THE X-FILES
LA LAW
FRASIER
MAD ABOUT YOU
THE WEST WING
THE DAILY SHOW
THE SOPRANOS
WALKING WITH DINOSAURS
dozens of others.....
(Including just about every David E. Kelley show that ever aired... He must bribe them..)
Ally McBeal, Boston Public, The Practice, Boston Legal )

It's time for a new award to really separate the wheat from the chaff...

The Best TV Character?

Online Poll of the Best TV Characters whittles down to Jack Bauer (24) vs. Dwight Schrute-(The Office) (played by Rainn Wilson, who is yet another of my clients making big waves this year.)
Many other long-time clients of mine got deals to star in new TV Pilots: Ving Rhames, James Van Der Beek, Kristin Chenoweth, Christopher Titus, Tim Russ, Krista Allen, Erick Avari and others.

CHRISTOPHER TITUS- Funny, Funny Guy.

I look forward to this pilot, in particular... as do.. uh... many of my old buddies.

The Big Bang Theory (Warner Bros. Television)
Exec Producers: Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady (writers) Director: James Burrows
Cast: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kunal Nayyar, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg
Logline: Science geeks hook up with women out of their league.

and clearly, the most unfortunately titled TV Pilot EVER, EVER in history:

M.I.L.F. and Cookies (CBS Paramount TV)
Exec producers: Randi Mayem Singer (writer), Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, James Lassiter
Logline: Four single moms living in an apartment complex realize it takes a village to raise their kids.

TRIVIA: Which state has the longest coastline: California, Hawaii, Alaska or Florida?
A: Our northernmost state.

Musings on Everything Else

The Denver Broncos lost another player Saturday, as Damien Nash collapsed and died after a charity basketball game, to raise funds for his brother, who had a heart defect..

The Mega-Millions Jackpot is up to a cool quarter Billion dollars, if you're into that sorta thang...

Steven's record at QB soars to 2-1, now that his team is playing against other teams of similar age and weight... 0-3 vs. seemingly steroid enhanced-freak-show droids who live-sleep-eat drink football more than he does...

Anyone know why my dog picks up his kibble, ONE DAMN PIECE AT A TIME, carries it 12 feet away, to the carpet, and eats it there, and returns to his bowl to repeat the process?

Anyone know/care why Studio 60 was bumped for some lame-ass looking Sopranos wanna-be about 4 teenage irish mafiosos?

Steven wants a helicopter for his birthday.. After a couple of seconds of research, I've decided on the Air Hogs Helix. $59.95...

Apparently we were building our border fence 10 feet south of where our border supposedly is, and the Mexicans were PISSED! How did they know we were ten FEET over the line? We of course, quickly packed up our fence posts, and beat a hasty retreat, quicker than any Frenchie could've... I hang my head in shame daily at this nation...