…’Cause American Gladiators is coming back to T.V..
I wonder if they’ll bring back the gladiators’ character names — Nitro, etc. — or whether we’re in for something a little bit different.
In any event: w00t!
Kiss My Shiny, Foil-Based Optical Media!
From ComiCon comes the wonderful news that Futurama is back with a vengeance as of late November ’07. It will be back as a 4 episode per DVD, 4 DVD set, bringing the total to 16 brand new episodes which will also run on Comedy Central (over and over and over, I’ll wager, given CC’s history…).
The Slashdot discussion that surrounded this announcement was filled with many gems, including the following awesome moichandise design:
(Hit the image to buy the shirts.)
That has to be the best GOP self-deprecative t-shirt I’ve seen since RFV:
Bonus ComiCon Futurama footage:
While I’m In The “Posting Videos” Mood…
Submitted for your enjoyment/consideration.
A Demetri Martin “video” that’s little more than a still shot with a voice-over. Still, it’s pretty good comedy (and it beats taking the airlines):
The Robot Chicken Star Wars Special, Part 1:
Continue reading “While I’m In The “Posting Videos” Mood…”
Looks Like We’ll Never Need Another Timmy
I read with a good deal of sadness that Mr. Wizard died yesterday morning. For all of you youngsters, he was like Beakman or Bill Nye, oldschool-style.
His experiments were decidedly a low-fi sort of affair, but they were entertaining and engaging. I’m sure he’s responsible for just as many engineers as James Doohan. A sad day, indeed.
G.E., NBC Universal: A Word, If You Please
Word on the street has it that your fall T.V. schedule is in trouble. Your Thursday night comedy lineup is critically-approved but audience-ignored, your procedural crime dramas are going nowhere fast, you canceled yet another Aaron Sorkin show (bad move there — I actually liked Studio 60…) and your only bright spot is Heroes (I love the comic book supplements — good job there).
Here’s the thing: you have a great stable of shows on your cable assets — Monk, Psych and Battlestar Galactica come readily to mind. Why not draw upon that font of resources? The real fans have already seen the episodes, your production costs are effectively nil — just advertise the tar out of ’em.
Start running BSG from the very beginning on Wednesday nights. Replace Wedding Crashers or something else just as trite with Psych. You get the picture.
You’ve got the assets — use ’em, darn it!
Joost Invites Out The Wazoo
Now that the unlimited invite version of Joost, the new Web 2.0-ish streaming “TV” application, has arrived, I have unlimited invites to drop. Anyone looking to get in on the beta, please just leave a comment in the comments section of this post.
It’s pretty cool, I must say.
Life Imitating Art Imitating… Blech.
Tobias FünkeAnderson Cooper — nevernude? I’ll let you be the judge:
Y[ou] can’t be too careful, especially when you’re high-profile anchorman Anderson Cooper. Cyber gossip Janet Charlton reports the white-haired CNN star regularly works out at the Equinox gym in the Time Warner Center, where he attracts a lot of attention from hard bodies of both genders. “So he takes precautions,” Charlton reports. “Everyone knows camera phones are easy to smuggle anywhere, so sensible Anderson reportedly showers in his underwear. Boxer briefs, to be exact.”
Heh.
It Just Doesn’t Get Any Cooler Than Mythbusters Vs. The Ninja
It’s a veritable nexus of Internet Hipsterism, I tell ya, when The Mythbusters Ask A Ninja.
I think he’s onto something there — Jamie just might be a robot!
Translation: CNN Headlines To English
I have noticed that CNN/CNN Headline News have begun “tagging” all of their news with helpful chronological crawler/ticker headline messages. These tags allow one to, at a glance, determine approximately how old the news they are being presented with is. However, these messages are not in plain English. In furtherance of a fuller understanding of the news, I present a short guide to interpreting the Headline/Crawler Tagging Lingo.
Breaking News
Refers to something that has occurred within the last hour’s news cycle. You read about it on the Internet 55 minutes ago. May be accompanied by live video of an ongoing event. New information regarding the situation can generally be expected. Can span multiple hours’ news cycles in the event of an L.A. freeway car chase.
Developing Story
Refers to something that occurred during the previous news cycle. Replay of last cycle’s “live” video can be expected. No genuinely new information is typical. Only live video run during segments tagged thusly include talking heads and on-the-scene reporters talking in front of the aftermath of the event.
This Just In
Minor addition or fleshing-out of story that was Breaking News but has passed its Developing Story cycle.
Follow-Up
Event occurred more than 6 hours ago. A reiteration of entire situation can be expected, as well as any updates that occurred during the Developing or Just In phases.
In-Depth
Crux of story occurred at least 5 days ago. Expect opinion to be mixed with facts and gauzy voice-overs, all of which is presented as “news analysis”.
I, for one, thank CNN for these valuable cues, as I can now gauge the exact extent to which I should ignore their broadcasts. I hope this has been a help to all you news consumers out there.
Watch this space for the “Weighting The News: A Guide To Taking Fox News At About 45-75% Seriousness And Thus Arriving At The Proper News Importance”.
“What We Call The News”
Those JibJab cats (the ones that brought you the memorable This Land Is Your Land spoof during the ’04 elections) are back with another catchy video called “What We Call The News“. Check it out: