Category Archives: HBO
Weekly TV Update: July 23
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
WWE Raw reaches its 1,000th episode. It will feature a look back the shows 19 years on air.
Aaron Sorkin lets go of more than half of The Newsroom’s writing staff.
The Olympics opening ceremony is Friday. Find your local Olympics schedule at NBC Olympics.
Mindy Kaling is returning to The Office for at least one more episode.
If you missed the Teen Choice Awards, Jen Chaney of The Washington Post has a summary of what happened.
The 2012 Emmy Nominees
Earlier today, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the 2012 Emmy Awards nominees. HBO (81 nominations) and CBS (60 nominations) lead the networks in nominations. Mad Men and American Horror Story (tied with 17 nominations) were shows nominated for the most awards.
Here is list of shows nominated in the major categories:
Best Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Girls
Modern Family
30 Rock
Veep
Best Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men
Episodes Review: Does Sean Forgive Matt?
The second season of Episodes has been superb so far. Sunday’s show was only the second episode. Considering how good the series has been, it’s probably not slowing down. The main arc of this season is about repairing damages and it’s working very well. The main issue is simple in that it is very difficult for everyone to move past the turmoil of the first season. The biggest struggle is not for the civility of Sean and Beverly Lincoln, but for Matt LeBlanc to win Sean over. Everything came together extremely well.
The episode opens with Sean and Morning Randolph in bed together. Randolph is leaving and Sean seems confused. He feels that their sleeping together deserves more attention. He asked if they should talk about what happened and Randolph simply said “I had fun.” Sean was confused again, and he asks, “That’s it?’ This really highlighted the emotional states of the characters well. Sean isn’t used to the dynamic of the one night stand. After all, he’s been married for several years. Sex that doesn’t mean much is new territory for him. That being said, the subtexts of the scene were executed very well. There were a few moments of silence between the two as if to communicate an uncertainty that they are both getting comfortable with. In this sense, there is still a feeling of emptiness. He’s separated from Beverly and he isn’t cheating. Out of familiarity, he almost seems to crave for the situation to be more complicated than it actually is. Instead, Randolph has the right idea, simply telling Sean she would see him tomorrow.
Weekly TV Update: July 2
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
MTV has a recap of last night’s BET Awards performances. Entertainment Weekly has a full list of winners.
Dexter fans will be disappointed. Executive producer Sara Colleton confirmed that Dexter is definitely ending after season 8.
Erin Andrews leaves ESPN. She will now host her own show on Fox Sports.
If you’re still interested in The Newsroom, Vulture has a review of the latest episode.
Seth MacFarlane’s Ted topped the box office this weekend. How similar is it to Family Guy?
Watch The Newsroom on YouTube
If you missed the premiere of The Newsroom and want to catch it before tonight’s episode at 10pm, you can watch the full first episode for free on YouTube.
Game of Thrones Alters Bush’s Head
The Bush Head Before and After Alterations
After the controversy surrounding the use of a mask depecting former President Bush’s head, the HBO series Game of Thrones has made some changes After HBO pulled the episode and stopped DVD production. The producers then apologized saying it was out of necessity and that they had to use the heads available. Now that the story went viral, the production team has altered the George W. Bush mask. It’s chin, nose, and face are now considerably smaller.
The changes to the mask may not erase the inappropriate mistake that the Game of Thrones staff made, but it is at least a step in the right direction. By altering the mask, the show did the right thing in trying to make amends. It acknowledged its mistake. Of course, the staff should not have made the mistake in the first place but at least it was handled with some grace.
For those who are aware of who the mask originally depicted and were offended, changing the mask may not help because the damage has been done. Using the mask of a former president to depict a beheading will always be inappropriate, but trying to alter the head was the right thing to do. The mistake will still be remembered, but so will the correction.
Did HBO and the Game of Thrones do enough?
The Newsroom Needs a Newsflash
Last night, after much anticipation, Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom finally debuted on HBO. I really wanted to like this show because, even though I know he can be preachy, I like Aaron Sorkin and his previous two shows about the behind-the-scenes of television. Both Sports Night and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip were their own shows, The Newsroom appears to be a rehash of Studio 60 with the only difference being the former takes place in a newsroom and the latter is about a late night sketch comedy show a la Saturday Night Live.
If I had never seen Studio 60, I would probably love The Newsroom. Instead, I spent all hour and fifteen minutes of the first episode wishing people would stop comparing everyone they find bland to Jay Leno, thinking Sam Waterston needs a hair cut and makes an awkward drunk, and searching for anachronisms and incorrect facts. Seriously, I was trying to determine if the cell phones used in the show were actually available in 2010 because the show lost my interest within the first 15 minutes.
Game of Thrones Puts Bush’s Head on a Stake
The Bush Mask as seen on Game of Thrones
HBO’s Game of Thrones has been the subject of a lot of controversy, since it was revealed that the show used a mask of former President George W. Bush to depict a decapitated head. The production crew apologized, saying that they just had to use the heads they had lying around. They can make any excuse they want and say that it isn’t a political statement, but that does not make the putting a former presidents head on a stake any less inappropriate.
The fact is that it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of President Bush. It doesn’t matter how often he may have disappointed some parts of the public. He was still the president of the United States and deserves some basic human decency. Frankly, I do believe the Game of Thrones crew and that it wasn’t trying to express any hate toward Bush, but that’s irrelevant. It was in poor taste. They should have known they would have to defend themselves. You don’t just get away with something that is potentially and probably extremely offensive.
Placing Former President Bush’s head on a stake could easily be interpreted as a symbol of the desire to decapitate him, even if it wasn’t intended as such. Someone needed to think it out more carefully. It’s patently offensive. A member of the crew should have thought that the reaction to this will not be positive.
Thankfully, all content about the decapitation will be removed from Game of Thrones DVDs. The show did the right thing after the fact, but such a blatantly offensive idea should have never been thought of in the first place.
Wait! What's A Dial? 
Cool TV Video of The Day: Bill Maher Blames Parents And Television
Jul 19
Posted by Jeremy Einbinder
The following is a clip of the “New Rules” segment from a 2010 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. In the video, the political comedian has harsh criticisms about a lack of quality education taught to children. He rejects the notion that teachers should be blamed for parents’ incompetence. He also ironically slams television as one of the reasons parents are not taking responsibility.
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Posted in Comedy, Cool TV Video of The Day, HBO, Talk Shows
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Tags: bill maher, commentary, education, new rules segment, real time, reatime with bill maher, talk show