Blog Archives
Watching Alan in ‘What’s Alan Watching?’
What’s Alan Watching?, a pilot produced by Eddie Murphy, originally ran on CBS in 1989. The show, though, never got picked up past the first episode. Sort of hard to believe, as it was the perfect recipe for an 80’s or 90’s television show: the dweeby, in this case younger, sibling has to deal with his jerk older brother (David Packer) and ditzy, self-centered sister played by a pre-The Nanny Fran Drescher, whose lack of “MAAA” shouts was a little jarring for me. For Alan Hoffstetter, the dweeb in What’s Alan Watching?, played by Corin Nemec, the only way to do that is through televsion.
A-scare-ica: The Rise of Horror in American Television
I have a theory that nightmares are our brain’s way of saying “hey, your life could be worse,” which is why the horror genre is increasingly becoming popular in television. So what if you have crippling debt because of student loans. At least, you don’t have to kill your zombified friends and family. According to this CBC article, that’s why zombies are so popular.
There is no doubting that times are tough. When you find yourself in times of trouble, mother television comes on to make things all better. Since the dawn of primetime, TV has always been an escape from our daily lives. It’s why we never saw our favorite nuclear TV families broken apart by war. Instead of living vicariously through our favorite TV characters like we used to, we’re saying, “hey, my life could be worse”.
True Blood (HBO)
True Blood came out in the height of that whole Twilight fad that some of us don’t like mentioning being part of. I remember girls complaining that True Blood was a blatant rip off of the saga. Aside from having vampires, the protagonist happens to have telepathic abilities, just like a certain sparkly vampire. Except The Southern Vampire Mysteries that inspired the TV show came out before Stephanie Meyer dreamed up Twilight.
The difference between True Blood and any other vampire movie or TV show is that it dealt with current issues. Gay rights to be specific. This is made obvious by the “God hates Fangs” sign in the intro, which is a lovely jab at The Westboro Baptist Church. The show has continued to use vampires as an allegory for the LGBT community. You know, vampires are people too!
Despite airing in the summer, which is usually a death sentence, this show became insanely popular. So popular that HBO has been pushing out more and more TV shows ever since its 2008 debut. Since so many people took time out of their busy summer schedules of doing nothing, it showed that horror is something channels should strive toward.
Most Ridiculous Sites Dedicated to TV
The Internet is a strange place. Hardcore fans of TV shows are a weird bunch. What happens when you combine the two? These websites.
Law & Order & Food
People love Law & Order, all 200 versions of it. Some are incredibly dedicated and document every background event. Those fans are responsible for this Tumblr page, which is dedicated to documenting every time Munch munches and Detective Briscoe wants a sandwich. Law & Order & Food features pictures from all of Law & Order’s spin-offs. While criminals caught on Law & Order have the right to remain silent, all food that appears has “the right to remain delicious.”
Top “Weird Al” Song Parodies About Television
“Weird Al” Yankovic is the master of song parodies and pop culture references, so naturally he would mock television over the years. In 1995, “Weird Al” put out The TV Album, which compiled all of his TV-related songs up to that point. Well, he hates it. Now that over 10 years have passed, the album seems kind of arbitrary. There are so many more recent songs about TV songs that deserve recognition, so here are five songs from “Weird Al’s” collection that either weren’t on The TV Album or were included, but still hold up fairly well today.
Couch Potato
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dKePq2XxWs
Read the rest of this entry
Fourth of July Marathons 2013
Once again, it’s Fourth of July weekend. While some people will be heading off to the beach or going to a barbeque, others will be curled up on their couch watching one of these marathons.
July 3
A&E : THE FIRST 48 (3 – 7pm), DUCK DYNASTY(7pm- 4am)
AMC: CSI: MIAMI (4 – 8pm)
bio: THE FIRST 48 (7pm- 3am)
Bravo: MILLION DOLLAR LISTING NEW YORK (4 – 8:45pm)
Cloo: HOUSE (8am – 1am)
CMT: REBA (5 – 8pm)
Discovery: DUAL SURVIVAL (5 – 9pm), NAKED AND AFRAID (9pm- 1pm)
Discovery Fit & Health: THE LITTLE COUPLE (7pm – 2am)
Disney XD: KICKIN’ IT (9pm – Midnight)
DIY: DESPERATE LANDSCAPES (8pm – 4am)
Food Network: RESTAURANT: IMPOSSIBLE (7 – 10pm)
GSN: FAMILY FEUD (6pm – Midnight)
Hallmark: LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE (5 – 8pm)
HGTV: BUYING AND SELLING Marathon (1 – 8pm)
History: THE MEN WHO BUILT AMERICA (4pm – 4am)
ION: FLASHPOINT (9pm – 3am)
Logo: NIP/TUCK (7pm – 1am)
Military: THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR (7pm – 6am)
MTV2: ROB DYRDEK’S FANTASY FACTORY (9pm – Midnight)
Nick at Nite: FULL HOUSE (8pm – Midnight)
NickToons: THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS (9pm – Midnight)
nuvoTV: THE SHIELD (8pm – 2am)
OWN : LOVE THY NEIGHBOR (7pm – 2am)
ReelzChannel: BEVERLY HILLS PAWN (9pm – 3am)
Smithsonian: AERIAL AMERICA (Midnight – 6am)
Spike: COPS (5 – 8pm)
Style: THE MILLIONAIRE MATCHMAKER (8am – 3am)
TNT: CASTLE (4 – 9pm)
truTV: HARDCORE PAWN (7pm – 4am)
TV Land: M*A*S*H (5 – 8pm)
USA: NCIS (8am – Midnight)
WE: PREGNANT & DATING (Midnight – 5am)
It’s a Done Dean! Community Fans Rejoice for a Harmon-ious Return
Last year, fans of Community were heartbroken to hear that showrunner Dan Harmon was fired. NBC realized that they “Britta’d” things up, so they “Chang’d” their minds. Deadline confirmed yesterday that Dan Harmon and co- executive producer Chris McKenna are returning for Community’s fifth season. There are also reports that Dino Stamatopoulos is returning as a writer, but let’s hope that he also comes back as “Starburns.” The show’s renewal comes after a very shaky and lackluster fourth season. Last year, it was placed in the Friday night “death slot”, and then the premiere was pushed back to mid-season.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Carl & Ray Blockbuster Video Commercials
In case you haven’t heard, the Super Bowl is tomorrow. Since my favorite commercial duo Carl, a guinea pig (everyone calls him a hamster), and Ray the Rabbit debuted during Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002, here is a montage of their greatest hits.
DirecTV and Viacom Reach an Agreement
DirecTV customers will get back the 17 Viacom channels that they lost during the 10-day standoff between the two companies. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, the deal gives DirecTV subscribers the ability to see Viacom programming on various electronic devices via the DirecTV Everywhere platform. It also includes an option for DirecTV to carry Viacom’s premium movie channel EPIX.
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
Is Netflix Good For TV?
Since 1997, Netflix has been a go-to for easy access to movies through the web. Expanding its content, Netflix has quickly become an easy way to watch television. The percentage of users who prefer to stream television went from 19 percent to 27 percent in the last year and it is likely to increase. This trend is not only changing the way people watch their shows, but could be good for TV in many ways.
Television is an ever evolving medium that continues to change every day. In fact, the more television that becomes available, the less necessary it is to actually watch it on a television screen. The vast number of show options makes following the intended schedule a nearly impossible task. In this respect, Netflix allows television viewers the ability to watch shows they never have they never time to see or even know about. A marathon of episodes is presented to a Netflix user in a way television does not offer.
Wait! What's A Dial? 