April 20, 2004
scribbled show notes
On the right side of this webpage I keep a list of the shows I’ve got the DVR programmed to record on a regular basis. I haven’t updated that list recently. I’ll try to get to it this week. In the meantime, here are a few comments about the shows listed there (sort of a pre-May sweeps recommend / don’t recommend list):
The OC
LOVE IT! (as evidenced by all the talk about the show every Thursday on my blog)
Gilmore Girls
New episodes returned last week. I feel like whenever GILMORE GIRLS takes a few weeks off, it loses steam. And then it takes me three weeks to get back into enjoying things. The dialogue is still there. It’s still funny and energetic, but Lorelai and Rory both need to grow up and get on with their lives. Especially Rory. The return to this whole Dean nonsense is ridiculous. Why aren’t we seeing more of Lane? Why don’t we get to see Rory at school? As much as I like Lorelai, I think she’s holding her daughter back. (The thing is, I’m talking about this mom and daughter pair as if they’re real people. That’s a sure sign that I’ll keep watching the show)
Smallville
Good, trashy fun. I’m glad the show is still on the air but I’m worried it’s taken such a sci-fi streak. I’ll be curious to see how it comes back around to Clark being more Superman like.
Everwood
START WATCHING NOW. If you’ve written off network television as being solely focused on reality television, this is the best-scripted antidote ever. The stories are complex and ambiguous and deal with issues both big and small. The dialogue is tremendously good. It manages to be warm, funny, intelligent and direct (without seeming preachy). The acting is superb. Can someone explain why this isn’t a more talked about show?
Angel
It’s going off the air soon.
Alias
Did I call SMALLVILLE good trashy fun? Alias is trashier and more fun. You know how when you were a kid and you’d go to the grocery store with your mom? She’d be at the produce aisle picking out fruits and vegetables that you wouldn't eat and you’d be at that giant Brach’s candy stand conveniently placed by the entrance. You’re eyes would be so big staring at those sugar coated gummy candies (if you were me, it was the orange slices, but maybe the liquorice ones, too). And then she’d catch you and you’d half smile and she’d let you pick out a few. Watching ALIAS is like eating three of those candies in a row as soon as you get out of the grocery store. Not so much that you’ve ruined your dinner, but just enough to make you the happiest person in the world.
Big Idea with Donny Deutsch
Mitch and I have been looking around to find this show and can’t find it on CNBC at all. Was it cancelled? Was it just a short-lived thing? My fingers are crossed that it will return.
Grounded for Life
I’ve watched half of Friday night’s episode. I’ll finish it soon. I think this is the only ½ hour sitcom I actually record and watch on a regular basis. I think what I like best about it is that I can watch it in twenty minutes and when it ends I’m always hoping there will be five more minutes.
Degrassi: The Next Generation
I can’t remember the last time a new episode aired.
Subterranean
This show is pretty awful, but it’s all I can seem to find as far as “alternative” or “indie rock” videos go. It’s perfect for watching between innings of baseball. If I’m lucky there’s at least one video per episode that I haven’t seen that I actually want to see.
The Simpsons
I’ve watched only one episode of THE SIMPSONS this year. The big lie of my life is that I don’t actually watch this show. I just list it on the side because I think people won’t think I’m cool if I don’t say I watch it.
King of the Hill
I only watch one in every five episodes of this show. Sunday night is busy! And I don’t have any patience for anything anymore.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
I’ll be taking this off the list soon. This show just makes me want stuff. Like a nicer apartment, new furniture and the money to maintain all the expensive tastes the show promotes. It’s not healthy.
Food Finds
Sujan watches this; I only see a few minutes of each episode.
Once and Again
I finally watched all the episodes. It’s been deprogrammed from the DVR.
Gardening by the Yard
The best thing about this HGTV show is looking at Paul James’s goofy outfits.
Track 2
Is this show on MTV? I have no idea. It’s rarely new and whenever it is, it conflicts with something else so I never record it. I have no idea what it’s about.
Unwrapped
See TRACK 2.
World Poker Tour
The Big Slick of poker shows.
Dinner for Five
Just started back up again. A coming episode features the cast of JERSEY GIRL. Bring Dave Eggers back, but make him talk this time.
Breakthrough Video
See UNWRAPPED.
Extreme Homes
I’ve given up on this show. I watched too many episodes and all those episodes convinced me that people are crazy.
Coupling
When is the fourth season going to air in the US of A?
A Cook's Tour
I think all the episodes are reruns. Sujan is the one who asked we record this show, but I really dig it. I’ll keep watching it even after she and Dan move.
Book Television
I swear there are only four episodes of this show in circulation. Trio has got to get its act together and bring us some “fresh” episodes.
MediaTelevision
See BOOK TELEVISION (then add two episodes).
Sonic Cinema
An October only thing.
Sonic Videos
An October only thing.
Coming soon, a list of the shows I’ve added to recorded on a regular basis list.
April 14, 2004
recording overload
later this month and into may things are going to be tough for my DVR. it looks like ESPN is seriously gung-ho about showing as much of the world series of poker as possible. according to aaron barnhart of the kansas city star, ESPN is planning to have 22 hours of poker coverage most of it will be texas hold 'em but they will also have other games like seven card stud. go read the article now as it gets into more detail about america's fascination with poker on television. (via tv barn)
and can i just say that late night poker on fox sports isn't much fun to watch at all.
April 13, 2004
the L word
my deep dark secret is that i've been watching THE L WORD. i didn't enjoy the first two or three episodes. then i took a break and watched a bunch on showtime ondemand. somehow the writing got better and the characters got stronger. i just finished watching episodes eleven and twelve and i can't wait for more episodes of the show. it's quietly paced and makes for good soap opera-esque drama with a few hints of reality. andrea seigel recently wrote about jenny, one of the main characters and a struggling fiction writer. she does a great job revealing why THE L WORD has become one of her favorite television shows.
April 10, 2004
i have seen the future of tv
this isn't exactly DVR related but last night i figured out the future of interactive tv. i'm one of those guys who has no interest in interacting with his tv. i like that it beams images and stories to me and i don't have to do a damn thing. but while watching baseball (free preview of the extra innings package) i realized that there needs to be a way to incorporate the tv images with my computer. i want to be able to hit a button on my remote which turns on an option that lays text over the screen telling me which players on screen are on which fantasy baseball team in my league.
let's say i like mark bellhorn's patience at the plate. ooh, i think, maybe i want to pick him up and put him on my team. i press a button on the remote and on-screen, i learn that he's a free agent. i decide to think about it and i switch to another game where i learn that carl crawford has just stolen another base. i've got to know - who has him on his team? press a button and the screen tells me in a little text box that he's on mooney's team. i decide to watch the game for a bit and i leave the interactive portion up. whenever there's a medium or tight shot of one or two players i'm notified on-screen in a non-obtrusive text box the name of the rotisserie team that players plays on.
the whole thing is a great combination of television coming at me, but also localized and personalized to a hyper-sensitive degree. it's interactive television the way i want it. and the extra-innings package is promoted as a fun extra to have for your fantasy baseball team. making it interactive is the next step and i can't wait for it (would someone with a few technical skills and access to the way television is broadcast (narrowcast?) mind getting on this right away?)
UPDATE (4/12/04): i'm slowly putting the pieces of this together in my mind. one of the key things needed will be the automatic identification of players on the field. i think this can be accomplished easily by stitching some sort of tiny microelectronic transmitter into the clothing of the player. and, obviously, this whole system would also work for football and other sports.
UPDATE (4/13/04): an expansion of this idea just popped into my head. i'd like to be able to add DVR functionality to this process. how fantastic would it be to be able to wake up tomorrow morning and have a randomly accessible, indexed version of a clip show of your fantasy baseball team waiting for you? imagine that you can watch only the innings your pitcher pitched, only the at bats your hitters took. it would be like your own personal "baseball tonight." and then you could also program the box to record all home runs hit by players who haven't been picked up by anyone. the possibilities are endless. the convergence is coming and i am ready to drink the kool-aid.
April 06, 2004
lovin' it a bit too much
i guess having a DVR allows me to do the occasional ridiculous thing like watching a mcdonald's commercial ten times in a row, while blogging about it. here's the follow-up to my previous mention of the mcdonald's commercial that had me suggesting you stop pressing the fast forward button.
the commercial (voiceover in bold):
(ba da da baap ba)
eleven p.m.
it's albert and ben
(albert or possibly ben arrives in a car to pick up ben or possibly albert outside of his loft apartment. there's a hand drawn moon, clouds and stars on the upper right of the screen.)
two ten
what's up with your friend?
(let's say ben is the guy who was picked up by albert. ben is now at a party asking the cute female dj about her cute friend in the corner. the "cute friend" smiles back at ben when he looks over. there are now hand drawn pink hearts on the upper right of the screen.)
it's 3:42
that girl rocks. she's got more skills than you.
(i think ben is now at a different party and he's back hanging out with his guy friends. he notices a different dj, points her out and uses his hands to help him say that she's a better dj than his friend. there's a line drawing of turntable on the bottom right of the screen.)
now it's five thirty-eight
thoughts of mcgriddles makin' my stomach quake.
(ben explains to his friends that maybe hitting on the dj isn't such a good idea and that he's actually hungry. he clenches his stomach with both hands and rounds up his two friends, who also realize that going to mcdonald's is their best option for the early morning hour. the graffiti starts getting a little random here, but a line drawing of a boom box does make an appearance. oh, and two or three mcdonald's logos start sprouting from the bottom of the screen like out of control mushrooms.)
for bacon, eggs and cheese on
...sweet griddle cakes
(it looks like the guys are back at ben's loft enjoying the mcgriddles. ben is obviously very happy! - and i can't even begin to describe that way the narrator pauses and says the word "sweet." the on-screen effects are so magical that as each guy bites into a "griddle cake," a yellow glow erupts around the sandwich and multiple little mcdonald's M logos float out like lighter than air grease.)
only takes one hand to put 'em all in my face.
(ben seems to point to the word "sweet" which has been drawn in on the screen in bold pink old-school graffiti style lettering.)
(ba da da baap ba)
mcdonald's
i'm lovin' it
(accompanying text "i'm lovin' it" under a mcdonald's logo - all on a black background. what makes this part of the voiceover/rap work so well is that it feels like it was put on a turntable and sped up just a tiny bit.)
mcgriddles
breakfast for you.
bedtime snack for me.
(ben is now walking somewhere with a bag of what we can only assume to be mcgriddles, his dog tags quietly bouncing against his hipster-thin chest. maybe he was actually at someone else's loft and now he's going back to his place to enjoy another mcgriddle sandwich? the graffiti follows him from left to right, creeping over the edges of buildings and blurring the line between the onscreen image and the black bars placed on the top and bottom of the screen.)
yeah. i guess i'll never need to watch that commercial again.
April 05, 2004
commercial time out
i don't mention commercials too frequently (mostly because i've stopped watching) but now that baseball season has started and i'm watching games live (time to give props to the free preview of the extra innings package) i'll probably manage to have one or two sink in. the first commercial that's grabbed my attention has been a mcdonald's commercial for mcgriddles - those pre-syrupped hotcake sandwiches. the commercial is worth slowing down for and watching when you're fast-forwarding just for the sheer reaction value. it's got rapping about the sandwiches and graphics that are out of control. graffiti slides around like crazy and slinks from one screen to another, jumping from one object to another. it's the kind of commercial that feels oddly dated, yet will feel even more dated ten years from now. it's great fun to watch, though. i'm not sure if this is a national spot, or one only intended for san francisco / oakland audiences composed of late night club-goers.
actually, the commericial is mostly a reminder that i need to watch sujan's copy of STYLE WARS before she and dan move out at the end of the month.
UPDATE: i went a little crazy and blogged my second by second reaction to the commercial.
