Even with the many innovations in television over the past five years -  H.D., streaming, interactivity- an upcoming and bizarre invention known as Dog TV may be the most out-of-the-box development for the tube yet. Dog TV boasts that it will be the first cable network made exclusively (and scientifically) for man’s best friend.

Originally launched in February on local networks in San Diego, Dog TV was pushed mostly as a cure for canines with separation anxiety. With the backing of certified veterinarians and canine experts, Dog TV uses a series of techniques to make mentally and emotionally stimulating programs for dogs to watch while their masters are away.

“For years, pet owners have been leaving a television or radio on when they go out so their pets have company,” said Dr. Nick Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at TuftsUniversity. “However, with analog television, dogs could only see a flickering screen. Dog TV uses HD screens in order to allow dogs to see the picture more clearly.”

Alterations have also made to color and sound of the programs to make them more accessible to dogs. “Dogs can see blue and yellow, but not red or green,” Dobman said, “so colors are altered for Dog TV, too. Also, because high frequency sounds can be very irritating to dogs, they’ve been removed, and music is written and tailored for their hearing.”

According to Dog TV’s website and press releases, the channel’s programs will be divided into three categories: Relaxation will reduce stress levels with calming music, sounds, and visuals; Stimulation will use footage of other animals and fast moving objects in order to stave off lethargic behavior; and Exposure “uses special sounds and visuals to help habituate the dog and make them more comfortable in their environment, by exposing them to different day-to-day stimuli.”

While the channel’s backer, P.T.V. Media, boasts the testimonials of several veterinary experts stating that Dog TV will help improve the lives of dogs across the country, some skeptics remain.

“I think a lot of this is to make us feel better as opposed to making the pet happier,” said Dr. Ann E. Hohenhaus, a veterinarian currently practicing in Manhattan. “Your pet needs adequate exercise and an interesting environment. You cannot just put on the TV and hope your dog is going to get better.”

Despite these objections, the projections for the channel’s success remain positive. After launching an online version in early April, the creators hope to start an add-free, paid cable channel internationally come late 2012 or early 2013.

As the Daily Mail stated, “If you figure more than 46 million U.S. households have dogs and 97% of U.S. homes have televisions, the future looks promising.”

“Game of Thrones” is the story of a power struggle in a feudal society, filled with political intrigue, betrayal, violence, moral ambiguity, and character drama.

You wouldn’t know this if you’d read the vast majority of the media feedback on the show, however.

No, if all you knew about “Game of Thrones” came from reviews and entertainment news outlets, you would think that “Game of Thrones” is about boobs. Lots and lots of boobs.

Boobs.

Boobs on naked women. Boobs on semi-naked women. Boobs on women having sex. Boobs on women getting dressed. Boobs on women getting undressed. Boobs.

Tired of that topic yet? Yeah, exactly. That’s probably how a“Game of Thrones” fan reading reviews of the show feels too: entertainment news and the blogosphere can’t seem to keep from hyper-focusing on the show’s ample nudity and sex.

And believe you me: There is a lot of nudity and sex in “Game of Thrones.”

No one is disputing that. The problem is that people are choosing to focus on the mature content at the expense of the show’s other redeeming qualities. Worse still, the nudity and sex is being touted as a hugely offensive, negative part of the show… instead of, say, the equally humongous amounts of graphic violence.

According to entertainment news, we are apparently living in a world where suggestiveness is way, way worse than violence and abuse. It’s a world where a scene in which Margaery Tyrell willingly disrobes (boobs!) is so awful it must be commented upon incessantly, but the sight of Eddard Stark’s decapitated head stuck on a pike is not worth mentioning.

This discrepancy has become so obvious that 9Gag.com has created a chart documenting the amount of nudity per episode. A chart depicting deaths or violent acts, however, has yet to be created. Apparently it isn’t as worth talking about as all of the boobs.

The subject of nakedness in “Game of Thrones” has become so pervasive that reviewers are taking special note of when it’s not included in an episode, as in this article from Wired. It’s a subject for intense journalistic discourse, requiring both opponents and defenders, and it’s been parodied by SNL.

Leading lady Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, can’t even get through a single interview or profile without someone asking her about what she thinks of being unclothed so often on the show. Exhibits A, B, and C. Of less note, apparently, is her character’s emotionally and sexually abusive relationship with her brother, or the violence done on her behalf and by her orders.

Last year we covered NYT reporter Ginia Bellafonte’s woefully condescending and point-missing early review of “Game of Thrones,” in which she, too, commented on the provocativeness as a point against the show. Her point seemed to be that the target demographic was obsessed with boobs, yet she herself failed to note what the story is actually about.

If anyone is “obsessed” with boobs, it’s not the audience: it’s the apparently puritanical reviewers.

The trend of clutching one’s journalistic pearls over the sight of nudity in “Game of Thrones” is disturbing on a number of levels.

First, sex and nudity are a pretty natural part of life and relationships, a fact that shouldn’t shock most of the TV-viewing public. Beheadings, impalings, torture, executions, brutal maiming, fights to the death, and brawls on the other hand, are not part of daily life, nor should they be. The fact that the graphic violence of “Game of Thrones” is somehow more acceptable to reviewers and bloggers than the sight of Daenerys Targaryen’s breasts is rather… well, backward.

It’s hypocritical and frankly weird that this aspect of “Game of Thrones” has incited a more negative reaction than the violence and death. Not that there’s anything wrong with the violence in “Game of Thrones,” either, it’s just… where are our priorities?

If we’re waving our arms around in outrage over nudity, shouting “Think of the children!”, shouldn’t we be more upset by the exposure to grisly deaths and violence than the very normal and benign sight of the naked human body?

It probably says much more about our society’s outlook on human sexuality­­—and female sexuality, in particular—than it does about the show’s “gratuitous” use of it.

Perhaps the show’s focus on sexuality matter of taste. After all, much of it is plot-related, and the show would suffer for its exclusion. The very first episode of season one ends with a young child being hurled from a tower after peering in on an incestuous (twincestuous?), adulterous coupling that he was never meant to see. That scene shapes the beginning of the conflict between two major houses, and reveals the secret that will eventually start a war.

Then again, there’s also Esme Bianco’s Ros, a character invented for the show (she doesn’t appear in the books, though she does replace a few prostitutes from the novels) as a vehicle of exposition. Purists might say that the busty redhead (who spends a great deal of time in her birthday suit) is not essential to the plot, and is an unnecessary distraction, even if she clarifies plot points through dialogue.

Matters of personal taste aside: is there truly anything wrong with including salacious material in the show, whether or not it was explicitly shown or even implied in the books?

No. There’s not. There’s really not, and viewers or reviewers who are offended might just need to kindly grow the hell up.

NEW YORK – For most people I know, 8:30 on a Tuesday morning is either time to go to class or time for nothing at all; why wake up before noon if you don’t have to?

For me, however, once every six months, it means something totally different. It means I’ve made the journey to South Station and am about to catch a Greyhound to one of my favorite places in the world: New York City.

And, despite what my past behavior would seem to predict, this isn’t for a concert or a music festival or anything of the sort. No, this is my biannual trek to the sacred ground of 513 E. 54^th Street – “The Colbert Report.”

First in "line"

On this particular occasion in late April, I couldn’t have asked for better weather to stand, iced coffee in hand and with two of my friends in tow, on the streets of Manhattan for a few hours. The instructions on the ticket confirmation e-mail instructed us to show up no later than 6 p.m., so my friends and I naturally showed up to “get in line” around 2:30. To our surprise (yes, surprise – the anxiety of losing a good spot in line is not exclusive to concert-going life), we were first. Even security seemed taken aback seeing us there, asking us outright if we were actually there, so early, to get in line for the taping.

The hours passed easily until we proudly received our blue, laminated tickets that designated the order in which we would at long last enter the studio: 1, 2, and 3.

Of course, if my previous experiences in the concert world have taught me anything, it’s that a place in line is never guaranteed – and that even if it was, that place doesn’t guarantee much within itself.

Does this mean we're tourists?

Let me explain. After you’ve lined up for a while (in our case three and a half hours, but probably less for most) the Report’s interns lead you into a holding room that might also function as an elaborate shrine to Sir Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA. A poster from 2010’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” and various incarnations of the iconic portrait that hangs over the studio’s “fireplace” adorn the walls, as well as a not-quite-life-size sticker of the man himself, posed for a photo.

As more and more fans trickle in from the outside and go through the metal detector, a highlight reel that was probably compiled in 2007 (and not altered a bit since) plays on a television in the corner of the room. You can’t exactly call anything that Stephen does “outdated”, though, and soon the entire room is laughing at some of Stephen’s best “Better Know a District” interviews to date, the introduction of the word “truthiness”, and his light saber fight with George Lucas.

Throwback poster on the walls of the holding room (Credit Rory McDonald)

Time is just starting to drag after about an hour or so when the excited interns brief everyone on conduct policy, beg the audience to laugh and clap as loud as humanly possible (something I still don’t quite understand – why would anyone need to be told to laugh at this show?) and tell everyone to keep it clean during the pre-show Q&A: “If your question has anything to do with some below the belt, above the knees action, keep it to yourself,” they’ll tell you. Then, finally, they start to let everyone inside the studio itself.

…and that’s when it happens. Out of nowhere, people emerge with tickets completely different from your own, and those people are instructed to go in first. Granted, on this particular venture I learned that some of those lucky not-so-few are military families, which the Report makes a point of ushering to the front of the line. Even two hours into our wait, I couldn’t help but feel admiration, not bitterness, when this policy was quietly announced.

After the military families, though, comes VIPs. Red tickets in hand, they are led in, and the lowly mortals who have stood in line outside can wait still a few more minutes to find their seats.

On my first visit to the Report in October, I remember finding this particularly disenchanting. For years (about six, to be precise) I’d watched the show religiously and dreamt of the day that I, too, would stand in the front row and high-five Stephen as he ran by. I remember distinctly watching the show in middle school and hoping against hope that the show would not be canceled before I turned 18, lest I lose my chance forever.  In my mind, back then, all I had to do was show up early (of course) and I was home free.

This time I remarked to one of my friends how nice it was that at least we didn’t have the expectation of getting the front row anymore. This time we could go in without a shred of disappointment and hope that wherever they stuck the three of us (they always keep parties together, to their credit) was worth those few extra hours in line. We also had the advantage of knowing that there was no such thing as a bad seat at the Report – but, I mean, can you blame us for wanting to be as close to the desk, and the man himself, as possible?

Still, when we were led in and looked up into the stands, we couldn’t help but feel a little deflated. There were unquestionably many more VIPs at this show than at the one we’d been to before: the first several rows back, in each section, were already full. We’d just said as much to one another when the security guard who’d met us before and joked about our dedication “Usually only tourists show up this early!”-  said that we seemed just crazy enough to warrant a spot in the front row.

Before we knew what was happening, my friends and I found ourselves sitting in the only three free spots in the front row, the farthest to the left in the studio. All Stephen had to do was look to his right and there we were. It was unbelievable.

I’ll digress here to talk about the studio itself for a moment, because it really does deserve a mention. The first thing of notice when attending any taping, I’ve found, is that the studio seems a lot smaller than the show would indicate. The audience itself, the only part of the studio that you don’t readily see on screen for more than a few seconds, is relatively small, too (there’s a reason my friends and I show up early.)

The inside of the studio, for those who have somehow forgotten

Stephen may run from his desk to the interview table every week, for example, but he really only needs to take three steps at most. I myself, in the front row, could’ve taken as many steps and touched the infamous desk.

All of the decorations and nods to running gags on set are permanent fixtures, stacked on the shelves behind the desk. The lights and video screens embedded in the walls and on the desk are all actually in place, none of them that I could see inserted after the fact. It was in a lot of ways like stepping directly through the TV screen and finding yourself in the middle of any given episode. As a fan, in my mind, you can’t really ask for better than that.

From that point on, everything else seemed to go unbelievably smoothly. Some kind of playlist, containing everything from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to Placebo to U2, blasted through the speakers as the audience was let in, picking up throughout the taping whenever the cameras stopped rolling. The warm-up comic, brought out some 30 minutes before the show started, alternated between picking on audience members and himself, taking particular pleasure in tormenting a self-described “analyst” who was unquestionably the best-dressed man in the audience with his suit and tie. It was also his somewhat enviable duty to get us on our feet and bring out the man of the hour with a yell into his handheld microphone: “Stephen Colbert!”

As promised, my friends and I stuck out our hands as Stephen came bounding out from backstage, making the rounds of the front row to the sound of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me”. Pausing in the center of the floor to our continuing applause, he laughed and caught his breath, smiling good-naturedly into the crowd. When he finally convinced everyone to quiet down, he broke the ice by revealing that today he had been completely unprepared for his introduction, bolting out in an instant when he heard the comic yell his name.

Still, he looked as ready and willing as ever, and started the Q&A portion that comes before every show: “Do you have any questions to humanize me in your eyes before I say these terrible things?”

I’ll admit something here: with each taping of my favorite shows that I’ve attended (two for The Daily Show and one Colbert before this occasion), I’ve always stood outside in line contemplating what brilliant, witty question I would ask either faux-pundit if given the chance. Unfortunately for yours truly, that resolve has each time evaporated once the man in question was standing mere feet in front of me, looking expectantly into the crowd. I’ll put it this way: I didn’t even try. This time, though, I knew I’d written it off for long enough, and up my hand went.

Stephen first called on a man a few rows back, who asked what was the most ridiculous or “questionably legal” thing that Stephen had done with his Super PAC funding (collected, as many of you may know, from donations from the faithful Colbert Nation). Stephen went on to recount for a few minutes the process of offering to solve the South Carolina Republicans’ financial woes by buying the naming rights to the Republican Primary there for $500,000, dubbing it the Stephen Colbert South Carolina Republican Primary.

Before all of us he began to lose himself in the tale, taking on the personages of the various characters by putting on a thick southern drawl or lazily scratching his stomach as necessary. In the end, he said, the financial struggles of the party concerned were alleviated by the government – but they didn’t write him off, either. “They didn’t need my money,” Stephen recalled, earning a disappointed groan from the audience, “…but they still wanted it!” he finished, with a mischievous grin. In the end, he said, he had all of the records of the exchange, enough to tantalize any self-respecting investigative journalist, but he wasn’t about to turn them over. He liked the guy, he said simply, with a shrug.

If anything, this seemed to answer the ever-looming, unasked question if Stephen Colbert can truly charm his way into getting anything he wants through the Report. The answer is clearly yes. Yes, he can. And he does.

Realizing this question segued perfectly into my own, my hand shot up in the air. To my surprise, Stephen pointed at me. “Yes, young lady?”, he said.

“You’ve clearly done so much crazy stuff with this show,” I said.  “Has anyone ever told you no?”

He opened his mouth for a moment, closed it again, and answered with a smile: “A lot of girls have.” And the Q&A rolled on.

Asked if he’d ever forgotten who he is, Stephen cut off the asker with an abrupt “No,” and a laugh. He had only gone home in character once, he said, after he had spent his ride home after a taping writing up notes and dialogue for the next show. He walked in the house and his wife recognized the shift immediately and told him to “get the fuck out of my house,” he recalled with a laugh. “She said ‘Why would I want to be married to this?’”

After a few more questions, the soundtrack was cranked all the way back up and Stephen was quickly prepped behind his desk. His makeup was touched up, his hair was combed back (Stephen jokingly stroked the stylist’s hair as she worked), and the cameras were rolled into place.

He grabbed a handful of his signature red WristStrong bracelets and stretched them back, shooting them into the crowd. Never one to miss out on a gag, though, after about five bracelets were sent out and the audiences’ hands remained outstretched he held up an impressive-looking dagger, poised to throw. He grinned, somewhat dangerously, before putting it away, pulling out his notes for the first segment.

The stage manager twirled a script in her hand, our signal to go nuts, and we obliged as the intro to the show started up on screens around the studio and the theme played through the building.

This episode saw the return of a long-lost segment, “Thought for Food”, as in-character-Stephen bemoaned the presence of ground-up insects in Starbucks’ Strawberry and Crème Frappuccino. He broke character a few times, collapsing in laughter onto his desk and saying “Just keep going, just keep going!”

The rest of the taping went off without a hitch, covering everything from Mitt Romney’s interview with Diane Sawyer to the much-maligned exorbitant government conference in Las Vegas that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was a typical balance of skewering the political topics of the day and mocking some bizarre news story of the day – just what a fan would expect and look forward to.

Still, at every break, where commercials would normally be placed on the air, the soundtrack would come back up again and Stephen would, more often than not, start goofing off. He sang along (as did I) to the White Stripes’ “Fell in Love with a Girl” and danced in his chair to a Spanish rap song that I’d never heard in my life. Like someone out of a silent slapstick movie, he pretended to scold a production team member when they seemed to have run out of things to talk about, comically wagging his finger and narrowing his eyes. The security guard was pretty much the only person in the building who did not outwardly appear to be having a good time, and even then that was probably because he’s paid to look that way.

The interview portion, featuring author Jonah Lehrer, saw Stephen in his element: a give-and-take situation, feeding off of whatever someone else gives him and spitting something back.

Seeing this particular segment live, before editing, provides the advantage of watching him work. Every pause, later edited out for time, isn’t an awkward silence but rather a few seconds during which you can really watch the man think. In the silence, one gets the impression that if your hearing was just a bit better you could hear the gears in his head turning, the ideas forming, before he produces an insightful follow-up question or a perfectly witty retort. This was no exception, producing a number of quotable off-the-cuff lines that were later quoted back to me by friends or various social media sites. As per usual, four days a week.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end  – all too quickly, it seems. In almost no time at all Stephen was back behind his desk, gave a signature bellow of “That’s it for the Report – goodnight!” and it was all over.

Still, despite its apparent brevity, I couldn’t have asked for a better “Colbert Report” experience. Even the somewhat miserable ride back to Boston on the 12:15 a.m. Greyhound couldn’t dampen my spirits, and I see no reason not to keep my resolve to see a Report taping every six months for as long as the show exists. I can dream, right?

Those interested can watch this particular episode on Colbertnation.com here. 

About one trillion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2015, and that’s not just smartphones and mobile devices. Now even everyday items like thermostats and scales have embedded connectivity. Just think of your living room. I bet you need at least two hands to count the number of devices you have connected to your WiFi network: desktop and laptop computers, connected TVs and media players, phones, tablets and video game consoles, all competing for bandwidth and creating a huge amount of strain on your network. Now add Internet movie and music services like Netflix and Pandora to the mix, and it’s no wonder that the dreaded “buffering” symbol is making a comeback.

The old fix of scattering WiFi signal repeaters around your place won’t adequately solve the problems of buffering video and dead zones. But the solution may already exist, hidden behind your walls. The same coax cables that you use to receive cable or satellite TV can also deliver high speed Internet to your connected devices, eliminating buffering so that you can watch a movie on Netflix or game on Playstation without the inconvenience of 10 minutes loading time.

Right now each TV in your place is probably connected to a set-top box that receives its signal from coaxial cable. And if you have a smart TV or media players from companies like Roku, Apple and Western Digital, you run Ethernet cables out of modems and routers to each device, or connect all of them to WiFi. The result is a mess of wires and plugs, and devices that suffer from spotty Internet access. Not exactly the sleek home theater you dreamed about when you dropped four grand on a 60-inch wall-mountable flat screen.

The good news is that most cable and satellite service providers don’t want to rely on the set-top box anymore and are moving towards using existing coax wiring to deliver both television and Internet content to connected TVs…Meaning one less box littering your home theater set up. Look out for new service offers from your cable company that minimize the number of set-top boxes, and you’ll be on your way to eliminating these eyesores from your home. For example, DIRECTV has partnered with RVU to upgrade to its Whole Home service, which lets subscribers access one HD DVR on all TVs without set-top boxes. While Verizon has also announced its plans to eliminate the set-top box altogether.

Wired connections provide the strongest Internet connection but WiFi is a great option if you’re looking to eliminate wires and declutter your home entertainment area. IPTV devices like Roku, Boxee and Apple TV let you access Internet-only content through Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube and Pandora, but performance suffers if the devices are placed too far away from your router or single WiFi access point. Performance also decreases as the number of devices connected to the access point increases.

Using coaxial cable to create a network of multiple WiFi access points throughout your home dramatically improves signal strength and accessibility. This standard of technology, which uses coax to deliver multimedia content, is called MoCA (no, not the type you pick up at your local coffee shop). The technology is used in new networking solutions like WiPNET, which creates a wired backbone for your WiFi network to eliminate buffering from the home entertainment experience. This solution will be available in retailers nationwide in May.

The Catch-22 with WiFi is that as the signal grows faster, the range grows smaller. The new 802.11ac specs are incredibly fast, but one access point won’t have the reach of one currently transmitting 802.11g/n. Turning your existing network of coax cables into an Internet network with multiple Ethernet ports and WiFi access points will enable you to enjoy buffer-free television programming and IPTV content on your televisions, computers, tablets, videogame consoles and other connected devices anywhere in your house. So free yourself from being chained to your modem and set-top box…And stop wandering around your house, looking for a stronger Wi-Fi signal.

wireimage.com

Steven Spielberg’s new television show “Terra Nova” was called off by Fox after its first season.  The show premiered last September and ratings have not been up to par.

“Terra Nova is a big swing – and the best of Fox tends to be big swings, in concept and/or tone,” Fox Entertainment President Kevin Riley told Hollywood Reporter about the risk of airing the show. “We are in the big-bet business. So if you’re looking to break through and garner a big share of a fractured audience, and it is going to be costly regardless, you take the most exciting shots you can for your audience.”

The two-hour premiere of the show cost Fox between $10 to $20 million, and the station was unable to spend that much with such low ratings.

Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and the gang try to dupe their strict, creepy landlord.

A hilarious “New Girl” is no longer equivalent to finding a diamond in the rough. Dare I say, it may be the most dependable new comedy. All the praises I’ve sung in recent weeks still apply. I’ve harmonized about its self-referential humor, or melodized over hitting its stride in respect to laugh-per-minute ratios, and I must preach again to the overworked choir. The writers have not fallen asleep at the wheel, continuing to pit that undeniable “Jess-ence” (trademarking it!) against every dysfunctional roommate and guest star with stellar returns.

This week, we confront the eternal struggle of People inherently suck vs. People are inherently good. Original sin vs. Redemption. The cold open presents this ideological standoff when Nick vies for the same parking space as another gentleman. Both quickly resort to hostile tactics to get what they want. When Nick beckons him to fight, his opposition pulls out a gun. Jess then talks the man down by conceding that Nick was being an idiot and that she was sorry about the altercation. The man then drove off and the powers of optimism prevailed. Unconvinced, Nick does not back down from his stance that people are jerks at their core.

When more appliances start to break down in the loft, Jess insists they ask the janitor to fix them. When the manly trio suggests they don’t because he is frightening, she takes it as a challenge. She enters his basement office armed with a plate of cupcakes. When she tries to appeal to his estranged side she lets it slip that there are four people living in an apartment designed for three. Apparently the gang had prepared for such an event and initiates an operation whereby they empty the contents of Schmidt’s room onto their balcony and he pretends to be a foreigner visiting LA. Landlord dude (played refreshingly off-putting by the hulky Jeff Kober) isn’t buying, but upon inspection he deemed the arrangement acceptable (only if Schmidt’s paints over a disturbing mural he describes as a sexually charged, zero gravity tea ceremony). Jess then attempts to coerce some maintenance work out of him and like putty in her hand he agrees. Nick immediately assumes the landlord, who we learn is named Remy (Jess astutely observes his tattoo that reads, “Hello, my name is Remy”) is only trying to get in her pants.

The standoff that follows is a clash between two stringent believers. In quick flashbacks, we are enlightened about where their divergent perspectives came from in humorously simplistic vignettes. Nick’s memory is of finding a fiver on the sidewalk and feeling elated. Instantaneously, a jogging man pushes him into the brush after snatching it away. Jess’ memory is of a sketchy, grimy man pulling up to her in a white van who asked, “Do you like candy, little girl?” Jess unflinchingly answered, “I sure do.”

Now, I’m sure those of you who are like Nick and I were weary of what would come next. But of course, subverting stereotype, the man replies, “Good, because my nana made way too much!”. The sliding door of the van opens and a wheelchair-ridden Nana hands her a plate of candy. Obviously the world is much more nuanced than the hyperbolic scenarios that played out in their childhoods, but the show, once again, credits its audience with a high degree of intelligence: we know these are intentionally stark representations are going for laughs. Still, it provides us with a bit of context with which to understand why they so strongly defend their outlooks. I’d be down for this brand of characterization in the future where we can laugh at these embellished personifications of their childhood while being enlightened about their motives.

After completing his handiwork, and opening up a little about how he and his ex-wife, “stopped humping,” Jess invites Remy to dinner as a token of gratitude. Winston and Schmidt seem unenthused, still with some lingering fear of the burly man, but Nick insists he’ll stay as watchdog, protecting Jess from the landlord’s libidinous intentions. As the dinner progresses, and Nick and Remy bond over their harsh breakups, Jess begins her victory lap. She suggests that Nick should not sell people short and make it a habit to “dip your toe in the pool of possibilities.” However, she may have spoke too soon; Remy misconstrues their honest evening conversations as a preface for a menage a trois. Unwilling to relinquish or surrender, a battle to outlast ensues where Jess refuses to admit defeat and she plays along with Remy’s fantasy. Like a trooper, she fakes delight in the prospect of an excruciatingly awkward (Nick endures Remy’s callusy caress for far too long as well) threesome, up until Remy requests that Nick kiss her. She then folds and the gang resigns to tolerate any shoddy workmanship thereon.

Schmidt’s B-story reenforces his role as the comedic tour de force of the show, while remaining only slightly detached from the show’s soul. This is acceptable as long as he’s not ancillary to the main thread entirely, which this episode accomplishes. At work, his boss Kim is giving him mixed signals. Winston draws from history, convinced that Schmidt is once again misinterpreting someone’s interaction with him as an appeal for sexual gratification. The micro-montage of such instances was quite amusing particularly his insistence that the delivery man was definitely suggestive when he informed Schmidt he had “a package” for him. The most ingenious turn of this plot, however, was how right he was. Kim’s alluring tone as she requests he “Clean out her hard drive” was overtly sensual, but due to his miscalculations of the past, he refrains. Cece (Jess’ model gal pal that he pines for) advises him to go for it, since asking permission would only be a turn off. Therefore, when Kim alludes to spending the night alone with a bottle of wine, Schmidt conjures up the wherewithal to pounce on her. Unfortunately, when the security catch him in the act they observe incorrectly that he is jumping her and pin him on the ground and cuff him. The coda of this storyline is wonderfully absurd as well.

When Schmidt states his genuine intentions to pursue her romantically she uses her same luscious voice to urge him to dial her in to the Tokyo conference call. Perceiving this as the green light, Schmidt strips down to his skivvies in anticipation, unknowingly putting on a show for a fleet of Japanese businessmen as he pratices his sexy poses.

The thematic cohesion paid great dividends as we learn the dangers of staunch belief systems. Sometimes people do have ill intentions while being mostly kind-hearted and sometimes those who are attracted to us can ask us for favors without an ulterior sexual motive. The sitcom realm is frequently black and white, and “New Girl’s” stabs at meta-commentary continue to please and establish a sophisticated wit that I believe will usher in viewers who were skeptical of the show’s naked premises of a female roommate shaking up the lives of three male roommates.

I was disappointed, however, that Winston was not afforded a shred of a C-story. His two major contributions were as passerby witness to the thwarted threesome and as the discoverer of a damning list of Schmidt’s 2007 New Year’s resolutions (some of which I will post in L.O.L.Ls) and when he is tasked with painting over the mural in Schmidt’s “interplanetary sex dojo,” a description which had me gasping for air I laughed so violently. Winston has not always been neglected, but when he is it reeks of laziness, because they’ve sewn the fabric for future exploration of his post-basketball life and his struggles with readjustment.

The tie-in of assumptions and misinterpretations is presented so strongly though, its mostly forgivable. Nonetheless, I was thrown slightly as to why Jess would persist in indulging Remy’s horndog tendencies just to prove a point. It would only serve to degrade Jess to engage in such a seemingly horrendous act, but I suppose the over-the-top elements speak to how strong Jess and Nick’s convictions are to be right. Also, it served the added function of strengthening the sexual tension by teasing the “pool of possibility” that they might kiss. I’m not the biggest fan of a will they/won’t they scenario for this show, but those two clearly exude the most chemistry so I will keep an open mind, as Jess would recommend.

Those reservations aside, this week churned out another 22 minutes of top-shelf jokes (a surprising number were delivered by Zooey Deschanel as she continues to debunk the myths of her comedic shortcomings), reaffirmed my man crush on Schmidt’s buffoonery, and enhanced Jess and Nick’s likability by offering a background for those who scorned their apparent one-notedness. My outlook for the series’ future reflects that of our incessantly sanguine title character. “New Girl” persists in the face of low, but premature critical expectations, beating the odds with sustainability and a B+.

L.O.L.Ls: Laugh Out Loud Lines

- When a stranger brandishes his gun, Jess shouts, “Oh my god, it’s like the Wire!”

- “I like your bucket of…gasoline. Super practical.”

- “I’ve got a fun exercise. I’d like every one to take a moment and think back to a time when you did something stupid, how they were treated, and how they wished they were treated.”

- “You look like you should be distracting James Bond at a baccarat table.”

Some of Schmidt’s more notable New Year’s resolutions from 2007:

1. Find the cocoon that will release your inner butterfly

2. Find out where Winston gets his sparkle and steal it

3. Start floating idea people call me Mr. Finish/Gametime Jones/The Hookup-erator

4. Just pick a color of Crocs and buy them already!

- Remy, the landlord, finding common ground with Nick:

“Did you go out looking for companionship, a little human warmth, and when you came to you were in the woods, covered in animal blood?”

“In my own way.”

- Nick to Jess: I think you could do a lot worse than Remy. He’s got strong arms.”

- “Great choice, Remy. Nick will make a fantastic underpants captain!”

Neil Patrick Harris made a guest appearance for charity on “The Price is Right,” where he had a unique bonding experience with a contestant: he was tackled.

Contestant Destiny Ramsey got a little excited to see the “How I Met Your Mother” star, and upon hearing the famous “Come on down,” Ramsey hugged and tackled Harris, according to the Boston Globe.

Harris was not mad, however.  In fact, he thought it was funny.

As I see it, there are three types of Bachelor/Bachelorette fans: The die-hards who believe that everything they see on the show must be real; the middle-of-the-roaders who want to believe that fairytales really do exist but deep down are suspicious; and the cynics who know going into each season that it’s all a load of crap but like watching beautiful people get drunk and hook up.

Steve Carbone, better known as Reality Steve, definitely falls into the latter category. More than just an avid viewer, though, he’s made a living out of writing sarcastic, snarky episode recaps, exposing the franchise’s inauthenticity, and spoiling each season (warning: in his latest post, he names the final lady of the upcoming season).

Carbone has covered every single Bachelorette season and all the Bachelor seasons except for the first two, Alex and Aaron. At first, he wrote only recaps, but he began spoiling during Jason’s season — he was the first to report the Molly/Melissa fiasco. He didn’t have any spoilers for the next season (Jillian), but he’s spoiled every season since.

How does he get the goods? His lips, of course, are sealed, but we do know that he’s being fed the information as filming takes place from sources on the inside other than the contestants, who are forced to sign confidentiality agreements. Just recently, per his website, the production and distribution companies behind the Bachelor have filed a lawsuit against Carbone “making some false allegations about claimed damage to the show.”

Lawsuits aside, Carbone has become enormously popular with the series’ fans. He has more than 33,000 followers on Twitter, almost 17,000 fans on facebook, and 750,000 unique visitors a month to his website. In recent months, he’s been able to quit his day job and hire additional writers, his sole income now coming from the site, on which he and his writers blog recaps, news, and gossip about the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise and other reality shows (Real Housewives, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Jersey Shore, etc.) Some say that his Bachelor/Bachelorette spoilers, in an odd twist, have helped the show’s ratings, not hurt them, leading to conspiracy theories that he’s working surreptitiously with Mike Fleiss, the show’s creator. Carbone has dispelled that theory many times.

I reached out to Carbone via email and had a bunch of questions for him regarding the show and a couple other topics. I’ve been following him for a while now, often times taking my lunch break to check in and read the latest scoop. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous when I emailed him – he’s known for skewering his readers in his weekly mailbag feature, in which he pokes fun at fans for sending him dumb questions. But he was gracious and quick to respond, even if he’s heard these questions countless times before.

For the last few seasons, I’ve read the spoilers before tuning in to the show. It’s been fun watching the gals and guys do their best to woo the Bachelor/Bachelorette while knowing their fate, but I think this time around I’m going to withstand the urge to know beforehand. Crap: I just went to Carbone’s Twitter page to hyperlink it above and the first thing I saw was the name of the person with whom Ben ends up. You’ve been warned.

NEELY: For those who’ve never read your column and don’t understand the reality of reality TV, can you tell us how manipulated the show really is?

STEVE CARBONE: However manipulated and contrived you think it is – it’s actually much worse. From telling contestants what to say and what to talk about, to cutting people off the show who won’t go along with the storyline they have for them, to forcing people to stay on the show who don’t want to be there, it goes beyond anyone’s imagination of what these producers will do to get the storyline they want.

NEELY: It may be obvious to most rational human beings, but between The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, why do you think the couple success rate is so low?

SC: I think it just has to do with the fact that when you’re taping the show for the 6-8 weeks, you are in a bubble. You can’t talk to any family or friends, you have no TV, no internet access, no phone, etc. Your sole focus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is that one person. So naturally, you fall for them a lot quicker than you would in the real world where you could go on a date with someone one night, then be out with someone else the next night. Once the final couple is back in the real world off the show, they pretty much realize they barely know that person at all, the dates aren’t extravagant anymore, and their “popularity” is infinitely increased, meaning they know even if it doesn’t work out with the person in the end, they’ll be plenty of other opportunities for them.

NEELY: Were there any couples over the years who you thought might actually make it but didn’t?

SC: I really haven’t cared enough to put any thought into who might make it and who wouldn’t. Once the season is over, to me and for my site, they pretty much become yesterday’s news and it’s on to the new season. For the “Bachelor” franchise, considering they are 0-for-15 (Jason never married the girl he chose in the end), I don’t ever expect that to change. The male lead on this show goes into this show knowing how popular he will become with women everywhere, regardless of who he picks, and he knows that. I think that’s why it’s never worked out. He’s out chasing more women once the break up eventually happens. I think women in the “Bachelorette” lead tend to take the process more seriously, which is why we’ve seen some “successes” (even though their hasn’t been a wedding yet), with Ali and Ashley. Those couples seem to stay together a tad longer, even if they don’t end up getting married. Meredith and Ian were together two years, Ali and Roberto have been going for over a year now, etc. Neely’s Note: Ali and Roberto are dunzo, as of a few weeks ago.

NEELY: Team Jake or Vienna?

SC: I really don’t like declaring which team I’m on, but I’ve definitely been outspoken against Jake for years now on how phony I think he is. And his constant appearances on reality TV only back what I’ve been saying since Day 1 about him.

NEELY: Do you believe at this point that most of the contestants go on just to get famous, etc., or do you really believe they are looking for love?

SC: ALL the contestants go on with ulterior motives. Whether it to be the next Melissa Rycroft from this franchise, promote their business, hoping to land a modeling job, appear in magazines, become more popular back home, etc. They all do it for exposure. And if they happen to fall in love, then that’s just a bonus. The show has become the #1 tabloid reality TV show by far, and all the contestants know that going in. They want to become part of this dysfunctional “family”, because they know that even if they don’t end up being the final one, they know that they can start getting with past contestants. The “family tree” of who’s hooked up with who in the “Bachelor/ette” franchise is beyond anyone’s comprehension.

NEELY: Over the years of reading and commenting about love/dating, etc., what’s your biggest advice to daters out there on finding love?

SC: Ha ha…well, being 36 and single myself, I’m probably the last guy people want dating advice from. I guess the best piece of advice I could give is don’t settle. Don’t be with someone just because you HAVE to have a significant other. You’ll never end up happy that way.

NEELY: Your favorite Bachelor of all time? Your favorite male contestant on The Bachelorette of all time?

SC: Since I don’t really know any of them personally, the most entertaining and realistic season to watch was Brad’s first season and Charlie O’Connell’s. Brad’s had the most realistic ending, and Charlie’s was completely different than any of the other 14 seasons in that they shot it in his hometown and never did any crazy, over-the-top dates.

Favorite male contestant? I can’t pick just one. I might get a phone call or two asking why I chose them over another.

NEELY: Your favorite Bachelorette of all time? Your favorite female contestant on The Bachelor of all time?

SC: I guess I liked Ali’s season the best because it was really the first time where they started traveling early on in the season.

Once again, impossible to answer. Might upset somebody.

NEELY: Thoughts on the current Bachelor – Ben Flajnik?

SC: I love how ABC is promoting him as this renaissance guy with all these different interests, when in reality, he’s no different than the rest of us. I mean, they already had his YouTube video removed after I posted it on my site called “Cream Dream” where he and a buddy made a video about, well, masturbating and wet dreams. Not to mention, once the guy was done filming Ashley’s season, he started “seeing” a former contestant from Brad’s season, plus, had a nice little fling with Jennifer Love Hewitt. So to pretend he’s this All American, genuine guy who co-owns a winery and is just looking for a wife, couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s just a guy’s guy who wants to play the field and loves what the attention the “Bachelor” will bring him and his winery. Nothing more, nothing less. Lets not make him something he isn’t.

NEELY: What are three things every woman should know about men?

SC:

1. We are the simplest creatures on the planet. We are not as hard to figure out as some might think.

2. We like food.

3. We like sex.

NEELY: What are three things you want to know about women?

SC:

1. What could you possibly be doing in the bathroom for an hour and half when you’re getting ready?

2. Why you constantly say “nothing,” when we ask if something is wrong, when clearly something is wrong, then get mad when we are unable to read your mind and figure out what it is on our own.

3. Why they love being with guys who treat them like shit.

NEELY: Are you still single and looking for love?

SC: Yes, I’m single. I’m looking, but, I’m not trying very hard. If it happens, it happens. I’ve never been one to force it. My best relationships have come when I was least expecting it.

The promotional ads for ABC’s new season of The Bachelor, featuring floppy-haired Ben Flajnik, have been in heavy rotation recently. The show premieres on January, 2.

SPOILER ALERT: If you aren’t completely caught up on the show, don’t read this review!

Last night’s episode of “How I Met Your Mother”, Symphony of Illumination, was a Robin roller-coaster ride. Coming off of the cliffhanger at the end of last week’s episode – in which Robin told Barney she was pregnant – we knew that this episode was going to be a big one. Robin’s pregnancy could pose a number questions, especially what effect it would have on the recent Robin / Kevin / Barney love triangle. Is the baby Kevin’s, and if it is, does that mean the end of Barney and Robin as we know it?

Recap

Well, right off the bat Robin clarified who the baby’s father was, admitting to Barney that the baby couldn’t be Kevin’s because they hadn’t had sex yet. Barney takes the news surprisingly well, excited at the thought of becoming a Dad. To prove to Robin how great having a kid coud be, Barney brings her along on Lilly’s trip to We B Babies. But Barney’s enthusiasm disappears when he sees a former swinger friend, Insane Duane, in the store with his wife and multiple kids. Insane Duane admits that, since he had kids, he hasn’t been to a bar in years. That’s all Barney needs to hear.

Barney and Robin at "We B Baby"

Robin and Barney go to see the doctor together, ready to hear the worst but hoping for good news. When the doctor tells them that Robin isn’t pregnant, the two do a celebratory happy dance on the spot. But Robin’s relief is short-lived. Days later, she gets a call from the doctor who informs her that she won’t ever be able to have kids. Though this is huge news, Robin keeps it from the others, who are left to guess what is really on her mind. At first Robin seems fine with the fact that she’s barren because she’s always been clear about never wanting to have children. But a return trip to We B Babies makes Robin realize the magnitude of her condition, and she suddenly is missing the possibility of one day having kids. In fact, she’s so upset about it that she ends up telling the story to her two imaginary future kids (cleverly mimicking the way Future Ted is telling each “How I Met Your Mother” episode to his future son and daughter). After much resistance, Robin accepts Ted’s attempts to comfort her. She still refuses to talk about what is bothering her, but allows Ted to keep her company in NYC for Christmas.

Marshall stuck on the roof with his Christmas lights

Throughout Robin’s emotional ordeal, comic relief is provided by Marshall’s side-story involving Christmas decorating at the Long Island house and a neighborhood kid named Scott. Scott pretends to help Marshall hang christmas lights and acts like the son Marshall has always wanted. But when Marshall accidentally drops his cell phone off the roof, Scott pulls the ladder away from the house, trapping Marshall without a way to call for help. While Marshall is stranded atop the house, Scott hosts a wild party in Marshall’s house.

Review

One of the greatest strengths of “How I Met Your Mother”, now halfway through it’s seventh season, is that it doesn’t shy away from some of life’s toughest issues. At some point over the course of the show, each character has had to deal with their own big issues – Barney finally meeting his father, Lilly’s breakup with Marshall to pursue her art career (thank God that didn’t take), and Ted’s constant quest for his soul mate (still ongoing). And just last year, mid-way through the season, Marshall’s father passed away. So when last night’s episode came along and it was Robin’s turn for some trouble, it was nothing new to HIMYM fans.

First of all, I loved how the episode started off with a twist on the typical opening, with Robin telling her future kids the story of tonight’s episode. In telling them the story of “how I met your father,” Robin seems to finally put to rest the question of whether or not Barney and Robin end up together. In fact, this opening seemed to confirm that Robin was really pregnant, that Barney really was the father, and that things were going to be a whole lot different from now on.

Robin's future kids listen to her tell the story

But a trip to the doctor not only dismissed Robin’s pregnancy, it gave the episode a 180 spin with the news that Robin was barren. Throughout the episode, Robin’s emotions were all over the place and she took the audience along with her. Though there were brief periods of happiness, the overall feeling of the episode was quite a downer, but that’s okay. I don’t take joy in seeing Robin or the others struggle, but I appreciate the fact that the writers aren’t afraid to delve into the darker side of life that sitcoms so frequently avoid. In the end, these major issues lead to more dynamic characters and greater character development.

To be honest, I was hoping that the pregnancy scare was real. Some people may find that shocking, but I’m ready for some of the characters on HIMYM to change, especially Robin and Barney. After six-and-a-half seasons, everybody is getting older (along with the show itself), and with age comes change. I’m ready for Ted, Robin and Barney to either settle down or get closer to it as the end nears. Still, I can understand why the writers turned Robin’s pregnancy into a fake-out. Last March, HIMYM got picked up for two more seasons, putting it into at least May 2013. Robin being pregnant would probably pose a problem with so much time left before the show finally signs off.

Overall, “Symphony of Illumination” was a solid episode, resolving the pregnancy issue while simultaneously exploring Robin’s attitude towards having kids. Putting characters through hard times makes them more relatable, which leads to more of a connection for the audience and a more enjoyable show. As “How I Met Your Mother” hits the mid-season break of it’s seventh season, it once again proves that a great sitcom doesnt’ always have to stay away from the harshness of reality.

Television and Internet services are expensive. And we’re juiced into buying service because we simply need both in our lives in the 21st Century.

I’ve written previously about the tricks and traps that both Verizon and Comcast throw at you. It’s a racket. Everyone knows it. Everyone pays.

But there are things you can do to help mitigate the screwjob. Here are five things you need to do before you sign up for television and/or Internet service.

1. Buy your own modem

SURFboard SB6120

Do not rent a modem from the company. It’s a waste of money, and you will may end up with an older model that actually can’t process data as fast as your cable service can send it out. Translation: Blast! Comcast Internet might not come through any faster than the basic package with an older modem.

If you DO rent a modem, make sure they give you one that is “DOCSIS 3.0.”

The Motorola SURFboard SB6120 is the best modem on the market. The newer SB6121 model is only more expensive. It won’t do anything else for you. Both are supported by Comcast, however, so if you’re one of those people that needs the newest model, go for it.

Generally avoid modems that have wireless routers built in.

Now, you may have to ignore this step entirely if you are bundling your home phone service , because you’ll need to buy or rent a modem that handles your Internet and phone service. One of the best is the Motorola SBV6220, but Comcast currently does not support it. (Check Comcast’s official compatibility list before buying anything)

2. Buy a router

The Netgear N750 WNDR4000

By rule of thumb, here in late 2011, you should buy a Wireless N router with gigabit Ethernet.

The major brands, D-Link, Cisco, Belkin and Netgear are all usually pretty good. I prefer Netgear, but it’s more of a personal preference.

This is not the kind of thing you want to skimp on.

The Netgear D600 WNDR3700 is a good, affordable router. It’s one of the best values in wireless routers. It is great for gaming or streaming movies and does 300 MBPS wireless networking.

If you want to go a little better, the N750 WNDR4000 is probably the best wireless router you can buy for home or small office use. It can do 450 MBPS WiFi and has a USB port to plug a portable hard drive in for an instant network attached storage device.

3. Do not cancel your home phone service ahead of time.

If you’re making the big Comcast (Or Time Warner, Cox, etc) leap, the odds are you’re going to buy a bundle package that includes home phone service. If you’re a big land line user, this could save you some money. Do not cancel your existing home phone service yet. Order the service, give the cable company your phone number, and they will port the number to your new service, just like you do when you switch cell phone companies. Otherwise, you could get stuck with a new number, new area code, and lose the number you’ve had for years.

4. Argue, lie, cheat

When you’re on the phone, ordering your service, don’t accept their offer. Tell them their rival is cheaper. Tell them the price is way too high. Lie if you have to.

They likely will come down on the price or magically discover a hidden deal they can offer you that might save you $20 per month. You might get transferred a few times, but hell, it’s money!

5. Check your wiring

Or have the tech check your wiring. If you live in an old house or are renting, the odds are good that the cable wires have been there for a while. Check for cable splitters too. Nothing is worse for cable Internet than a signal that’s been split a bunch of times over old wiring.

The tech will do some replacing if need be. Broadband is FAST these days. You’re paying the same as everyone else (unless you followed step 4 really well) so you might as well get the same speed in the end.

wireimage.com

Fans rejoice: “Arrested Development” is coming back…kind of.

At a cast reunion on Sunday at the New Yorker Festival, the creators and cast announced a new “Arrested Development” spinoff, and talked about plans for a movie.

The spinoff will be nine or ten episodes long, focusing on each character and providing a lead in for the new movie, according to creator Mitchell Hurwitz.  The first scene of the movie will be the characters of the show reuniting.

“Arrested Development” starred Jason Bateman, Michael Cera and Portia de Rossi, who played members of a dysfunctional family that was in the real estate and frozen banana company.

The new spinoff is supposed to start shooting next summer, according to Boston.com

The movie is still in the works and being negotiated.

The new Charlie's Angels from wireimage.com

Thursday night was a big one for television, new and old.  Some fan favorites returned to the airwaves, joined by a few new comers.  USA Today’s Gary Levin reviewed the shows in brief, and here’s the gist of it.

Fox’s The X Factor made an underwhelming return on Wednesday night, and held steady in it’s second episode last night with low viewership.  The show only got 12.1 million views.

The Big Bang Theory‘s season five premiere pulled 14.4 million viewers for two episodes, according to Levin.  Most of the viewers stayed tuned for Person of Interest, which ranked first in the 9 p.m. slot with 13.2 million viewers.

Prime Suspect’s premiere was a flop, which marks the second failure for NBC this week (the first being The Playboy Club, which debuted on Monday). The new show got a mere 6 million views.

ABC’s Charlie’s Angels did alright with 8.7 million viewers.  This was an improvement on last fall’s My Generation in the 8 p.m. slot.

The eighth season of Grey’s Anatomy opened with 10.5 million viewers, which is a drop from last year’s 14.3 million viewer premiere.

In distracting us from the loss of our regular season favorites, summer television in the past has usually been seen as a filler; Mediocre material with a short lifespan. This summer appears to be peeling that label off of its forehead with several great shows pouring in from an array of networks. USA’s Suits is undoubtedly going to be one of the forerunners in this movement.

The show stands on a leg of its own being not exactly a legal drama but not always a comedy either. Its characters fall in the USA “characters welcome” line, housing the personality, confidence, and charm that we suspect from the network and pulling through with an extra air of whit and vulnerability.

Suits follows the newly formed partnership of successful, and rightfully arrogant Harvey Spector (Gabriel Macht) and the genius Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) who accidentally drops himself into Harvey’s office while on the run from the police with a brief case of weed.

What first seems like an unlikely pairing proves to be a hilariously clever meeting of the minds. Harvey and Mike are a duo sent from the banter gods to fill our summers with the perfect combination of arrogance, quick-whit, heart, and bromance.

If there is anything that is equally as awesome as the charming actors Suits can brag, it’s the women who support them. Harvey’s boss Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) is fierce and snappy. She provides the perfect give and take that Harvey needs and is a definite compliment to his snark. Meghan Markle is also no exception to the confidence we already have in this show and its talent. Her character, Rachel Zane, is the well-written, beautiful, smart, give the guys a run for their money, paralegal that every good law firm, and television show should have.

The show takes an initial storyline that may not be entirely realistic and fills it with characters and situations that are surely true to life. We hear Mike call his grandmother “grammy” and discover that the reality of the show doesn’t come from the genius who never went to law school stepping into a thousand dollar suit, but from the attorney who might actually care about people, and his junior associate who just doesn’t want to let himself or his grandmother down.

We could say that we only hope that Suits will follow through with the promise that the premiere packed but we are, in fact, sure that it will. It is impossible for the characters –their storylines as well as their chemistry- to go anywhere but up.

“As I Lay Dying” was the perfect ending to a perfect season two of The Vampire Diaries. The last four or five episodes have been dramatic and heart wrenching, have ripped characters out from under us, jerked our heads in every direction, and never slowed down. However, “As I Lay Dying” proved, in a fantastic way, that The Vampire Diaries doesn’t need all that craziness and commotion (even though its awesome) to still hold on to its same greatness.

Despite the fact that Klaus being around still is terrible if we are concerned for the well-being of our favorites, it cannot be disappointing if we remember that keeping Klaus around means keeping Joseph Morgan around. His scenes with Paul Wesley packed intensity and were so well delivered that we can’t help thinking that seeing the two become a village ripping duo would be somewhat awesome.

Speaking of Duos, it was great to see Bonnie and Caroline decide they needed to go protect Elena together. The two of them have more power than they seem to get credit for and with Bonnie now somewhat over her vamp-hating they could make a pretty solid girl-power team. (With Jeremy close behind of course)

Jeremy seems to get himself into trouble left and right which can be kind of annoying. He is literally the little brother in the scenario; getting into mischief, trying to prove he can be a big boy, but really he just always ends up hurt. When he was first killed it looked like a plot device to maybe have Caroline save him and prove to Sheriff Forbes that she can help people, which would have been interesting, but it turns out it was more of a plot device on the witch front which was even more awesome.

All season it has seemed that Bonnie’s magic is either entirely useless or can just solve everything without hesitation which leaves it little depth. Bonnie’s rescuing Jeremy despite the fact that it “will have consequences” and then seeing those consequences come up when Jeremy started seeing all his dead vamp girlfriends was exactly what Bonnie’s magic needed to kick it up a notch and raise the stakes in a great way for the finale.

While the stakes were a little low as far as Damon’s wolf bite was concerned (we all knew they wouldn’t kill off Damon) the writers managed to give it a purpose, putting him in Elena in a bed together was what many people have been waiting for for two full seasons now and will surely bring people back for season three. Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev never, ever fail to have absolutely breath-taking chemistry on camera. It is something that even Stefan and Elena fans cannot deny. The two of them work gorgeously together, whether they are fighting or kissing, it is always perfect.

And if Damon and Elena kissing, and magic having a real purpose now wasn’t enough to bring us back again for season three, there is Stefan. Just an extra kick if we eren’t already anticipating enough. The idea that Stefan will get all heartless and crazy is exactly what we needed. Even Damon and Elena fans can’t disagree that this will surely add some serious action to Stefan and Elena’s relationship that could prove to work for them for the better because who doesn’t love an angsty girl loves psychotic vampire love story? (Anyone here watch Buffy?)

With everything officially left up in the air, in a thankfully not ridiculous over-dramatic way, we can now only wait until Season three.

Learn about interesting vampire facts and history behind your favorite characters.

What makes for the perfect Super Bowl party? Whether you have a vested interest in the game, or just the commercials, a few Boston area experts have you covered with tips to improve your experience via all five senses.

Many would consider the television to be the most important part of the big game, and we went to the best in the business for the right recommendations. “You need a big TV for the big game, and the bigger the better,” says Brian Gibson of Elite Media Solutions in Wellesley. Gibson recommends having at least a 55-inch screen, but if your wallet allows he’d gladly push you to go for the 60-inch Sony BRAVIA 810 Series. The BRAVIA will give you the smoothest motion in fast action sports and it’s 3D ready, so whether you are rooting for the Packers or Steelers, you are sure to have a sensational viewing experience while watching the game.

Boston-based celebrity chef Rebecca Newell of The Beehive, has done it all, from the Food Network to Martha Stewart Living, but now we know what she’ll be cooking up for the Super Bowl. Her favorite Super Bowl dishes have a unique take on classic tailgating fare.

Newell starts guests off with one of her favorite snacks, Rosemary Truffled Parmesan Popcorn.

Add two cups of popcorn kernels to a heated deep pot with canola oil. Shake vigorously until all kernels are popped. Add freshly shaved parmesan, white truffle oil, dried rosemary and salt and pepper to taste.

While her guests are on the offensive with the popcorn, Newell rubs pork tenderloin with cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Heating the oven to 425 degrees, she adds fresh garlic cloves, poblano peppers, tomatillos and red onion and cooks for 15 minutes or until medium. Take out and let rest for 15 minutes. Sliced on the bias, she adds the pork to warm flour tortillas with the freshly roasted veggies, avocado, cilantro and crème fraîche.

For the last dish, Newell turns a pedestrian standby into a new classic. For her Savory Sweet Chicken Wings she marinates chicken wings in soy sauce, maple syrup and Srirachca for 24 hours. If you don’t have access to a grill, Newell recommends broiling these savory-sweet gems in the oven on high with the oven rack in the center, turning occasionally to ensure perfect caramelization.

Finally, with all the effort you’ve put forth on the perfect experience, ditch the beer and select wine instead. Tina Messina of the Wine Connextion in North Andover recommends both red and white. “Sasyr, is a great Tuscan red and the Rosenblum Paso Robles Zinfandel will go great with any appetizer. However, I would recommend The Villa Mount Eden Chardonnay; that way it won’t matter if guests get too excited and spill a white.” Valued at $10 or below, these wines will wow your guests at a reasonable price.

By 2015, there will be approximately 804 million smartphones worldwide. Lucky for football fans, the NFL and  mobile advertising agency Adzookie.com are already looking to the future, promising that by 2015 the Super Bowl will be streamed live via an iPhone.

Romeo Mendoza, CEO of the Orange, Calif.-based company that plans to handle the advertising, Adzookie.com, said in a statement that “Streaming the Super Bowl on a phone just makes sense. Cell phones already outnumber television sets 5-to-1.”

Given that the 2010 Super Bowl brought in 106 million viewers and earned over $300 million in network advertising sales — that’s $2.8 to $3 million per 30-second advertisement — streaming the Super Bowl on smartphones is a smart business decision. Further, through cell phones, advertisers can run multiple ads at the same time, catering to individual viewers based on age, gender, income and location, something that television ads cannot do.

“Companies prefer to promote their business via mobile ads than other forms of advertising,” Mendoza said.

Because of the increasing popularity of smartphone use and the edge that mobile advertising has over television advertising, viewers can expect to eventually watch all of their favorite shows via cell phones, said Mendoza.

“The Super Bowl is just the beginning,” he continued. “Eventually all programming will be mobile. We plan on being there when it happens.”

Generation Y and Millennials have made a few shows extremely successful (Glee), but there’s more to life than singing and dancing.

Here are the top five television shows that aren’t new, but that you probably haven’t seen yet.

And you should…

5. Cougar Town

This witty little show suffers from a poor title, causing many not to tune in. From the outside, it seems as if the show is driven by Jules’ (Courteney Cox) pursuit of younger men. However, after a rocky start, the show has developed into a broader ensemble comedy, featuring strong interplay from the seven main characters. Like creator Bill Lawrence’s previous work Scrubs, the show is an examination of the lives of its main characters from a humorous and moderately satirical perspective. The show revolves around Jules best friend Ellie and her husband Andy, her neighbor Grayson, her ex-husband Bobby, and her 18 year-old son Travis. It features the same witty dialogue and biting remarks of Scrubs.

Season 2 premieres Wednesday.

4. Fringe

Set within the FBI’s Fringe Division, this show follows FBI Agent Olivia Dunham and her team as they pursue mysteries involving “fringe science.” Involving the extreme possibilities of scientific fields, Dunham’s team, which includes scientists Walter and Peter Bishop, investigate psychic phenomena, teleportation, alternate universes and other tasks in search of “the pattern.” Rich with mythology and created by television auteur J.J. Abrams, the show borrows elements from previous Abrams shows “Lost” and “Alias,” with some themes from “The X-Files” and “The Twilight Show.”

Season 3 of Fringe premieres Thursday.

3. Supernatural

A long running show about brothers Sam and Dean Winchester traveling around the country facing elements of the supernatural. Last season, the show completed a storyline that had been evolving for the five seasons of the show which dealt with demons, hell, heaven, God and the Devil while focusing on themes of brotherhood and destiny. With a killer classic rock soundtrack and more action than most shows on network television, it’s a well produced show that consistently delivers.

Season 6 of Supernatural premieres Friday.

2. The Good Wife

It may seem like an odd choice, but this show about Alicia Florick, the wife of a disgraced politician is a great weekly legal drama. Alicia has returned to practicing law after her husband is sent to prison, as a means to support her family. The stories are fresh, and there’s plenty of intrigue within Alicia’s law firm and the crimes that sent her husband to prison in the first place. The show also featured the breakout performance of Archie Panjabi, her who won an Emmy this year portraying Kalinda Sharma, a deeply interesting private investigator employed by Alicia’s law firm. For a good weekly drama in the vein of CSI or NCIS, tune in.

Season 2 of The Good Wife premieres September 28.

The Vampire Diaries

When the Vampire Diaries premiered, many thought it was another offering in the vampire craze, following “Twilight” and “True Blood.” But over the course of it’s first season, the mythology of the show deepened, and this became one of the more satisfying supernatural dramas on television, reminiscent of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The show is interesting every week, and delivers one or two twists most weeks as well. The plot is pretty involved, but the show has only progressed one season in, so plenty of time to catch up.

We’ve given the show plenty of press. Have you been listening?

Season 2 of the Vampire Diaries premiered September 9.

Well since music videos aren’t the priority anymore, it’s all about original — largely reality-based — programming lately.

VH1, which BTW stood for for Video Hits 1 from 1985-1994, I’m just saying, announced the following massive programming lineup:

“You’re Cut Off!” – Premieres Monday, June 14 at 9 p.m.

What happens when you take nine spoiled young women and completely cut them off from shopping, mani-pedis and bottle service? This new series answers that when these women are removed from all cash and conveniences, forced to live as normal people do and encouraged to become productive members of society. In this “spoiled rotten rehab,” the ladies must complete daily chores and learn hard lessons from life coach Laura Baron such as taking responsibility and understanding there is more to life than material wealth. VH1′s “You’re Cut Off” is produced By Fly on the Wall Productions. Executive producers are Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan, Amy Palmer and Rick de Oliveira.

“Money Hungry” – Summer 2010

In the spirit of VH1′s successful “Celebrity Fit Club” series, 10 overweight teams of two will put their money where their mouth is on VH1′s new original series “Money Hungry.” Just like millions of Americans, these contestants are struggling to drop unwanted pounds. But with $10,000 of their own money at risk and a $100,000 grand prize up for grabs, this intense weight loss competition may be the incentive they need. The pair that sheds the most weight will walk away with the $100,000 pot. Created and executive produced by Cris Abrego and Ellen Rakieten. Ben Samek and Rabih Gholam also executive produce for the series.

“My Big Friggin Wedding” (working title)

“My Big Friggin Wedding” is a new VH1 docu-series that follows the high drama of five couples as they plan and execute the wildest weddings anyone has ever seen. Their budgets may not be the biggest, but their mouths sure are. And just because they’re in love doesn’t mean they see eye-to-eye on how it should all go down. Whether it’s smoke machines and lasers or a bride that wants to be lowered from the ceiling, remember, “classy” is in the eye of the beholder. The series will be produced by 495 Productions and executive produced by Sally Ann Salsano.

“Wedding Wars” (working title)

“Wedding Wars” is a new competition-elimination series where eager engaged couples vie against one another for a dream wedding. In every episode these passionate personalities will face wedding-themed challenges. The series will be produced by 495 Productions and executive produced by Sally Ann Salsano.

“Diary of a Hip Hop Girlfriend”

This docu-soap series follows four women who share a common bond: they understand the joys and pains of being in love with a big name rapper. Sure, there’s the glamorous lifestyle – full of bling, Bentleys and mansions. But behind closed doors, they struggle against shifting loyalties, baby-mama drama and the huge shadow cast by their larger-than-life partner. This 8-part series charts the women as they navigate their relationships with the men they love while they try to maintain a sense of self in the eye of the hip hop hurricane. Executive produced by Mona Scott of Monamie Entertainment and Toby Barraud and Stefan Springman of NFG-TV.

Series Pick-Up Announcements

“Fantasia for Real 2″ – Q4 2010

Season 2 of “Fantasia For Real” will stay with recording artist, Broadway star and single mother Fantasia as she balances her complicated personal life with her desire to connect with her fans through music. As Fantasia works with her record label to promote her long awaited new album, she will continue trying to instill values of independence and integrity into her life and be a positive role model for her daughter Zion, older brother Teeny, no-nonsense Aunt Bunny and the rest of her family. The series is executive produced by Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato and Tom Campbell for World of Wonder and co-executive produced by Jeremy Simmons.

Eva Longoria Development Pilot: “Beso: Waiting on Fame”

One of Eva Longoria Parker’s biggest passions is her Hollywood restaurant BESO. Since it is Hollywood, a lot of celebrities eat there, and a lot of aspiring celebrities work there. Beso is filled with big personalities – and that mix brings a lot of drama. This series is about the real stories of people waiting ON the famous…while waiting to BECOME famous. Created and executive produced by Cris Abrego and Eva Longoria. Ben Samek and Rabih Gholam also executive produce for the series.

“Estranged with Dr. Drew” Development Pilot With Dr. Drew

In each self-contained episode, Dr. Drew Pinsky will tackle one compelling relationship in ruins. With his guidance, the two participants discover that they must finally confront their broken relationship face-to-face in an intense and focused process that takes place over the course of day. In the end, they must decide if they want to make amends or remain estranged for good. The pilot will be produced by Picture This Television with executive producers Bryan Scott, Lisa Tucker and Leslie Goodman and Dr. Drew Productions with executive producers Dr. Drew Pinsky and Howard Lapides.

New Music Programming Announcements

“VH1 and the USO Present Divas Rock The Troops” – December 2010

VH1 is taking its most legendary music event on the road to pay homage to the many men and women who serve in the armed forces. In true VH1 Divas’ fashion, a special group of female music superstars will sing their hearts out at military bases around the world. In another VH1 Divas first, the Divas will step out of their comfort zones and become soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines for a day and learn what goes into being a true American hero. “VH1 and the USO Present Divas Rock the Troops” will be an event unlike anything seen before.

“VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The Dirty South” – Monday, June 7

VH1′s hugely successful annual tribute to the force that is hip hop music returns in June for a seventh time with a tribute to “The Dirty South” to honor those who infused the southern story into hip hop’s global message. Jermaine Dupri, J Prince of Rap-A-Lot Records, Luther “Luke” Campbell AND 2Live Crew, Master P, and Organized Noize are all being recognized through performances in collaboration with some of today’s hottest talent. Last year’s edition was the highest-rated “VH1 Hip Hop Honors” yet. “VH1 Hip Hop Honors: The Dirty South” will tape on June 3rd at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom and will air on VH1 on Monday, June 7 at 9:00 PM ET/PT.

“Behind The Music” – new episodes begin airing in June

VH1′s Emmy-nominated and critically acclaimed series “Behind The Music” returns after a successful re-launch last summer with a new group of stellar artists including Golden Globe-nominated Courtney Love, Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson, multiple Grammy Award winner Usher, Grammy winner and actress Eve, and Golden Globe-nominated actress and performer Jennifer Lopez and DMX. VH1 has re-imagined “Behind The Music” to now focus on some of the top current artists of today who have had a major impact or contribution to the music scene from rock to hip-hop to pop.

“An Evening with Christina Aguilera” – Sunday, June 13

VH1 offers unparalleled backstage access to five-time Grammy® award winning recording artist Christina Aguilera beginning that night with an all-new “Behind the Music: Christina Aguilera” followed by the premiere of “VH1 Storytellers: Christina Aguilera.” In the latest installment of VH1′s successful “Behind the Music” series, fans will get a behind-the-scenes look into the life of one of pop music’s biggest and most private stars. Christina will share personal stories, footage and photos, while her family, friends and colleagues open up about Christina’s childhood, early career and road to superstardom. Then, following in true “VH1 Storytellers” fashion, Christina will treat some of her closest fans to a uniquely thrilling performance of some of her greatest hits as well as new songs from her latest album, “Bionic.” Fans at the taping will also receive the rare opportunity to ask Christina questions about her music and hear stories on the inspiration behind her songs.

VH1′s “Rock Doc” Franchise

“50′s Roots”

50 Cent has always been framed – and defined – by the cold grim reality of coming up in South Jamaica Queens. But 50′s not merely a product of the street and his incredible, death-defying story of survival and success does not just begin with him. Like all African-Americans, there’s a greater journey…across thousands of miles…back through several family generations to slavery. Here, the legendary rapper, actor and business mogul will make an unprecedented trek to the Deep South in search of his family’s slave lineage. He’ll re-unite with living family members, and connect the dots on his ancestral heritage. “50′s Roots” is a real-time journey into past lives and a shared history…of horror and hope, pain and perseverance. “50′s Roots” is produced by Roadside Entertainment.

“RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage” – Premieres on VH1/VH1 Classic, June 26

This world premiere gives a comprehensive exploration of the history of legendary Canadian power trio Rush – from their early days growing up in Toronto, through each of their landmark albums, to the present day. With a career spanning four decades, RUSH (Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neal Peart) is one of the most successful bands in the history of popular music, but despite their remarkable career achievements, they have never been critics’ darlings. Directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn interview the band’s admirers and contemporaries, including Gene Simmons, Billy Corgan, Sebastian Bach, Jack Black, and others and also deliver rare backstage and concert footage.

“Let’s Spend the Night Together: Confessions of Rock’s Greatest Groupies” – Premieres Q4, 2010

Told through the eyes of rock and roll historian and super groupie Pamela Des Barres, author of the famous 1987 tell-all I’m With The Band, this 90-minute documentary offers memories of her sexual exploits and longtime escapades with such notorious rockers as Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison and Jimmy Page. This work is not only a tribute to the golden age of groupies, but also the golden age of rock ‘n roll. Pamela’s new book Let’s Spend the Night Together: Confessions of Rock’s Greatest Groupies provides the framework for this new documentary which follows Pamela as she visits many of these legendary women who re-emerge to share their intimate stories and the unexpected human side of their relationships with rock gods. Produced by Creature Films.

“Friday Night Alright” Concert Series – Fridays, 11 p.m.

VH1 continues to deliver new A-list concert performances from around the globe in its hit concert series “Friday Night Alright.” The network kicked off 2010 with this series, showcasing concert specials form acts like Madonna, U2, and Taylor Swift. New shows coming up include Usher, Lady Gaga, Lady Antebellum and Stone Temple Pilots.

“100 Greatest Artists Of All Time” – Fall 2010

For decades, there have been countless arguments about who deserves the title of the greatest music artist ever. Now VH1′s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” is out to settle the debate once and for all. This 5-hour special will rank the biggest acts in music ranging from all genres including rock, pop, rap, and metal. Over ten years ago, VH1 asked music experts to pick the 100 greatest artists in the channel’s first countdown special. New music, artists and trends have emerged since this historical list. VH1 asked an academy of musicians and music journalists again to see which music pioneers still matter and which new artists rate amongst the greatest of this era.

Previously Announced 2010 New Series and Projects

• Executive Producer Queen Latifah’s movie project in development with Flavor Unit Entertainment.
• “Dad Camp” – A docu-reality series that tries to transform 6 irresponsible soon-to-be dads into respectable fathers. Premieres May 31.
• “Don’t Forget The Lyrics” – Musical game show hosted by music artist and former “Extra!” co-host Mark McGrath. Premieres in September.
• “Football Wives” – In the spirit of VH1′s hit series “Basketball Wives,” the series will focus on the women behind the men who play the nation’s most popular sport.
• “Ocho Cinco”(working title) – Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver and “Dancing With The Stars” contestant Chad Ocho Cinco (formerly Chad Johnson) pursues happiness off the field. Premieres July 11.
• “The OCD Project” – From 3 Ball Productions, this new series centers on patients impacted by obsessive compulsive disorder living together as they strive to overcome their affliction.
• “Scream Queens 2″ – Ten more aspiring actresses will get the chance to win a breakthrough role in “Saw 3D,” the next film in Lionsgate’s iconic “Saw” horror franchise. Premieres August 9.
• “The T.O. Show” (season 2) – After his one season with the Bills, Terrell Owens is once again faced with finding another team in the off-season while having the chance to reconnect with his kids, as well as his ex, Kari. Debuts July 11.
• “Do Something Awards” – VH1 has partnered with DoSomething.org to televise live the 2010 Do Something Awards on July 19 at 9 p.m. from Los Angeles. The five nominees for the Do Something Award will be rewarded with a community grant with the grand prize winner receiving $100,000.

During a recession, a second television may not be a priority. As the economy recovers, though, buyers might find a little extra money to splurge on such a purchase.

We tested four smaller high-definition televisions under 40 inches in different price brackets for secondary use in guestrooms, offices, bedrooms or even kitchens. We viewed some of our favorite shows on the value-conscious Sceptre 19" LED HDTV at $199; the larger screen and more robust feature set of the Vizio M220VA 22" LED HDTV for $300; the balanced Sharp Aquos LC-32D47UT at $549; and the simply indulgent NuVision Lucidium NVU32FX5, a 32" LCD HDTV, for $1249.

Robert Stanton, of Smarthome and Theater Systems, based in Milford, Conn., recommended the Vizio or the Sharp.

"If you asked me a year ago, my take on Vizio was ‘so-so’ at best, but they’ve made some really big changes to their product line, and their products are really getting a lot better," Stanton said.

The Vizio is a good bet. This is a fantastically inexpensive TV that gives you tons of features like dual HDMI inputs, which are digital video plugs for the maximum high definition picture quality, and it also comes with an optical digital audio port, to work with a multi-speaker surround sound system. The picture is also bright, clear, and easy on the eyes and the TV set is razor thin.

But if you want something a bit bigger,  the Sharp AQUOS produces a wonderful picture on a 32-inch screen. The picture is crisp, the colors are natural, and though it’s not as thin as the new, LED televisions, it still has a low profile. The only part we didn’t like as much was the onboard speakers.

Stanton also recommended the Sharp television, speaking highly of its picture quality.

Like the The LED Vizio, the Sceptre television is super thin, so it hangs on a wall and looks like a picture frame, or sits on a desk without taking up much room. Overall, the Sceptre gets an "A" for effort, but it’s not nearly as good of a television as the others. You’re saving money here, but giving up some picture quality.

NuVision is a luxury maker. It has high 10-bit color processing and advanced hardware on board to give an optimum picture and sound experience — and it delivers. We’re just not sure all that money is needed for a bedroom television. You also get some style points with the NuVision. The television has a limited edition hot pink model available, and the company offers a program that will custom-tailor the casing of the television to match your home d©cor. Again, neat, but not fiscally practical.

"NuVision builds an incredible product," Stanton said. "But if you’re going to use it as ‘light to go to sleep to,’ I would go with the Vizio."

Sceptre 19" LED HDTV, $199

Pros: You get a thin LED television for under $200. It has a litany of ports, including dual HDMI, computer inputs, and digital audio.

Cons: Port location is poor, and plugs are often hard to reach. Picture quality is meager at best.

Final word: You can spend a few more bucks for a better television.

Vizio M220VA 22" LED HDTV, $300

Pros: The Vizio is razor-thin and displays an incredible high-def picture for just $300. It’s also stylish and comes in either black or white.

Cons: None that we can see.

Final word: This is not 2006′s Vizio. This is a quality television and a perfect way to get your feet wet with LED television technology.

Sharp Aquos LC-32D47UT, $549

Pros: The Sharp AQUOS produces a wonderful picture, and we’ve seen it on sale for under $400, so the price is right.

Cons: The onboard speakers are not great.

Final word: If you see it for under $400, buy it. You’ll love this television.

NuVision Lucidium NVU32FX5, a 32" LCD HDTV, $1249

Pros: NuVision is a high-quality television maker that custom builds its hardware and screens to amazing results.

Cons: Price is the worry. The Pink model is $150 more for the same product.

Final word: This is a fantastic television if you can afford it.

Here are today’s top TV stories.

First and foremost, Oprah Winfrey will talk on the air today about ending her iconic syndicated daytime talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” She will tell viewers that the show will end its run after 25 years on September 9, 2011. Oprah does have her own network, called OWN, launching next year, but we’re not sure what her future plans are beyond the show.

Other news, the season finale of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” starts at 9 on Sunday on HBO.

Some future premieres to talk about. ABC will start the sixth and final season of “Lost” on February 2 with a two-hour episode starting at 9 p.m. An hour-long recap of last season will start at 8, and the show will air Tuesday nights at 9 all season long. ABC will also launch an online companion for “Grey’s” addicts called “Seattle Grace: On Call.” on ABC.com. The six-webisode series will be set at Joe’s Emerald City Bar and will feature cast regulars including Gloria Garayua and Brandon Scott.

Over on NBC, “Chuck” will start its third season on January 10 with 2 episodes starting at 9 p.m. Then it will move to a regular time slot with another episode Monday January 11 at 8 p.m.

G4, the video game and Gen-Y network will start a show called “Campus PD” with a look at police on colleague campuses on Florida, Texas, California, and North Carolina. It premieres December 8 at 11 p.m.

One of the most anticipated shows of the fall season premieres tonight when “V” opens up on ABC at 8 p.m. The show is about aliens who come to Earth under the auspices of benevolence — curing disease, etc. — but what are there true motives?

The World Series is off tonight as it returns to New York for game six, so you can expect everything to be watching “V” tonight. “NCIS” and “NCIS Los Angeles” are also on, on CBS.

The other premiere we’ll mention tonight is “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover,” which starts at 10 on Bravo. We’re so happy for Tabatha, who gave an interview with Blast shortly before her disappointing exit from “Shear Genius.”

In other news, TNT cut a deal with Warner Bros. Television to obtain NBC’s canceled “Southland.” The cable network will have exclusive rights to the 13 episodes, which includes seven unaired episodes. It will air on TNT on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. starting in January.

G4 will renew “Human Wrecking Balls,” for a second season starting November 11 at 8 p.m. The show, with the daredevil Pumphrey brothers who wreck things like helicopters and gas stations. So grab your Cheeze-Its and cola, all you hyperactive nerds, and tune into G4 for shit getting destroyed.

FOX announced that the Charles Logan character will be back on “24,” as actor Gregory Itzin is back for season eight, which starts January 17 at 9 p.m. and continues a two-night, hour-hour opener the next night at 8.

Variety reported that executive producers Ian Sander and Kim Moses have three possibly big projects in the works for ABC. In “Jane and Dick,” an all-female law firm has all sorts of fun and drama. “Police Surgeon,” is about a female cop in Chicago who’s also a doctor. Clever name. Finally, in “Ghost World,” (the duo also does “Ghost Whisperer on CBS) an female homicide detective in New York solves cases with the help of a male ghost who also needs to find out how he lived and died.

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio will join USA’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” as the new captain, replacing Eric Bogosian.

Forty years ago today, PBS, the Public Broadcasting System, aired its first television broadcasts, the US Census Bureau announced.

PBS began as little more than a string of local educational programs. Over the last four decades, shows like “Sesame Street,” “The American Experience,” “Masterpiece” and “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” have touched the lives of many Americans.

“Over the years, PBS has built a reputation for excellent programs and objectivity,” the Census Burean said in a statement.

The Public Broadcasting System has more than 350 stations, which come together collectively to own the network.

Blast recently chatted with Michael Wallen, the vice president and creative director of Fox Mobile Studios, about one of their newest mobile series, “Brainstorm.”

The portable Internet series has already logged about 1.7 million viewers for the eight episodes available (with six pieces of viral content used to promote the series with marketing partner Altoids).

Comedy Central’s “Secret Girlfriend,” which began as a mobile series, shares actor Michael Blaiklock wth “Brainstorm,” where he plays Marty Waxer, a copywriter who is defined as “always stuck in a haze between last night’s party and his morning coffee.”

Between Marty’s procrastination and lack of seriousness, and the new marketing genius in the office, named Rock, an advertising conundrum ensues.

BLAST: First, we’d like to get a feel for how you decided to go with a mobile series, and how that benefits the audience. How are mobile series becoming more popular for audiences?

MICHAEL WALLEN: We really wanted to create a series-not just a mobile series-but a great short form series. We really thought of all cross platform ideas, and we did take into consideration stream size, viewing habits, and technical considerations, so that when somebody did view it (as a mobile series), it would be as a pleasant experience. We wanted to up the value of mobile content by delivering an entertaining series on that platform.

BLAST: How was the idea for Brainstorm started?

MW: It started with the idea of how do we get our skin in the game on the brand integration side of the business and create an organic concept that enables this brand integration without being intrusive to the viewer … organic and upfront. Transparent with the integration. So a show about advertising seemed to make a lot of sense and also poke fun of the brand, and tell a story at the same time. How do we fit a brand into a piece of entertainment? (The idea) was certainly influenced by what was happening in the economy, we thought we could make it relevant because (of smaller agencies struggling) it would resonate with viewers and also be a platform for comedy. Maybe some relief if you will.

BLAST: Was it fun to incorporate Altoids as a brand partner?

MW: Yeah, it was great. They were a fantastic partner. They got the jokes, they got the concepts, they recognized that in order to ..they had to play ball and let their brand be the center of some of the jokes. I commend them for doing that. A lot of brands will (say that they will) do that but will start to pull back. Altoids pushed us further, it was a wonderful partnership

BLAST: Were characters such as Marty and Rock inspired by real life office extremes, or solely developed for the purpose of the plot?

MW: Without blowing anyone’s cover, I’ve worked with every single one of those guys at some point in my career. I think the guru, Rock type is prevalent in the advertising field. These ‘everything turns to gold’ ad whizzes are either lucky or leaned on talented people to get where they are. There are millions of examples in every work environment, not just advertising. Advertising is such an interesting environment and breeds so many types of egos. The lead character was kind of your advertising every man. That’s definitely there in the agencies and the Marty character, but i think we try to capture characteristics of employees all over the world, someone everyone can relate to.

BLAST: Was the series influenced by any workplace sitcoms?

MW: Not directly, just that it’s there. There have been a lot of these office sitcoms, so there is a lot to draw on or draw away from. What’s different (is that) we tried to solve a business problem with a brand while also telling a story. Other shows are doing that — 30 Rock with Snapple. It’s just ‘how can you make advertising entertaining and enjoyable at the same time’?

“Brainstorm” is available on various online and mobile destinations, including MySpace, Yahoo! Video, YouTube, Veoh, blip.tv, Break, eBaum’s World, Howcast, Imeem, Metacafe, Sevenload, StupidVideos.com, Viddler, Vimeo, and most mobile phone networks.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is great if you get the optional 6-cell battery

Here’s an old reviewers’ question for you. Is it fair to judge a product by its default configuration?

I recently called the Dell Inspiron Mini 10′s 3-cell 24WHr battery a deal breaker, and it’s absolutely true. Dell’s netbook gets just over three hours of battery life, which is poor by both small laptop and netbook standards.

But when you’re buying the Mini 10, you can upgrade to a 6-cell battery with more than six hours of life for just $30.

A lot of people, I’d imagine, just buy the default configuration, not wanting to deal with the specs, like the difference between the hard drive and optional SSD drive.

Even with its 10″ x 7″ x 1″ dimensions, weighing only 2.63 pounds in my test, I’d never recommend someone buy the Mini in its default form.

It’s principle. The Mini 10 is an otherwise stellar computer. It’s fast, light, comes in a variety of colors, has an on-board TV tuner with HD antenna and cable adapter, comes with an HDMI port, SD/MS/MMC card reader, 3 USB ports, ethernet and built-in a/g/n WiFi. Even the display puts it over the top. The Mini 10 standard (as opposed to the V edition) comes with a 720p HD display. The keyboard is small, like on all netbooks, but it’s more comfortable than the Asus Eee PC that won the day in my Globe story.

At $349, the Inspiron 10 is a good value with this anchor called a 3-cell battery holding it down.

Dell should drop the 3-cell battery, make the 6-cell the default and only battery option, and charge $379 for the product. That would still make it cheaper than most of the Asus, HP and Lenovo competitors, and other reviews back up the fact that the Dell is right behind these laptops.

Dell’s idea with the Mini appears to have been to give users more regular “computer” features. The HDMI port is a great touch, and even the digital TV was appreciated. It’s pre-configured, and the software actually works. the Dell TV software fires up, scans the signal for channels, and works quickly and easily — and that’s from Dell. Years ago, if you bought a Dell, you could easily spend an hour or two deleting all their bloated support and utility software.

So let’s do this:

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 with a 3-cell battery.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 with a 6-cell battery.

If Dell throws in the 6-cell battery and throws out the 3-cell without jacking the price too much, then I believe it’s a winner. Good screen, good keyboard, Atom processor, television, HD video — all great features, but something has to power it all.

The premiere season has just about wound down at this point, but we have a few cable shows on tap tonight.

Animal Planet premieres “Weird, True and Freaky” at 9 p.m., with “Lost Tapes” to follow at 10. MTV has some reality shows starting tonight; most notably is the reality-drama “The Hills” at 10 with “The City” to follow at 10:30.

Actor Omar Miller is joining CSI: Miami as a regular starting with the October 5 episode. Miller will play Walter Simmons, an art chief from Louisiana who joins the crime fighting CSI team.

CBS had the best night on Friday, according to Nielsen, with premieres of “Ghost Whisperer,” “Medium” and “Numb3rs” scoring big on the ranking charts. We predict that will continue tonight as CBS has new episodes of three of its biggest shows, “NCIS,” the new “NCIS: Los Angeles,” and “The Good Wife.”

We wonder how long “NCIS: Los Angeles” will continue to air on Tuesdays. The two NCIS shows are hits, and we have to assume one will get moved to bolster a slower weekday.

“Dancing with the Stars” is on ABC tonight and “So You Think You Can Dance” is on FOX.

Finally, no it’s not the 90s, but new episodes of the new “90210,” and “Melrose Place” are on The CW tonight.

By the way: Because of a reporting error, we said “NCIS: Los Angeles” aired on Mondays. It airs on Tuesdays.

NBC's Trauma premieres tonight at 10

Not a lot of new stuff on the tube tonight, but there’s some news to discuss below.

On network TV, FOX premieres “Lie to Me’ at 9 p.m. tonight, while NBC debuts its “Trauma” at the same time. MTV premieres another reality show, “Disaster Date” at 6 p.m., and truTV has the premiere of “Operation Repo” at 10. Tonight is also the season finale of A&E’s “Hoarders,” which is also on at 10.

The Ashton Kutcher-produced series “The Beautiful Life” staring Mischa Barton appears to be an abject failure. The CW pulled the show from its fall schedule after just two episodes and ordered production on the show halted after miserable ratings.

Also getting axed is A&E’s “The Cleaner.” The Benjamin Bratt drama will not get renewed for a third season.

ABC announced that the new alien-infused drama “V” will debut November 3, with a four-episode run, followed by a major cliffhanger, followed by nine more episodes next spring.

In other ABC-related news, the always busy Jerry Bruckheimer is working on a pilot for a new series called “Hopscotch,” which Variety says promises to be a “high-concept police procedural” drama. Variety reported several networks were vying for the opportunity to land the new series, which is chock-full of “hit potential.” Chris Levinson will write the series, and Warner will producer.

The CW approved a new, untitled reality series about New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer, because they know you just can’t get enough of watching rich people spend their money. The series is approved for at least eight episodes.

NBC has an interesting-sounding project in the works. In the tentatively titled “Slacker Sons,” Variety reports that two brothers get rich by developing their own energy drink. They buy the family home and end up helping out their divorced dad who gets laid off from his corporate wageslave job.

Finally today, Vincent D’Onofrio is leaving Law & Order: Criminal Intent after eight seasons playing the quirky detective Robert Goren.

Here’s a list of most of the winners at Sunday’s 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards:

• Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock,” NBC.
• Actress, Comedy Series: Toni Collette, “United States of Tara,” Showtime.
• Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men,” CBS.
• Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Kristin Chenoweth, “Pushing Daisies,” ABC.
• Made-for-TV Movie: “Grey Gardens,” HBO.
• Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Brendan Gleeson, “Into the Storm,” HBO.
• Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, “Grey Gardens,” HBO.
• Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Ken Howard, “Grey Gardens,” HBO.
• Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Shohreh Aghdashloo, “House of Saddam,” HBO.
• Directing for a Comedy Series: “The Office: Stress Relief,” Jeff Blitz, NBC.
• Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: “Little Dorrit: Part 1,” Dearbhla Walsh, PBS.
• Reality-Competition Program: “The Amazing Race,” CBS.
• Writing for a Comedy Series: “30 Rock: Reunion,” Matt Hubbard, NBC.
• Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: “Little Dorrit,” Andrew Davies, PBS.
• Host, Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Jeff Probst, “Survivor,” CBS.
• Comedy or variety show: “The Daily Show.”
• Reality-Competition Program: “The Amazing Race,” CBS.
• Writing for a Comedy Series: “30 Rock: Reunion,” Matt Hubbard, NBC.
• Writing for a Drama Series: “Mad Men: Meditations in an Emergency,” Kater Gordon and Matthew Weiner, AMC.
• Writing for a comedy or variety show: “The Daily Show.”
• Original Music and Lyrics: “81st Annual Academy Awards: Song Title: Hugh Jackman Opening Number,” ABC.
• Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: “Little Dorrit,” Andrew Davies, PBS.
• Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Michael Emerson, “Lost,” ABC.
• Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Cherry Jones, “24,” FOX.
• Actress, Drama Series: Glenn Close, “Damages,” FX.
• Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad,” AMC
• Comedy Series: “30 Rock,” NBC.
• Drama Series: “Mad Men,” AMC.

Analysis coming later.

The only premiere tonight is NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” at 8 p.m., but five shows are ending tonight, including the 9 p.m. finale of “Big Brother” on CBS. Also ending tonight are Fox’s fat dating show “More to Love,” ABC’s “Shaq Vs.,” A&E’s “The Cleaner,” and we can’t forget “Addicted to Beauty” on Oxygen.

ABC has canceled the sci-fi-esque romantic drama “Defying Gravity,” because no one watched it. The Fox Television-produced show lasted about a month, with its final episode airing last Sunday.

“Dirty Jobs” will return, already in its fifth season, with mega host Mike Rowe. Discovery Channel promises 11 new episodes starting October 6 at 9 p.m.

Finally today, Comedy Central is starting up a new series called “Secret Girlfriend” on October 7. It features quick, 11-minute mini-episodes about a guy in his 20s, his friends, roommates, and the each of the two girlfriends he’s trying to keep secret from each other.

Today, Atdec launched its Telehook TH-1040-VFM full-motion mount.

This TV mount will be useful for those of us who have chosen to put our TVs in high glare areas, as it allows the viewing angle to be adjusted up to 40 degrees. The Telehook TH-1040-VFM even allows us to use our flat panels in landscape and portrait mode after installation and can support panels between 12″ and 40″ and a weight up to 55 pounds.

This is made possible through use of a ball joint which offers boundless adjustment up to 40 degrees in any direction, allowing us to find that perfect sweet spot for our TV. There is no need to screw and unscrew numerous bolts due to Atdec’s “Simple Tension” Adjustment system, and their Smooth Glide technology allows for effortless adjustment of screens up to 55 pounds. The TH-1040-VFM’s quick release mechanism guarantees fast and easy TV attachment and removal.

The TH-1040-VFM offers a maximum reach from the wall of 17 ‚½” and a minimum distance from the wall of 4″. It supports VESA mounting hole configurations of 4″x 4″, 8″x 4″ and 8″x 8″. It features a cable management system, a theft resistant design and is compatible with masonry and timber stud wall mounting hardware.

“We are really in the TV viewing business and that’s what Atdec’s mounting solutions are all about: providing the best and most elegant way to ensure optimum viewing experience no matter what the environment may be,” said Atdec’s Jerome Green.

“The new Telehook TH-1040-VFM is a perfect example of this philosophy with its ability to offer infinite fine-tuning of the viewing angle via a variety of easy to adjust pivot points. Innovative design, matched with a stylish look and reliable build, make the new mount an ideal choice for any home or commercial TV installation.”

The TH-1040-VFM will be available in mid September for $169.

Having conquered‚ Comic-Con ’09, New Video NYC is happy to announce the DVD release of Felicia Day’s hit online sitcom The Guild. With the Season 3 premiere on August 25 on Xbox Live, the DVD will hit stores on September 29. The series, which has over 100, 000 subscribers on YouTube served as an inspiration for Joss Whedon’s blockbuster Internet sensation “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.”

For those of you who haven’t heard about The Guild, the story follows Cyd Serman (Day), a modern girl who has hit rock bottom after being fired and dumped and turned to the world of online gaming and dawning the avatar “Codex”. After a player on her server mistakes their in-game rapport for true love and shows up at her door, Codex brings all the members of her online guild face to face…to extremely awkward results.

The DVD contains a large amount of bonus content along with the 22 episodes from seasons 1 and 2. The bonus content includes:

• Special Insert: Gaming Glossary and Note from Felicia Day
• Cast and Crew Interviews
• Audition Footage
• Gag Reels
• Audio Commentaries
• Table Read
• Script PDF Files
• Play All Feature

So be sure to pick up a copy! Comment below with thoughts and feelings (and compliments for the lovely Felicia Day of course).

Zachary Ducharme took a break from kiteboarding to tell Blast a little bit about himself. Kiteboarding is just one of many passions that Ducharme has. Most recently the 25-year-old Wayland resident added acting to his resume.

Ducharme finished filming the pilot of a new series called “Destination Matters,” produced by Shodan Productions. Ducharme says he just went on a casting call for the part and got a callback saying they were interested.

He plays the lead character, Jason who travels back in time 10 years, and becomes 17 again. He wakes up with no memory of who he is or why he”Ëœs there. His character tries putting the pieces of his life together and tries to figure out why he’s suddenly being chased by the FBI. Parts of his future are revealed to the viewers, who along with Jason, try to find out where he comes from. The pilot was filmed in and around the Boston area and in parts of Quincy.

Ducharme, a 2002 Wayland High School graduate, said acting was never part of his plan. He was a three-sport athlete, on the soccer, rugby and ski teams. Ducharme said growing up in Wayland was like growing up in any typical small town.

“I graduated with no more than 175 students and everyone knew everyone,” Ducharme said.

When he was in eighth grade, Ducharme started playing paintball. Eventually this interest grew into something more serious than just a hobby. He started traveling around the country and even across seas as part of two competitive paintball teams. By the time he was a freshman at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst he began playing professionally. He played for the now-defunct National Professional Paintball League. After a few years, he switched teams and began playing for NXL which was run by Paintball Sports Promotion. He was majoring in mechanical engineering at UMass and was shooting paintballs for his part-time job.

“I made enough to have it has a job in college,” said Ducharme. He got paid for each event as well as a flat stipend. He also got paid based on team performance. It was then that he got a taste of the media spotlight and the entertainment industry for the first time after his paintball team was featured on ESPN.

“My family supports me 100 percent and have always supported me with all the crazy stuff I do” he said. After graduating college Ducharme made the decision to go to Colorado, with just a car and no place to live. He eventually landed a job and spent a year as a ski ambassador.

Ducharme’s interest in acting developed from experience he had in modeling during college. One of his paintball teammates had become involved in modeling, and thought Ducharme should give it a try.

“I’m up for anything,” Ducharme said. So he gave it a shot. His first photo shoot was for a paintball company. He met his current manager through a modeling gig, who eventually suggested acting classes. He began going on casting calls and started landing minor roles in independent films. Most recently he was in “Shanked” and “The intensive.” Both were submitted into some upcoming film festivals.

“(Acting) takes a lot to get used to,” Ducharme said. “Days can be as long as 14 hours, to only use 30 seconds of footage.” But he has enjoyed taking on a new endeavor and looks forward to taking on more roles in the future.

Although Ducharme said he’s up for any challenges that may come his way in the acting field or anything else, he’s still not giving up his day job, working with automated robots for a pharmaceutical company. He really enjoys that.

Ducharme is currently living in South Boston, he but plans to make the move to New York City soon. There is no exact date or network set yet for the “Destination Matters” pilot to air.

While Youtube is practically synonymous with online video these days, it’s certainly not the only player in town, if you’ll pardon the pun. Hulu’s number of unique viewers skyrocketed 42 percent in the month of February, riding on the heels of its popular Super Bowl commercials. Hulu is now the fourth largest video site, behind Google (Youtube), Fox (Myspace), and Yahoo!.

Hulu’s growth is certainly impressive considering that most of Hulu’s offerings are all from network television, which typically don’t go viral like many of Youtube’s offerings. However as more cash-strapped consumers ditch their cable subscriptions and look to stream their favorite shows online instead, Hulu’s growth could easily continue.

Overall, 75 percent of people who signed online in February viewed at least one video during the month. While Hulu served only 2.5 percent of those videos, a full quarter of video watchers saw at least one video at Hulu (which for those who are still following the math is almost a fifth of the Internet populace).

Google maintained its lead at the largest video provider, showing over 5 million videos to 100 million unique visitors, almost 41 percent of all videos shown.

And as a final note, if productivity is what we need to get us out of this economic rut, these statistics don’t bode very well for us. Over 13 million videos were viewed in February, averaging out to about five hours per user. So much for actually getting work done at the office.

Here’s something for the six or seven people that don’t have digital television already:

(ARA) – Are you a television junkie? Do you hold viewing parties for season premieres, award shows or season finales? On June 12, 2009, at 11:59 p.m., analog television will cease to exist — but what does this mean for you?

Is this the end to your viewing parties? Or to free TV? Will you need to replace your current TV with a newer, digital model? What are the benefits — will you be able to watch higher-quality TV?

Armed with information and resources, technical professional organization IEEE offers tips to help Americans understand the switch to digital TV broadcast movement, and has prepared some frequently asked questions below; ensuring you have a signal to watch your favorite shows — from Oprah and the local news to CSI and championship sporting events.

Q: Is digital television more expensive than analog television?
A: No. Traditional, non-cable television programs will continue to be free!

Q: If I currently have cable service, is there anything else I need to do to prepare for the switch?
A: If you have cable service, there is nothing else you would need to do. However, if other TV sets in the house are not connected to cable and they receive their signals with an antenna, each of these sets will need a digital TV converter box.

Q: What is a digital TV converter box?
A: A digital TV converter box hooks up to a conventional analog TV set, allowing it to receive digital broadcasts.

Q: Will my current television still work with off-air signals after June 12, 2009?
A: Yes, as long as you have a digital TV converter box and an appropriate antenna. In general, if your antenna works well with analog signals, it will possibly work with digital signals that are in the same television band (low-VHF, high-VHF, or UHF).

Q: What specific techniques can I use to determine if my current television antenna is acceptable for digital reception or whether a new antenna is required?
A: In general, if your current antenna (outdoor or indoor) provides good or excellent reception quality, that antenna should be acceptable for DTV reception. This presumes that the current antenna covers the same television bands (low-VHF, high-VHF, UHF) that are being used by the digital stations.

Q: Is there such a thing as a “digital” antenna or an “HDTV” antenna?
A: No. While the box in which the antenna is sold may be called “DTV Antenna” or “HDTV Antenna”, the analog and digital television signals can be picked up (i.e., received) with the same antenna.

The complete IEEE FAQ can be found online at www.IEEE.org. Additionally, the FCC has issued a number of very helpful consumer advisories on the DTV transition at: www.dtv.gov/publications.html.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT), a disability coalition focused on accessible technology for people with disabilities, called on the government to delay the digital television transition, citing access problems for its constituent base.

“As the February date for the DTV transition approaches, a myriad of technical problems continue to surface for people with disabilities,” says Karen Peltz Strauss, founding member of COAT. “These include problems with receiving and displaying closed captions, difficulties with the pass through of available video description (narration added to visual program elements during natural programming pauses), and troubles with the hook-up of digital equipment. Consumers have experienced frustration in their attempts to obtain resolution of these issues from TV programming providers, equipment manufacturers and retailers.”

The thoughts were echoed by a prominent Deaf group also.

“Our members report missing and disappearing captions, overlapping captions, captions appearing in the middle of the television screen and blocking images, garbled captions, captions running off the edge of the picture, and captions either exceedingly small or too large,” said Rosaline Crawford of the National Association of the Deaf. “We are very concerned that the analog cut-off scheduled for February 17 will result in members of our community completely losing access to television news, information, and entertainment programming for an indefinite period of time.”

And the blind:

“People who are blind or with vision disabilities are experiencing huge difficulties, not only with hooking up the converter boxes but also serious problems with new digital TV equipment that is not passing through any available video description,” said Eric Bridges of the American Council of the Blind. “The lack of knowledge about how to resolve video description concerns is a major barrier to our community’s access to digital television.”

COAT blames the alleged problems on “any one of a combination of technical failures, including difficulties with local broadcast station signals or transmissions, cable network or provider transmissions, satellite transmission signals, poor adjustment of end user consumer equipment provided by cable or satellite companies, and/or improper encoding and transmission by caption providers.”

On February 17, television will stop being broadcast on analog signals. People using antennas to watch TV will have to use a converter box, but cable and satellite customers should notice no differences.

Rekha Sharma, who plays Tory Foster on the SciFi Channel’s “Battlestar Galactica,” did not always want to be an actress. Born in Vancouver, Canada, to Indian parents born in Fiji, she leaned more towards the musical punk side of her creative mind after developing a love of music.

With the sounds of David Bowie and Bauhaus providing the soundtrack for her adolescent romps through Canadian forests, it was clear a future of tours and gigs was where Sharma was headed. But as her teenage years began, a love of acting began to manifest itself. 

“I was going through life after graduating from high school trying to figure out all my shit,” Sharma said. Upon graduating, she enrolled in the Emily Carr Institute of Design, inspired by the likes of Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso. In a continued youthful attempt to find her career path, she also earned a Holistic Counselor Certification from the West Coast College of Massage Therapy soon after.

It was then that Sharma decided to devote herself to the pursuit of acting as a career choice. She knew the odds were stacked against her as an Indian woman in a predominantly white industry.  

She trained at Ivana Chubbuck Acting Studio, and later the Lyric School of Acting. She acted in roles on the cult classic series “The Lone Gunmen” (2001), and “Dark Angel” (2002), along with parts in well-known series such as “The Twilight Zone” (2002) and “John Doe” (2003). Pretty soon she had secured the part of Dr. Harden on the series “Smallville” (2006).

Her auditions and unique career choices got her noticed, because soon she was filming on the sets of the major motion pictures “The Core” (2003), and “The Chronicles of Riddick” (2004), then on Showtime’s “The L Word (2004). Finally, she landed her a role on the award-winning show “Battlestar Galactica” (2006).

“Battlestar Galactica” is a re-imagining of the original 1978 television series of the same name. It follows the last remaining human refugees who fled their home world after a nuclear disaster.

On the show, Sharma’s character Tory is an aid to the president, played by actress Mary McDonnell. In this season of the show, plot twists involving Sharma’s character have garnered mixed reactions from fans.

Sharma said she often finds herself defending her character’s actions, after she was revealed to be a Cylon, part of the race of robots and human-looking cyborgs who launched the apocalyptic nuclear attack. In the story, the Cylons’ ultimate goal is to pursue the last of humanity and wipe them out.

“I think even Tory the Cylon is still human,” she said. “If you look at all the characters on the show, they’ve been starved, hunted, homeless, dying, imprisoned and after all that, they’re still living together in space. Sometimes what is seen as evil under one circumstance, will seem the most humane thing to do in another.”

In terms of filming, Sharma said it’s Tory’s on-screen romance that cause her more stress than her character’s moral dilemmas. 

“Love scenes are extremely anxiety-filled,” she admits, “especially being half-dressed in front of the film crew. But, hopefully our hard work shows through on screen.”

The recent strike by the Writers Guild of America left shows like “Battlestar” at a stand-still. Many actors and crew members in the industry were left without work. Sharma used the break to work on other projects and to spend some time at home in Vancouver. She recalled an awkward dinner with other Battlestar Galactica cast members where no one was even sure if the show would even return.

She also began to focus more on humanitarian work. “I was lucky to grow up with such loving parents,” she said, “whom showed me how to be humble, so I can help those in need.” She supports various charities, including helping victims of 2005 Hurricane Katrina, and victims of the 2006 tsunami in Southeast Asia. She has even supported, through donations of time and money, womens’ shelters across Vancouver. In the past she has given free acting lessons to youth in Vancouver.

As Battlestar Galactica draws to its finale, Sharma is keeping herself busy with a role in “Traveling”, a film in post-production starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart due out in the fall. Although Sharma acknowledges an off-screen romance, when asked about a significant other she would not reveal any details. She said her significant other has kept her grounded and her newly-acquired and much larger sci-fi fan base is making her focus more intensely on the quality of her performances. 

Looking ahead, Sharma said she is taking her acting career one role at a time.

Spike TV announced Thursday its new lineup of original programming including survival epics and plenty of reality television.

“From battling the treacherous waters of the Mississippi to battling international foes overseas, Spike’s development slate celebrates the incredible pursuits of an array of real guys geared to resonate with the Spike male-centric brand,” the network said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with some of Hollywood’s most creative minds to present a development slate that we feel will further the notion that Spike is a true destination for original programming for guys,” said Sharon Levy, senior vice president, original series, Spike TV.

Here’s what they got:

River Men

“River Men” is a new docu-series about the rough and dangerous work of the men who make their living battling the mighty Mississippi River.  Each day, these unsung heroes tow massive, football-field sized barges through the treacherous waters of the Mississippi River.  Dangers lurk around every bend, as the “River Men” pilot their huge towboats and barges through locks, dams and narrow channels under threat of collisions, smashing into bridges, groundings, breakaway barges, men lost overboard, explosions, fires and sinking.  All the while, the towboat crews battle extreme weather conditions — record-breaking floodwaters, searing heat, icy cold and dense, impenetrable fog to get thousands of tons of cargo to its final destination.  ”River Men” is produced by Gay Rosenthal Productions, with Gay Rosenthal, Paul Barrosse as executive producers and Nicholas Carprio, Jeffrey Weaver and Eric Streit as co-executive producers.

USA vs. The World

“USA vs. The World” features average Americans who do some of the roughest jobs in the world, facing off against their foreign counterparts who have the same occupation.  Each episode will feature three of the best Americans that perform a certain job and identify the country whose citizens might do it better.  The American team will then travel to the opposing team’s country in an attempt to beat the foreigners on their own turf.   For example, the best alligator wranglers from Florida take on the crocodile wranglers of Northern Australia.  ”USA vs. The World” is produced by Lighthearted Entertainment, with executive producers Howard Schultz and Michael Maddocks (“Moment of Truth,” “Extreme Makeover”).

Tank and Cobra

Tank and Cobra are an infamous, real-life bounty-hunting duo who has been catching bad guys for over ten years through their company Lightning Strike Force.  Seemingly mismatched, William “Cobra” Stubbs is a middle-aged, self-proclaimed country boy while his partner is the younger and more hip, Gregory “Tank” Camaron.  Bruce Toms (“Work Out,” “Nanny 911″) and Amy Shpall (“Work Out”) of Liberal Media and Todd Dahlke of Necessary Evil serve as executive producers.

Human Predators

An informative and compelling one-hour series that reveals, through first hand accounts, the shocking tales of the people who take lives, either professionally or criminally. Executive Produced by Digital Ranch Productions (“Dogfights,” “Murder by the Book,” “Mail Call”), with Robert Kirk and Rob Lihani as Executive Producers and Co-Executive Producer Keith Guinto.

Idiot Hall of Fame

From the hilariously, twisted brain of veteran television producer Simon Andreae (“My Shocking Story,” “Surgery Saved My Life”) and his production company, The Incubator, comes a late-night half hour series, “Idiot Hall Of Fame.”  Using real footage, the series takes a humorous look at some of the most truly idiotic actions of all time.

American history has its heroes. Washington. Lincoln. King.

Murrow.

If you don’t understand how important journalism is in a society, you need only read a biography of Edward R. Murrow and see what he did during World War II and then during the American anti-communism years.

Read the biography first. Then you can watch “Good Night and Good Luck.”

Murrow was born 100 years ago Friday. A heavy smoker, he died in 1965 at 57. Though he smoked three packs a day, he was one of the first journalists to report on the connection between cigarettes and cancer.

Though he was one of the founding fathers of television and remains perhaps the most influential broadcaster on any medium in history, he was prophetically aware of the dangers posed to an insulated citizenry.

What follows are excerpts from a speech Murrow gave in Chicago in 1958. It could have easily been given 50 years later and could be about not only television and radio but the Internet and computers. It is relevant during the rule of McCarthy, the rule of Nixon and the rule of Bush.

Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. I invite your attention to the television schedules of all networks between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m., Eastern Time. Here you will find only fleeting and spasmodic reference to the fact that this nation is in mortal danger. There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live. If this state of affairs continues, we may alter an advertising slogan to read: LOOK NOW, PAY LATER.

For surely we shall pay for using this most powerful instrument of communication to insulate the citizenry from the hard and demanding realities which must be faced if we are to survive. …

One of the basic troubles with radio and television news is that both instruments have grown up as an incompatible combination of show business, advertising and news. Each of the three is a rather bizarre and demanding profession. And when you get all three under one roof, the dust never settles. The top management of the networks with a few notable exceptions, has been trained in advertising, research, sales or show business. But by the nature of the coporate structure, they also make the final and crucial decisions having to do with news and public affairs. Frequently they have neither the time nor the competence to do this. It is not easy for the same small group of men to decide whether to buy a new station for millions of dollars, build a new building, alter the rate card, buy a new Western, sell a soap opera, decide what defensive line to take in connection with the latest Congressional inquiry, how much money to spend on promoting a new program, what additions or deletions should be made in the existing covey or clutch of vice-presidents, and at the same time– frequently on the same long day–to give mature, thoughtful consideration to the manifold problems that confront those who are charged with the responsibility for news and public affairs. …

I began by saying that our history will be what we make it. If we go on as we are, then history will take its revenge, and retribution will not limp in catching up with us.

We are to a large extent an imitative society. If one or two or three corporations would undertake to devote just a small traction of their advertising appropriation along the lines that I have suggested, the procedure would grow by contagion; the economic burden would be bearable, and there might ensue a most exciting adventure–exposure to ideas and the bringing of reality into the homes of the nation.

To those who say people wouldn’t look; they wouldn’t be interested; they’re too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter’s opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost.

This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.

(ARA) – An important change is coming in the way television works and it could affect you. It’s called the "digital television transition" and it will be a seismic shift in the American television broadcasting system, as local TV stations meet a government requirement to transmit their signals in a digital format, starting in February 2009.

What does that mean for the average viewer? Well, it’s more than a behind-the-scenes technical adjustment. Once the new requirement kicks in, most older TV sets that aren’t connected to cable, satellite or a special converter box, will not display programs from local broadcast stations.

More simply put, an old "analog" TV that still relies on rabbit ears for a picture will go black. The good news is that cable customers can relax. Every TV set connected to cable will continue to display local stations, even after TV broadcasters launch the new transmission format.

Why the Change?

Here’s what’s happening: Under a federal mandate, after Feb. 17, 2009, TV stations must cease their analog transmissions and broadcast only in digital. Since their inception more than 60 years ago, stations have sent out signals in analog format, but as the world is becoming digital, so is broadcast TV.

The federal government is requiring the change for two reasons. First, by converting to digital from analog, a valuable communications spectrum will be made available to emergency responders, such as police and fire departments. Second, digital technology renders improvements in over-the-air TV, including clearer pictures, more channels and high-definition TV images.

The catch? Many television sets in use today — particularly those purchased more than five years ago — were built to receive the original analog signals over-the-air, not the new digital signals. Those sets must be connected to a cable or satellite service, or to a special converter that will be sold in electronics stores.

The converters are expected to cost around $50 to $70, and to help households pay for them, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is managing a nationwide coupon program that will provide up to two $40 coupons to each household that requests them.

Good News

Although the digital transition could cause some confusion, there’s good news on two fronts. The first is that most new TV sets, especially digital and HDTV sets manufactured since 2004, feature built-in digital tuners that will accommodate the new digital broadcasts.

Also, the transition will be relatively seamless for consumers who have their TVs hooked up to cable, because cable companies will take care of the technical translation for them. There’s really only one thing cable customers need to know: After Feb.17, 2009, any TV set connected to cable will continue to display local TV signals, and won’t require the purchase of a new converter to continue receiving favorite broadcast TV programs.

For more information, go to www.dtvtransition.org or call (888) DTV-2009.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

(ARA) – So you finally bought that beautiful new flat-panel TV you’ve been eyeing for the past six months. Now what? An increasing number of new TV owners are abandoning bulky entertainment furniture to mount their TVs on the wall.

Wall mounted TVs are the latest trend in home improvement, and for good reason. They free up floor space; provide the option of wiring bulky, unattractive cables inside the wall — making for a clean, wireless appearance; they are affordable; and best of all, they are easy enough for a do-it-yourselfer to install, but first you need to come up with a plan.

“When deciding on the type of mount you want, there is some important information to gather,” said Jim Wohlford, general manager for Sanus Systems, a leading mount manufacturer. Here are the guidelines he recommends people follow:

1. Know where you want to put it. If you plan to mount your TV on a wall in the living room, for example, the general rule of thumb is to make sure you have at least twice as much wall space as the width of your TV. This will allow the TV to fill the space nicely without seeming too large, and leaves you extra room to hang art or speakers.
2. Have your TV information handy when you shop. It’s important to match the mount to the size, weight and mounting-hole pattern of your TV, so have your TV brand and model number with you. Generally, TVs that are less than 42 inches in size have a VESA-standard hole pattern for mounting and TVs 42 inches and larger have random hole patterns that require mounts with universal hole patterns. Any competent electronics store salesperson can help you find the right TV/mount combination.
3. Choose one with the most flexibility. Do you want a mount that sits flat against the wall, or would you rather have one that allows you to tilt, swivel and extend the mount in any direction? Titling and full-motion mounts offer far more flexibility than a low-profile or “fixed” mount and make it easy to hook up cables to the back of your TV.
4. Consider all possibilities. Ceiling mounts and under cabinet mounts are great alternatives.
5. Safety first. Make sure you are capable of installing the mount yourself, before choosing the do-it-yourself route. Reputable mount manufacturers make most mounts so they are relatively easy to install as long as you follow the directions and have someone else there to help you lift the TV. There’s always the option of hiring a professional to install your TV. Ask the store salesperson where you purchase your mount if they offer an installation service. If they don’t, they may be able to suggest a local company that specializes in mount installation.

Whether you choose to mount the TV yourself or work with a professional, here are some additional things to be aware of:

• TV mounts are installed by securing them to wall studs or into concrete. Make sure you know where you want the TV placed ahead of time so you can avoid marring the wall by drilling multiple holes.
• Do your research. Make certain the mount you choose is the best option for your needs but when in doubt, pick the mount with the most flexibility. This is where full-motion mounts are ideal because you can tilt, swivel and pan them in virtually every direction and some even extend and retract from the wall. Full-motion mounts with extension allow TVs to be mounted in the corner of a room.
• For optimal viewing, mount your TV at eye level from where you will watch TV. If that means eye level when sitting on a couch, then mount it there. However, it may make the TV look low when standing next to it. A simple solution is to mount it at normal height when standing and tilt it to eye level (providing you have a tilting or full-motion mount) when sitting down.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Yet another award season is upon us and the first in the list is the Golden Globe Awards. The award show airs on NBC at 8 p.m., January 13. Usually seen as a prelude to the winners of the Oscars these year’s nominees will make an interesting competition as many are deserving of recognition.

Motion Pictures
Drama – American Gangster, Atonement, Eastern Promises, The Great Debaters, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood

Musical or Comedy- Across The Universe, Charlie Wilson’s War, Hairspray, Juno, Sweeney Todd

Animated Film- Bee Movie, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie,

Actor in a Leading Role, Drama- George Clooney in Michael Clayton, Daniel Day-Lewis n There Will Be Blood, ames McAvoy in Atonement, Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, Denzel Washington in American Gangster

Actor in a Leading Role, Musical or Comedy- Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd, Ryan Gosling in Lars and the Real Girl, Tom Hanks in Charlie Wilson’s War, Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Savages, John C. Reilly in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Actress in a Leading Role, Drama- Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Julie Christie in Away From Her, Jodie Foster in The Brave One, Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart, Keira Knightley in Atonement

Actress in a Leading Role, Musical or Comedy- Amy Adams in Enchanted, Nikki Blonsky in Hairspray, Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd, arion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose, Ellen Page in Juno

Actor in a Supporting Role- Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James, avier Bardem in No Country For Old Men, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s War, John Travolta in Hairspray, Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton

Actress in a Supporting Role- Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There, Julia Roberts in Charlie Wilson’s War, Saoirse Ronan in Atonement, Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone, Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton

Director- Tim Burton for Sweeney Todd, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for No Country For Old Men, Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, Ridley Scott for American Gangster, Joe Wright for Atonement

Screenplay- Atonement, Charlie Wilson’s War, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, Juno, No Country For Old Men

Original Score- Atonement, Eastern Promises, Grace Is Gone, Into The Wild, The Kite Runner

Original Song- “Despedida” from Love In The Time Of Cholera, “Grace Is Gone” from Grace Is Gone, “Guaranteed” from Into The Wild, “That’s How You Know” from Enchanted, “Walk Hard” from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Foreign Film- The Diving Bell And The Butterfly from France, The United States Of America 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days from Romania, The Kite Runner from The United States, Lust, Caution from Taiwan, Persepolis from France

Television Series
Drama- Big Love, Damages, Grey’s Anatomy, House, M. D., Mad Men, The Tudors

Musical Or Comedy- Californication, Entourage, Extras, Pushing Daisies, 30 Rock

Mini-Series or Television Movie- Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, The Company, Five Days, Longford, The State Within

Actor In A Leading Role, Drama Series- Michael C. Hall in Dexter, Hugh Laurie in House, M. D., Bill Paxton in Big Love, Jon Hamm in Mad Men, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in The Tudors

Actor In A Leading Role, Musical or Comedy Series- Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock, Steve Carell in The Office, David Duchovny in Californication, Ricky Gervais in Extras, Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies

Actor In A Leading Role, Mini-Series or Television Movie- Adam Beach in Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Jim Broadbent in Longford, Ernest Borgnine in A Grandpa For Christmas, Jason Isaacs in The State Within, James Nesbitt in Jekyll

Actress In A Leading Role, Drama Series- Patricia Arquette in Medium, Glenn Close in Damages, Minnie Driver in The Riches, Edie Falco in The Sopranos, Sally Field in Brothers & Sisters, Holly Hunter in Saving Grace, Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer

Actress In A Leading Role, Musical or Comedy Series- Christina Applegate in Samantha Who?, America Ferrera in Ugly Betty, Tina Fey in 30 Rock, Anna Friel in Pushing Daisies, Mary-Louise Parker in Weeds

Actress In A Leading Role, Mini-Series or Television Movie- Bryce Dallas Howard in As You Like It, Queen Latifah in Life Support, Debra Messing in The Starter Wife, Sissy Spacek in Pictures Of Hollis Woods, Ruth Wilson in Jane Eyre

Actor In A Supporting Role, Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie- Ted Danson in Damages, Kevin Dillon in Entourage
Jeremy Piven in Entourage, Andy Serkis in Longford, William Shatner in Boston Legal, Donald Sutherland in Dirty Sexy Money

Actress In A Supporting Role, Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie- Rose Byrne in Damages, Rachel Griffiths in Brothers & Sisters, Katherine Heigl in Grey’s Anatomy, Samantha Morton in Longford, Anna Paquin in Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Jaime Pressly in My Name Is Earl