For the benefit of those who have yet to see it (likely those who refuse to own a TV) – here for posterity (and for the general annoyance value its likely to cause) … is Elaine’s 15 minutes of fame! 
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January 19th, 2010TCA Winter Tour
January 12th, 2010The Television Critics Association’s (TCA) biannual Press Tour has been going on since Saturday. It’s typically a shindig where all the networks and their stars come out to shop their warez, talk about upcoming projects and generally to get people to love em …
Notable highlights so far included (in no particular order)…
Showtime talked about The Borgias, a new series about the notorious Renaissance-era family. Jeremy Irons will star as Rodrigo Borgia, the family’s patriarch, in his first series-regular role. It’ll essentially be filling the Tudors boots, which is due to finish up this year.
Most everyone took the opportunity to laugh and point at NBC and their failed prime-time Jay Leno experiment (Its being pulled from its 10PM slot starting Feb 12th). The silver lining of course is that NBC will be commissioning a shedload of new pilots to come up with the shows required to fill the 5 prime time hours Leno will be vacating.
Showtime reminded us all that United States of Tara is due back in March. Expect the family to be at least one member bigger.
Life Unexpected is coming to The CW on Jan 18th, apparently the critics already love it. Will anyone else though… ?
Expect Eric Kripe to have 30 pieces of silver dangled in front of him in an attempt to force a turnabout vis a vis his longstanding assertion that Supernatural would run for 5 seasons and no more.
Watch out for Jack Black appearing in an upcoming episode of Community, Sharon Stone in 4 eps of L&O:SVU, Dawson arrives at Mercy general for 8 eps and Kathy Bates to appear in an ep of The Office .. hmmm ..
Heroes will almost certainly get another season on NBC thanks to the Leno fall-out.
You might recall that during the upfronts I mentioned a show called Day One, which I figured was a sort of Jericho’esqe clone. Well it had been originally slated as a mid-season replacement with an order of 13 eps. That was later shortened to a 4 ep mini-series, and this week we learn that’ll it’ll actually air as just a two hour movie. Wouldn’t surprise me to see it get turned into a full season order (again) for next year if it isn’t totally shit, given the number of holes NBC has to fill.
Network chiefs are talking about bringing us Law and Order : Los Angeles. Cos you know, what we really need is MOAR L&O!!
Deal or no Deal’s Howie Mandel, will be stepping in to replace The Hoff on America’s got Talent.
Watch out for the new Jerry Seinfeld produced “the marriage ref” due to hit screens after the winter Olympics. It’s a comedy-reality hybrid with the trappings of a sports show — including announcer Marv Albert — which takes squabbles between married couples and settle them once and for all via the Marriage Ref, comedian Tom Papa. A panel of celebrities will also watch the taped arguments and try to sway Papa’s decision.
GLEE is to be picked up for a second season. Unsurprisingly. (PS : if you haven’t watched GLEE, seriously consider giving it a go).
Bones turns 100 in April with a Boreanaz directed ep recounting their first ever case working together. Pffft, it doesn’t sound like no Criminal Minds “head in a box” moment …
As has been well reported in the dailies here, Cowell is done with American Idol for now, so that he can work on bringing X-Factor to the states. Both shows will be on Fox. XF pre xmas, and AI remaining in its post xmas slot. Remains to be seen how they can differentiate the two brands.
Other networks (including Fox) are apparently circling like vultures around NBC in the hope of poaching Conan (who is possibly peeved at the likely timeslot bump he’ll be getting).
And finally, to mark last nights 100th Ep of How I Met Your Mother, here’s some of the cast speaking at the TCA Press tour about their favourite moments of the show .. More info, including interview here.
Wii Homebrew.
December 21st, 2009
Like so many people I know, I’ve had a Wii for going on two years now but never really used it in anger. (Blame the Xbox and PS3 for that). So this weekend, with little to lose (save for the possiblity of bricking a Wii I barely use anyway) I decided to take the plunge and install some homebrew.
Following GAFS’s Wii Homebrew guide (to the letter) together with a 2 gig SD card I pick up in argos for about €10, a few hours later I was the proud owner of a Wii capable of playing downloaded iso’s directly off a USB-HD plugged in the back. The guide is pretty straightforward and handy enough to follow, though I’d caution against rushing into anything without reading each section in advance in its entirety.
By the end of the guide, with USB Loader installed in the Homebrew channel I was a little lost with regards how to properly format the usb device and load the iso’s onto it. The answer to this turned out to be this handy app which takes care of all those issues.
All six games I loaded onto the usb drive worked perfectly first time.. and so I’ll admit I’m a pretty happy camper (or is that Wii’per?)
|EDIT| If you want to store your games on a drive formatted as FAT rather than WBFS, check out Wii Backup Manager
Avatar
December 20th, 2009
James Cameron has done his damndest to break the cinematic mold (once again) with his latest movie Avatar. The idea has apparently been rattling around inside his brain for nigh on 15 years, although technological limitations meant that he had to wait before attempting to make it. And now with a reported budget of $300M, 2000 different staffers and 3 and half years in the making…. it’s here. And its amazing.
Avatar tells the story of Jake Sully (Australian actor Sam Worthington), an ex-marine who arrives on Pandora, a distant moon, as part of a giant corporate effort to mine the hugely valuable unobtainium. Standing in the way is the indigenous population of Na’vi, a nature loving race who refuse to cooperate. In an attempt to reach some diplomatic solution to the problem Dr Grace Ausgustine (Weaver) has a developed a program that creates avatars, genetically engineered hybrids between human and Na’vi DNA, basically human minds in Na’vi bodies. Sully is one of these human minds, and sets out on a dual mission of both bonding with the Na’vi and gathering intel for the impending military operation.
What follows is an outrageously beautiful piece of moviemaking which demands to be seen on the big screen. The mix of live-action and cgi is seamless with the Na’vi so realistic that you never question the fact that they are as real as the human characters. The forests of Pandora are alive with a huge array of exotic creatures and wildlife and teeming with an amazing collection of creatures big and small. The 3D is generally understated, never feeling the need to resort the usual cheap tricks we tend to see, but instead simply adding to the overall experience.
The story is not exactly original, drawing on Dances with Wolves amongst others, but its a classic tale which survives retelling. Running time is just over 2 hours and 40 minutes, and does feel a tad sluggish in the middle though that’s easily forgiven thanks to the awesome visuals. Any other criticisms would be nitpicking for the sake of it, and so I won’t bother.
Put simply, you NEED to go see this movie in the cinema. See it on the biggest screen you can and see it soon. Afterwards you’re likely to question the originality of the story-line, though you’ll never question its incredible delivery or indeed your decision to see it.
Usenet.
December 10th, 2009I’ve long been a fan of usenet for all my downloading needs. I’ve always found torrents a bit fiddly, and a bit hit or miss depending on the age and popularity of what I was looking for.
With more and more torrenting sites coming under fire, I more regularly find myself talking people through the basics of setting up and using usenet. So here’s a basic primer for all
Black Eyed Peas – Oprah’s 24th Season Launch
December 4th, 2009Check this out … its very very cool.
CollegeHumor – Music Vids
December 4th, 2009Some of my favorite music vids from collegehumor.com
I Gotta Feeling
Dont stop ure screaming
We Didn’t start the flame War
Barenaked Ladies – One Week
In An Apatow World
Brohemiam Rhapsody
Whats on my IPhone … ?
November 10th, 2009Here’s a sneaky peek at what apps are currently installed on my iPhone. Though beware, Just cos its on my phone doesn’t exactly mean its any good 
Three hours in a car-park
October 21st, 2009So I arrived back to the tesco’s car park (in finglas) to collect my car after work, only to find that I had a flat. Ahhh balls.
After smoking a wistful cigarette, I got stuck into the task at hand. It took me at least 25 minutes to get the car up on the jack (only later would I learn that I was failing to attach a quite useful bit to help with all the turning), and another 10 or 15 minutes to get the nuts off. (One was a security nut which had me all confounded, and the other four ultimately required the heel of my boot to get started).
Excellent, now to pop off the flat and pop on the spare. *honest*
TV – The week in review
September 27th, 2009The Week that Was … Well if that wasn’t a jam packed weekend of TV I dunno what it was. With the return of the vast majority of outstanding shows, including a raft more pilots it almost made it hard to keep up. Here’s my quick week in review …
Monday saw the return of Heroes, House, HIMYM, Castle, CSI Miami and TBBT joining forces with GG and Greek who returned during the previous weeks. New to Mondays is Accidentally on Purpose, a half hour comedy starring Jenna Elfman about a thirty-something movie critic who finds herself knocked up as the result of a one night stand with a younger man. Heroes continued in a similar vein to last season (for good or bad), whilst HIMYM continues to be one of the best half hourlies around.
Tuesday saw the return of NCIS (served up alongside 90210, Melrose and Sons of A. from previous). New to Tuesdays are The forgotten, The Good Wife and the new NCIS spin-off NCIS Los Angeles. NCIS LA was poor enough fare and will have to pick up the pace to hold up to NCIS. TGW is a new Legal drama starring Julianna Margulies (of ER fame), whilst The Forgotten is a new Bruckheimer produced procedurette (with Christian Slater) about a civilian group who investigate John/Jane Doe cases after the police have given up.
Wednesday saw the return of Criminal Minds, CSI NY and Gary Unmarried (served up alongside GLEE and TBL from previous weeks). New to Wednesdays are Mercy, Eastwick, Modern Family and Cougar Town. I thought CM started pretty strong after last seasons cliff-hanger. GLEE had its strongest episode since the pilot whilst MF and CT set themselves up as the new comedies to keep an eye on. Meanwhile Mercy is a Greyesque medical drama, and Eastwick is as you can imagine about three witches who well .. do stuff.
Thursday saw the return of CSI, Greys and The Mentalist (served up alongside Bones, Vampire Diaries, P&R, Office, Supernatural, Fringe, Community and It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia from previous weeks). New to Thursdays is Flash Forward .. but more on that later. Community is a another half hour comedy .. which may or may not be long for this world. TVD continues in its inimitable Twilight meets Smallville vein. I keep pressing play on P&R just for Amy Poehler I think, whilst the mentalist returns with its typically simple case-of-the-week stylings with the merest respect paid to its wafer thin red john arc. PS : Sunny is something which I’ve only got into recently, but its actually just entering its fifth season. I’m still midway season 3, but its one which I strongly recommend as a half-hourly-comedy.
Friday saw the return of Dollhouse, Smallville, Flashpoint, Ghost Whisperer and Medium (being served up alongside Psych and season two of Crash from previous). The only new show to Fridays is Brothers, another half-hour comedy .. and which has the honour of being the only new show to air, which I haven’t watched yet. Dollhouse was enjoyable enough though I can’t help but watch it and worry, whilst Smallville purports to present a season of Clark maturing into a bona fide superhero. (will he/won’t he fly??).
HBO/Sundays Last Sunday saw the return of Curb Your Enthusiasm to HBO. I’ve never been a huge fan, but its worth mentioning for any Seinfeld fans out there that the gang are all due to be back together on season 7 of CYE. HBO also piloted a new half hourly called Bored to Death. Billed as a ‘Noir-otic’ Comedy its about a new york writer who decides to start hiring himself out as an unlicensed PI. It co-stars Ted Danson. Having heard nothing of it before sitting down to watch it, I was pleasantly surprised. Defying Gravity continues to make its way onto the torrents courtesy of its continued airing in Canada, despite having been pulled in the US.
Doh The Beautiful Life, the new Ashton Kutcher produced drama following the lives of a group of ridiculously good looking models in new york … wait for it … GOT THE AXE!… after just two episodes. After managing to pull just over 1M viewers this week execs at The CW decided to call time, and for the moment anyways, are filling the slot with Melrose repeats. Guess I won’t be watching episode 3 so.
Interest Piqued With only a handful of new episodes having aired for most of the new shows (only one in many cases), its hard to say much about them, but that’s no reason not to try …. so here’s the ones which I’d have reasonable hopes for ..
The Forgotten : The premise doesn’t exactly stand a huge amount of scrutiny I’ll confess, but I’m a Christian Slater fan at the best of times and add to the mix the usual Bruckheimer shininess, and I’m pretty sure I’ll find myself coming back to this sooner rather than later. Its like your typically cop procedural, but different .. given they’re not cops. Slaters last outing (the spy drama My Own worst Enemy) only made it to about episode seven, lets hope this does a little better.
Modern Family and Cougar town. : ABC’s new Wednesday night hour of comedy came with some good advance word. And both were pretty damn good. Whilst Modern Family seemed to score better in the online reviews, I can’t help but prefer the Cougar pilot. It stars Courtney Cox as a forty something single mom (her son is the kid from Aliens in America), getting back on the dating scene. The tag-line made me want to not like this … but I just couldn’t help myself, it was just damn funny.
Pick of the Week There was one standout for me this week, and that was … Flash Forward.
The pilot felt like the start of a movie. And I couldn’t help but feel that I was watching the first episode of what should be a great season of TV. Co created by Brannon Braga (of N Star Trek Series’) and David S Goyer (who wrote the Blade movies, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight amongst others) the challenge here will definitely be to walk that line between questions unanswered and ‘confusing the fvck outa people’. This is being billed as event TV ala early Lost, lets hope it learns from some of its mistakes.
If you think you’re definitely gonna give this a try, then don’t watch this trailer as it gives a little too much away from the pilot imo. But if you’re on the edge, it might be enough to persuade ya.
Ratings A quick look at the ratings stateside reveals no huge surprises. Staples such as NCIS (20M), Greys (17M), House (16M), Criminal Minds (15M) and CSI * 3 (14 – 16M) continue to dominate. NCIS LA (18M) managed to hold most of the 20M leadin given to it by NCIS, so is likely to stick around regardless of quality. The Good Wife managed 13.71M viewers making it one of the winners on Tuesday night, whilst The Forgotten only held onto about 10M of its 16M leadin from DWTS. Wednesday night winners were the comedy duo of Modern Family and Cougar Town who both managed about 12M viewers, which bodes well for em. Glee managed 6.1M for Fox, which whilst an ok Fox number (according to them anyways), belies my previous thoughts that it was gonna be a monster. Flash Forward (12.5M) was the first show to beat out Survivor in its timeslot in yonks.
On the bubble Friday Night was a mixed bag for a couple of Mo. Favs. Dollhouse averaged 2.5M viewers which was 1M down on its season 1 average, but about the same as what the season 1 finale got. Meanwhile Smallville (2.5M) posted its smallest viewership ever for an original episode, but as the CW were quick to point out, it was actually their highest viewing number in that slot (lets not forget that Clark & Co. are on in the Friday night death slot this year) since Smackdown used to be there. It’s noteworthy that both these shows got spanked by ABC’s repeats of FF, CT and MF. (which in turn all got spanked by the mediocre Ghost Whisperer and Medium). And finally, the ratings continue to be ugly for Heroes. Its season opener managed just 6.1M viewers for NBC, which for an expensive show doesn’t bode well.
And that’s about it. Most of everything else I watched seemed to blur together this week. stoopid overload. Hopefully in a few more weeks time, and with a few more episodes under their belts, I’ll be better placed to separate the wheat from the chaff. -Mo.