The Chive collects 50 pics of toys, movies and memories from growing up in the 80s. Some really good stuff here, mostly taken from I’m Remembering! (another great site). (via Digg)
This gorgeously-produced clip shows reality vs what we see on TV. I knew greenscreens (chromakey) are prevalent in film, but I didn’t realize just how prevalent they are on TV as well, even for seemingly mundane scenes. It’s reasonable for explosions and other scenes that would be expensive or difficult to reproduce in real life, but it would appear they get used all the time even to show people just walking down the street. Cool stuff. (via Boingboing)
Do you like to watch ripped dudes in leather thongs beat the snot out of other ripped dudes in leather thongs? If so, I’ve got good news for you. Starz is producing a new ripped-dudes-in-leather-thong-centric series called “Spartacus: Blood and Sand”. Now for the bad news - The series doesn’t start until early next year. I guess you’ll just have to make due with your Wrestlemania DVDs and Tom of Finland “art books” until then. (via Digg)
I’ve started yet another website, this time specifically about TV. Even more specifically, about really bad TV. There are a lot of abysmal shows out there, but some are so bad that you would have to be mentally defective to enjoy them. This is a blog about those shows and the simpletons who watch them.
I’m going to aim for one review per week, but based on past performance, it will be a miracle if I can be bothered to post more than one per month.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog has everything going for it. It’s written / directed by Joss Whedon. It stars Neil Patrick (Doogie Howser) Harris, Nathan (Mal) Fillion, and Felicia (that girl from The Guild) Day. It has an “evil genius” theme. It is a totally awesome musical. The only thing that confuses me is why I’m only just now finding out about it.
For fuck’s sake people, you need to advertise!
I see what they did here. Cylons are called “toasters”, and this is a toaster that makes toast with a cylon picture burned into it. If only the branded-in cylon was eating a piece of toast. (via Engadget)
State of the Tech - IPTV Roundup
I have created a comparitive review page for the current major IPTV offerings. I’ve been watching the technology for a while and I think we’re starting to see some legitimate options. If you’re at all interested in watching TV and movies over the internet, follow the link to my roundup.
I’ve been enjoying this MMO-players-meet-in-real-life comedy series for a while, but after I heard writer/star Felicia Day and cast member Sandeep Parikh in an interview on The Instance this week, I love it even more. It’s hilariously funny if you play an MMORPG, and still very amusing if you don’t. They have 7 episodes out so far, and each one is great.
Awesome side note - Parikh is the writer and producer of The Legend of Neil, which has aparantly been picked up as a web series by Comedy Central. I really can’t wait for more episodes of that.
Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Preview
Contains season 3 spoilers
This 5 min. preview makes me drool for the final season to start, which I hear is sometime in April. My guess? They’re all cylons. (via Cow Bell Tech (thanks Adam))
PS - Who knew Lee was British?
Screenrant.com attempts to explain why seemingly beloved SciFi shows receive poor ratings and often end up prematurely canceled. His attempt to fix the indisputably broken Nielsen rating system is admirable, but probably insufficient. As more people watch TV through “smart” set top boxes, you have to wonder when the networks will get their heads out of their asses and simply monitor viewership directly. There is a lot of money sitting around waiting for the first cable/satelite/IPTV company who can deliver actual viewer statistics instead of misleading extrapolations.
Mark my words - The future of television advertising is targeted contextual ads. Smart content providers will start selling ads the same way Google does. Shows like Journeyman and Firefly will not be so redily canceled when studios realize that, thought these shows attract fewer eyeballs, these eyeballs are more valuable.
