13 posts tagged “television”
30 Rock's third season has ended. Alan Alda guest starred as Jack's long lost father Milton Green. When it turns out Milton needs a kidney transplant, Jack solves the problem in his own special way: by marshaling all the power of the liberal media, calling in personal favours (he apparently saved Mary J. Blige from a "...20 year contract with Sea World.") and throwing a musical fund raiser benefit.
Some of the musician guests were great, and some of my favourites. Moments below.
Sheryl Crow snubbing Liz Lemon despite the fact that they were best friends in the fifth grade and co-kidneys in a play about the bodily organs.
Canada's national networks, the ones that broadcast over the air on public airwaves, has been lobbying the CRTC to, in essence, be treated as specialty channels. They want to collect a direct fee from cable subscribers, just as TSN and other cable only channels do.
The difference is that TSN doesn't use the airwaves: they haven't been given any spectrum. TSN and the other specialty channels aren't available though an antenna. Traditional networks are.
That argument has been falling on largely deaf ears until now, and this seems to mark a shift in strategy, though it's a bit unclear to me how regulating the amount that Shaw Cable charges customers is going to help the networks.
Television is dead. The revolution is over, and the proceedings can be found on this very internet. The networks haven't figured out how to make money on it yet, and regulating your cable bill isn't going to help.
CTVglobemedia wants CRTC to look at cable rates
Paul Vieira, Financial Post, Published: Thursday, April 30, 2009Broadcasters need more funds to keep 'status quo,' CRTC told
Local programming has to be subsidized: Canwest's CEO
Local-based TV at 'tipping point': CTV
Carriage fees called 'a matter of survival'GATINEAU, QUE. -- CTVglobemedia Inc.'s chief executive, Ivan Fecan, said Thursday it might be time for the CRTC to step in and start regulating cable rates again because cable and satellite operators are holding households "hostage" and threaten the livelihood of local TV programming.
Mr. Fecan's comments were before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, as the Toronto broadcaster seeks the renewal of its TV licence on a special one-year basis, as opposed to the usual seven-year term, due to the financial crisis.
Muppets are, without a doubt, one of my favourite things. Combine them with Tina Fey and it's hard to describe the sheer joy of the moment.
I blame the Guinness.
Dame Very Lynn turns 82 today, my mother another year older in her early 60s, it's the first day of spring and the anniversary of Einstein's publication of his theory of relativity.
Battlestar Galactica goes off the air in one last finale and apparently tonight's episode of Dollhouse
It really is quite a day.
Joss Whedon's new show Dollhouse premiered on Friday night. It's only the second show in the last three years that I'm going to be watching on a regular basis. 30 Rock is one of the others, of course, and this year's Fringe has done a great job of holding my attention.
Whedon's history is good with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and of course Firefly and the movie it spawned--"Serenity":imdb.
Something struck me about Whedon's writing while I was watching Dollhouse: he's got a reputation for writing strong female characters and, while this is true, he also seems to write replaceable female characters.
What exactly does this mean?
Ricardo Montalban has passed away. Perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Mr. Roarke, and equally so as a Chrysler spokesman during the late 70s and early 1980s, Montalban will always be remembered as Khan Noonien Singh, one of James Tiberius Kirk's most famous foes. Sentenced to exile on a desert planet, Khan built a civilization.
I wonder of Hervé Villechaize will be a pallbearer.
This week's episode of 30 Rock was a half hour laugh fest, with guest star Salma Hayek. I don't know what I deserved to have both Tina Fey and Salma Hayek in the same place for a half hour, but I sure was happy about it.
The 2008 Golden Globe Awards were on tonight while I was skiing (and listening to Neil Young scream Rock and roll will never die and it turns out that 30 Rock cleaned up. Best comedy, Tina Fey for Best Actress in a comedy and Alec Baldwin for Best Actor in a Comedy.
I'm hoping for a fourth season, especially with the direction this one's taking. Keep you fingers crossed.
30 Rock has it's third season premiere to night. I've been waiting for this for a while, and apparently the New York Times has too.
Tina Fey Returns to Her Thursday Night Not-So-Live Gig
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
Published: October 29, 2008NBC's parent company, General Electric, should send Senator John McCain flowers and a microwave oven. Tina Fey probably doesn't do a credible Mitt Romney, but her impersonation of Gov. Sarah Palin is so deliciously dead-on that it has helped "Saturday Night Live" score its highest ratings in years.
Tina Fey is the creator and star of "30 Rock," a backstage comedy on NBC.
The popularity of those Palin parodies (mostly Ms. Fey quotes the Alaska governor verbatim) will surely give a boost to Ms. Fey's other job.
Her NBC comedy, "30 Rock," returns on Thursday for its third season. Despite unstinting critical acclaim and many Emmys, the show, which Ms. Fey produces, writes and stars in, alongside Alec Baldwin, has yet to be embraced by a broad audience.
Once again, Tina Fey opens Saturday Night Live as Sarah Palin. What's interesting is that I think that's Queen Latifah playing the moderator, and she was neither the host nor the musical guest of the episode.
It's a bit sad that these little moments will end on November 4th, 2008. It's looking strongly like McCain no longer stands a chance.
I'm not sure if this is the best line:
"You know, we're gonna take every aspect of the crisis and look at it and then we're gonna ask ourselves, 'What would a maverick do in this situation?' And then, you know, we'll do that."
or this one:
Moderator: Governor Palin, would you like to respond to Senator Biden's comments about Senator McCain
Sarah Palin: No thank you, but I would like to talk about being an outsider.The first got more laughs, but personally I think the second was sharper.
