No TiVo Stampede Tragedy

Last Friday, TiVo was giving away free DVRs to Comcast customers. I was worried that this would turn into one of those 300-women-injured-and-killed incidents that sometimes happen when some logistically challenged company gives things away in and doesn't count on very large crowds. Thankfully, there was no bloodshed.

- nyanko

Serenity

Early reviews are coming out for Serenity, the motion picture based off of the short-lived, but quite entertaining Joss Whedon show Firefly. Awesome!

- nyanko

Everwood & Summerland

The second season of Summerland will return to the WB on February 28 in Everwood's time slot for seven weeks. This means that Everwood will play without repeats from January 17 until the end of the season. This also means that I won't have a conflict with 24 for seven weeks!

In other news, NBC appears to be playing Las Vegas at 9 pm and 10 pm in the next few weeks, and I'm wondering if they are thinking about returning it to its original Monday 10 pm slot. It may be better matched up against CSI:Miami to get bettter ratings... I do have to admit to liking Las Vegas - not enough to tape it when it conflicts with another show, but it's definitely a fun fluff show that doesn't take itself too seriously.

- nyanko

24's premiere

Looks like the Fox execs agree with me about 24 marathons making it more addictive. The season premiere will be two consecutive nights of two hours of 24. Yes!

- nyanko

Spooks

I'm newly addicted to the BBC's Spooks, known as MI-5 in the US. The show is of course about British spies. The first season is out on DVD, and the second season will be out on Jan 11. However, the third season will be airing on A&E starting on January 8. And before the third season premiere, there will be a marathon of some first and all of the second season episodes. I guess I'll have to clear off the TiVo to make room for that.

- nyanko

Controversial Amazing Race Team Colin & Christie comment on the new season of TAR

Colin and Christie, the villians of last season, are writing a column commenting on the current season of the Amazing Race.

- nyanko

24, you're evil!

In a nine hour "moment" of weakness spread over this past weekend, I watched the last half of season 3 of 24. I watched the first half of the season last year, but lost interest and dropped the season pass when it conflicted with another show (Scrubs, I think). Anyway, I always get sucked in by the previews for 24, and every year I hope that they will recreate the addictive quality of the first season.

After I watching a ridiculous number of episodes in a compressed period of time, I think I found that watching a number of episodes in a row makes the show more compelling and intense. The claustrophobia and fear are more real, and you don't have an entire week between episodes in which to contemplate the flaws in the plot. The season premiere will be 2 hours, followed by another new episodes the next night, giving viewers 3 hours in which to get hooked on the new season. I think that mini-marathons might be a great way to broadcast the show and keep vieweres addicted. A two or three hour block of episodes of 24 every week would be a larger time commitment, but could keep me glued to the set.
- nyanko

A fun interview with JJ Abrams

This is a fun interview with JJ Abrams where he talks about poaching writers from Angel as soon as it was announced that Angel had been cancelled and hiring them for Lost and Alias. That bodes well for those two shows.

- nyanko

Chrismukkah

You can buy Chrismukkah merchandise on the Fox's www.theocinsider.com. Sweet! Yarmuclaus. Heh.

- nyanko

The North Shore gets washed out to sea

Fox looks like it's basically killing The North Shore. However, this does make it possible for Hailey to come back to the OC. Yay!

- nyanko

My Only Wish!

OMG, MTV is selling a My Only Wish ringtone! This is almost worth paying for! I wonder if my phone will take it...

- nyanko

Amazon.com: Music: Speak

Lindsay Lohan's first album is out. I'm not sure what the deal is with all the teen divas getting albums, but it seems that their philosophy is that if they are famous and the latest It Girl, they should definitely have an album. You can watch her first video here. Seems a little forced to me...

- nyanko

Fiddler on the Roof!

If you listen to the song Rich Girl on Gwen Stefani's new Love, Angel, Music, Baby, you can hear that she basically remade If I Were a Rich Man from the Fiddler on the Roof musical. It's pretty funny. I can't find a full length streaming version of the song, but if you listen to the clip on iTunes, the very first part has the melody of the original song. And if you can't find humor in Gwen Stefani taking a song from a Jewish musical into mainstream pop music, well, I don't know what to say.

- nyanko

Not much TV until January

November sweeps is now offically over, so there won't be a lot of TV until after the holidays. I think the WB is going to put most of its shows on reruns until the middle or end of January. But there is lots of excitement for January. Alias and 24 will be starting up at the beginning of January. Here's a list of what will be premiering on cable in January, including Queer Eye for the Straight Girl and Monk.

Plus, a bunch of the networks will be premiering some of their midseason replacements. Fox has announced premiere dates for two new shows, CBS has set a date for their new show Numb3rs.

- nyanko

Eeek

Joan of Arcadia is being invaded by the Duff sisters. Frightening.

- nyanko

Survivors cross over to the Amazing Race

Rumor is that the Amazing Race 7 started a few weeks ago and that Rob and Amber from Survivor will be on it...

- nyanko

Books

Since I'm on a reading kick, I figured I'd post some of my favorite books:

+ Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris [a fast-paced biography of Teddy Roosevelt]
+ PRIZE : THE EPIC QUEST FOR OIL, MONEY & POWER by Daniel Yergin [a history of the oil industry]
+ The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley [a young adult fantasy book - yay!]
+ Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley [another young adult book with magic, horses and castles]
+ Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
+ Sophie's Choice by WILLIAM STYRON [a very well-written book about a man who meets a Holocaust survivor]
+ The Brothers K by DAVID JAMES DUNCAN [a family saga revolving around baseball; this book is frequently side-splittingly funny]
+ Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
+ Terra Firma by Thomas Centolella [poetry!]
+ All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy, Vol 1) by CORMAC MCCARTHY [a buddy adventure book set in Mexico]
+ Sunne in Splendour by SHARON KAY PENMAN [historical fiction about Richard III]
+ The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
+ The Princess Bride: S Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by WILLIAM GOLDMAN [very much like the movie, but even funnier]
+ The English Patient by MICHAEL ONDAATJE
+ Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One by Patricia C. Wrede
+ The Dark Is Rising Sequence: Silver on the Tree/The Grey King/Greenwitch/The Dark Is Rising/Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper [more young adult fantasy]
+ Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) by ROBIN HOBB [true book crack- beware!]
+ The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst [a book about typography that is fun to read and actually funny at times]
+ Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H. G. Bissinger [football in Texas... what else can you say?]

- nyanko

Fox, you suck!

Fox will be premiering a new show called Point Pleasant at the end of January. The blurb actually describes the main character as "the offspring of a mortal woman and the Devil - and although she doesn't know it, the battle for her soul has begun." Oh, good gravy.

But anyway, a number of new midseason shows will be launching in January, so there should be a whole new set of shows to check out.

- nyanko