Alicia Loves TV

10 Things You May Have Missed on TV this Week

2010-05-03T15:11:00.001-04:00

I really enjoy watching the Soup on E! which pretty much shows clips of television shows are what ridiculousness American television is. Lately I have not seen the newest episodes, but I found a blog that almost does the same thing. Check out 10 Thinks You May Have Missed on TV this Week.

Why's Glee so dang popular?

2010-05-03T12:15:00.003-04:00

The number one television show right now is Glee. The show is fun and the characters are fantastic, but the plots SUCK. I wholeheartedly believe that without the musical aspect of the show that it would fail. Not to mention Tuesday's (4/27/2010) episode what entirely too Broadway-esk to keep a mainstream audience tuned in. I believe the continued success of Glee rides on the gimmicky themed episodes such as the Madonna episode that aired on April 20th, 2010 and the much anticipated (by me) Lady Gaga (my first blog was Lady Gaga fan themed) themed episode.

It is interesting to see a show that I believe only has value on the ditsy blond cheer leader's (Brittany) stupid remarks and the groups musical numbers, be hugely successful. There are so many shows struggling on television today that have much better writing.

So I turn to you readers: Why do you think Glee is so popular?

Betty White SNL Promo

2010-04-29T16:34:00.003-04:00

Get ready for Betty White to be super silly on Saturday May 8th on SNL. Check out the promo:

Betty White is more popular then ever as of late with a hysterical role in this summers best romantic comedy, The Proposal and with the best Superbowl ad this year for snickers. I have a feeling she is going to bring SNL's mojo back next week.

These strange guys compiled her best lines:

M.I.A.'s Born Free Video

2010-04-27T15:17:00.000-04:00

M.I.A. released a video for her song “Born Free” on her website, miauk.com (warning - it is very graphic, as they say in internet land NSFW), that depicts a military roundup and violent slaughter of the redheaded citizens of a war-torn desert nation. Yes, this does not have to do with television, but as a redhead I think it is interesting to share. I see the video as interesting way to get people to start thinking about genocide and wars throughout the world by using very America/European looking persons as the victims. I think this video is a great way to battle apathy that many have towards issues such as these. Especially as a redhead it makes me think about how it might be if I were to hunted down.

Check out the poll and see how other feel about the video.

Party Down Puts Glee in its Place

2010-04-26T17:22:00.003-04:00

The cast of Starz orginal series Party Down made some big statements to E!Online. "We're better than Glee," said Martin Star; Ryan Hansen chimed in with, "Waaay better than Glee ." Relax, Gleeks. It's all in good fun since Jane Lynch, Sue Sylvester from Glee used to be on the show.

Party Down is about a team of caters and their escapades on the job. Lynch returns this season when the Party Down team caters her wedding and Ryan Hansen's character Kyle's band plays and Lynch's replacement Megan Mullally faces off with Lynch.

In my opinion it is one of the more outragously funny shows on television. It is a funny workplace comedy like 30Rock or the Office, but being a cable program it can take things to the next level. I suggest watching the entire first season and then start up with season 2.

The second season of Party Down on Starz at 10pm on Fridays. If you have Comcast cable you can check out the lastest episodes at Fancast.com.

PSAs are getting more graphic... Are they getting your attention?

2010-04-21T15:39:00.001-04:00

In a recent article on CNN the effectiveness of extremely graphic Public Service Announcements (PSA) was questioned. The PSAs for the Meth Project, Cervical Cancer prevention and Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving all are graphic, but in different ways. The Meth Project PSAs, vividly depict the way a life can crumble when young adults start using meth. The commercials are rather disturbing. They actually gave me the chills. These commercials are the most graphic. The Cervical Cancer awareness ads are realistic in their tone and setting and seek to unsettle viewers.The Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving ads depict very serious situations that are awful and scary, but use a bit of humor to knock some sense into the viewer's head.

All The Meth Project Ads

Help Prevent Cervical Cancer Ad

Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving Ad

School administrators claim that the students have changed over the years and that they are exposed to a lot more at a younger age. I completely agree that the messages should be stronger, but the commercials like the meth projects ads are just disturbing.
Readers, do you think these ads are effective in getting peoples attention or would they make you want to change the channel?

Glee Spoiler!

2010-04-16T14:31:00.005-04:00

Idina Menzel just joined the cast of Glee as Shelby Corcoran the director of the rival school's show chior, could be having a huge impact on Lea Michele's character, Rachel Berry's life. In an interview by E!'s television expert Kristin Dos Santos with one of Glee's creators Ryan Murphy revealed that in the Lady Gaga episode, "Lea and Idina Menzel will do an acoustic version of 'Poker Face.' It's sort of like a stripped-down mother-daughter 'Poker Face' that Lady Gaga was involved in. Really. If you listen to the lyrics, it kind of works; She can't love anybody…It works. Listen to the lyrics again."

Check out the clip from E! News:

E! Online Offers a First Look at ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

2010-04-15T12:17:00.013-04:00

From the channel that brought us Greek and Make it or Break it, comes yet another silly teen drama that I am totally going to waste my time watching this summer. ABC Family's new show is called Pretty Little Liars. The major plot of the show is that the queen bee (as they call the most popular girl in school on Gossip Girl) goes missing and the queen bee's posse has to figure out what happened. The show seems to have an eerie, thriller aspect since it's creeptastic tag line is:

"Never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret."

Creepzilla. This show seems like it is going to be very similar to the CW's prime time programming. I am glad to see ABC Family expanding its original programming and I hope that they are successful in grabbing some of those teen eyeballs away for the CW. I personally feel that ABC Family's programming offers more characters with substance and positive value systems that are better for kids to watch regularly.

Pretty Little Liars will premier on Tuesday, June 8 at 8 p.m. on ABC Family.

TBS Pick Up Coco

2010-04-13T14:45:00.003-04:00

After the NBC late night fiasco, Conan O'Brien has a new home on TBS. O'Brien's new program will air Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m. Eastern starting in November, which will shift "Lopez Tonight," starring George Lopez, from 11 p.m. EDT to midnight. The five-year contract gives O'Brien ownership of the show, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to publicly discuss it. (via the Associated Press) Conan of course had a funny tweet on the topic.

Save One Show! The Fans Have Spoken

2010-04-13T13:43:00.005-04:00

E! Online has given a voice to the masses! E! Online's annual Save One Show Campaign is launched on Monday, March 29th 2010 giving fans the chance to rescue their favorite low audience rated shows from cancellation. The shows in the running to be saved were Accidentally on Purpose (CBS), Better Off Ted (ABC), Chuck (NBC), FlashForward (ABC), The Forgotten (ABC), Ghost Whisperer (CBS), Heroes (NBC), Human Target (Fox), Life Unexpected (The CW), Medium (CBS), Melrose Place (The CW), Mercy (NBC), Numb3rs (CBS), One Tree Hill (The CW), Parenthood (NBC), Scrubs (ABC), Sons of Tuscon (Fox), Trauma (NBC), and V (ABC).

The way voting worked was that fans voted for their favorite show until Monday April 5th when the shows were cut down to a top five, which were

Better Off Ted
Chuck
Life Unexpected
One Tree Hill
Parenthood

Fans of the ousted shows had the chance to get their series back in the running via a special Twitter Wild Card vote. The Wild Card winner, which was announced on April 7th, was NBC's Heroes.

Fans of the final shows then voted for the one show to be saved on April 12th and the winner was.... DRUMROLL...
CHUCK!

I really like the idea of fans being able to tell television execs which shows are important to them and which shows they will actually watch. I hope that this really does impact NBC's executives to bring Chuck back for a fourth season. It is one of my favorite shows on TV and Zachary Levi is so cute.

Last year Chuck was in danger of being canceled as well. The fans spoke up then by supporting Subway which was featured in many episodes of Chuck. Crain's New York Business article 'Chuck fans hit up Subway' details the fans efforts which successfully brought about a third season.

I hope that more fans will speak up for the favorite shows in the future like the instances here.

Modern Family goes iPad Crazy for Free

2010-04-01T19:59:00.002-04:00

On Last night's (March 31, 2010) episode of Modern Family Phil wants and iPad for his birthday and his wife Claire tries to get one. So much of the episode is revolves around the iPad that it must have been a paid product placement, right? Wrong! (ad age detailed why apple did not have to pay for yet another product placement in the article 'Modern Family' Featured an IPad, but ABC Didn't Collect) The writers simply used the launch of a new apple product as an interesting plot for the show. I think it gave the episode a true to life feeling. The beauty of it was that the product integration was perfectly in character for Phil Dunphy and the show. In an earlier episode Phil purchases a top of the line remote for the television and mentions discussing technology online with his buddies. Phil's line: "Two weeks?! That's the worst thing you can say to an early adopter" Demonstrates the the launch of the iPad is simply an influential event to him. So many times, product placements are ham-fisted and artificial. This time, it felt natural and absolutely essential for the entire plot.

Check out this clip and see how Claire and Phil's son Luke saves the day with his lies.

Happy Passover!

2010-03-29T19:13:00.006-04:00

Jewish holidays seems to be overlooked by the television industry, but the Rugrats, my favorite cartoon of all time, tells the story of passover beautifully. I can't seem to find the full episode, but here is the first part.

Enjoy!

Brace Yourself! The Real Housewives of New Jersey Trailer is here

2010-03-25T14:22:00.003-04:00

As Jersey Native and soon to be a Jersey resident once again after graduation in May, I can't help but watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey. This show is so outragous it makes no sense and I can't help but watch it. If you missed the first season check the recap below.

Recap:

ABC Gets Greedy

2010-03-03T21:14:00.000-05:00

WABC (ABC's New York broadcasting station) is threatening to pull its signal from Cablevision on March 7th. WABC is demanding a heightened subscriber fee which is rumored to be a 50 to 60 cent increase or $40 million in new fees for programming from Cablevision and subscribers. Currently WABC's programming is free over-the-air and online and it will likely remain free. So why then should Cablevision and its subscribers for programming that is available for free?

This leads me to ask a larger question about the overall functionality of cable. In the past year there has been a few disputes between networks and cable providers including Cablevision and Scripps Networks Interactive (the parent company of HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Travel Channel, Fine Living Network (FLN) and Great American Country) and Fox Network Television and Time Warner Cable. Much of this problem stems from the decrease in advertising revenue these channels are receiving due to recession and what I think is the biggest factor, the move of television content to the online. Site like Hulu.com and the network's very own websites provide cable television for free at anytime the viewer wishes to watch the program. It is very difficult for Television itself to compete with the internet.

Traditional television seems to be collapsing. Cable companies are losing subscribers to the internet and networks are losing advertisers to online providers. This whole model needs to be re-worked. Networks should stop giving their content out for free (or virtually free since advertisers pay significantly less or online ads than television ads) and start charging for online views. Time Warner and Comcast's TV Everywhere Initiative (an authentication system that allows cable subscribers to access cable content online, but only if one proves that one has a subscription to a cable/satellite provider click here for more details about the initiative) needs to become to standard.

Comcast's Fancast.com is already putting the TV Everywhere model into action and a few friends of mine are reaping the benefits. College students living away from home can access their parents cable from campus' throughout the country. Premium channels like HBO can be streamed live. It is really cool.

Now back to the WABC/Cablevision Dispute

If the dispute does not get resolved by March 6th, WABC will go dark at 12:01am on March 7. This is greatly upsetting to me as a Cablevision subscriber because the Oscars air live on March 7th. What is ABC thinking? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in conjunction with ABC has worked hard to revamp the show in order to increase the ratings. The number of nominated movies for Best Picture has increased to 10 films and a number of younger actors and directors were admitted into the academy in hopes of increasing viewership. The New York viewing audience will be decreased due to inability of Cablevision subscribers to view the awards show. WABC is only hurting ABC's viewership. It is the best interest of WABC to end this dispute as soon as possible.

That is all I will wax poetic about for now.

Peace and Love,

Alicia

Fordham's Recent TV Shout Outs

2010-03-01T19:44:00.004-05:00

Fordham, the prestigious university that I have the honor of attending was mentioned on the TV recently. Check it out.

Shia LaBeouf on Jimmy Kimmel Live mentions Fordham as being a great business school (too bad I am not in the College of Business Administration). LaBeouf was recently at Fordham filming Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2.

Jennifer Lopez, a Bronx native mentioned Fordham in her opening monolgue for Saturday's new episode of Saturday Night Live. Check it out. Its kinda funny, but not really. What happened to SNL it was once so great.

NBC Ends Olympic Coverage with a Bang

2010-03-01T17:38:00.002-05:00

What more could NBC have asked for at the Winter 2010 Olympics. (I would have loved another Tara Lipinski, the best Olympics ever was when she won gold. I collected Campbells Soup labels to get a soup mug with her on it.)

The last event of the Vancouver games turned into one of the biggest (non-N.F.L.) sports events in recent television history. The Canada-U.S.A. gold medal hockey game was seen by a huge audience of 27.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched hockey game on American television since two games in the 1980 games from Lake Placid, headed by the famous U.S. upset over the Soviet Union. (via New York Times Media Decoder Blog read more here)

Just wait Canada, when the games are not on your turf you will be toast. =)

Modern Family's Back on Wednesday

2010-03-01T16:22:00.001-05:00

If you aren't watching ABC's Modern Family you should start. My favorite character on the show is Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) he is a father and husband who is thinks he is hilarious and he is actually an idiot. If this character doesn't make you laugh then I don't know what will.

In this video Ty Burrell talks about his real life and life on Modern Family as Phil Dunphy. There are some great clips of classic "Phil" moments.

Phil gets a mustache. "People are gonna see this and say... that guy is high."

Watch Modern Family on Wednesdays at 9pm on ABC.

Was the Internet Really That Scary?

2010-02-27T16:24:00.002-05:00

The snow day (really snow afternoon and day) gave me some free time to forget about studying for midterms (who really wants to do that anyway?) and get back to my roots. With the help of Hulu (I love love love Hulu!) I was able to re-watch season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy was the first show that I watched religiously. I remember being at my friend Jennie's house for a passover party and after locating the hidden matzoh we sat in front of the television and watched the series premiere of Buffy. After the show had finished I had to walk back to my house 5 doors down from Jennie's, but I did not walk, I ran. Buffy scared the heck out of me and I couldn't wait to see the next episode. After the first episode, I forced my family to watch the awesome teen Comedy-drama, Supernatural, Fantasy, Action, Horror show every week. And we (turns out my father actually enjoyed the show too) even watched the spin off series Angel which I don't think is as good. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that Buffy was the first television show I was hooked on and since then I have grown to love television, hence the name of this blog.

One thing I noticed after re-watching this beloved (by me) show, is that many of the characters fear the internet. The show aired in 1997 just as the internet bubble was inflating and I, myself was getting my first AOL account (my first screen name was IBChillin247. Really it was.). Many of the characters, high school students, teachers, and parents seems to not trust/understand the internet and not see the use for it. The characters that do trust the internet (Willow and Mrs. Calendar) are the ones who often save the day by adequately finding helpful information on the net. Also the characters that are not computer savvy are completely I just found this occurrence interesting. I do not remember people being fearful of the internet, do you guys?

Here's what I am talking about.

This clip is from season 1 episode 8 when a demon gets downloaded onto the internet and seduces Willow in order to trick her into helping him take over the world (seriously horrifying stuff *sarcasm* You can't blame me for thinking it was the best show when I was 9 or 10 years old). Buffy who is not computer savvy seeks out help from a computer geek. When she goes to talk about it with Giles, her watcher/Sunnydale High School librarian he makes an anti-computer comment. "I really don't know how to advise you. Thinks involved with the computer fill me with a child-like terror." Giles would rather fight off evil creepy creatures of the night then surf the net. He's a twisted librarian.

Vampire Slayingly Yours,

Alicia

NBC Should Thank God for the Olympics

2010-02-22T16:47:00.001-05:00

NBC is so lucky to be the carrier of the Olympics following the Jay Leno disaster. (I am Team Coco, Bite me Leno) Normally I would not be sitting in front of the TV watching NBC every night of the week, but I am a little Olympic crazed and it seems that the rest of the country is catching the fever too. NBC is beating it competitors almost every night of the week thanks to all of the American superstars. I am glad to see American Idol loose ratings (minus Ellen Degeneres). They always win the ratings war, but not this time.

Tiger, Shut Up and Get Off My TV (Unless its the PGA Tour)

2010-02-20T16:47:00.002-05:00

I was so psyched to watch the View Friday morning (don't judge me!). I just wanted to see what the ladies thought of Evan Lysacek's gold medal winning performance since I missed it the night before. But then all the network channels were taken over by Tiger Wood. I am the daughter of a golfer, I respect the sport and enjoy watching it on Sunday evenings, but not listening to a golfer drone on about his mistakes. I just don't understand why they let him take over all those stations in the first place.

Dear Network TV,

More of this:

(Suck it Evgeni Plushenko)

And more of this:

Less of This:

Thank You,

Alicia

Quality Television to go Online

2010-02-18T16:26:00.004-05:00

HBO announced that it has teamed up with Verizon Fios to bring HBO GO a website that makes HBO on-demand services available wherever there is internet service.

Reuters reports:

HBOGO.com will feature more than 600 hours of HBO shows, including its hit series “The Wire.” That is more than four times what is typically available on HBO’s TV on demand services. HBO will update the roster more regularly than TV on demand, which it usually refreshes once a week.
Verizon FiOS customers will be the first to get access to the HBO GO site, though Comcast HBO subscribers can see similar content through Comcast’s Fancast site.
“The name of the game here is customer retention,” said Eric Kessler, co-president of HBO, in an interview with journalists at the launch on Wednesday.

HBO GO is part of the so-called TV Everywhere initiative (sponsored by Time Warner, HBO's parent company) to put more TV content online for existing subscribers. Time Warner and Comcast announced in the summer of 2009 that it was going to give paying cable customers access to its content. Here's to hoping that more quality cable networks, such as Showtime, follow in suit.

Hey NBC Shaun White & Coach Can Do Whatever They Want

2010-02-17T01:00:00.003-05:00

Shaun White's gold-medal coronation in the halfpipe finals at the Winter Olympics was marred Wednesday by vulgar statements made by coach Bud Keene and aired on NBC live to the East Coast before White's final run. White was the last to go, but since nobody had beat his score from the first round, he was the automatic winner. There was much joy and celebration atop the run, as there should have been. Unfortunately, a few of those words were picked up by NBC cameras.

At first there were whoops of celebration. But then things got a little R-rated. Keene: What do you want to do? White: I don't know, man. Ride down the middle? (Chorus of noes.) Keene: No, have some fun. White: Drop a double mick? Keene: Yeah, drop a double mick at the end. Do whatever you want and [expletive] send that thing. Make sure you stomp the [expletive] out of that thing.

It went downhill from there if you can read lips, at which point NBC announcers Pat Parnell and Todd Richards apologized for the language and defended it by saying that a lot of energy was running through White and his coaches. The apology was necessary (even if it did draw more attention to the curses they were tough to hear without rewinding), but NBC was apologizing for the wrong people. They shouldn't be apologizing for Bud Keene; they should be apologizing for the network showing it in the first place.

Shaun White and Bud Keene

Who Cares About The Olympics Show Me Pop Stars!

2010-02-13T01:18:00.003-05:00

Before the Winter 2010 Olympics the We Are the World 25 music video premired on NBC. I love love love it. Please watch and download at http://wearetheworldfoundation.org/. Enjoy!

In solidarity,

Alicia

Vancouver Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony 2010

2010-02-13T01:00:00.001-05:00

The Winter Olympics began tonight with a beautiful ceremony in Vancouver. The ceremony took viewers through the history of Canada and introduced the teams. Overall I found the ceremony to be visually stunning, but it lacked flow and shock factor. I enjoyed the Beijing Summer Olympics more.

Take a look at the creative and colorful outfits here.

Listen to the musical talents of some of Canada's best here. Sarah McLachlan was spectacular.

Check out the pictures:

Team USA

Only hours before the ceremony, a luger from the country of Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed in a horrific training-run crash at Whistler. The Ceremony was dedicated to Kumaritashvili and the team members wore black arm bands to honor their teammate.

The Fireworks Finale

Let the games begin!

From 30 Rock to Vogue

2010-02-12T20:50:00.003-05:00

Tina Fey, the queen of comedy can add cover girl to her resume. Her appearance on Vogue's March issue is quite surprising considering considering Fey often receives the title of worst dressed at most award events she attends. Check out this behind the scenes video.