Recently in TV Category

We were watching HGTV's House Hunter's International tonight about an American who quit his job in the US to move to Argentina, where he started a successful real estate business, and now needs a vacation home.

Curious about his business, I did a quick Google search and found his story on his website. Clicking around some more on his site, I found a link to renovations, in which he describes how he spent lots of time and effort on a house in Punte del Este. Turns out, it was the same house he "chose" on the TV show. Only the house they showed him (number 2 on the episode) was the same one he highlights on his website, post renovation! They just took down some pictures that he put up after he moved in. It was a total sham!

How many of the episodes are a big fake? Was the episode before about the wine loving couple moving back to Long Island to a new home right on a vineyard too good to be true? Makes you think, doesn't it? Stupid reality TV.

I wish this were an atricle from the Onion, but it's not:

"The MPAA defines a home theater as any home with a television larger than 29" with stereo sound and at least two comfortable chairs, couch, or futon. Anyone with a home theater would need to pay a $50 registration fee with the MPAA or face fines up to $500,000 per movie shown."

The MPAA went on, stating, "Just because you buy a DVD to watch at home doesn't give you the right to invite friends over to watch it too. That's a violation of copyright and denies us the revenue that would be generated from DVD sales to your friends. Ideally we expect each viewer to have their own copy of the DVD, but we realize that isn't always feasible. The registration fee is a fair compromise."

Sorry, I'm going to have to charge you to come to our house and watch a movie with us. But the good news is, we'll throw the popcorn in for free and let you drink beer in our house.

Update: Dan pointed out in the comments that the story is from a satire site much like, but not, The Onion. I guess I got duped. Oh well. It's pretty funny, I guess.

Is there any better show on TV right now than "The Office"? I laugh and squirm at all the uncomfortable and downright hilarious antics that the Dunder Mifflin crew get themselves into.

If you saw last week's episode of Michael blundering his way into a branch-office saving deal, you might recall at the end how Jim was reminiscing his "date" with Pam. Jim reviewed how it had 1) Food, 2) Movie (the screenplay), and 3) dancing/swaying.

Anyways, I checking out the show's website and found Dwight's blog, along with B.J. Novak's articles at TV Guide's Insider. In the first post, he talks about the writing and location shoot for the Dundees episode. It was in a Chili's restaurant with real Chili's waitresses from around the country playing themselves. Apparently, one had a bit of a crush on John (Jim), and eventually "left" him a note:

Perhaps you'd join me for a night of romance?
A dinner, a movie... maybe a dance?

Sounds eerily familiar, no? Well, as B.J. explains, it was just another crew member and Steve (Michael) playing a joke. But it's interesting to see how the writers get their inspiration and how things get written into the show.

The red light brightly shown on the digital cable box as I settled into the couch for a lazy dinner of Hot Pockets. "Ooh...a message from the cable gods. There must be a fight on pay-per-view this weekend." I quickly navigated through the menu and discovered that it was not boxing, but HBO OnDemand. HBO OnDemand was teasing me with the entire fourth season of The Sopranos. Funny, as I was just thinking, "Now Sex and the City is over with, how do I catch up on the Sopranos?" Seems like the gods can read minds, but of course it's going to cost me. Great things like this aren't free. But wait...it's included in our normal HBO fees. WOW! Finally, they got something right. I can watch every gripping episode from the blow-me-away fourth season at my leisure. All from the comfort of my own home. Not only that, but they have movies, documentaries, comedy specials and all of the other great programming that HBO offers - right at my fingertips. You can pause, forward and reverse any show. It's like having a TiVo for HBO only, except that you can watch only what they offer, and it has to be complete within a given window, and once you start it that window shrinks considerably. (So close, yet so far.) But still, it's very cool to the non-TiVo user. I think I'm going to have fun with this.

Rush Linbaugh resigned from ESPN for saying the following:

I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team.

What amazed me was the distance that everyone not directly associated with it, (NFL, ESPN, etc.) distanced themselves from it very quickly. And how quickly political candidates jumped to flame Rush and his republican views. Whe can't we have a level-headed intelligent conversation about race? If we cannot intelligently discuss the issues of race, how will those issues ever be resolved?

Bruce Allen succinctly describes the experience of watching the Superbowl on HDTV. His analysis is spot on. The ESPN HD spots did have me drooling, along with the preview for the next Matrix movies. HDTV is a sight to behold and left me wanting more. Although the broadcast had its freshman moments, you could see it had a tremendous upside. The only problem is how do I get my own.

The Golden Globe Nominations have been released. But, the real question is: Who coded that page? With fonts, underlines, and bullets all over the place, the page is quite difficult to read and horrible looking. Such a disappointment from the rest of the site.

Update: So the page has changed. I really should have taken a screen shot. It was pretty bad. Serves me right, I guess. [12.19.02 7:45 PM]

I don't know what's worse, hour-long commercials, or the commercials for the main commercial?

The Sopranos season ended last night. Paul and I were a bit disappointed that they concentrated on the real family (Tony & Carmela) versus the real 'family' to close out the season. There were so many loose ends along so many plot lines, I was anxious to see a few get tied up (like Paul's grand prediction of Paulie Walnut's demise due to the promo materials when the season began) but to no avail, it was all about Tony and Carmela. Televisionwithoutpity.com has the episode in a nutshell for those of you that missed it, along with the rest of the episodes.

Last week, I received a note on my door warning me that my expanded basic cable service will be removed if I don't call Liz. That made me chuckle and remember that almost two years ago, a disgruntled cable installer provided me with the expanded basic cable when I ordered the basic service.

The installer (we'll call him Rick) inquired why I was only ordering the basic service, so I explained that Kris was getting digital cable and I was getting DSL. To save money, I would watch TV at Kris's, and she could use my computer in return. Rick continued with his story (keep in mind, this is nearing 9:00 P.M. and 90° outside) about his previous hookup to a group of nine sorority sisters. Someone had tapped their box to get free cable, and in doing so, really screwed up the wiring. The girls were so bitchy to the first installer, he did half the job and left. Rick came in next, with even bitchier (more bitchy?) girls than before, to clean up and set things straight. He was so appreciative at our kindness, he gave me the expanded basic and even HBO for the first two months.

Now, two years later, they finally discovered my secret. Because I am moving in two weeks, I decided that I really wouldn't mind not watching ESPN in the morning. It would be a learning experience. But the next morning, I check out ESPN. Snow. NBC? Snow. Weather Channel? Snow. Not only did they take away my expanded basic, but also the basic channels, too. I now have snow on every channel. To top it off, I received a bill for next month's service yesterday. Now they want me to pay for the snow, but still at the basic price. But I can't be mad because Rick hooked me up and saved me a ton of money. I will just have to cancel my already non-existent service.