Faraday Leaves LOST? Oh, no!!!!!

 A RAVE-

Somehow LOST keeps getting more twisty…and oh, so much more cool!

Wednesday night, the show aired it’s 100th episode and it was a doozy. A major character died. (Jeremy Davies  who played Faraday, one of my favorites characters.) It was very shocking.

I was touched because it was so dramatic.

Somebody asked me recently, “Why do you like this show so much?”

I can tell you…it’s all about compelling characters that I am invested in. That and one helluva story.

An extra RAVE – as a tie to LOST creator JJ Abram’s new “Star Trek” movie, the opening titles of LOST morphed into a star field and the new USS ENTERPRISE zoomed through the opening to showcase an exclusive  scene from the new movie. WOW! I’m even more geeked!

A RANT -

Melissa wasn’t able to dance this week on DANCING WITH THE STARS due to an injury. But Chuck and Julianne got booted off even though they had a great performance.

Man, I feel sorry that THE BACHELOR dumped her and she got a great gig on a more popular reality show. I think Melissa is a great dancer. 

How many lives does this reality star have?

But I think the viewers are being way too generous.

But a rave within a rant…This is one of the hardest seasons to predict.

Who is going to win this one is a tough call (though I’m thinking it will be Gilles versus Lil Kim as the final two.)

A RAVE -

Johnny Depp as a special celebrity guest voice on “Spongebob Squarepants.” ‘Nuff said.

A HILARIOUS RANT -

FOX NEWS’ Sean Hannity says water torture isn’t so bad and lightly agrees to be water-boarded for charity, specifically for soldiers’ families.

The blowhard – goof says its not torture.  Another blow=hard goof, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann says he will pony up a thousand dollars for each second he stays under.

It’s funny stuff these cable news (?) guys get themselves into.

Say it ain't so...

Another funny thing…Hannity is not responding.

People should turn’em both off and watch THE DAILY SHOW instead.

Better and more inspired laughs there.

A RANT -

JON and KATE, say it ain’t so! US Weekly is reporting the parents of eight kids, featured on the TLC series JON AND KATE PLUS EIGHT are separated (and offer up a picture of Jon leaving a nightclub at 2am with another woman and no wedding ring as evidence.)

I hope its not the case and that this couple that show how to raise eight wonderful kids can keep it together. But sometimes reality interferes with Reality TV. (Though a new season is reportedly coming.) Bummer.

A RANT-

Finally…

Okay, enough with the Twitter stories. Oprah I’m glad you signed up.

Now can we please move on beyond Tweets in pop culture?

Josh Holloway (Sawyer) tries the cake "Dharma Beer" amusing castmates.

What a GREAT weekend. Had great fun with the family and the weather was perfect.

Well, except for the pollen. I got hit with the seasonal allergies pretty bad!

Oh well, it was still a beautiful weekend. 

Two of my favorite shows are coming together. Well sort of.

If you have ever done any channel surfing on The Food Network hopefully you’ve come across the show “Ace of Cakes.” If you haven’t, look for it.

“Ace” features a pastry chef named Duff and his team of designers making really cool cakes for all sorts of special occasions. Charm City Cakes is a business in Baltimore.

The cake crew is  a fun and entertaining group of reality stars.

So on the episode that will air next week, they make a cake to celebrate LOST’s 100th episode.

As you can see from the pictures, Duff and his team delivered a fun “LOST” inspired cake to Hawaii for the cast and crew.  

Ace of Cakes...meet LOST!

The cake features key props from the show’s five years on the year…and includes cake replicas of each of the cast members.

By the way, LOST’s 100th episode airs this Wednesday at 9pm on ABC and RTV 6. And word is that it is a game-changer. Can’t wait!

Regis coming back to primetime with Millionaire

*****

Regis is coming back to primetime in August.

“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” with Regis Philbin will return for a two-week event in August.

Believe it or not, its been 10 years since game show debuted and changed TV game shows. 

And like then, the show will air as an event from Sunday through Thursday nights at 8 p.m. beginning Aug. 9 and ending with a grand finale on Sunday, Aug. 23.

That’s what made the show so much fun then. And with the Academy Award winning success of “Slumdog Millionaire” it seems only right to bring it back in the dog days of summer. Should be fun.

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A dozen ABC shows got renewed last week, including “Ugly Betty.” (Betty is returning to the air this Thursday at 8pm with new episodes.) 

The early pick-ups for the 09-10 season include “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “The Bachelor,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost,” “Private Practice,” “Supernanny,” “Ugly Betty” and “Wife Swap.” 

*****

JK Rowling with Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe)

Finally, my family and I are big fans of the Harry Potter series of books. So I was particularly pleased to see this program order come in about a facinating documentary that will air on ABC this summer:

J.K. ROWLING: A YEAR IN THE LIFE – THURSDAY, JULY 16 (8:00-9:00 p.m.) – The woman who created an imaginary world for millions, J.K. Rowling, allowed cameras extraordinary access during the year before the 7th Harry Potter book was published. From the one bedroom apartment in Scotland where it all began to a hotel room where viewers watch her type the last words of the Potter saga, Rowling lets millions of fans into her world. The documentary exposes her childhood sorrows, visits the church where she and her sister worked after-school as janitors, and allows people to see her, now, as both the queen of a magical, alternate universe, and an everyday mom. Cameras also travel back to her hometown and discover where many of the characters of Harry Potter originated. Upon the release of the latest Harry Potter movie, Elizabeth Vargas takes viewers on a journey into the life of the woman who came from “nothing” and created all of her own success.

The documentary will air just before the the 6th movie in the series, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” opens in movie theatres.

Cool.

Did you see last week where YouTube announced it would start posting movies and TV shows on-line. For free.

I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.

You know the one I’m talking about?

The shoe when someone finally figures out, “Hey, we spent millions of dollars to make this very expensive movie or TV show…maybe we shouldn’t give it away for free.”

In the last few weeks, studios have been making pronouncements about how their product would be available on this website or that website (Hulu, YouTube, or other sources.)

Studios are trying so hard to avoid the mistake that record companies made…that is, record companies refused to embrace the web. And when people started to post and share music on-line for free, basically side-stepping record stores, everyone said it was the end of record companies. Why pay when you could get it on-line for free?

But I-Tunes changed that tune. 

They found by making songs  available for only 99 cents (a calculated price point)  people would pay for it. And while some are still file sharing, defying copyright law, millions more are now made going on-line buying one song at a time.

At some point, TV and movie studios are gonna realize that ya can’t keep giving it away for free. I know most of us feel the studios owe us entertainment…we feel it is our right to be entertained. But believe it or not, as much as I love “LOST” on ABC, I know that really, the only reason Disney is making that show is because advertisers are willing to pony up big bucks to put their commercials in it.   

On broadcast TV that kind of sales revenue is possible.  

But on-line?

A few :15 second ads are not going to cover the expenses. And the idea that on-line advertising is going to support all the free stuff on the web is still years, if ever, away.

So what will happen?

I think we’ll eventually have to pay to watch video on-line. Maybe weekly of monthly site charges for Hulu. Maybe a pay per view for each show. Somehow, the people that make the videos/shows/movies have got to make money.

Or they won’t be making anymore.

Enjoy it now.

You will (and should) be paying for it in the future.

*****

My wife has been bitten by “Twilight.”

In case you haven’t heard of ”Twilight”, they are a series of books featuring vampires, werewolves and young love among the monsters. (Okay, it’s a little more than that, but you get the idea.) The popular series is written by Stephenie Meyer.

The first book, “Twilight,” was turned into a successful major motion picture last fall.

My wife borrowed the first book and raced through it in only a few days. She quickly moved on to the second book in the series, “New Moon.”

She says they are a fun, easy read. Not as romantic as she thought they would be…but entertaining.

I’ve been a little reluctant to check them out as the reviews tend to label the books as “chick lit.”

I have made it a point though NOT to watch the movie yet. Cause I’m considering reading the books first.

Any advice from “Twilight” fans?

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A RAVE-

The latest trailer,  just released, of “Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince.”

I love the books.

I love the movie adaptations (particularly since more talented directors took over with number three, “The Prisoner of Azkaban.”) Do what my family has done (my son Nicholas is a really big fan): read the books first, then enjoy the movies! ”Half Blood Prince” will be released on July 17.

A RAVE-

That Helio Castroneves was found innocent of tax evasion charges.

Me, Helio and Dave Furst shooting promos at the Track

Helio is certainly one of the most charismatic drivers in all of racing right now. And with his “Dancing with the Stars” victory last year, he is a bright ambassador for IndyCar racing. 

But this tax trial and the accusations have tarnished his image. But that won’t stop him.

Best thing he can do is go out and win a few races and put this unfortunate incident wayyyyyy behind him.

I had the pleasure of meeting Helio last year when we shot some promotional announcements for Trackside 6 race coverage. (He was Channel 6’s race analyst alongside Dave Furst.)

Helio’s a talented guy with a great sense of humor.  Glad he will be back on the race track in time for the 500.

A RAVE -

I bought a 32″ Samsung HDTV about a year and a half ago. A few weeks ago, my wife and I noticed these annoying gray lines and smudges on the TV picture. Turns out my TV had what the Samsung website described as “dead pixels.” 

I called the Samsung helpline. They told me that less than 1% of their LCD HDTVs have this problem. And unfortunately, when I called the Samsung helpline, I was told the one year warranty had expired.

You can imagine my frustration. But I wasn’t giving up so easy. After asking to talk to supervisors, to their credit, the Samsung Customer Service folks agreed to fix the problem. A local serviceman was out within the day…and sure enough, my TV had the dreaded dead pixels.

Samsung deserves a RAVE for good customer service. That recognition is refreshing and a lesson to all businesses…treat your customers well and we will buy more!

****

RTV 6 now has its own Facebook page with over 300 friends. If you are on Facebook, search WRTV and sign up to be our friend!

You’ll find a comments section, ABC preview videos  of upcoming episodes, behind the scenes pictures and much, much more!

From the fine folks that created the life affirming shows like “Joe Millionaire” and “The Moment of Truth,” (that’s sarcasm, dudes) Rupert Murdoch’s FOX is playing off the recession fears of Americans with a new reality competition series called Someone’s Gotta Go.

This show is going to be an Human Resources nightmare show as it will reportedly ”go inside real American businesses giving employees the chance to decide which colleague will be laid off.”

TV Week also reports:

Production on the project is underway with a possible premiere date of late summer or early fall. Many of the details on the show have not yet been disclosed though each episode will feature a different small business that has been forced to make staff reductions. Furthering the employee’s power to decide who will leave, the company’s books will be available including HR files, exposing what each employee makes and what their personnel files contain. Added to the mix will be a professional business coach/employment consultant who will also serve as the show host. In the end, employees will vote on who should be terminated, with that person receiving a small severance. Another interesting note is the show will be shot documentary-style much like NBC’s fictional The Office.

I am trying to imagine any reputable company that would be crazy enough to let these loons inside their business to produce a show like this (reputable is the key word here.)

 But then, this is America and Americans will sometimes do anything to get their 15 minutes of fame/humiliation on reality TV. This is gonna be like watching a car crash…and that is what FOX excells in —rubber-necking drive-by viewing.

*****

I’m counting down the days to the new “Star Trek” movie coming May 8th to a theatre near you!

Man, I am pumped for this one because everything I have seen of it so far from movie clips to trailers to even the official poster artwork (next to this post) has me feeling good. I trust J.J. Abrams and his team of producers because they also produce TV’s “LOST,” “FRINGE” and last year’s fun theatrical “Cloverfield.”

I guess Paramount Pictures is feeling pretty good about their work too.

They have apparently already commissioned a script for a sequel to the movie…a few months before the new reboot is even released!

BTW, I have also found this interesting picture of original Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy, reprising his role as a much older Mr. Spock sitting in the makeup chair getting his ears for the new film.

Speaking of Nimoy, he apparently got along very well with producers as he will be a guest star on one of the final episodes of “Fringe” this season.

Nimoy has also been busy helping to promote the new TREK, showing up at a fan screening in Austin, TX last week.

Mr. Spock gets his ears on!

 The audience had been told they were only going to see about a 10 minute clip of the movie when Nimoy came out, surprising the crowd, carrying movie tins of the new film and offering the fans a chance to see the whole movie.

As you can guess, the place went wild.

And  the on-line buzz following the secret screening? Overwhelmingly positive.  

This is gonna be the movie event of the summer for me!