Category: TV

The Phenomenon of Zack Ryder

I’m truly amazed by the rise of WWE Zack Ryder. He went from one of Edge’s two indistinguishable sidekicks to one of the most over wrestlers in WWE today. The crowd reactions he has been getting for the last few months have been phenomenal. The amazing part is that it wasn’t an outstanding match or a strong push by corporate that got Ryder over. It was his sharp use of YouTube and Twitter.

Ryder wasn’t getting enough match time to show what he could do in the ring. He also wasn’t getting great material to work with from WWE’s writers. He took the initiative to develop his character through a series of YouTube videos called Z! True Long Island Story and reach out to fans via Twitter. It completely worked. The fans connected with him, probably because it’s easy to see how much he cares and how badly he wants to succeed. He took his character to a new level with YouTube in a way that WWE television wouldn’t allow. It’s a great success story that shows how powerful social networking services can be.

What do you think of the Zack Ryder phenomenon? Are you impressed that hard work and social networking has made him one of the most popular WWE Superstars  in 2011? Also, woo woo woo! You know it!!

NBC Universal Orders Booster Gold Script for Syfy

It looks like Booster Gold will be the next comic-book superhero making his way to television. I never thought I’d type a sentence like that. As many of you know, Justice League International is one of my all-time favorite comic books. The hilarious team of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold was a huge reason why. I’m a big Booster booster, but I still can’t believe that someone ordered a script for a show. Here’s more from The Hollywood Reporter:

Syfy is looking to bring Booster Gold to life on the small screen. The NBCUniversal cable network has ordered a pilot script for the one-hour drama based on the DC Comics franchise.

The story will center on Booster Gold, a washed-up athlete from the future who travels back to the present in hopes of becoming the greatest super hero of all time. Instead of chasing criminals, however, his main priority is chasing fame and money. But Booster Gold discovers that being a hero takes more than just a megawatt smile, and that the future doesn’t happen without first protecting the present.

I’m excited and scared all at once. I love that a minor character like Booster is getting a shot at mainstream glory. I want the show to get green lit and charm America, but I have my doubts. Most people don’t know who Booster Gold is and it will be hard to get them to care. Remember, Birds of Prey had a great debut and quickly fizzled. I’m not even sure a show about Booster Gold will do as well as that…but I’d love to be wrong.

What do you think about Booster Gold getting green lit for a pilot? What obscure comic-book character will be next? Blue Devil?!?

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Sony Wants You to Replace Your Cable Box with Your PS3

Sony Corp. is rumored to be exploring an Internet-based television service that would use devices like the PlayStation 3 to replace traditional cable and satellite receivers. This could be a major disruptor to the American market; most consumers have two choices for premium television (cable or satellite), while a limited number of consumers have access to fiber services like AT&T U-Verse and Verizon Fios. Here’s more from The Wall Street Journal:

Sony Corp. is considering launching an Internet-based alternative to cable-TV service, people familiar with the situation said, posing the latest threat to the cable and satellite operators that dominate pay TV. The Japanese electronics and entertainment company has approached several big media companies to negotiate the rights to offer their TV channels over the Web in the U.S., the people said. Sony is proposing to beam the channels over Internet connections to Sony-made devices, including PlayStation gaming consoles, TV sets and Blu-ray players, the people said.

To me, cable and satellite companies are the same as mobile phone service providers — they all suck. While Internet services like Netflix and Hulu have given consumers more choices than ever, I’m still dreaming about a true disruptive service that would put cable and satellite companies on their collective asses.

Apple and Microsoft are rumored to be exploring an Internet-based TV services, and I’m thrilled to see Sony in the mix. These alternatives can’t get here fast enough. I’d love to cancel my Time Warner Cable subscription for a modern and more cost-effective service. It’s good to have dreams.

How about you? What do you make of the rumor? Would you be down with a Sony Internet TV service that ran through your PlayStation 3?

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The Brett Ratner / Olivia Munn Controversy

I’m so pissed at Brett Ratner. He had to idiotically use the word “faggot” in an interview, which caused a whirlwind of controversy that led to him bowing out of producing The Oscars. Now all the attention has been taken away from his sordid tales of Olivia Munn. That sucks! Just in case you haven’t heard, here’s what Ratner said about the woman a lot of you know as Bolivia Bunn:

I used to date Olivia Munn, I’ll be honest with everyone here, but when she was Lisa. She wasn’t Asian back then. She was hanging out on my set of After the Sunset. I banged her a few times, but I forgot her. Because she changed her name, I didn’t know it was the same person and so when she auditioned for me for a TV show, I forgot her. She got pissed off, and so she made up all these stories about me eating shrimp and masturbating in my trailer. And she talked about my shortcomings.

Ratner later admitted that he made the whole thing up, but I’m going to conveniently ignore that. I found it hilarious that he accused Munn of being fake, exploiting her ethnicity for career advancement, and being forgettable. That’s awesome. I’m going to choose to focus on the statement above instead of his insensitive remarks and getting heat from The Academy.

I encourage all of you to refer to her as Lisa.

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WWE AJ Lee as Mortal Kombat’s Kitana = Awesome

On the last episode of Monday Night Raw, AJ Lee dressed up as Mortal Kombat’s Kitana during the Divas Battle Royal. She even attempted a fan lift, one of Kitana’s signature moves (it didn’t work). AJ looked sexy and nerdy, solidifying her status as the ultimate woman. Head on over here to see more photo of AJ dressed up as Kitana. So hot!

Watch the 60 Minutes Steve Jobs Segment Here

Last night 60 Minutes ran an outstanding piece on Steve Jobs and the man’s biography by Walter Isaacson. The segment contains insights from the author, audio clips from Jobs, and more. If you were on the fence about the book then you’ll want to give these clips a watch. As a Jobs admirer, I found them completely fascinating. Check ’em out and let me know what you think (please)!

Nintendo 3DS and Wii Getting Hulu Plus By End of 2011

Nintendo of America has announced that its 3DS and Wii consoles will be getting Hulu Plus by the end of the year. The streaming video service is already available on the competing PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems. Here’s a clip from the press release…

Nintendo of America has announced that its 3DS and Wii consoles will be getting Hulu Plus by the end of the year. The streaming video service is already available on the competing PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems. Here’s a clip from the press release:

With Hulu Plus, Wii and Nintendo 3DS users will be able to instantly stream thousands of TV episodes — including the entire current season of popular shows like Modern Family, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, The Biggest Loser, House and Grey’s Anatomy — from premium content partners like ABC, Comedy Central, FOX, NBC, MTV and many more. Hulu Plus also offers access to classic TV favorites like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, The Hills and hundreds of popular and award-winning movies. Hulu Plus is available through a separate subscription fee of $7.99 per month with limited advertising.

I’m positive that all of you are going to rush out to buy a 3DS to watch The Biggest Loser. I kid, I kid. Seriously though, does the addition of Hulu Plus make the 3DS or Wii more appealing to you?

Scott Hall ESPN E:60 Segment is Awesome, Sad, and Disturbing

I finally got around to watching the Scott Hall segment from ESPN’s E:60. It’s a fantastic look at the turbulent life and career of the man formerly known as WWE’s Razor Ramon. The piece covers Hall’s abuse of alcohol, recreational drugs, and steroids. It’s a hard-hitting look at a pro-wrestler that could have been one of the all-time greats, but succumbed to numerous temptations.

Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Eric Bischoff, PJ Polaco (Justin Credible/Aldo Montoya), Stephanie McMahon, and Sean “X-Pac” Waltman make appearances in the piece. One of the most surprising revelations was made by McMahon; she admitted that WWE has spent more than six-figures on Hall’s various rehab stints. Extensive footage of Hall at an indie show — hopped up on Percocet and Soma — was disturbingly sad.

Here’s a teaser for the segment:

I remember when I first saw Hall in the American Wrestling Alliance as “Big” Scott Hall. I thought, “If this dude gets rid of his white-man afro, he could be huge!” He went onto a successful stint in the WWE as Razor Ramon and one of the hottest runs of all time in WCW as part of the N.W.O. Hall was solid in the ring, killer on the mic, and had a great mind for booking. Like I said before, he could have been one of the best ever.

ESPN did a fantastic job on this piece and I can’t recommend it enough. Check it out hen you get a chance and let me know what you think (please!).

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Qwikster is Dead! Long Live Netflix!

Remember when Netflix announced that it was going to spin off its disc-based business into a separate company called Qwikster? Well, you can forget about all that. The company has decided that it’s keeping everything under the same banner, which has people speculating about what the hell is going on over at Netflix. Before I get to that stuff, here’s a clip from a statement emailed to Netflix customers:

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.

The reactions have been interesting so far. Some people believe that this is a sign that Netflix is about to be bought by another company. Some analysts feel that Netflix is an ideal purchase for Amazon and would be an outstanding tool to fuel the Kindle Fire tablet.

Others believe that this is another sign of poor management over at Netflix. The company has made some head-scratching moves this year and this is just the latest in a series of questionable maneuvers.

Personally, I’m just glad everything will remain under the same roof. Keeping streaming and disc rentals is more interesting to me as a verbal entertainer. I want to sit back, grab some popcorn, and watch Netflix duke it out with Gamefly. How about you? What do you make of Netflix announcing and renouncing Qwikster so…uh…quickly?