Category: TV

WWE Champion The Miz Talks Games on Jimmy Fallon

Here’s an excellent clip of WWE Champion The Miz on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In addition to talking about wrestling and The Real World, The Miz throws some videogame talk in the mix. Obviously he’s on the cover of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 (best writing ever!!!), but did you know that a young Mike Mizanin competed in the Nintendo World Championship regionals in Cleveland, Ohio?

And yes, one of the reasons I wanted to post this clip is because I know that some of you really hate The Miz. Ha!

Kara DioGuardi Memoir Coming April 2011…Dear God

I’m not sure how I missed this — former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi is writing a memoir called A Helluva High Note! She was absolutely useless on the show and wrote one of the crappiest songs ever recorded (“No Boundaries”). That said, prior to Idol she was a successful song writer and producer. Here are more details from EW:

A spokesperson for It Books (a division of HarperCollins) confirms with EW that the songwriter/TV personality’s memoir, A Helluva High Note, will hit shelves on April 26, 2011. (The news was first reported by Radar earlier today.) The tome won’t only cover DioGuardi’s two-season stint on Idol, but also “her life and career as a producer, songwriter and artist,” according to an It Books publicist.

I might have to buy this for the unintentional comedy. There’s a good chance it will top Dave Batista’s Batista Unleashed for the highest concentration of unintentional idiocy per page. Anyway, enjoy Kara’s naked picture from Allure (above) and her crappy song (below).

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TV Through Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7?

Microsoft is in the early stages of planning a televisions service that can be accessed through devices like its Xbox 360 gaming console. The company has been holding talks with various networks for a service that could end up being like virtual cable or a la carte cable. According to Reuters:

Microsoft Corp has held talks with media companies to license TV networks for a new online pay-television subscription service through devices such as its Xbox video game console, two people familiar with the plans told Reuters.

Microsoft is also exploring the possibility of creating content silos and selling more individual channels directly such as an HBO or Showtime. It already has Walt Disney Co’s ESPN on the Xbox Live online service for example.

This could develop into something huge and game changing. Cable and satellite companies are crap, requiring customers to buy packages containing dozens of channels, most of which are unwanted. If Microsoft sells individualchannels  — particularly premium ones like HBO — through Xbox 360 and its future consoles, I’d drop my cable service in a heartbeat. Being able to pick the channels you want would be brilliant.

Integrating the television service with Windows Phone 7 would be tremendous. Microsoft’s mobile operating system will have a difficult time catching up to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. Offering premium television through Windows Phone 7 would make the battle easier.

While the service appears to be a year away — if it happens at all — it has a ton of potential. I will dream about features like a la carte channel selection and streaming HBO boxing on a phone, but I fully expect the networks to give the bare minimum.

What do you think of a potential Microsoft television service? What would you want it to have?

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Binary Thoughts on the Young Justice Premiere

I just watched the premiere of the Young Justice on Cartoon Network. As a standalone cartoon, I thought it was great — lots of fun and quite enjoyable. As a huge fan of the Young Justice and Teen Titans comics, I had some problems with it. I’ll definitely be watching the series regularly and have high hopes for it, but I’ll have to get used to some things. Here are some binary thoughts on the premiere.

Bad: Using Earth-16 as the show’s setting gives the writers a lot of freedom. It also allows the writers to piss off fans of the mainline comics. As I mentioned earlier in the week, the show mixes elements of Young Justice and the Teen Titans books. In some cases, it takes the best of both worlds (5150). In other cases, the writers unnecessarily create new elements that will annoy comic-book fanboys (like me).

Good: The premiere was well paced, with snappy writing and fun action. The team is a good mix, with Robin providing the book smarts and Aqualad bringing calm wisdom. Kid Flash wasn’t defined well and Superboy didn’t add much (which makes sense from a storytelling perspective). I’m confident that Supes will come along, but I worry about KF being redundant (more on this later). I’m really looking forward to Miss Martian, as she’s one of my favorite characters in the current Teen Titans books…and green chicks are totally hot.

Bad: This complaint has everything to do with me being a fanboy. Although the Robin in the Young Justice cartoon is supposed to be Dick Grayson, he’s more like an amalgamation of the first three Robins. Like Dick, he has incredible acrobatic skills and reacts well in most situations. Like Jason Todd, he’s impetuous and sometimes acts without thinking things through. Like Tim Drake — one of my favorite characters over the last few years — he’s a skilled computer hacker. I really don’t like this mix. I wish the writers went with a pure version of Tim Drake; in the comics he’s the least physically powerful member of the team, but his leadership, computer skills, maturity, and intellect make him the perfect leader. In the cartoon he’s kind of an impetuous and goofy kid that can flip around and hack computers.

Good: I like the Aqualad is the smart one in the group…mostly because I like that the brown kid is the mature and logical one.

Bad: Would someone explain to me why Aqualad is brown? If he spends most of his time underwater, I don’t see how he (or his ancestors) can maintain a tan.

Good: I loved Speedy’s (Green Arrow’s sidekick) portrayal. He was excellent as the rebellious youth.

Bad: Sadly, Speedy bails 11 minutes into the show and it doesn’t look like he’ll be a regular.

Bad: What’s up with Young Justice being Batman’s covert operations team? I suppose this makes the show a mix of Young Justice, Teen Titans, and The Outsiders, but shouldn’t Bats use…I don’t know…adults for covert-ops missions?!? Perhaps Batman was watching too many episodes of 21 Jump Street when he came up with this brilliant idea.

Bad: I worry about Kid Flash being redundant. While I like that Robin and Kid Flash have a tight rapport (Dick Grayson and Wally West are best friends in the comics), they were too similar in the premiere. It made me wish that the writers used Impulse (Bart Allen) instead. Bart’s goofy innocence — kid was raised in the future in a lab and doesn’t quite understand how the world works — would have made for a more distinct character. Then again, the “not understanding the world” thing would have conflicted with Superboy (a clone) and Miss Martian (a…uh…Martian).

Even though I listed more bad things than good, I’m really looking forward to watching more Young Justice. I just have to get used to the show’s setting and the spin on characters I know so well from the comics. I’m sure it will be fun and, at the very least, I’m sure I’ll dig all the cameos by the adult heroes.

If you happened to watch the premiere, let’s talk it up! I’d love to hear your thoughts on Young Justice.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Rocks the Gummi Bears Song

You must watch this awesome version of the Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears theme song on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I loved this cartoon and theme song as a kid, so I was thrilled to hear a soulful man — dressed as Tummi Gummi and drinking gummiberry juice! — dazzle the crowd with the song. Check it out and let me know what you think (please)!

Thanks to my buddy Gavin from Late Night for sending this out!

Coffee Talk #253: How Will The Miz Do as WWE Champion?

The “Era of Awesome” has begun! The Miz (Mike Mizanin) is your new WWE Champion!!! From MTV’s The Real World to Tough Enough, The Miz has come a long way from reality television.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Brad Childress’ next job, the Coava Kone, or your favorite Thanksgiving dish, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The “Era of Awesome” has begun! The Miz (Mike Mizanin) is your new WWE Champion!!! From MTV’s The Real World to Tough Enough, The Miz has come a long way from reality television. Due to his atypical background, The Miz had to work extra hard to get a top spot in the WWE; some people resented that he didn’t pay his dues in the traditional way and made things difficult for him. Through hard work, continuous improvement in the ring, and extraordinary mic skills, The Miz has made it to the top — WWE Champion and the cover of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011!

How do you think he’ll do as WWE Champion? Will he be a strong enough heel to lead a chasing face all the way to WrestleMania? Or will he be a transitional champion? Will his incredible promos retain their edge now that he’s not chasing the prize? Or will he be better than ever now that he can gloat to the entire WWE roster? I’m digging WWE’s youth movement and hope the company lets The Miz run with the belt for several months. What do you think? How will The Era of Awesome play out?

Don’t Forget to Watch Young Justice on Friday!

I’m totally psyched for the premiere of Young Justice on Cartoon Network. The new DC animated series kicks off with a one-hour special on Friday before regular episodes in January. Even though the show is called Young Justice, it has more in common with the Teen Titans comics than the excellent Peter David books. The lineup includes Robin (Dick Grayson, not Tim Drake), Kid Flash (Wally West, as opposed to Bart Allen’s Impulse), Aqualad (who is brown skinned for some reason), Superboy, Artemis (instead of Arrowette), and Miss Martian.

In addition to the teen sensations, there will be plenty of cameos by the grown ups. Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, Captain Marvel (don’t call him Shazam!), and others will be in the show’s initial run.

I hope a bunch of you watch or record Young Justice so we can talk it up over the weekend. Any of you interested in the show?

Exclusive: Heroes’ Greg Grunberg Confirms Role in L.A. Noire

In the immortal words of that Spike TV guy, I have a “worldwide exclusive”! Heroes actor Greg Grunberg confirmed his role in Rockstar Games’ upcoming L.A. Noire at EA’s Need for Speed Hot Pursuit launch event. The video above features Grunberg talking about the game and the unique motion capture used by Depth Analysis. Check it out and let me know what you think (please)!