Category: TV

Coffee Talk #239: DirecTV Customers Should Rage Over G4tv

Warning: this Coffee Talk will be longer and a bit more personal than usual. As some of you know, DirecTV has dropped G4 from its lineup. Some of you are thinking that the news has me happy, but that’s not the case at all. Even though the company treated me poorly…

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, Tim Lincecum making Filipino-Americans proud, the chances of Cliff Lee returning to the Rangers, or hiring Randy Moss for your kid’s birthday party, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Warning: this Coffee Talk will be longer and a bit more personal than usual. As some of you know, DirecTV has dropped G4 from its lineup. Some of you are thinking that the news has me happy, but that’s not the case at all. Even though the company treated me poorly, cost me some friends, and cost me lots of money, I still believe in what G4tv could be…but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a step back and look at DirecTV’s official word as reported by Entertainment Weekly:

At this time we are no longer negotiating and we have no plans to put G4 back up. We are constantly evaluating our lineup in a new world where programming costs continue to rise at significant rates. Since G4 is among the lowest rated networks based on the latest Nielsen data, we decided that it made sense to focus on preserving programming that is more relevant to our larger customer base.

Personally I think it’s just silly posturing. Even though G4 gets a lot of flack — deservedly so — for being more about Cops reruns than videogames these days, the network has a loyal following. I’ve been a huge fan of G4 since it started. I’ve been one of the networks staunchest defenders — years before I worked there. In September 2003 I wrote a column to try to get people in the GameSpy forums to stop hating on G4 and to support it for what it could be. Here’s a clip:

Although G4 gives all of us a new way to enjoy our favorite hobby, my favorite thing about it is that it will bring new people into the fold. Television reaches a more general audience and I’m sure there will be some people watching G4 that are only vaguely familiar with the wacky world of gaming. They’ll start out on G4. Perhaps they’ll get so into gaming that they’ll go to GameSpy to get even more. And just maybe, in a year or two they’ll be trading jabs with all y’all in the Forums. So don’t be hatin’ on G4, it’s one of the reasons gaming is getting bigger than ever… and with any luck it just might spawn your favorite Forum poster a few years down the line.

I still believe in many of the things I wrote in that column. I suppose I wanted to use today’s Coffee Talk to make sure you knew two things. First, I still believe in G4, despite the crappy way I was treated. Secondly, if you’re a DirecTV subscriber I suggest you go full-on (phone, email, snail mail) and tell the company that you want G4 as part of your lineup.

And yes, this was all kind of difficult to write because there are so many other things that I want to say. Thanks for listening!

WWE Undertaker Confronts Brock Lesnar at UFC 121

Here’s a fascinating interview with WWE Superstarstar The Undertaker at UFC 121. He’s out of character, which is super rare for ‘Taker; he’s very protective of his character and rarely makes appearances — let alone gives interviews — as his “real” self. Secondly, he has a brief confrontation with Brock Lesnar (fresh from his thrashing by Cain Velasquez). The Undertaker has heat with Lesnar over some old WWE issues.

Check out the clip and let me know what you think (please)!

The Vatican Declares Homer J. Simpson Catholic

In case you’ve been wondering, Homer Simspon is Catholic…at least that’s the story the Vatican’s official newspaper, Osservatore Romano, is spreading.

In case you’ve been wondering, Homer Simspon is Catholic…at least that’s the story the Vatican’s official newspaper, Osservatore Romano, is spreading. Here’s the deal according to Reuters:

The newspaper cited a study by a Jesuit priest of a 2005 episode of the show called “The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star”. That study concludes that “The Simpsons” is “among the few TV programs for kids in which Christian faith, religion and questions about God are recurrent themes.”

Uh…wow. With all the problems in the world, I’m glad that the Roman Catholic Church is spending its time informing its followers of the religions of various animated cartoon characters. Well done.

Source

Netflix for PlayStation 3 Will Go Discless on October 18

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that Netflix for Playstation 3 will no longer require a disc starting October 18, 2010. A few other features have been added as well. Here are the bullet points from the press release:

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that Netflix for Playstation 3 will no longer require a disc starting October 18, 2010. A few other features have been added as well. Here are the bullet points from the press release:

  • Movies and TV shows from Netflix will be accessible from PS3’s XMB menu under a new Netflix icon under the Video category. To access Netflix, PS3 owners will need to sign-in with their PlayStation®Network account.
  • Support for Dolby Digital Plus 5.1-channel surround sound will enable users to experience premium-quality audio.
  • A new user interface, including the recently added search functionality, will deliver a much richer and faster browsing experience, making it easier to find the specific titles you’re looking for or to discover new content.
  • Some movies and TV shows will be viewable in 1080i resolution, offering an enhanced visual experience as more consumers adopt HDTVs.
  • The amount of time to start playback will be improved.
  • An increasing number of movies and TV shows will be viewable with subtitles or alternate audio tracks.

This is certainly more convenient than using a silly disc, but I mostly posted this story because the word discless sounds funny.

Napoleon Dynamite…the Animated TV Series?!?

It’s been six years since Jon Heder charmed America as the awkwardly lovable geek Napoleon Dynamite. Heder will be putting on the moon boots once again, but this time the liger-loving nerd will be hitting the small screen in an animated series on Fox. According to E!:

Fox has ordered up six episodes of the half-hour sitcom and the original main cast is said to be onboard for voice work. The O.G. players included Efren Ramirez as Pedro, Tina Majorino as Deb, Aaron Ruell as Kip and Jon Gries as Uncle Rico.

Although I think the movie is a bit overrated and hated that people kept quoting it for like 18 months, I’m a fan of the film and Heder. It’s not great, but Napoleon Dynamite was fun and a nice debut for writer/director Jared Hess. I had a good time seeing the movie with this completely hot programmer chick from Double Fine. Hmmm, perhaps I like the movie more than I ought to simply because of Anna. Ha!

Anyway, are any of you psyched for Napoleon Dynamite cartoon?

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Andy Samberg Plays Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on SNL

In case you missed it, here’s a clip of Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg playing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on “Weekend Update”. With The Social Network killing it at the box office the last two weeks, Zuckerberg’s fame has gone mainstream, making him a prime target for parody. The SNL writers and Samberg did a nice job with the sketch.

Just for kicks, here’s the Christine O’Donnell “I’m not a Witch” parody too!

PlayStation Move Commercial Encourages Family Taunting

The latest Sony commercial for PlayStation Move features the excellent Kevin Butler, but this time around he’s not the funniest thing in the spot. The fictitious Maguire family has fun taunting mom as she plays some PS3 golf. Gramps belts out a hilarious, “You’re adopted!” taunt in mid-swing. The gang bombards mom with the inimitably irritating sound of vuvuzelas. It’s awesome…but surprisingly not because of Kevin Butler.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this Sony spot. Shout it out in the comments section (please)!

Coffee Talk #225: AT&T and Microsoft Make My Dream Come True

AT&T and Microsoft are making my console dream come true…almost. In an earlier Coffee Talk and at G4tv, I wrote about my dream of having TiVo functionality built into a console. Earlier in the year I told you about AT&T U-Verse functionality for Xbox 360 being announced at CES 2010. It looks like the team-up will kick off in November!

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, the Tampa Bay Rays being punished for being rich whiners, the Minnesota Twins inability to beat the NY Yankees, or Diggable Planets, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

AT&T and Microsoft are making my console dream come true…almost. In an earlier Coffee Talk and at G4tv, I wrote about my dream of having TiVo functionality built into a console. Earlier in the year I told you about AT&T U-Verse functionality for Xbox 360 being announced at CES 2010. It looks like the team-up will kick off in November!

The annoying part is that I really want AT&T U-Verse, but the morons that made my building only wired it for crap-ass Time Warner Cable. My friends that have U-Verse say that its DVR functionality is nearly as slick TiVo’s and some of the functions are actually more advance. That makes the whole thing all the more frustrating. Grrrrr.

The good news is that this team-up sets a precedent and console companies are totally competitive. Perhaps Sony will combine its powers with TiVo (or really, just buy the frickin’ thing) and have TiVo software on the PlayStation 4? What do you think the chances are of my dream really coming true?

Adam Sessler’s Naked Billboard is Better Than Olivia Munn’s (Poll)

Yes, Olivia Munn is a physically beautiful woman, but I’ll take Adam Sessler’s naked billboard over Munn’s, thank you very much. As some of you know, Sess recently unveiled a billboard in Los Angeles for Gunnar Optiks. It’s quite the contast to Munn’s PETA billboard.

Yes, I realize that anyone reading this article that doesn’t know me will think I’m insane, but I have to support Adam and help combat my nightmare that Olivia Munn will become the biggest star in America. (In my nightmare, I’m her secondary personal assistant and spend the rest of my life fetching her lattes.)

[poll id=”77″]

Google TV is Almost Here: Do You Care?

Several of my analyst and journalist friends in San Francisco are raving about Google TV. When it was unveiled at Google I/O, I thought it was cool and had lots of potential. My friends have proclaimed it the messiah, thinking that it’s a huge step in combating the dreadful service and awful prices of cable companies. I’m not so sure.

Don’t get me wrong. I hate cable providers (especially Comcast *snicker*), but I’m not convinced that Google can completely disrupt the market. Earlier in the year, it tried to change the way mobile phones were sold with the Nexus One. Partially due to Google’s poor execution and partially due to the stranglehold telecom companies have on the biz, it didn’t work. I can see something similar happening with Google TV. The big difference is that Google TV will have some longterm success thanks to powerful hardware and network partners. I just disagree with my friends that it will change the game.

Anyway, I want to know if you give a damn about Google TV. Is it a major step in changing the television game? Are you interested in the product? Are my friends in San Francisco smoking something funny? Or are they just getting geeked up because they live in the most awesome geek bubble in the world?