TVSquad

Television has been trying to cram 3D technology into our eye sockets ever since it realized that offering some kind of gimmick with their product could distract some audiences from the fact that it sucks. 3D TV will only impress three groups of people: children, heavy LSD users who are out of LSD, and the people who helped bring it to a Best Buy near you.

HBO, however, has done something much more interesting and creative with interactive entertainment by applying the 3D concept, not to just the screen, but the story and characters. I hope you've got lots of newspaper down, because your mind is about to blow.

The Emmy nomination process is clearly more flawed than a line of Dora the Explorer lawn darts.

The system is outdated and always in need of a revamping, as technology and the proliferation of programming increases every year. Some contenders are just going to get a big, ugly, high school prom date snub.

That doesn't mean the process is without its no-brainers. I'm referring, of course, to the shows that deserve special recognition for changing the course of the medium and showing the world its possibilities and not to the people actually doing the nominating. The last season of The Wire will go down as one of the biggest no-brainers of all time.

The network that brought you a movie based on the 2000 Presidential Election and would have brought you a movie based on the 2004 Presidential Election had it been more interesting is bringing you another one.

Variety reports that HBO Films has optioned the rights to a book based on the events of the 2008 Presidential Election for another made-for-TV movie. The book, "Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime," written by political writers Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, will be released later this year.

So will the movie, written by Blood Diamond screenwriter Charles Leavitt, be fair and balanced? Will it give both sides equal time? I honestly could not care less. As long as it pisses off the Elizabeth Hasselbecks and Joy Behars of the world, that's fine with me.

I might be in the minority here, but I actually like Dan Fogler.

I won't deny that the dude's earned the "Poor Man's Jack Black" title thanks to his roles in Good Luck Chuck and Balls of Fury, but I think he'll break out of that shell soon enough.

Fogler is slated to play Alfred Hitchcock in an upcoming Ewan McGregor thriller and, Variety reports, HBO just hired him to play Sam Kinison in Brother Sam, an upcoming TV biopic about the controversial stand-up comic.

(As a brief aside to those of you who have been reading these all day - TCA is the Television Critics Association, a twice yearly event that brings TV critics together with networks, show creators, and actors to find out all about upcoming shows, films, specials, and what have you. I'm a newbie to it all as well, so now you know. And knowing is half the battle.)

Life Support is somewhat based on a true story about a woman who contracts AIDS from her intravenous drug-using husband, and becomes an angry voice an activist in her community. She hands out condoms, doesn't pull punches, and is modeled after the sister of director Nelson George, who was even more outspoken than Queen Latifah, if you can believe it.

Documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, who also directed the doc about the Presidential campaign of George W. Bush Journeys with George, tackles evangelicals in Friends of God, an original film for HBO. It's a startling look deep inside the conventions, beliefs, and personalities that make up this larger than you would think demographic in the United States, which contains an estimated 50 to 80 million Americans.

Some of the subjects in the film are some wrestlers who describe what they do as "Taking TV wrestling, cleanning it up, and putting Jesus in it," and a minister who brags about the amount of sex he has with his wife. He also dubiously claims that evangelicals have "The most satisfying sex lives out of any group." He also asks two of his constituents how often they have sex with their wives, and they both claim every day. Two times a day, sometimes ... and they climax every time. Wow. Not exactly what you'd expect to see in a documentary about evangelicals, and that's what makes this look appealing.

HBO has several original movies coming out in 2007, and the first of them will be Longford in February, which stars the versatile Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as Lord and Lady Longford -- both of whom campaigned in the UK for the release of Myra Hindley, a notorious child murderer. It's based on a chilling true story about Hindley who assisted Ian Brady in brutally murdering five young boys and girls in the 1960s. Longford and his wife both believe that she had been reformed, and petitioned for her release.

The Hitler-obsessed Ian Brady is portrayed by Andy Serkis (who unfortunately wasn't here for the panel) and he looks eerily perfect in this role. This story hasn't received widespread attention in the United States, but what they've shown here looks really intriguing. Jim Broadbent looks great as Lord Longford, and Samantha Morton, who plays Hindley, deserves to win an award for her portrayal. It's creepy, but extremely well done, like most of the offerings from HBO Films.