TVSquad

A few TV Squad readers contacted me to know how the strike will affect TV show spoilers and if columns like Spoilers Anonymous would vanish at some point this winter.

The short answer is that spoilers will be quite rare this winter if the strike last beyond the Holidays but not gone since a few series that already shot all or part of their upcoming seasons (e.g., The Shield, Greek, Monk, etc.) will start airing new episodes in spring time. As for the long answer...

ABC and this blog's parent company AOL have reached an agreement to stream ABC programming online. You can already watch a number of TV shows directly from ABC's website, but today's announcement brings us one step closer to being able to watch any program from any network without opening up 20 different web pages.

Although ABC's latest deal is with AOL, the announcement is part of a growing trend. When the networks began streaming TV shows online, the goal was to get people to visit a network website. Now we're seeing more networks teaming up to make content available on sites like MySpace, AOL, and Yahoo!.

I'll admit it, I'm a fan of reality TV. However, there is a limit to what I'll watch. Lately, it seems that the networks are desperately creating new reality series. Maybe it's because they fear a writers' strike or maybe they just think we will actually watch?

Earlier today an unnamed major television network sent out a casting call for a reality series that will follow the planning of a Sweet 16 party!

At this point, television networks have made some prime time content available for free online. We're not talking about $1.99 downloads from iTunes. We're talking free streaming episodes from networks like ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and the CW.

But you can usually find just few episodes of a few programs. Mashable has put together a list of 33 services that provide online access to TV programs in one way or another. Some are 100% legal, like Joost and Babelgum. Others are a bit shadiers, like TV Links, which doesn't host any copyright-infringing video on its servers, but provides links to sites where you can (probably illegally) stream video.

I'm not a fan of most "big" movies. You know, those movies with a ton of special effects, babes and explosions but very little plot? However, that doesn't mean decent "big" movies don't exist, and I think the Spider-Man films are a good example. Also, nobody brings a comic book to life better than Sam Raimi (perhaps some of my comic book-loving readers will disagree, though).

Anyway, I mention Spidey on this TV blog because FX has garnered the rights to broadcast Spider-Man 3 in 2009. How much FX ends up paying for the movie depends on how much money the movie itself brings in. As of this writing, the movie has brought in $161,401,784. The deal between Sony and FX could also allow Sony to sell the film to other broadcast networks.

Just out of curiosity, who saw Spider-Man 3 and what did you think of it? I liked it quite a bit, though I think it's probably the least of the series so far: a little too much story for one movie, but it did maintain that "old comic book" feel I love so much. I have a lot more to say about it, but I'll turn it over to you guys in the comments. Opine.

Bob Geldof, musician, social activist, Live Aid founder and the brains behind the Live 8 concert, is planning to launch a new broadband and television channel in 2008 dedicated to promoting world peace. The new venture will be financed by Point of Peace, a Norwegian human rights organization, and Geldof will launch the channel through his production company, Ten Alps. There's not much information on the channel or what sort of programming it will have, though some sources say the new channel will encourage Western nations to help poorer countries.

My initial thought is that Geldof is going to face an uphill struggle trying to get people to watch a channel dedicated to spreading peace throughout the world. That's not to say most of us wouldn't love to see such a thing happen in our lifetime, but no matter how much we advocate peace in our day to day lives, television still remains a medium mostly dedicated to indulging that part of our brain that loves violence and bloodshed. Getting people to watch a channel about peace is going to involve more than just creating entertaining programming, it's going to mean getting people to approach TV in an entirely new manner.

Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the brains behind Skype and Kazaa, are preparing to launch the first global television network later this year. The new service, called Joost, has already garnered interest from Endemol TV (Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal and 1 Vs. 100), September Films (Beauty and the Geek, Bridezillas) and the Indy Racing League, all of which will be providing content, though what that content will be is unknown at the time.

The creators hope to provide entertainment for viewers using a format that will also allow content providers to keep their shows safe from piracy. The new venture already has several advertisers lined up, which is no doubt due to the popularity of both Skype and Kazaa.

Speaking as a viewer who isn't exactly tech-savvy, I have to say that the success of Joost will come down to how easy it is to use. I've said before that a large part of YouTube's success is that it's incredibly simple to find and watch videos. As long as Joost doesn't over-complicate things and actually provide worthwhile content, it might be worth checking out.

Adult Swim now has an official channel on YouTube, and I'm not really sure why. The channel only features clips and not full episodes, and while it looks like there are not as many user-uploaded episodes on the site as before, you can still find them if you look hard enough. Also, there's always the Adult Swim Fix that has both full episodes and clips.

So okay, it's more of a promotional thing. That's fine, but if I'm online looking for something to satisfy my craving for Adult Swim content, this is probably the last place I'll go to. Criminy, I sound like such a whiny little bitch: "Oh, why must Adult Swim provide me with free easy-to-view clips of shows I love?" Seriously, I should just shut the hell up. Who do I think I am, anyway? I'm going to go to my room and think about what I've done.

Call me an old crankypuss, but I've never really been impressed with unmoderated discussions on the Web. Once you leave the doors wide open, you're almost immediately overrun by folks who gleefully pound out vicious bromides while hiding behind the anonymity allowed by the Web. One has only to read the comments on any YouTube clip to see how quickly this can bring down intelligent discussion.

Alas, that's how this crazy medium works, so you have to take the good with the bad. That is, unless you're CBS. The network, which boasts some of the most-watched clips on YouTube, is trying to police its comments by moving them to a different page, rather than directly below the videos themselves. The network is also trying to stay on top of profane, off-topic and unconstructive criticism. The network has been doing this since late October, and all I can say is, "Welcome to the user's Web, CBS."

[via Lost Remote]

. . . eleven Adult Swim moments.

Gather around the fireplace, kids, and let us reminisce about all the joy Adult Swim has brought us in the past year:

If you discover yourself in India one day and find you just can't live without news and information from ABC News, then you'll be happy to know that ABC News Now, the network's 24-hour news service, will be airing in India later this year. This is the first time the service will be seen outside of the United States. The ABC News Now service offers many of ABC's well-recognized news programs and programs unique to News Now, such as 20/20, Healthy Life, Ahead of the Curve (technology program), and Time Tunnel, a look back at important news events in history. The service will air in India on Dish TV. ABC sees this as a first step and hopes to eventually expand to other countries, as well.

If you tune into TV Land on September 25 from 6 to 7 p.m., don't expect to see anything. No really, you won't see anything because the network is going off the air for that hour in honor of Family Day -- A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children. The idea, I guess, is that if there's nothing being shown on TV Land you'll have no choice but to eat a meal with your family. Frankly, I think the American family needs more persuading than that. Maybe they could hire goons to break into people's homes and tie them to the dinner table and force them to eat at knife point. Even better, they could get TV Land personalities like Henry Winkler and Mr. T to do this. I'd be honored to have the Fonz force feed me a potato. That kind of experience could only make me a better person.

Ok, I like TV... a lot. You might even say I'm a little obsessed. When I started making up the list for this post I was reminded of the time I took a gig in Alabama. It was only two months work, but those two months were April and May. I didn't know what kind of cable access I would have while there, and you don't want to go missing shows in April and May! So I set up a crazy four VCR system so I wouldn't miss anything. There were charts, graphs, and explicit instructions. Sunday the cable box needs to be left on this channel. Tuesday you need to change tapes in VCR1 and VCR2. Wednesday change the cable box to this channel. Etc. I left the whole mess in the hands of my roomate Jen and made for the Yellowhammer state. When I returned, it was to a huge stack of television goodness. Now, here is my viewing schedule for this season.

Sunday - I'll kick of my week with The Amazing Race at 8:00. I've forgiven them for the disaster that was the family season. At 9:00, flip to FOX and catch Family Guy and The War At Home. Medium takes over at 10:00. I'll be covering that one for the site this season, so it will get recorded on the computer while I watch live. VCR1 will grab Brothers & Sisters while VCR2 tapes Venture Bros. at 10:30.

Sliding in just under the wire ... Ok, a little tardy given that FOX has already fired up their entertainment machine, but none of those shows are on my list, so I think we are OK. I love this time of year. So many new episodes of so many shows that you have to start rethinking your sleep schedule. The clocks are set on the VCR's and there is 400 gigs of free space on the entertainment PC. Here are the five shows that I am most looking forward to.

1) Veronica Mars - After two great seasons, Veronica Mars has become my favorite show on television, bar none. I think the new three shorter mystery arcs format is going to work well. On top of that, the move to Tuesdays at 9/8 following Gilmore Girls gives the show its best time-slot to date. Hopefully that will bring a few more viewers to the table and we won't end season three wondering if there will be a season 4. I suspect that Veronica going to college is going to have a very similar feel to when Buffy did, and that sounds like a good thing.

The Associated Press is protesting a ban put in place by FOX that would keep photographers from snapping pictures at the Television Critics Association press tour. The network wants the AP to use photos that FOX hands out, rather than have actual photgraphers come in and take the pictures themselves. The AP says it will not assign any journalists to the event at all unless FOX allows their photographers into the event. David Ake, deputy director of photography for the AP, says, "The problem for the AP is that, just as we wouldn't let Fox write our stories, we can't have them shooting our pictures." This seems to me like a pretty clear cut example of a violation of journalistic rights. What do the rest of you think?