TVSquad

Technically it is Buffy/Angel week, but all things Whedon have a way of just melding together into one big stew. So it's a fortuitous bit of timing that a trailer for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was released this week. For those still unaware of just what Dr. Horrible is, I think it was summed up best by Nathan Fillion in a recent interview. It's about a super-villain (Neil Patrick Harris) who falls in love with a girl (Felicia Day), and the super-hero (Nathan Fillion) who blows it for him. The super-hero is kind of a dick. And... it's a musical. I think it could be very much more than that. More on that, and the new trailer, after the jump.

NBC boss Ben Silverman tells TV Week that in 15 years, we won't really be using TV for anything except launching a show and to watch big "event" shows like American Idol and The Super Bowl.

I have to agree with one of the commenters at TV Week who says that if NBC wants us to go online to see the final scene of a TV show, then we're going to change the channel and watch something else. I don't want to have to work to get my entertainment. It's television; I want to sit in front of it with a cold drink and maybe some Doritos and watch something from start to finish. What's next, movies that end with a giant "GO TO IRONMANMOVIE.MARVEL.COM TO SEE THE EXCITING ENDING TO THIS FILM!"? Or maybe we can purchase a DVD of the ending as we head out the theater door?

I think that Silverman is right when he says that TV networks and shows will have to have some sort of online companion if they want to stick around. But that's nothing new, the networks and most TV shows already have all that. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Personally, I think that in 15 years we're still going to have our TV sets in our living rooms, though the computer/TV merge will be a lot better and in every home.

As I'm sure you've heard by now quarterlife was a huge failure on network television. Those of you who read my unfavorable review of the show last week know that I didn't see much of a future for the show anyway and yet, I feel that the show was still treated unfairly by the people in charge, i.e. NBC.

Producers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz designed this show to appeal to a very specific audience, men and women in their mid-twenties who spend a lot of time online. Now, that may seem like a very small demographic if you're a 40-year-old TV addict like me. but I actually know people in their mid-twenties who don't watch network TV. One of my friends, who is chronically hip insists that the only time he watches network television is online or on DVD. Aside from making me feel very old, his revelation cleared up some things for me.

(S01E01) Generally, when I watch a new show, I try to give it the benefit of the doubt before I make a decision. First episodes of new shows are often full of bad choices. Poor casting, too much exposition, bad hair styles. all of which are usually remedied by the second episode. With that in mind, i have to say that I found the first ten minutes of quarterlife incredibly irritating. First of all, the title and premise of the show is insulting to me. I assume since Zwick and Herskovitz already did thirtysomething, they were hesitant to call this show twentysomething. Unfortunately, that's all the show is, a bunch of friends in their twenties, trying to make their mark.

• At 8, NBC has a new, two hour Biggest Loser, then the series premiere of quarterlife.
• ABC has a new Just For Laughs at 8.
• FOX has a new American Idol at 8.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8, followed by a new Frontline/World.
• TCM has Talk of the Town at 8, then The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.
• At 9, The CW has a new One Tree Hill.
• MSNBC has a Presidential Debate at 9.
• At 9:30, HBO has a new In Treatment.
• At 10, CBS has a new Jericho.
• ABC has a new Primetime at 10.
• Also at 10: Sci-Fi has a new ECW.

Check your local TV listings for more.