TVSquad

We like to complain when networks don't give series a fair chance, so it's nice to see NBC getting behind the new season of Friday Night Lights with such enthusiasm. Teaming with HouseParty.com, the network is sending out party kits to 1,000 Friday Night Lights fans, including an advance copy of the season opener. The season officially begins on October 5 at 9:00 p.m. You can apply for a chance to host one of these parties on September 14 on the House Party site. The party kits will include various trinkets and ephemera, as well as episodes from season one and a sneak peek of the new Bionic Woman series.

Save for Super Mario Kart on the N64, I haven't had much interest in video games since my old Nintendo Entertainment System. My brain and motor functions can't deal with the first person point of view and controllers with six hundred buttons. Give me a nice simple left to right scroller and I'm a happy man.

We've been hearing about the new Clone Wars cartoon for some time now, and finally a little taste of the new series is available on the Star Wars site.

We've been told previously that this new series would focus on the clone wars that took place between episodes two and three (Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) and those of us who are both Star Wars fanboys and animation nerds were excited to see what this new animated series would look like.

A little over one year ago I mentioned that Brian and Stewie of Family Guy would be starring in their own online talk show. Tonight, before you settle in with a bag of Skittles and jar of moonshine (or whatever snacks you happen to enjoy) to watch the Oscars, head over to FOX.com to see Up Late with Stewie and Brian, a ten-minute, online-only talk show featuring an interview with Rob Corddry about his new show, The Winner (also created by Family Guy's Seth McFarlane and Ricky Blitt). The show will be available starting at 5 p.m. PST.

If you haven't had a chance to check out The Winner, you can watch some of the episodes online before they air on TV in March. I caught one episode, and while it wasn't perfect, I think the series might have potential. I like the premise of a developmentally arrested thirty-two year old with a teenage best friend, and Corddry is a goofy and likable leading man. I'm willing to give it a chance to grow on me.

So I was poking around the ol' iTunes yesterday, and what do you know, they had just added shows from the Sundance Channel.

"Hey, ma!" I yelled, "we done got ourselves some Sundance programming on the iTunes!"

"Yee ha!" she screamed, tossing off her bonnet and almost knocking over her butter churner. As soon as Bessie Ellie Mary Ellen May gets back from the Maple Syrup and Baptism Festival we'll download ourselves some episodes!"

"If only pa were alive to see this," I sighed. "Why did he have to taunt that rabid goat with a stick?"

At any rate, you can now find a few Sundance shows on iTunes. The shows are all of the "reality" variety, including documentaries The Hill and One Punk Under God, and investigations into real-life dramas such as The Staircase and The First Amendment Project.

South Park returns tomorrow evening to finish off its tenth season with an episode titled "Make Love, Not Warcraft." South Park Studios has a couple funny, albeit rather short clips to whet your pallet, which can be seen here and here (both link to a QuickTime movie). Apparently the Warcraft craze takes over South Park big time, which isn't much of a surprise considering the residents' habit of overreacting to everything. Also, Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of World of Warcraft, helped out with the episode. Oh yeah, and I'll be picking up where I left off, giving my thoughts and reflections on the episodes, too. Ah, South Park, how I've missed your hilarity and scathing indictment of our misguided culture. If you had a torso I would hug you. If you had an ass I would cop a feel. That's how much I love you, computer-animated series for mature audiences.