One man bands have always creeped me out. They never brought joy or happiness to my life. Even as a very, very small (in height, not width) child, they always looked like steampunk jukeboxes trapped inside some kind of twisted mechanical music machine that mocked their every step with annoying oompah-pah tunes.
One man, or rather two of him, have changed my perception on that phobia forever. Musician Fredrik Larsson has put together a beautiful rendition of TVs greatest tunes using nothing but a keyboard, an acoustic guitar and a DNA perfect clone of himself.
Trust me when I tell you this: the 'Charles in Charge' theme never sounded this, well, listenable.
[via Buzzfeed]
true blood-related stories
One Man Does a Duet of TV's Greatest Themes
True Blood Sets Season Three Premiere Date
Everybody sharpen your fangs. The best vampire series on television today, 'True Blood,' returns to HBO for a new season on June 13th.When last we left Sookie and Bill, he was ready to propose before suddenly vanishing while Sookie was in the little girl's room. Of course, those that follow 'The Southern Vampire Mysteries' by Charlaine Harris know what's going to happen next. Or do they? Perhaps Alan Ball will decide to take the franchise in a different direction.
Seriously, 'Twilight' fans can keep their sparkly Robert Pattinson and their Team Edward or Team Jacob. 'The Vampire Diaries' is barely palatable. 'True Blood' is the best vampire series on the air since 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and for those that don't agree I will roshambo you for it.
What aspect of the new season are you most looking forward to? Which characters do you want to see more? Are you on Team Bill or Team Eric?
HBO Starting Online Video Service
Everyone seems to be putting a lot of money into online video: Hulu, Epix (from Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate), and our own SlashControl, to name a few. It's the future! Now another company is getting into the web act, HBO (or Home Box Office, which no one calls it anymore). They have a new service coming up with the catchy name HBO GO (unlike the other video sites you will only be able to access HBO's stuff).Ben Parr at Mashable makes a good point when he says that if GO only goes to HBO subscribers and no one else, it's only going to be a niche thing. He suggests that HBO open some parts of it to everyone (with advertising) and then have other features and videos that are only available to HBO subscribers.
This has actually been in the works for a while. We first reported on it back in 2006.
[via Pop Candy]
What's On Tonight: Live From Lincoln Center, New Year's Eve shows, Marathons
- USA has a Burn Notice marathon all night.
- HBO has a True Blood marathon all night.
- AMC has a Three Stooges marathon all night.
- Syfy has a Twilight Zone marathon all night.
- TCM has Thin Man movies all night.
- Spike has TNA Wrestling all night.
- At 8, PBS has a new Live From Lincoln Center.
- BBC has a new Graham Norton Show at 8.
- At 8:30, Disney HD has four new episodes of Naruto: Shippuden.
- At 10, ABC has Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2010 (until 11, then comes back at 11:30).
- NBC has New Year's Eve with Carson Daly (until 11, then comes back at 11:30).
- FOX News has Glenn Beck: Countdown to New Year's at 10, followed by an All-American New Year's and the Red Eye New Year's Eve Special.
- At 11, FOX has Billboard's New Year's Eve Live.
Check your local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Live From Lincoln Center, New Year's Eve shows, Marathons
What's On Tonight: Nova, Kennedy Center Honors, Better Off Ted
HBO has a True Blood marathon all night.- At 8, ABC has Rudolph's Shiny New Year.
- PBS has a new, two-hour Nova at 8.
- ESPN has the Champs Sports Bowl, Miami vs. Wisconsin.
- TCM has On the Waterfront at 8.
- At 9, CBS has The Kennedy Center Honors.
- Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9, followed by a new Ghost Lab.
- A&E has a new Psychic Kids at 9, then two new episodes of Paranormal State.
- Also at 9: BBC America has a new Britain's Missing Top Model.
- At 9:30, ABC has a new Better Off Ted, followed by a new 20/20.
- At 10, Bravo has a new Tabatha's Salon Takeover.
- Syfy has a new ECW at 10.
- Biography has two new episodes of Shatner's Raw Nerve at 10.
Check your local TV listings for more.
After the jump, the late night talk shows.
Continue reading What's On Tonight: Nova, Kennedy Center Honors, Better Off Ted
Comcast launches new online video service today
Buying NBC isn't the only big news from Comcast happening at the end of the 2009. Today they're launching a new online on-demand service. It's only for Comcast customers, but I'm a Comcast customer, so I'll be able to watch it!It's called XFinity, which sounds like that name for the next Stargate spinoff but is actually a new part of the Fancast site where you can watch TV shows from channels like HBO, AMC, A&E, STARZ, The History Channel, and Cinemax. That means you can watch shows like True Blood, Entourage, Mad Men, The Colbert Report, Big Love, and many other shows. (By the way, right now Fancast is running a marathon of Friends Christmas episodes.)
Now that Comcast owns a big chunk of NBC, I wonder how this service could someday be combined with Hulu in some way, or if launching this service will affect Hulu in other ways.
Glee and Breaking Bad top the Satellite Awards
The winners of 2009 Satellite Awards were announced on Sunday in Los Angeles, and when you look at the winners on the television side, you have to like the choices. Most of these shows and actors have been on our year-end "best" lists, and if I were to guess, I think you'll see many of these names on the Prime time Emmy nomination roster.The first thing that jumped out to me was Glee. The Fox musical dramedy was a winner in five different categories, including actors Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and Kristin Chenoweth -- for her guest role -- recognized. And the show was named Best TV Series, Comedy or Musical.
Continue reading Glee and Breaking Bad top the Satellite Awards
The Twelve Days of Festivus: Six shows you should be watchin'
On the sixth day of Festivus, TV gave to me ... six shows you should be watching.Every fall TV season brings out a new crop of fresh shows and despite the fact that some of them are ridiculously good, they slip through the cracks and not many people watch them. Not all of these are new and not all of them are suffering in the ratings, but some could still use your eyeballs. So take this list as a gentle nudge to start tuning in if you haven't already, because all six of these shows really are appointment television right now.
Modern Family (ABC; Wednesdays 8:30) -- Easily the best new comedy of the Fall '09 season, Modern Family has very quickly risen up most critics' lists and even nabbed a Golden Globe nomination earlier this week. The show features a spectacular ensemble cast that tackles just about any family related issue from dating to divorce by putting one of the most unique spins on the genre in recent memory. With the show on hiatus until January, now would be a great time to catch up on the first half of the season and if you don't, Fizbo the ass kicking clown, will, you know, kick your ass.
Continue reading The Twelve Days of Festivus: Six shows you should be watchin'
What Jane is thankful for
Happy Thanksgiving! It's that time of year when we reflect on all the good things in our lives, and of course, my thoughts turn to TV. Let's take a look at a few things on the tube that make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Sexy vampires. Oh my, we got lots of them this year. The Twilight Saga: New Moon's got nothin' on TV vampires. Eric Northman and Bill Compton from True Blood are definitely at the top of my list. Pictured is that hunk o' steamy vamp himself, Eric, a.k.a. Alexander Skarsgard in real life. But we also got those lovely Salvatore brothers on The Vampire Diaries. Elena certainly has some high-class problems, doesn't she? Steadfast Stefan or bad-vamp Damon? They both have their particular gifts.
Continue reading What Jane is thankful for
True Blood to resurrect its vampire sheriff?
Vampire sheriff Godric was one of my favorite characters from True Blood's second season. As played by Allan Hyde, Godric was a wise, sensitive and progressive bloodsucker who felt compelled to atone for his sins and for the sins of his people. Last time we saw the peaceful vamp, he was bursting into flame on top of a Dallas high-rise. "That's too bad," I thought at the time. "I really liked that guy."
Did anyone else feel the same way? If so, head after the jump for some spoilery news that's sure to make you smile.
Continue reading True Blood to resurrect its vampire sheriff?
True Blood spoilers for next season
Some True Blood spoilers have surfaced online in the form of a casting list for next season. Not having read the books, I cannot comment as to whether or not season three of the show is loyally following the third Sookie Stackhouse mystery novel "Club Dead". Historically, the show has remained true to the spirit but has gone in its own directions.I talked with someone who has read the novels, and it turns out that some of the characters in the casting list don't appear in the books. This includes Sam Merlotte's lost-long brother.
It does give something of a hint as to how next season is going to progress. We know Bill Compton was kidnapped (and since the character is still in the cast list for next season, it's unlikely to have been anything else) and we know that at least three female characters are trying to seduce Jason Stackhouse. Tara is going to start hanging out with some vampires herself and probably still be at odds with her mother (who is befriended by a Reverend Daniels).
Next season is starting to look good; I'm looking forward to it. How about you folks?
Spike TV's Scream special celebrates our nation's vampires
Vampires aren't scary anymore. They haven't been for a while.Anne Rice saw to that while she was making her fortune turning vampires into the kind of delicate camp caricatures you see hosting cooking shows on Bravo. It's continued through Twilight and every Twilight clone coming down the pipe. Still, Twilight can build it's own Federal Reserve Bank now, and no one gives a cuss what I think.
Now, I've officially typed the word "Twilight" way more than I wanted to today, and I need to get to the point. So, vampires will be the cause celebre of Spike TV's 4th Annual "Scream.," Tuesday, October 27 at 10 PM ET/PT.
Continue reading Spike TV's Scream special celebrates our nation's vampires
Do True Blood's Steve and Sarah Newlin seem like Joel and Victoria Osteen?
True Blood is on hiatus until next year, so I'll do whatever it takes to feed my fixation -- even if it means bringing down a popular pastor and televangelist. I came across this picture of Joel and Victoria Osteen (above, left) -- he's an author, TV host, and pastor at Lakewood Church. I'm sure they're doing wonderful things in the world and helping lots of people.
But really, just look at them. They're Steve and Sarah Newlin from True Blood (above, right). There's no mistaking it, and I have to wonder if Alan Ball had the Osteens in mind when he wrote the parts for the Newlins, played by Michael McMillian and Anna Camp.
Somehow, I feel certain that Joel and Victoria Osteen aren't harboring a grudge against vampires (though I'm sure they work against evil in the world) or holding poor souls captive in their church basement, like the Newlins did at the Light of Day Institute.
Still, it's hard not to see the similarities, isn't it? Both couples are based in Texas, too.
The Music of Mad Men, True Blood and Sons of Anarchy
Some shows are really creative with their use of music, and one that stands out for me is Mad Men. In last night's episode (read Bob's review here), the song that played over the end credits was "Sixteen Tons," and they couldn't have picked a better song. After signing that contract, Don Draper did indeed owe his soul not only "to the company store," but also to Betty and to a life he doesn't seem all that happy about leading. Another show with great use of music is Sons of Anarchy. In his review of "Tears," Danny noted, "Letting Katey Sagal sing a solemn cover of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" was really a great move on whomever made that call." I couldn't agree more. The song just washed all of the sadness and weight of her rape over us in a big way.
Continue reading The Music of Mad Men, True Blood and Sons of Anarchy
True Blood: The Sitcom
One of the big things on the web now is taking dramatic TV shows and giving them a laugh track. You can probably do this with a lot of dramas (depending on what you find funny), but this is one below is centered on the eating establishment in True Blood and, as New York says, makes the show seem like Alice.
Early to rise...early to bed...
Early to rise...early to bed...
Andy Cohen on Jersey Housewives, 'Top Chef,' and Being the Face of Bravo
Ed O'Neill on Being the 'Modern Family' Patriarch
TV 101: Goofus And Gallant, TV-Style
