Television thread

[Gutboy Barrelhouse]

On a sad note:

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Hit the mute button for a moment of silence: The co-inventor of the TV remote has died.

Robert Adler, who won an Emmy Award along with fellow engineer Eugene Polley for the device that made couch potatoship possible, died Thursday of heart failure at a Boise nursing home at 93, Zenith Electronics Corp. said Friday.

In his six-decade career with Zenith, Adler was a prolific inventor, earning more than 180 U.S. patents. He was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control, which helped make TV a truly sedentary pastime.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Adler and co-inventor Polley, another Zenith engineer, an Emmy in 1997 for the landmark invention.

Adler joined Zenith's research division in 1941 after earning a doctorate in physics from the University of Vienna. He retired as research vice president in 1979, and served as a technical consultant until 1999, when Zenith merged with LG Electronics Inc.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published his most recent patent application, for advances in touch screen technology, on February 1.

[Johny Cee]

I believe it is "bitches leave."

Red Forman does indeed say "Bitches leave".

[SnakeCharmer]

For fresh laugh-out-loud-ness, we have started watching Dirty Jobs.  It is actually the host, Mike Rowe, that is the funny.

Absolutely one of the best shows on TV, IMHO.  He's a great 'storyteller', if that label can be applied to him.  He seems like he would be a blast to have more than a few beers with.  The monkey episode is hands down one of the best he's done.

Edit:  I would LOVE to see the unedited outtakes from that show

[Margalis]

Fuck yeah it is "bitches leave."

Got it confused with T2 where Robert Patrick deadpans "get...out..." to the helicopter pilot.

[Triforcer]

I also wanted to say that The Office last night was hilarious, especially Michael's lecture (although it also had more pathos than this version usually has).

It was directed by Joss Whedon which is somewhat odd.

So THAT's where the vampire stuff came from    I love the office, although I wish they'd lay off the Pam/Roy/Jim/Karen crap for awhile.  Its obvious that it was cruising toward a resolution and then the producers went "Oh shit, our show isn't canceled yet, now we can't resolve it for 4 years, better put everything back". 

[Arthur_Parker]

Anyone see Top Gear?  Last night's show featured a British space shuttle.

[HaemishM]

I love the office, although I wish they'd lay off the Pam/Roy/Jim/Karen crap for awhile. 

I'm telling you, get settled in for the long haul on that storyline. Pam and Roy WILL get married or have a wedding as the cliffhanger for this season. I can feel it in my bones. That's the hook that keeps the women viewers involved, at least in the minds of the producers I'm sure. It's a good relationship, has a lot of chemisty, something they probably didn't plan on when they started. That's going to be the hook. They're already renewed for a 3rd season (and have been since they renewed the 2nd season) so I'm sure they've been planned out for a while.

[El Gallo]

I don't know if it's the new actor, the writing, or both, but I am not digging the new Augustus on Rome.  Perhaps the old Augustus was too clever all the time, but spending so much screentime beating us over the head with his cluelessness re: all things military is weakening his character too much imo.

I loved seeing the old physchopath Pullo back though.

[stray]

I thought the time he screwed over Cicero in the Senate was a good moment (episode before last, I think?).

The younger kid was much better though. Besides Pullo, I think he was the best element of the show.

Back to the older Octavian: I was under the impression that the real Octavian wasn't exactly a genius in the military department. He depended on generals, and his greatest victory (Actium) was due to an informant (EDIT: And a zerg).

I loved seeing the old physchopath Pullo back though.

That last episode was surreal.

[NowhereMan]

I loved just before he killed Cicero, "You will achieve immortality. My name will be recorded in history and so will the name of my killer."

"Oh you mean history, I thought... nevermind."

Now we just need to wait for Cleopatra to return, I want to see Attia get burned by Anthony.

[stray]

WTF? What happened to Rome? No show tonight, and no shows scheduled on their site for awhile. Season 2 can't be over yet, can it?

And if they just skipped last night's episode for the Academy Awards, that REALLY pisses me off. I'm happy for Scorsese, but I piss on that crap. This is HBO damnit -- Just air the episode. It repeats several times after that anyways. It's not like it's one of the big networks where if someone misses something, they'll never get to see it again.

I have nothing now, except tomorrow's Heroes episode.

[Rasix]

A slow week might be a good thing for me.  My DVR's starting to get a bit congested.

Rome's only got 4 episodes left, btw.

So.. looks like they already canceled or sent Studio 60 to pasture? Can't say I'm surprised, even though I watch it and occasionally enjoy the endeavor.  When a show goes from being about bad comedy to being about bad romances and no one's watching?  Not good.

[Trippy]

So.. looks like they already canceled or sent Studio 60 to pasture? Can't say I'm surprised, even though I watch it and occasionally enjoy the endeavor.  When a show goes from being about bad comedy to being about bad romances and no one's watching?  Not good.

They ordered up a full season (22 episodes) of Studio 60 but yeah its ratings keep languishing despite the lead in from Heroes so they are giving The Donnelly's or whatever it's called its trial run sooner rather than later (was supposed to be later in March, I believe).

[Paelos]

Spring training is starting soon, so at least that may save me from some of crap I've seen out there. I still watch LOST, but I've got the same relationship with that show I had with DAOC for two years, so that's nothing new. I just make sure to hide the bruises better now.

I started watching NCIS because it amused me, and I'm pretty happy with that show. Crazy goth chick is pretty funny and has her hot moments, and the "Israeli" chick is smoking, but oddly cast since the actress is actually from Chile. I'm guessing it would have been hard to take Sarah Silverman seriously in the role.

I find myself watching Netflix more these days than TV, but I don't have HBO, and that seems to be where most of your topics come from.

[Riggswolfe]

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

I thought that was "The Running Man".

Nope, it was robocop. It is on that crazy tv show that seems to play alot on tvs in the background.

Well is in two of my all-time fave sci-fi movies. Robocop and Screamers, though the last is admittedly a guilty pleasure.

[Yegolev]

You sure it wasn't Total Recall?  That general timeframe is a blur to me.

[Abagadro]

Definitely Robocop.

[stray]

Yep, Robocop. Background TV shots of the crazy salesmen guy with two hotties in each hand saying "I'd buy that for a dollar!!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daoV-LsINiA

[Xilren's Twin]

For those who may have read some of the books but not caught the show, SciFi is showing the first 5 episodes ofthe Dresden Files series tonight at 7pm.  While not exactly true to the source materials, it's not bad; been DVR'ing them.

Xilren

[Paelos]

I watched "The Winner" in it's debut tonight.

Once again the laughtrack was really really bad in these types of shows. Please, tone that shit back so we don't notice it when your joke fails. The scenes with his parents were NEVER funny. At all. That's a lost cause, please dump those scenes or retool the concept.

However, the show is not without merit. It's a lot like the 40-year-old virgin except it expands more on the premise outside of just sex. It goes into the comedy of a man reaching adolescence at age 32, and meeting a common friend in the woman's son that he's interested in. They both go through dual experiences of not knowing what the hell to do with the opposite sex, and it's extremely funny in certain situations. The casting of his love interest, her son, and Rob Courdry as the main character are all spot on, and they perform well.

[Sky]

Great new show on HGTV or DIY or one of those channels called Secret Spaces, all about secret doors and chambers in people's houses. Being one of my favorite subjects, I was enthralled. Amazing show, lots of good ideas. My favorite was a chess set where placing certain pieces in a certain configuration triggered the door latch.

Also had RG's pad in Austin! I want his science room imo.

[Bunk]

Thursday night, the Sarah Silverman Program debuted up here. Was no advertising for it at all, I only found out due to a blurb in the local paper. It's playing Thursday nights at 10:30 on the Comedy Netwok here. It wasn't even listed on my PVR's guide at the time.

All I can say is, that woman is fucked up royally, and damn do I lover her for it.

[Merusk]

Because I despise basketball, I watched both Andy Richter and Jeff Goldbloom's new shows.  Richter's was 'meh'  it's the usual Andy Richter stuff, teetering on the edge of brillantly bizarre but never going over the edge and blossoming.  Then again I've always felt that way about him, he seems destined to be "Mr. Almost but not quite."

 Goldbloom's show was far too interesting for it to become popular, which is unfortunate because it was pretty good.  I liked the take of a detective coming back after his parter's death, but he visualizes and talks-to the victims (and his ex partner) to work through the case.  It's like a mix of CSI, and Ghost Whisperer, but without the boobs and JLH's extra-large head.

[Trippy]

Goldbloom's show was far too interesting for it to become popular, which is unfortunate because it was pretty good.  I liked the take of a detective coming back after his parter's death, but he visualizes and talks-to the victims (and his ex partner) to work through the case.  It's like a mix of CSI, and Ghost Whisperer, but without the boobs and JLH's extra-large head.

It's not really a forensics show. It's more like generic detective show meets The Sixth Sense/Ghost Whisperer/Tru Calling/et al. It wasn't too bad, though. The "No hablo engles" episode could be funny.

[Merusk]

Good point, I don't know why I said CSI, other than it was on my mind because it wasn't on last night.

[Ozzu]

For fresh laugh-out-loud-ness, we have started watching Dirty Jobs.  It is actually the host, Mike Rowe, that is the funny.

Absolutely one of the best shows on TV, IMHO.  He's a great 'storyteller', if that label can be applied to him.  He seems like he would be a blast to have more than a few beers with.  The monkey episode is hands down one of the best he's done.

Edit:  I would LOVE to see the unedited outtakes from that show

QFT.  :-D Also, I've mentioned it before, but Mythbusters is way way up there on the list of great shows. The myths are just as good as the early myths and the show is much funnier now that the crew has been together for a while. Hell, I'd just watch to see what shirt Adam will be wearing.

[Miasma]

I hate the Mythbusters "B team".  The rest of the show is golden.

[WayAbvPar]

I hate the Mythbusters "B team".  The rest of the show is golden.

I don't mind Tory or Kari (she is just so damned cute), but Grant is SUCH a dork.

[Yegolev]

Come on, Grant's dorkiness carries the build team.  Tory is the one that has his balls electrocuted and Keri is the one that paints things, which leaves Grant to do the actual enginering.  There's also the girl that does the welding, forget her name, but she's good.

[Bunk]

She seems to have been bumped from on camera work for the most part for some reason. I can't remember her name either...

Is one of my favorite shows, though.

Oh, and yes, Keri Byron makes the build team worth watching all by her perky self.

[WayAbvPar]

Welding chick is Jess, IIRC. She was in the dog episode briefly as the judge of the dog show. Kind of a butterface  :-D

[Yegolev]

She's the one who went into the MRI on the "tatoos explode in a MRI" episode.

[Yegolev]

I don't think Ninja Warrior has been mentioned here.  It's on G4 so I'd suggest using a TiVo to watch it, but it's good fun.  The summary is that it's a Japanese show called Sasuke, with an obstacle course in four stages, some parts of which look like something a ninja would be expected to do.  The first stage generally reduces the number of contestatns from one hundred to ten; this is the "William Hung" portion of the show.  Even better, there are recurring failures who just want to be on TV.  Stage two is even harder, and stage three is ridiculous.  Apparently it's been going on since at least 1998 and so far only one guy has gotten to the end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Warrior

[tazelbain]

Lost is really starting to pick up.

[Yegolev]

I read that as "Loot is really starting to pick up".  Twice.  /sadf