From the Inside Out

Two months ago, I posted a blog about the most anticipated new Fall television series, and tonight’s post will revisit those shows to see if they stood up to all the hype. A few shows soared, but many flopped — some being cancelled after only 2-3 episodes. Read on to find out how your shows fared.

10. The Mentalist, a drama about a physic who uses his gifts to help solve crimes. While I haven’t seen it (this show was on my “pass” list), the Mentalist is pulling in good ratings. It averaged 14.9 million viewers and recently bested a Dancing With the Stars results show.

9. Opportunity Knocks, a new game show produced by Ashton Kutcher. It failed miserably. The show was pulled after just three episodes. I never saw a commercial for this show and have no idea when it aired. Maybe the show would have fared better if it had been promoted differently. Oh well, we’ll never know!

8. Life on Mars, an ABC remake of a popular British drama with the same name. The show got off to a good start with the premiere, but ratings were down 25% for the second episode. Some reviewers blame it on the Thursday night line-up in which it isn’t a good fit. Personally, I hope the ratings improve. I don’t think the ABC version is quite as good as the original, but it’s still a quality show that deserves a chance.

7. Easy Money, is a dramedy about a family that runs the modern legitimate version of a loan sharking operation. This show stopped production after a few episodes to “give the writers a chance to catch up.” I’m not sure what that means, but it doesn’t sound good. No worries for me, though, because I wasn’t watching it anyway.

6. True Blood, a new vampire show appearing on HBO. After a massive, multimillion-dollar marketing campaign, the premiere drew just 1.44 million viewers. That’s a disappointing number for HBO, but the cable network airs the show repeatedly and viewership increased for subsequent episodes. HBO is so confident in the numbers that they’ve already ordered a second season. I don’t subscribe to HBO and this show was on my “pass” list, so there’s no additional commentary from me on this one.

5. Sanctuary, a Sci-Fi show starring Amanda Tapping (of Stargate fame). The premiere brought the SciFi channel its highest ratings for original programming since Eureka premiered back in 2006, and subsequent episodes have continued to hold onto the audiences. For me, I’m lukewarm about this show. It hasn’t captured my attention yet.

4. Fringe, a JJ Abrams creation that pairs a female FBI agent with a nutcase scientist and his estranged son. The show premiered with decent ratings and jumped 59% with its second episode. Those numbers were good enough for Fox to pick it up for the full season. Fringe was listed as a “must see” on my first post. I have been watching it, and the show is growing on me, but I’m not hooked like I was with Lost.

3. Sons of Anarchy, a chrome hog drama about a motorcycle-riding, gun-running family syndicate. The series is the most successful new series on FX among 18-49 viewers since Rescue Me debuted in 2005. It has already secured a second season renewal. This show was on my “pass” list, but I gave it a “check out” rating for the guys. That means Gary checked it out. While he watched the show, I would distract myself by playing on the computer. It eventually caught my attention, and now it’s beginning to grow on me too.

2. Knight Rider, a remake of the popular 80s detective show that starred David Hasselhoff. This terrible remake had a sluggish start to its season, but NBC recently ordered four additional scripts. It hasn’t committed to a full season yet so the show may not make a full run. If it doesn’t, I won’t shed any tears. It’s a complete waste of an hour of your life.

1. 90210, is another remake that shouldn’t have been brought back from the dead in my opinion. I couldn’t watch it after the first couple of episodes. However, I guess the younger viewers don’t detest the bad acting and writing as much as I do because it’s gotten decent ratings (for CW), and the network has picked it up for a full season. In fact, 90210’s success has even got them considering a remake of Melrose Place. It’s too bad they can’t come up with an original show.

Brad and Jen. Ben and JLo. Jessica and Nick. We’ve seen lots of celebrity couples split up during the last few years, but none have affected me as much as this one. I was really disappointed, sad even, when it happened.

Normally, these separations last forever. You seldom see two big names reconcile after parting, but it finally happened. The announcement came yesterday. Two “greats” are joining forces, re-embarking on a once thriving relationship. Apple and NBC have worked out their differences — they are together again. Okay, I know what you are thinking. Apple and NBC are not a celebrity couple, but they are two really big names (dare I say “celebrities”) within the technology and entertainment industries. With that in mind, I think the intro is fitting.

Anyway, the two companies parted last year after disagreements about the pricing structure on iTunes. Some reports stated NBC sought control over the pricing, wanting to charge up to $4.99 per episode. Before the fight, NBC (including its family of networks like Bravo, USA, and SciFi) was the number one supplier of iTunes digital media.

I was really hacked when they pulled out of iTunes. When I’m traveling, I like to download a few episodes to watch on the plane. After NBC left, I couldn’t access some of my favorite shows. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was annoying.

I’m happy to report that it’s all over now. NBC shows are available again on iTunes. They are even extending a few “welcome back” perks to customers. For a limited time, you can download some of the most popular NBC (and peacock network) shows for FREE. Yes, that’s right — absolutely FREE.

If you are an iTunes user, you can head over there now and let the downloading begin. If you aren’t an iTunes user, it’s easy to become one. Simply download and install the free software, then click on the iTunes store. Once there, click on the NBC banner at the top to download the free episodes.

Kids are back in school. Labor day weekend begins on Friday. Like it or not, Fall is quickly approaching. As it draws near, the television studios are getting ready to premiere their new Fall shows. I’m not sure how many of these I’ll catch since free time will be sparse in September, but in case you are wondering what’s coming up…here’s the line-up of the Top 10 most anticipated new series according to Yahoo! Buzz:

10. The Mentalist, a drama about a physic who uses his gifts to help solve crimes. It sounds like a cross between CSI and a serious version of Pysch. The Mentalist features Simon Baker from the Guardian and one of the girls that was written out (killed off) of the Fox show Prison Break. Hmm…I think I’ll PASS.

9. Opportunity Knocks, Aston Kucher brings us a new game show that quizzes families on how well they know each other, the mail carrier or the people next door. This could be mildly entertaining. I won’t go out of my way to watch it, but if it’s convenient, I may CHECK IT OUT.

8. Life on Mars, an ABC remake of a popular British drama about a cop who gets transported from present-day to the 70s after an automobile accident. I actually watched the original British version which was quite good. I was surprised to learn that ABC is doing a remake starring Harvey Keitel. If it’s as good as the original, it’s a MUST WATCH.

7. Easy Money, is a dramedy about a family that runs the modern legitimate version of a loan sharking operation — an advance payday loan business. The show centers on the matriarch and her middle son who is conflicted about the nature of their business. Yawn…that’s a PASS for me.

6. True Blood, a new vampire show appearing on HBO. The show is set in Louisiana where vampires (thanks to a Japanese invention) can now mingle amongst normal humans. Supposedly it’s getting rave reviews, but this ain’t no “Buffy” — no thanks. PASS.

5. Sanctuary, a Sci-Fi show starring Amanda Tapping (of Stargate fame) that started as a series of Webisodes released on the internet. Because of its online popularity, Sci-Fi picked it up and ordered a full season. Sanctuary is the first television show to employ virtual backgrounds (ala 300 and Sin City). Normally, this isn’t my kind of show, but because I like Amanda Tapping, I watched the Webisodes and must admit that I enjoyed them. If you like Sci-fi, check it out. For me, it’s a MUST WATCH.

4. Fringe, a JJ Abrams creation (Lost, Cloverfield) which automatically makes it a MUST SEE in my book. This show pairs a female FBI agent with a nutcase scientist and his estranged son. Together, they investigate paranormal occurrences. Hmm…could this be an updated version of the X-Files? I hope so. I still miss that show and the movie was a big disappointment. Fringe has one of the most expensive pilots ever filmed. It weighs in at a whopping $10+ million. If that doesn’t catch your attention, nothing will.

3. Sons of Anarchy, a chrome hog drama about a motorcycle-riding, gun-running family syndicate. I’m not into motorcycles, so this show doesn’t sound that appealing to me. However, it does have an interesting creative team and cast: a “Shield” script writer, “Sopranos” director, Charles Hunnam, Ron Perlman, and Katey Sagal. It’s a PASS for me, but if you’re a guy, it’s probably a CHECK IT OUT.

2. Knight Rider, a remake of the popular 80s detective show starring David Hasselhoff. I liked the original and was excited about the Knight Rider movie until I saw it. The TV movie was horrible — not just bad, terrible. Because of that, I don’t think there’s any way I can bring myself to watch the new series. PASS.

1. 90210, another remake. This time it’s a remake of a 90’s TV show, Beverly Hills 90210 . Because I watched the original show, I have a morbid curiosity about the remake. Part of me thinks that some shows should rest in peace and live on in our memories without being drug up, dusted off and resurrected. Yet I will watch the premiere anyway; I expect to PASS on subsequent episodes.

Fans of Joss Whedon may soon have reason to rejoice. He’s working on a new show with Eliza Dushku (some may remember her as Faith from one of Whedon’s other popular television shows). 

According to comingsoon.net, his new show titled “Dollhouse” revolves around a group of young men and women, aka “Dolls,” who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. They have no memories of their previous lives, until Echo (Dushku) begins to try to find out who she was.”

The show will air on Fox, most likely in the Fall. Amazingly enough, Joss Whedon came up with the idea and the title by accident. He was having lunch with Eliza and offering career advice when it hit him.

A few days after lunch, he wrote a treatment and then an episode guide, pilot outline and poster. A couple of days later he approached Fox with the idea for the pilot. Soon after, they wanted more than a pilot. They offered a seven-episode commitment.

Wouldn’t it be nice if others could get their ideas picked up that easily! Of course if your name is Joss Whedon, you have instant credibility with the studios. The man is a genius. I envy admire his writing — it’s witty, smart, and unique.

I can’t wait for the Fall premiere.  It will be a breath of fresh air when Joss comes back to the small screen. It’s been lonely (and a bit boring) without him.

Do you ever find yourself channel surfing but not finding anything to watch on TV?  Do you ever wish you could go back and watch some classic 80s shows like Remington Steele, Knight Rider, or the A-Team?  C’mon, who doesn’t love a good episode of the A-Team?  Maybe you missed an episode of The Office or Friday Night Lights, and you want to get caught up on the show.  If so, then go online and check out Hulu.com. 

Hulu.com offers a cool, easy way to watch shows on demand.  The selection is decent today, and their Website boasts that they hope to provide watchers with the web’s most comprehensive selection from more than 50 content providers including FOX, NBC, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros., and Lionsgate.  You can watch full-length episodes of current primetime TV shows such as The Simpsons and The Office the morning after they air, classics like Miami Vice and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and clips from Saturday Night Live.  Hulu also offers a good variety of full-length feature films. 

The best news is that it’s all available for free!  You don’t even have to register or sign-up for anything.  You just click and watch.  Three views are available — Web, pop-up, or full screen.  The down side is that the shows are ad supported, so you do have to put up with a few commercials, but it’s not overwhelming.  Hulu shows one-quarter as many ads - two minutes for every 22 minutes of content, as opposed to eight on TV.

Gary will be happy to know that there are high res offerings (480p Hi Res) today, and they are working on streaming high-definition video in 720p.  Check out the HD Gallery.  

The site offers some additional features like embedding and emailing of clips.  It also will link you to Amazon Unbox if you want to purchase a movie or a TV show.  Of course, I’m not sure why you’d want to purchase shows when you can watch them for free online.  I guess if you’re going to be on a plane or in some obscure location that doesn’t provide Internet access, it makes sense, but I still prefer to purchase my movies/shows on iTunes.  It’s annoying that Amazon Unbox can’t support iPods, but I digress.

Hulu.com makes it simple to watch your favorite shows and movies anytime, for free.  So, what are you waiting for?  Check it out and enjoy.