From the Inside Out

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.

To celebrate my arrival back in Dallas today, Gary and I went out to dinner at Mexi-Go (Ricardo’s was too crowded).  Afterwards, we came home and watched our Friday night line-up.  So, here’s the run down of my favorite shows from tonight:

Friday Night Lights - Tonight, Smash had to face the consequences, compromise, and issue an apology.  However, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.  It’s too bad no one told hm how to say “no comment” to the media.  It was fun to see Tami coaching a team, and wow, Tyra’s a volleyball player now.  I wouldn’t have expected that.  I’m glad that Jason is back.  I missed him in the last few episodes.  I loved how he talked the guy into buying the hybrid.  Finally, I’m not sure where the storyline with Lyla is headed.  As a Christian, I’m really skeptical because hollywood typically likes to paint Christians in a negative light.  So far, they’ve been fair, but I’m afraid it may not stay that way.  We’ll see.

Psych - Shawn and Gus try to solve a crime that occurred on the set of a Spanish soap opera.  While investigating, Shawn is cast in one of the bit parts, and the hijinks ensue.  I had to laugh when Shawn’s Dad was watching the show and saw Shawn as the delivery guy.  The scene in the hospital room where Shawn tries to explain to Gus his epiphany was classic.  The dramatic music, Spanish accent, and overacting were how do you say…oh yes…magnifico.  Jules getting sued for stalking and Lassiter on TV (”I like cheese”) were other highlights for me.

Stargate Atlantis — tonight’s episode was written by my favorite SGA writer, Martin Gero.   I love the humor in his episodes, and he writes the best interaction between John and Rodney.  Reading the spoilers, I wasn’t sure if Iwould like this episode (the bratty kid who needs protection), but the character interaction kept me entertained (and laughing) throughout the entire show.  My favorite lines were ”Would it not be easier to beat him?” and “Oh, our first fight”.  The “I don’t not like you” scenes were also memorable.  Finally, the painting — ROTFL.  That was the funniest thing ever.  

Well, that was my Friday night line-up.  What was yours?

After a long hard week, we decided to stay home and relax this evening.  I’ll be in San Jose next week, so a quiet night at home was very appealing to me.  Besides, some of my favorite shows air on Friday nights — Friday Night Lights, Psych, and Stargate Atlantis.

Friday Night Lights — this is one of the best dramas on television in my opinion.  It’s a high quality show that is about much more than football.  The characters are well developed; the acting and directing are outstanding.  I love the interactions between Kyle Chander and Connie Britton’s characters — it’s so true to life.  Tonight’s episode wasn’t the best, but it was necessary to carry the story along.  Some of my favorite moments were when the coach and Tami were dealing with Gracie.  The Smash storyline and Matt storyline seemed forced, however.  We’ll have to see how that plays out later. 

Psych — I absolutely love this show — it’s hilarious. They cast the perfect actor for the role of the main character.  I don’t think anyone else could pull it off so naturally.  Tonight’s episode pitted Shawn against his dad while trying to solve a missing persons case at an old folks home.  The tango scene was classic.  My favorite line from this episode was:

Security guard (menacing), “I’ll be watching you.”  Shawn responds with way too much intensity, “We’ll be getting watched.”  [just watch it...it's funny.]

Stargate Atlantis — I don’t know what happened to me.  I used to hate sci-fi, but somewhere along the way, I began to appreciate the higher quality shows that grounded their stories in science.  I think it started with the X-Files.  I related with Scully — the skeptic that needed a scientific explanation for everything.  Anyway, I eventually started watching Stargate SG-1 and followed the spin off (Atlantis) as well.  At one time, I really loved this show, but TPTB decided to make major changes this season, so I’m just going along for the ride now — don’t love it, but don’t hate it.  Anyway, tonight’s episode was somewhat interesting.  There were some funny moments between Carter and Zelenka.  It was nice to see him save the day for once.  The scenes between Ronon and Keller annoyed me.  Sorry, but I miss Beckett and Weir.

Well, that was my Friday Night line-up.  What was yours?

When the most exciting thing you have to talk about is American Idol, you know it was a pretty boring day.  Nevertheless, here it goes…tonight’s episode of American Idol highlighted aspiring singers from Dallas who hope to make it big one day, just like Kelly Clarkson (and the other idol winners we’ve already forgotten). 

Now, I don’t have an issue with talented people trying to get a break.  Everyone knows breaking into the music industry is tough so you can’t blame them for trying.  What I don’t understand are the people who have absolutely no talent, yet show up and audition anyway.  Did they lose a bet?  Are they totally clueless about how terrible they sound?  Do they simply want their 15 minutes of fame regardless of how idiotic they look on national TV? 

Now that William Huong has a CD, maybe people think anyone can get a recording contract.  All they have to do is act like a psycho and sing terribly.  Sure, it’s funny, but I just don’t understand what those people are thinking — like the judge told O.J. today, maybe that’s the problem, you weren’t thinking. 

So, what do you think?  Why do these people do it, and what do they get out of it?  It’s one of those things that makes me go “hmm”.