Pop Culture Roundup, February 11

So, my laptop spent some time in limbo these past few days, deciding whether it would die or whether it just needed a good reformat. The reformat worked, but I still need to do some work to get it to recognize that it does, indeed, have a DVD drive installed. The joy of technology!

• Movie Stuff
• TV Stories
• Supernatural
• Random 80s Flashback

Movie Stuff

Dune Film Finds a New Writer
I haven’t decided if I want to see the new Dune movie. I was such a fan of David Lynch’s version (and, yes, I would sit through the entire 13 hour director’s cut) that I am afraid to read the books because they may ruin my perceptions of that movie. I love Lynchs style, and Dune was a great early example of the director who would create my favorite TV show of all time. But, I really enjoyed Taken, so I think this writer has a good chance of making a film I could enjoy. That Sci Fi Channel adaptation was booooooooring.

TV Stories

Why I Caved, Bought Cable TV, and Gave Up on My “Hulu Household”
We’re not there yet, but man, when we can get all of our television content over the Internet, I am so there.

Women Can’t Create, White Men Can’t Jump: Worst Network Pilot Season for Women Pt. 2
Nikki Finke looked at the dearth of female writers in this season’s pilot pickups in this post. Neely Swanson posted an interesting response/further research on the issue. It’s a nice look at the realities of the Hollywood system and the fear that women are not reliable at bringing in audiences.

Dancing with the Scars
Leave it to Chelsea Handler to make me want to read a story about a washed-up Playboy bunny and her stint on a reality show I have never and will never watch.

Friday Night Lights: 10 Reasons Why Season 4 Is the Series’ Best
I know that not everyone agrees with me (and that’s okay, Katie), but I think season 4 has been a return to what makes FNL great. It has felt like season 1 to me, with the depth of storylines and the great acting. I hope all of you who haven’t been watching this show on DirecTV catch it when it premieres on NBC this April. Last night, we said goodbye to some favorite characters and saw others get hurt, get punished, and play some football.

Supernatural

Let’s Talk Supernatural, The Song Remains the Same
Maureen Ryan’s recap and review of last week’s episode. She also includes information about a charity auction to benefit the relief efforts in Haiti.

Supernatural: The Song Remains the Same
Another recap/review of last week’s episode, this one from the San Diego Tribune blog.

Supernatural: The Song Remains the Same
Suzanne has our final recap over at Damsel Undistressed. She loved the episode, but I think she might have been basking in the afterglow of the amazing season premiere of Last last week.

Supernatural and Vampire Diaries Taking a 5-Week Hiatus
Sadly, My Bloody Valentine is our last episode of Supernatural for a while.  They had best come back from this hiatus with an episode in which we get to see Death. That was my biggest disappointment with this set of episodes. They didn’t resolve the cliffhanger.

Two Previews of Supernatural’s My Bloody Valentine
Need to get the scoop on tonight’s episode? Here are two clips to whet your appetite.

From Smallville to Capain America
More rumors that Jensen Ackles might be Captain America. Make of it what you will. 

Supernatural: Preview of Episode 5.13 “The Song Remains the Same”Get ready for tonight’s episode with a synopsis and a clip.

Random 80s Flashback

Secret Admirer
Most movies from the 80s just don’t hold up. The humor was too steeped in the time frame, and the jokes no longer work. The exceptions, though, are great. All of the John Hughes teen films remain awesome. And Secret Admirer, starring a very young Lori Loughlin, Kelly Preston, and C. Thomas Howell (we called him Tommy and looked at his dreamy photos in Bop and Tiger Beat back then), is another timeless comedy. It centers around misplaced love letters, and the stellar cast of adults and teens help keep it from being too formulaic. Rent it from Netflix or catch it on the Reelz Channel.

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Related Posts:

• My Fall TV Viewing Schedule
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If You Like Friday Night Lights, You’ll Love Homefront

I’m a huge fan of Friday Night Lights. There are myriad reasons for this, but one of the big ones is Kyle Chandler.

I first saw Chandler on a little show about a family growing and changing after World War II. Homefront ran for two seasons in the early 90s. In addition to Chandler, the show starred Wendy Phillips, Harry O’Reilly, Jessica Steen, and John Slattery (who you may remember as the /senator into water sports on Sex and the City).

Unfortunately, Warner Bros. has not yet released this gem on DVD. I had hoped that the success of period drama Mad Men would reignite studios’ desire to capitalize on our love of earlier times by releasing Homefront. But nothing so far. Thankfully, there is a website to help channel fan focus: Homefront on DVD has info about the show and suggestions for how to let WB know we would buy these DVDs.

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Emmy Noms

In case you didn’t feel like getting up early (5:30 am Pacific? Really?) to watch the Primetime Emmy nominations announced this morning, here is a link to the nominations from the major categories.

I’m excited to see a few drops of new blood in there. (Way to go, Flight of the Conchords!) But still nothing for Friday Night Lights. I wouldn’t even dare to dream of anything for Supernatural.

The most interesting thing about these nominations is how many are for shows that are no longer on the air. Would a nomination for Kristen Chenowith last year have helped save Pushing Daisies? Did William Shatner really deserve another nomination for Boston Legal?

What do you think? Did the new rules lead to a better slate of nominees, or just a bigger one?

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My Fall TV Viewing Schedule

[digg=http://digg.com/television/My_Fall_TV_Viewing_Schedule]Now that the fall lineups have been announced, my viewing plans are falling into place. Mondays and Thursdays are still full, especially now that NBC has announced that they will not move Chuck to Fridays.

Mondays, I’ll be on CBS, watching How I Met Your Mother at 8 and giving Accidentally on Purpose a Chance at 8:30. I’ll be recording Gossip Girl and most likely watching it at 9. Then to ABC for Castle. I am okay with the thought that I am breaking up with Heroes, but we’ll see if Mr. PCC records it on his DVR.

Tuesdays, it appears that no one has given me a reason to break up with 90210, so I’ll be all CW, all the time, watching 90210 at 8 and Melrose Place at 9.

Wednesdays are free until 9, when I visit Fox for Glee and then move to ABC for Eastwick.

Thursdays are pretty standard. Watch Vampire Diaries on the CW at 8 and DVR Flash Forward. Stick with the CW for Supernatural at 9 (obviously) and record The Office and Community/30 Rock. [Edited to add: Thanks to Rainn Wilson and Twitter, I realized that Joel McHale has a show coming out this fall: Community. I watched the preview at Zap2it, and it looks pretty funny.]

Fridays, I’ll be watching Dollhouse, but that is pretty much it. Thanks, Fox, for picking up this show for a second season.

My weekends look free. When DirecTV announces when it will play Friday Night Lights, I’ll update the spreadsheet I keep so that I won’t miss out on a new show I am interested in. (Yes, I’m that much of a TV geek. I make a spreadsheet each May and use it when the new shows premiere in the fall.)

Most of my favorite shows and ideas are slated for midseason: Chuck (NBC), Lost (ABC), Better Off Ted (ABC), The Body Politic (CW), Happy Town (ABC), V (ABC). I haven’t decided if I will follow Tyler Labine to Sons of Tucson.

Here are links to night-by-night grids to help you do your own fall TV planning, spreadsheet suggested but not required.

ABC

CBS

NBC

Fox

CW

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Chuck Is a Twitter Success

Last night, quite a few of us tweeted our reactions to Chuck in real time. If you joined us, let me know how you enjoyed it.

If you didn’t make it to the Twitter party, search for hashtags #chuck and #chuckonnbc to get caught up on the fun.

I let NBC know about the number of fans talking about Chuck on Twitter, with links to both searches.

What else can we do to build momentum and get a renewal announcement?

(On a related note, Friday Night Lights got its renewal yesterday.)

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Friday Night Lights Looks Good for a Fourth Season

According to the New York Times, Ben Silverman is hopeful for a fourth season of our beloved Friday Night Lights.

FNL Fans, Have Hope

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Wednesday TV IS Pretty Darn Good

OK. Back in the glory days of Gilmore Girls, Tuesdays were my favorite night of television. GG was complete appointment TV. Wednesdays were a total wasteland, when I took a late yoga class and didn’t even have to worry about recording one show.

Now, Tuesday is dead to me, and Wednesday has just the right amount of shows on. I watched Pushing Daises, Friday Night Lights, and Dirty Sexy Money. (Well, most of Dirty Sexy Money–I got a little tired and had to go to bed before 11.) And I enjoyed them, for the most part. I’m not sure they are appointment TV as of yet, but Pushing Daises is well on its way.

Friday Night Lights was not a disappointment, either. It was a little like they erased 99% of last season, but other than that, I enjoyed the show. I will be glad to see Smash gone. He is an entitled little baby. I think he is an accurate portrayal of some young athletes, but the level of reality his character includes does not make me want him as a friend or screen entity.

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Friday Night Lights Is Back Tonight!

Directv subscribers, don’t forget, Friday Night Lights is on tonight at 9pm and midnight Eastern. That means that we on the West Coast still get to watch it at 9. (I get home from work at 6:30, so it is hard for me to catch some of my non-network shows, e.g., Greek, because they start at 6pm Pacific.)

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Content Power Rankings

Optimedia, a media research group (from what I can tell), just released the results of a new type of rating that assesses the value of a show on all platforms. It takes tv ratings, online streaming, quality, and a lot of other items into consideration when ranking shows. Friday Night Lights, for example, ranks 84 according to Nielsen, but 17 on the Content Power Ratings report.

I find this very interesting, and I wonder if they will indeed supplant Nielsen as the go-to information source about whether a show is successful.

Read more about and download the report here: http://www.optimedia-us.com/inside/news.html (you have to click on the news story OPTIMEDIA U.S. LAUNCHES CONTENT POWER RATINGS REPORT to expand it and then scroll to the bottom to download the report)

Sadly, Supernatural didn’t crack the top 100. I wonder if it is mainly because it is a genre show. Because it has a lot of Internet buzz and other measured qualities. I’m not sure how it does with streaming–I know I’ve heard that the CW is not always quick in posting its shows other than Gossip Girl. I wonder what we fans of the show could do to increase its power rating (or if it even matters). What do you think?

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Friday Night Lights Is Back!

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-fridaynightlightsdirectv,0,3399176.story

According to this story, Friday Night Lights will be shared with DirecTV. Now, this raises DirecTV in my eyes quite a bit. We switch to DirecTV in my house a few months ago, and I will say tht my impression has not been favorable. I was a nine-year Dish Network subscriber, and then a one-year Comcast subscriber, and I think both offer better service. Dish is clearer and had fewer signal issues that DirecTV has so far. And, Comcast has On Demand and the western feed of cable channels. I had gotten used to being able to watch shows at decent hours. Of course, DirecTV offered better prices because of a bundle with our Qwest service, more channels in all the rooms, not just the ones with digital, and a free season of NFL Sunday Ticket.

But I digress. My beloved FNL will be back. Yay!

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