NY Times, the paper of record, says that Tivo has struck a deal with DirecTV so that subscribers will be able to record programs in HD on a new recorder made by Tivo. Other than the coolness factor, what should be noted is that Tivo will now be the recorder of choice for DirectTV, Comcast, and Cox - and people were saying Tivo was gonna disappear. TV tonight has more of McSame and the "Gong... [continue]

In a stunning twist of logic that has breathed new life into the once moribund TV series John McCain For President, Republican Presidential Candidate and POW-Tourrette's sufferer John McCain has selected Alaska Republican Governor Sarah Palin to be his Vice Presidential running mate. During weeks of intense media speculation that can only be described as "compulsory", "not as relevant as the interest in Obama's decision", or "barely interesting", McCain played coy, leading on a number... [continue]

Comedian Doug Williams is co-creator and host of "Martin Lawrence Presents: 1st Amendment Standup" which airs at 10:00pm on Wednesdays (tonight) on Starz. Williams has been doing standup for coming on 20 years and has been a fixture in Hollywood since '95 after appearing in Eddie Murphy's version of "The Nutty Professor". After coming up with the idea for "1st Amendment Standup" and a co-producer in Martin Lawrence, the show presents authentic, late-night comedians... [continue]

The hugely overhyped premiere of "90210" happens tonight - when NPR covers it, you know that the saturation level has been reached. Let's not forget our conflicted cops in "The Shield" are back - supposedly Vic goes after Shane from the get-go tonight. 8:00pm 90210 The CW - Series re-Premiere. 9:00pm Wanna Bet? ABC - Season Finale. 9:00pm Making the Band MTV - So this is what Diddy is bitching about having to fly to... [continue]

Supposedly NBC is beating the ratings battle with this week's broadcast of the DNCC in Denver. We've listed PBS below because when you've got a commercial-free option, go for it. True we're not listing C-SPAN, but even we have standards. Despite posting a second quarter of profitability, Tivo's stock got pummeled yesterday because their profit did not meet analyst predictions. Despite competition from cable networks, the Tivo interface seems to be the best, so it... [continue]

You just can't keep an undead cable network down: TechCrunch has reported that The WB has been resurrected as TheWB.com, which launched today. The site will act as a source for all the TV shows that originated on The WB and has a number of interesting features. While one might argue with TechCrunch's assertion that TheWB.com is now a competitor to Hulu.com, they really do have a pretty awesome search engine that will hunt down... [continue]

What will get us out of our perchlorate-laced Olympics hangover? I don't think the season opener of "Deal or No Deal" is going to do it. NBC is getting some criticism for how poorly it monetized nbcolympics.com - essentially making only $0.004 per page served (of at least 1.2 billion pages), raking in a pissant $5.75 million, a tiny portion of the $1 billion it made from its Olympics rights. Obviously the web content was... [continue]

This weekend concludes NBC's broadcast of the XXIX Summer Olympics which has had some very enjoyable moments, not necessarily enjoyable because of NBC, but it's not like we had a lot of choice. Who knows what moments we missed in the countless events that were not broadcast, who knows what sports would have piqued the interest of Americans, if only they had exposure to them. In feedback to previous posts about the Olympics, commenters have... [continue]

Pretty much an Olympics-only night tonight which looks like it will be focused on gymnastics (_still_) and now track. Left is a pic from the cycling men's sprint event which was very exciting but of course you won't be seeing any of it on NBC's prime time coverage. There's a chance to revisit a couple great shows from Sunday night: Comedy Central's Roast of Bob Saget was very good - the combination of some great... [continue]

Dear NBC, please remove Mary Carillo from all Olympics broadcasts. She towers over the terrified and cowering Chinese locals and her speech impediment caused by her oversized caps a la Matt Dillon in "There's Something About Mary" (or something??!!) is almost as incredibly annoying as the vacuous fluff pieces they have her doing - really, did we need to meet the tallest man in China who could have been her love interest or the overlong... [continue]

NBC's primetime Olympic broadcast isn't as horrible as we thought it would be but it still suffers from the reasons we went over in last week's post. The live broadcasts have been good - thanks NBC for that and for some of the streaming online content. There's definitely TV worth watching in there, just not enough of it despite the hype. For those seeking something other than rehashed Olympic moments, you are somewhat SOL when... [continue]

So there's this thing called the Olympics on TV and it's as if TCM, HBO, and Showtime aren't even attempting to compete by showing some decent movies. If you're not into sports it seems as if no other network is stepping in to make an offer for your time, it's kind of pathetic. If you are into the Olympics and you stayed up to all hours last night, you got to watch the amazing Jason... [continue]

Bernie Mac, star of the popular 2001-2006 Fox series "The Bernie Mac Show" and of several top films, has died, according to his publicist Danica Smith. Mac was 50. He died early this morning in the Chicago hospital where he'd been receiving treatment for pneumonia; Mac had a condition known as sarcoidosis, according to KNBC.com, which is "an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs," although the comedian said... [continue]

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you should know that the Olympics start this weekend. Tonight the enormous super-choreographed extravaganza known as the Opening Ceremonies will take hours of your life away from you. Over the next couple weeks, TV Junkie will show what's on Prime Time as well as any events that should be highlighted depending upon how the games go. Tonight 8:00pm The Olympic Summer Games NBC -... [continue]

The biggest problem with the Olympics television broadcasts over the next couple of weeks is that when you and I see them in the States, the events are long since over, they're history, they're not news they're "olds". While it's true that NBC is offering some events via live streaming online, there's a reason why you have that giant plasma screen TV in your living room - it's to watch TV, not your laptop. If... [continue]

A couple months ago when "Wipeout" and "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" were first broadcast, TV Junkie readers voted "Wipeout" the keeper and it looks like ABC is of a like mind according to TV Week. Next year, get ready for another season of people humiliating themselves for a mere $50,000 in prize money. 8:00pm Last Comic Standing NBC - Last season's winner, Jon Reep, performs Gilbert Gottfried, Penn and Teller, and Joel McHale... [continue]