TV Right Now: The good, the bad and the totally sucky

[jack]

and you may be able to guess that i am rooting for the trevor project to be the remaining recipient of some of our forum's surplus funds. 

[CANSTANDIT]

Hugh Laurie won the SAG for best dramatic actor for "House", yah, baby!

[Marz]

there seem to be alot of programmes about Diana, Princess of Wales, on at the moment
i love watching anything about Diana.

[jack]

i don't know exactly how to categorize this, but WHEEL OF FORTUNE apparently recently had a gay contestant ... and his fiance chuck.  and he won.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQ3gwGHiDs

[Zudos]

I have to say that I have no idea how you guys in the USA, put up with so many adverts between and during programmes...

When I was last there, sometimes you only get the opening credits and then a commercial break!!!!! It must do your heads in!!!

The UK is getting worse on its commercial channels, but fortunately we still have the BBC for which we all pay a licence fee, and therefore has no adverts!

I am so glad of my Sky + i.e. your TIVO.     

[Passion]

You are so right Zudos!  It is horrible!  However, now I DVR (or Tivo) every show so I can fast forward!  My kids are so used to fast forwarding that they try it even on live shows and get frustrated when they cannot!  I keep thinking that some advertising company is going to come up with a way to block people from being able to fast forward through the commercials.  I know one company (I think a fast food chain) that had a secret code during one of their commercials that gave you a free burger.  The only way to see the code was to go slow motion through the commercial. I thought it was a pretty good try!

[jack]

is anyone out there following THE UNIT ?  in a desperate attempt to avoid the big game i left it on and became completely caught up in what appeared to be a big plot shift or major event.  is it always this good? 

[killersmom]

Yes Jack The Unit has always been this good.
They did a major shift in plot this season. Way different from last season's, as it got boring,
Makes it look like two different shows.

[michaelflanagansf]

I was just watching an episode of 'History Detectives' from June 2006 - there is a segment on a marker for the Chisholm trail.  This line caught my attention:

"From Gene Autry to John Wayne to Heath Ledger, the cowboy is a staple of American culture."

Already part of the archetype in June 2006 - how very cool.
 

[Jer009]

Michael, I didn't know where to put this item--here is as good as any other. And I know you get around  .

I know you're a fellow "Bewitched" fan, and our dear Uncle Arthur's in the news:

http://sfist.com/2009/03/11/exit_theater_cancels_banned_paul_ly.php

Jeremiah

[michaelflanagansf]

His boyfriend fell to his death at the Saint Francis?  I didn't know that!

Of course one of my favorite lines in that article isn't even about Lynde:

Instead of Center Square, EXIT Theater will do a staged reading of Lee Kiszonas’, Capote’s Last Frontier, about the life of writer and drug/alcohol aficionado Truman Capote.

Although you are right - this isn't really about TV Right Now - it's about TV Back Then....

[CellarDweller115]

"From Gene Autry to John Wayne to Heath Ledger, the cowboy is a staple of American culture."

Already part of the archetype in June 2006 - how very cool.

very! 

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I didn't know that!

That book (Center Square) describes it all in detail.  That incident seems
to be the reason a well-regarded pilot he did at the time was not picked
up and why he then listened to Lucille Ball's advice about doing a tv
series about "family".  Which was atrocious (I remember at the time),
but would love to check out again now.  The set had a huge swimming
pool on it which Paul said only made the writers try to come up with ideas
for him to fall into it.

That article begs the question of WHY they didn't want this play reading
done?  (Isn't the basic premise of all informative news items to include
who what why when where?

P.S.:  While reading this book, I discovered that my friend Rich now lives
in the apartment above where Paul Lynde had lived in the 1970's.  (I'm
90% sure.)
 

[michaelflanagansf]

That article begs the question of WHY they didn't want this play reading
done?  (Isn't the basic premise of all informative news items to include
who what why when where?

Well yes, Lyle, but two comments about this - that site seems more 'infotainment' than journalism - and there may be something in the cease and desist order which precludes the theater discussing the 'why' of the banning.  It's the kind of thing that gets done all the time by censorious sorts, and it rarely stands up to a challenge, but it freaks people out and they give incomplete stories like this.

Exit Theater is right around the corner from where I live.  If you really want to know I could go ask what the story is (although they may not tell me if they are worried about lawsuits).

[doodler]

"From Gene Autry to John Wayne to Heath Ledger, the cowboy is a staple of American culture."

Already part of the archetype in June 2006 - how very cool.

very! 

Absolutely!