Another sign of technological change: grainy amateur viral videos posted on the web, and then broadcast on TV for your viewing pleasure.
Category Archives: TV and radio
Hip-hop gaining mainstream respect
Once again, it’s pledge time on PBS, when they bring out all their special shows, including reunions of soul and doo-wop singers from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Which means that when I’m in my 60s, I’m looking forward to a pledge special of hip-hop and R&B. Picture it now: a PBS special featuring Ice …
MythBusters
I saw MythBusters on the Discovery Channel for the first time last Saturday and again tonight. It has instantly become one of my favorite TV shows. Tonight they fired handguns and rifles, including a 50-caliber, into a pool to see how deep underwater you would have to be to avoid getting hurt (at 30 degrees, …
Tour de France
This is the first year I watching the last two weeks of the Tour every day. On the west coast it’s perfect timing: wake up at 7, watch the last hour of the stage on OLN, then get to work by my usual time. And I got totally sucked in — even when it was …
Watching TV makes you smarter?
Steven Johnson argues that over the years, audiences have become much more sophisticated in their TV watching. Today, we have no problem watching shows like “The West Wing,” “E.R.,” and “The Sopranos,” which have multiple subplots weaved throughout several episodes, whereas in the past, most TV shows like “Bonanza” or “Dragnet” would consist of one …
A good remake of a British TV series?
NBC is airing an American version of the British comedy The Office, a faux documentary about a seriously dysfunctional workplace. So far, TV critics are saying the NBC version is actually good! But this sentence from a BBC article really grabbed my attention: In the 1970s, US remakes of well-loved British series Till Death Do …
Theme park based on TV series
Lately my family has been watching a South Korean TV drama series called Dae Jang Geum, aka Jewel of the Palace. The main character is based on a real person, Seo Jang-Geum, who is the only female doctor for the king in Korea’s history. But so little is known about her real life that the …
KCBS is now webcast
This is more substantive than my previous KCBS posts (about the new jingle, etc.). KCBS started simultaneously streaming audio over the web today, along with 10 other Infinity radio stations. WCBS 880 started in December. I was pleasantly surprised, since Infinity (which is part of Viacom, the owner of CBS) has banned webcasts since late …
Caltech math professor consults for CBS
I never thought I’d see this: CBS’ new series, NUMB3RS, is a drama where a math whiz helps his detective brother solve police crime cases. To make sure the math stays realistic, the head of Caltech’s math department, Gary Lorden, is consulting for the show. Also, the fictitious school in the show, “Cal Sci,” is …
Iron Chef America
I finally got a chance to watch the Iron Chef America specials that first aired on Food Network back in April. I really enjoyed it: it captures the atmosphere and the attitude of the original Japanese series. And it looks like a lot of people agree with me: it’s becoming a full series starting on …