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Showing posts from June, 2005

Remember When Network Programming Made Sense?

The 4400, the best science-fiction series since Firefly, is not on Sci-Fi. When USA Networks announced plans to create the original miniseries about these 4,400 individuals who were abducted for decades returning to a modern-day post-9/11 untrusting world (for those that have never seen this great show, shame on you! I won't tell you who really abducted The 4400, because it's not what you initially think), it seemed like a show that was destined to be on a network dedicated to science-fiction like, um, Sci-Fi. However, the original miniseries and regular series is a part of USA's highly-acclaimed lineup, giving that network its highest ratings ever and a growing fanbase. Though it would have been nice if it was a part of Sci-Fi's weekly lineup. Instead, Saturday nights are cluttered with cheesy horror flicks, and the rest of the prime time lineup aside from Friday nights (which actually looks like it has some thought to its creation) isn't much better. Sci-Fi, for l...

Something THEY Don't Want You To Know #1: Sports Fans Are BIG Nerds

This is hopefully the first of many articles I want to publish here at Thoughtnami. It's just sporadic thoughts about things people rarely know about. Or at least things people don't really want to admit. It's basically a fun discussion, at least for me. I'm not an old man, but I have realized many things in this thing called reality. So, at least for the next couple of minutes, delve into a little bit of madness I'm calling Things THEY Don't Want You To Know . I'm not a sports fan. Maybe that's because I live in the nation's largest metropolitan area without a major league franchise. Maybe it's because the players on the minor league teams in the area really don't want to be here, and it is kind of hard to root for a group of players that would rather be in Chicago or New York. Or maybe it's because a lot of people fully embrace the fandom of a team memorizing every little insignificant thing about every player, every game, and every oth...

BOB: A Short Subject Renaissance

In my neck of the woods around the Norfolk, VA area, we have a radio station that plays nearly everything. WPYA-FM is known around these parts as BOB-FM, one of the first "BOB" stations in the country, named after Bob Sinclair, owner of a chain of radio stations around these parts. The BOB phenomenon has spread throughout the country with two different names. Some call their station BOB. Others call their station JACK. New Yorkers are pretty ticked that WCBS-FM has changed its format from an "oldies" format to a JACK format. There's another BOB I'm interested in, and it's this new network currently in the planning stages. It's name is BOB. BOB stands for Brief Original Broadcasts. Apparently taking a cue from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim franchise, BOB will populate its network with short-subject programming. BOB will air comedy, drama, action, animation, and everything inbetween. Nothing's longer than eight minutes, and the lineup isn't ...

Reason #187 Why Time Warner Doesn't Like The Turner Networks

Starting at 6 AM EST on Saturday, TV Land is presenting a 50-hour marathon celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Warner Bros. Television. Shows from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and even today are going to air throughout this weekend's marathon. Some you might expect to see such as dramas like The Waltons, Dallas, Life Goes On, Eight Is Enough, and Jack and Bobby, crime-dramas like The FBI, 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside Six, and Spencer For Hire, westerns like Maverick, action and adventure shows like Wonder Woman and La Femme Nikita, and comedies like Alice, Welcome Back Kotter, Chico and the Man, Murphy Brown, The Hogan Family, and Full House. Aside from the fact that it was distributed in syndication by Warner Bros., I'm not sure why The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, a series produced by Quincy Jones Entertainment and NBC Studios, is on the marathon. Now, in the official press release, Warner Bros. was pleased to present this marathon on TV Land. However, couldn't they have done th...