Thoughtnami™

Christmas has come and gone for most of us (traditional Christmas is a little over a week away), but I did get a surprise from one of my relatives. I received a newish computer. Not totally new, but new enough for me. It runs on Windows 98 with a 25 GB hard drive and a 1.7 GHz processor with space to expand and a 56K modem. A little prehistoric to some, but considering the fact that my last computer ran on Windows 95 with a 1 GB hard drive, a 120 MHz processor and a 28K modem, it's tantamount to me upgrading from a Model T to a '65 Mustang. The only problem I have is, well, all my old stuff is on the old gal, mostly my TXB stuff, a lot of great fonts, and a few major files. I had a problem with my floppy drive, and it corrupted every disc I had, which is why I rarely used it in the first place. So, I'm in an endless search for a way to bring to old familiar things in life to my newish funtastic machine. As a result, TXB won't be completely updated for another two or thr...

There are a lot of people who are foolishly under the impression that Seth MacFarlane's immensely popular series Family Guy is a carbon copy of The Simpsons. I'm not talking about the people who just hate Family Guy like John Krisfalusi, many former Spumco employees like animation journalist Amid Amidi, or the South Park creators. The folks behind The Simpsons have countlessly thrashed Family Guy on numerous occasions, even going as far as calling Peter Griffin a Homer Simpson clone in a segment of the once-funny Treehouse of Terror specials. A recent issue of the once-funny Mad Magazine called Family Guy "the most original show on television" while portraying the core cast dressed as The Simpsons. Heck, this past weekend, they even called American Dad a copy of the copy of the Simpsons. But that's not really fair of The Simpsons nor people who believe that Family Guy is a copy of The Simpsons. I mean, I could easily go as far as to say The Simpsons isn't all ...

, , , but if a show's the most watched show on a network, winning in nearly every timeslot it's in , and one of the most popular shows on cable television , you wouldn't cancel it, would you? You don't know Cartoon Network very well, do you? Obviously neither you nor I don't, and I don't really understand why they cancelled Teen Titans. Seriously, why in the HELL did Cartoon Network cancel their highest-rated, most commercial-ready, all-ages-reaching series. Oh . . . right, the whole all-ages reaching thing. I forget that if you have breasts or a dropped testicle or two, Cartoon Network doesn't want you watching them. *sigh*

You know how you always say you can make a better network? Well, if you have the right tools, maybe you can thanks to Broadband. After yesterday's announcement that Time Warner is planning a free Broadband-exclusive network In2TV next year in addition to the Adult Swim block introduced a little over a month ago as well as Viacom's recent forays into Broadband entertainment courtesy of Comedy Central and MTV, it's not a question of how can one create their own network, it's a question of when. I believe that the current broadcast television model is outmoded and ineffectual. There are only five major conglomerates with their hands in the cookie jar of entertainment in the US (Time Warner owns The WB, HBO, and the Turner networks, Disney owns ABC, ESPN, and ABC Cable, Viacom owns MTV Networks while their CBS Entertainment owns Showtime, CBS, and UPN, News Corp owns Fox, Fox Cable Networks, and a bulk of the UPN affiliates, and NBC Universal owns USA Networks, Bravo, Telem...

Science fiction programming doesn't last on the traditional networks and rarely stays on the non-traditional broadcast outlets. So, when I heard about the resurrection of Kolchak: The Night Stalker airing on Thursday nights on ABC for the 2005-06 season, the following thought entered my brain: "This show won't see 2006." Not that it wasn't good but because in this day and age where scripted programming is being shown the door in favor of "reality" shows, competition shows that aren't game shows, and makeover shows, shows like Night Stalker really won't last. And I have history to prove it. Firefly. John Doe. Dark Angel. The Watcher. Twilight Zone (the recent version). Enterprise. Space: Above and Beyond. Any time there's a hint of science-fiction element on a series (including horror, superheroics, paranoia, and supernaturalism), there's already an imprinted code to cancel the series, and Night Stalker had all these elements. Carl Kolcha...

Cartoon Network is planning an MTV-level disaster at their network starting a week from Sunday by airing a series of live-action films, including Small Soldiers, The Goonies, and Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and a bigtime movie coming to Toonami very soon. But wait, there's more. Cartoon Network, in a move that should surprise everyone, is planning on creating new live-action series plots like sitcoms and action projects networkwide, not just the Krofft Brothers homage being worked on at Adult Swim. They're doing this because they claim that kids aren't interested in cartoons anymore and drawn towards Disney Channel and Nickelodeon live-action fare. According to some higher ups at the network, the word "cartoon" is not limited to cel, stop-motion, or computer-animated productions, but is rather a state of mind. Now, my question is not aimed towards the executive minds of Cartoon Network but rather the animation media writers who cover the industry from all angles and ...

To every cable and satelite operator in the United States with the exception of Comcast who owns G4: Hello. My name is, well, not important for the duration of this article. The reason why I'm writing this is because the cable industry has been duped and scammed. The network you originally signed to air on your cable lineups many years ago is no longer on the air. Neither TechTV, a technology-driven network with people who were experienced with the world of computers, technology, and all things tech-oriented, nor G4, a lesser-known but popular outlet that celebrated the gamer lifestyle, are on the air. After the supposed merger that developed after Comcast's G4 Media purchased TechTV for its extensive cable and satelite slots systemwide as well as for TechTV's popular X-Play series, something emerged, but not what was promised. Instead of a technology/video game/geek culture-themed network, the industry got something different. Even the video game network rebranding of G4 i...