KB: 360 (11.18.08)
Movies
I’ll just cut right to the chase and give you the new Star Trek trailer. I’m pretty excited about this now.
And for the uninformed, Cinematical gives us 10 things we should know about Star Trek.
While we’re talking trailers, here’s the new one for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Sequel Alert! Another “Meet the Parents” sequel, this one called “Little Fockers.”
After The Hobbit, Guillermo del Toro is planning a stop-motion version of Pinocchio.
TV
More 24 propaganda, this time from USA Today. Seriously, what else is there to do this Sunday night?
Speaking of 24, Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Dessler) will join the cast of Lost next season.
Monk’s next season, its eighth, will be its last.
The 40 Best TV Theme-Songs of All Time. Another list that is not so kind to recent history. My current favorites include Friday Night Lights (of course), and my all time favorite, The Contender.
Brian Dennehy joins Donnie Wahlberg in a new TNT series titled Bunker Hill. I really like what TNT is doing, effectively breaking free from being a place to watch syndicated broadcast TV and instead developing top-notch programming. By 2010 they are hoping to have the majority of their weeks prime-time schedule filled with original programs.
Sports
A 16 year-old Japanese knuckleballer gets signed to play professional baseball. Oh, the pitcher totally throws like a girl.
The BCS games will be broadcast on ESPN starting in 2011. Good.
the Star Trek trailer looks pretty good.
Comment by Dan — November 18, 2008 @ 2:29 pm
Why is it good that ESPN broadcast the BCS games? I think cable is a rip off and wish more sports were broadcast over the air (remember when you could see local NBA, MLB and College football and basketball games on local independent VHF and/or UHF channels?). I’m fully willing to support the “I give you my mind space for advertising, you give me free content” model. I hate the I pay a fee for content AND give up mind space for advertising model.
Comment by Wm Morris — November 18, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
While there has been some ESPN backlash in recent years, and rightfully so, they know what they’re doing when it comes to live sports, and the sport they do best is college football. Fox had no idea what they were doing with these games.
And while I can appreciate your concern about pay TV, ESPN is in about 86% of households.
Comment by Tim J — November 18, 2008 @ 3:23 pm
From the “24″ article:
“The show’s changed for many reasons because the country’s changed,” Gordon says. “The post-9/11 scenario of wish fulfillment that Jack represented was replaced by some of the things that happened in the country, from Gitmo to Abu Ghraib. Our conduct in the world became a bigger issue, and Jack became a darker, more complex character.”
At the same time, he says, “we couldn’t renounce Jack’s behavior; it would discredit the entire series. But the issue comes back time and again, and we give voice to the price that’s paid for the ‘whatever it takes’ mind-set. I don’t want to over-politicize the show, but we couldn’t ignore it.”
This is a relief to me. The show, while I love it, was kind of approving of the 1% doctrine in Jack’s attitude, which bugged me. I’m glad they’re coming to grips with it, or at least trying to without jeopardizing Jack’s character. They’re not talking blowback yet, but at least they’re headed in a more civil direction.
Comment by David J — November 18, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
The main reason that I gave FNL a shot in the first place was because I heard Explosions in the Sky did the music.
Comment by mike d. — November 18, 2008 @ 4:56 pm
Well, I hope they give us a nice resolution on Trudy’s murder when they close out Monk. And maybe a cameo with Sharona. =)
House has a good theme song – I like the whole song better, of course. Teardrops by Massive Attack.
Comment by FHL — November 18, 2008 @ 6:20 pm
Absolute best TV Theme-Song ever: Seinfeld. A couple of notes and then we’re ready for the show.
Comment by BrianJ — November 18, 2008 @ 7:05 pm
I’m sorry, but that Star Trek trailer looks horrid. I understand time travel is involved and all, so I guess he can rewrite the story if he wants, but there are at least 15 continuity problems I can spot in the trailer – and the cast looks way too 90210 for my tastes.
Comment by Ivan — November 19, 2008 @ 6:45 am