nicholasjon.com :: a weblog >> posts tagged: television

50 Greatest comedy sketches of all time

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:47:42 GMT

Link: http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/nerveeditors/50GreatestComedySketches/05/

Retroactive continuity

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:32:30 GMT

The redefining of established facts in a work of serial fiction.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retcon

The Tommyverse

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:17:22 GMT

In the series finale of St. Elsewhere, it was revealed that the whole thing actually took place inside little Tommy Westphall’s mind. Due to crossovers and spin-offs, this means that 280 other television shows also occurred inside Tommy’s head.

Link: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html

Cinematic Titanic

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:26:38 GMT

MST3K is back!

Link: http://cinematictitanic.com/wpmu/index.php

The A.V. Club interviews Anthony Bourdain

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:46:38 GMT

Link: http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/anthony_bourdain

KITT is a Mustang

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:48:01 GMT

In NBC’s new ‘Knight Rider’ series.

Link: http://jalopnik.com/cars/knight-rider/its-official-knight-riders-kitt-is-a-shelby-gt500kr-mustang-333022.php

Is Apple TV a success?

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:41:15 GMT

“Yes.” If you compare it to TiVo.

Link: http://www.technovia.co.uk/2007/12/is-apple-tv-a-s.html

Speed Racer

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:43:43 GMT

I can’t tell if it’s going to be a good movie yet, but it certainly looks gorgeous.

Link: http://movies.aol.com/movie/speed-racer-2008/28066/main

Philip Glass's Sesame Street animations

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:21:57 GMT

I remember seeing these on Sesame Street as a kid. I hated them and was mesmerized by them. They’re pure geometry, mixed with color theory wrapped up and set to an exceedingly eerie score — particularly for a children’s program.

Retro television themes

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:16:42 GMT

In the spirit of my recent post on the TV Theme Song Game — read: “so I can practice” — check out RetroStatic and their massive collection of opening sequences from ‘80s and ‘90s television.

Specificially, cartoons like:

And even some “regular” shows:

There are just so many opening sequences to memorize before the competition really heats up over the holidays.

Name that theme song

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:24:08 GMT

I could play this game for hours. Seriously. It’s a problem.

Link: http://www.televisiontunes.com/game.html

Streaming the game

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:42:55 GMT

At least the NFL Network offered hit-or-miss streaming coverage of the Packers-Cowboys game.

The 50 greatest fictional weapons of all time

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 07:20:24 GMT

An interesting list, but the top 15 are in a very unusual order if you ask me.

Link: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/006398688.cfm

Rise of the Video Game

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:02:51 GMT

The Discovery Channel has put together a five part series. Looks interesting.

Link: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/video-game/about/about.html

If 24 had been written in 1994

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:48:35 GMT

'The Prisoner' is forty years old.

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:17:14 GMT

And it’s still completely incomprehensible.

Link: http://www.metafilter.com/65186/I-am-not-a-number-Im-a-mefi-front-page-post

Slap Bet Countdown

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 12:30:40 GMT

I’m guessing this means that How I Met Your Mother will air another Slap Bet-slapping in the middle of November this year.

Link: http://slapcountdown.com/

Top 10 worst sci-fi shows

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 07:12:36 GMT

The opening sequences of the worst sci-fi tv shows of all time. (Includes Automan!)

Link: http://forevergeek.com/sci-fi/top_10_worst_sci-fi_shows_ever_wvideos.php?fromrss=1

Automan

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:48:07 GMT

This came up at work today.

Jellyfish is one year old at midnight

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:53:10 GMT

One year ago we threw the switch and opened all our hard work up to the public. Tomorrow, we’re turning the deals over to our users. From shopping search, to live game show, to social shopping — it’s safe to say there’s never been a dull moment.

Mr. Wizard passes away

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:43:18 GMT

I loved his shows as a kid and always used his experiments as examples when I was teaching.

Link: http://www.mrwizardstudios.com/

Another theory on ABC’s Lost

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sun, 13 May 2007 08:48:23 GMT

Long, but interesting.

(Down. Try here instead.)

Link: http://www.lostreview.com/2007/05/another-theory-on-abcs-lost.cfm

Leave It to Beaver

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Thu, 03 May 2007 06:41:04 GMT

A freeze-framed note to Ward is finally read word for word.

Link: http://www.shorpy.com/leave-it-to-beaver

8 important lessons learned from '80s cartoons

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 18:45:06 GMT

Like the one from The Smurfs: Communism works.

Link: http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=815

K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider for sale

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:52:44 GMT

Only $185,000 for a piece of television history — Turbo Boost not included.

Link: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/05/kitt_from_knight_rid.html

The Prisoner

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 08:33:10 GMT

It occurs to me that the opening credits to The Prisoner are deserving of being at the top of the previously linked Onion AV Club’s list of the “most fitting television openings”, if not some other list of the best television openings of all time.

The above movie is just the first part of The Prisoner’s opening sequence. The actual opening credits take about five minutes to get through, including a bit at the end where Patrick McGoohan’s character (Number 6) shouts the ever-famous “I am not a number, I am a free man.” That’s five whole minutes of an hour-long program devoted to setting up the premise of the show. Compare that to today’s shows — like Lost or the recently-defunct Alias — which often forsake their opening sequences entirely.

Phew, television titles get me going. Be seeing you.

Police Squad!

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 08:11:54 GMT

Twenty-two opening sequences that fit their television shows perfectly

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 08:10:01 GMT

These aren’t the greatest television openings of all time, just the ones that fit their shows best — otherwise we’d see the A-Team in there somewhere.

Link: http://www.avclub.com/content/node/59771/1

Thirteen sidekicks who are cooler than their heroes

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 20:01:54 GMT

A few notable exceptions, but still a pretty good list.

Link: http://www.avclub.com/content/node/59017

Inside Joke

nicholasjon@nicholasjon.com (Nick) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:38:22 GMT

She got it. Tonight while watching Two and a Half Men (through the time-shifting magic of TiVo) Amy understood the following (approximate) joke spoken by Charlie Sheen’s “Charlie” to John Cryer’s “Alan” when he sees Alan’s unfortunate earring: