Category: TV
Highlights and photos from Toy Fair 2011 – The Walking Dead, Terminator, Duke Nukem, Pirates LEGOs, BioShock, Ghostbusters, and more
I visited Toy Fair 2011 today in New York from the comfort of my office in Florida by way of coverage of the annual event from Collider.com and ActionFigs.com.
I wish I had been there in person, but since I wasn’t, sifting through photo galleries was the next best thing. And I pulled out pictures of the toys, action figures, and other fun things that I’ll most likely be buying when they hit the market soon.
So here’s my vicarious photo report from Toy Fair 2011 of what I’m most looking forward to…
Terminator
I have quite the collection of Terminator 2 figures already, so I’m quite happy to see NECA coming out with a couple of Arnold from the original Terminator as well. Plus more fun sculpts of the T-1000 are always fun too:
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 2 – RickMuffin
Day 2 of my 365 days of photos for 2011 brings us today’s lunch, my infamous “RickMuffin” (and obvious play on McDonald’s McMuffin substituting my name in. It’s a simple recipe created by my dad, whose name was also Rick. It’s made of Jimmy Dean Sage-flavored sausage, one egg over hard, American cheese, and toasted Publix-brand sourdough english muffins. Mmmm.
On the side are some colorful vegetable chips and apple juice in a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles glass Michelle gave me for Christmas.
TweetPosts returning soon.
Don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned this blog. I’ve just been too busy this week to get back into the habit of posting.
While you’re waiting for me to start posting again, check out the following things I’ve been busy with in the last week or so:
- Inside the Magic Show 217 – Includes my review of Disney/Pixar’s Up
- American Idol Kris Allen at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- More of American Idol Kris Allen at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Star Wars Weekends 2009 Dance-Off with the Star Wars Stars – Hilarious!
- Face and Body Art International Convention 2009 Photos and Video
Halloween in January? ’13 – Fear is Real’ Premieres on The CW
I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but I’m actually looking forward to a new “reality” show on The CW, called 13 -- Fear is Real:
From www.cwtv.com:
Thirteen people compete to “stay alive” as they face their deepest fears in an all-out elimination competition and scare-fest. Pitted against each other in situations straight from the horror movies, the 13 will face shocking surprises, psychological scares and lots of “beware of the dark” moments, all designed by a “mastermind” of terror. In addition to frightening them, he’ll also entice individuals to work in concert with him and against the others, creating a situation in which the 13 will not only look over their shoulders but will also never be certain who is real before them.
Each week, one unlucky victim will be “killed off” via frightening challenges and game-playing until only one person is left to win the grand prize of -- fittingly -- $66,666.
“13 – Fear Is Real” is produced by Magic Molehill Productions, Inc. and Warner Horizon Television Inc. in association with Jay Bienstock Productions and Ghost House Pictures with executive producers Jay Bienstock (“Survivor,” “The Apprentice”), Sam Raimi (the “Spider-Man” films, “The Evil Dead” films) & Robert Tapert (“The Evil Dead” films, “The Grudge” films).
It seems like a show that would premiere in October, so to have something like this pop up in January is great. With names like Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert involved, it can’t be ALL bad. If it’s Survivor meets MTV’s Fear like it appears to be, then it should be at least amusing to watch the contestants get endlessly freaked out.
Here are the title sequence and a clip from the show:
More preview video can be found on The CW’s YouTube channel.
Hopefully the “fear” in the show is based on spooky atmosphere and creepy characters rather than gross-out Fear Factor-style stunts.
TweetComedy Central, Nickelodeon, and other Viacom channels may disappear from Time Warner / BrightHouse cable service
From news.yahoo.com:
“SpongeBob SquarePants” might get squeezed off Time Warner Cable.
Media giant Viacom Inc. said its Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 16 other channels will go dark for 13 million subscribers at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if a new carriage fee deal with Time Warner Cable Inc. is not agreed upon by then.
The impasse would mean “SpongeBob” and other popular shows like Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and Stephen Colbert’s “The Colbert Report” will be cut off on the nation’s second-largest cable operator. Time Warner Cable primarily serves people in New York state, the Carolinas, Ohio, Southern California and Texas.
In addition, Time Warner Cable is affiliated with Orlando’s BrightHouse Networks, which would also be affected.
From blogs.orlandosentinel.com:
A Viacom ad in today’s [Orlando] Sentinel is aimed at viewers: “Why is Dora crying?” it asks. “Bright House is taking Dora off the air tonight along with 19 of your favorite channels.”
Actually, if Dora goes off Bright House, that will be Viacom’s call.
“We have no way legally of keeping that programming on,” said Bright House spokeswoman Sara Brady. “It’s our customers who are being penalized.”
Brady added that Bright House is hoping for an agreement or at least an extension to keep the programming.
And why will these channels be disappearing?
From news.yahoo.com:
Viacom has asked for fee increases of between 22 percent and 36 percent per channel, or a total of $39 million more, an amount that could increase customers’ cable bills, said Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley.
[…]
Viacom said the increases would cost an extra 23 cents a month per subscriber. It said that Americans spend a fifth of their TV time watching Viacom shows but its fees make up less than 2.5 percent of the Time Warner cable bill.
“We make this request because Time Warner Cable has so greatly undervalued our channels for so long,” Viacom said.
“Ultimately, however, if Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and the rest of our programming is discontinued — over less than a penny per day — we believe viewers will see this behavior by their cable company as outrageous,” Viacom said.
[…]
If the shows go dark after midnight, Time Warner Cable will send people to the Internet to catch episodes. Dudley said the cable operator also will make available a video teaching people how to hook their computers up to the TV to watch online shows.
There’s the kicker. We’re paying to watch these channels on television but are now being told to watch low-resolution copies on Time Warner’s ad-heavy Web sites.
While not BrightHouse or Time Warner’s fault (this time), this development does make me consider switching to other means of getting my television shows. AT&T recently announced that it was going to be bringing its U-Verse service to the Orlando area soon, which offers TV programming over an internet connection. Then there’s always the option of going with satellite via DirecTV or Dish Network.
I previously wrote about my dislike of BrightHouse’s “improved” DVR software. Combined with this new problem, it may be enough to get me to finally drop them.
In the meantime, customers of Time Warner / BrightHouse may be missing out on this list of channels: Comedy Central, CMT: Pure Country, Logo, Palladia, MTV, MTV 2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, MTV Tr3s, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Nick 2, Nicktoons, Spike, The N, TV Land, VH1, VH1 Classic, and VH1 Soul.
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