• As if I weren’t already excited about ABC’s new comedy Modern Family (previously previewed on this here blog), here comes the news that bona fide movie stars Elizabeth Banks and Edward Norton will guest-star in multiple episodes. Banks was on Scrubs, but Norton does television? What the what?
• Unfortunately, American Idol has more staying power now that Ellen DeGeneres is permanently filling the judge’s chair left vacant by Paula Abdul. But she’s one of my favorite comedians, so I won’t hold it against her too much.
• LeVar Burton was the subject of a recent NPR interview in which he talked about his roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Reading Rainbow (the latter of which came to an abrupt end two weeks ago). A lot of listeners called and emailed in to express their appreciation for Rainbow, and their words spoke volumes about the cultural impact the show had over its 26 years.
• How brilliant is this “Snakes on a Plane” ad campaign for House? And how brilliant is it that it’s the brainchild of Hugh Laurie himself?
• And finally, a Norwegian bus driver has legally changed his name to—get ready for it—Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacka Highlander Elessar-Jankova. (And that wookiee rookie spelling error is his doing, not mine.) If he ever bears children, might I suggest that he name them Bond, Buffy, Bilbo, and Bauer?

The following post was originally published on my old blog on April 1, 2009.

One of my favorite practices this season was Fox’s “remote-free TV” model, in which the networks aired fewer commercials during each episode of Fringe and Dollhouse—while charging advertisers more for the exclusivity—in an effort to keep viewers watching live, instead of recording the shows and fast-forwarding through the commercials. I liked it because, as a result, each episode’s running time was 49 or 50 minutes, instead of just 42 or 43 minutes.

Unfortunately, the experiment had its share of setbacks, according to this article at Airlock Alpha. Even though viewers paid more attention to the ads, many companies were reluctant to shell out the extra bucks. Also, each episode was more expensive to produce—and the extra minutes of each episode would be cut if the show was ever to air on another network.

I have to confess that I did nothing to help save the venture. I rarely watching anything live, unless it’s some sort of viewing get-together with friends. The reduced number of ads simply meant less time through which to fast-forward.

However, I propose remote-free TV could work (and should be implemented) for shows like Dancing with the Stars or American Idol for a number of reasons: a) advertisers would gladly pay more since DWTS and Idol are huge ratings successes, b) it would reduce the running time of the show, especially if the producers trimmed some of the padding to fit those shows into an hour-long time slot, and, assuming that happened, c) other shows could be added to the lineup to fill those now-vacant time slots.

Networks, please have faith in remote-free TV—if not for me and my selfish desires, then for the sake of packing more into your primetime hours.

The following post was originally published on my old blog on February 4, 2009.  Updates to this post are noted below.

Under some pretense of being an organized person (ha!), I keep a very meticulous list of the episodes I have yet to see for all the shows I follow. And I’ve noticed definite trends regarding my level of addiction to certain shows—or the lack thereof—as shown in the following categories. (I should point out that this is nowhere near a comprehensive list!)

Must-See TV I want to see it, and I want to see it now.

• Battlestar Galactica
• Lost
• 30 Rock
• Grey’s Anatomy
• Chuck

Will-See TV I love it, but I might be a few episodes behind.

• 24
• Heroes (Update: Lo, how the mighty Heroes has fallen.)
• Mad Men
• Damages
• Californication

Might-See TV I’ve liked what I’ve seen, but I have a serious backlog.

• Pushing Daisies
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
• True Blood (Update: The more I watch this, the more I love it.)

Should-See TV I know, I know, I have to watch it. So you keep telling me!

• The Wire
• Friends
• Friday Night Lights
• The Office (Update: I got caught up in April, and this is must-see TV now.)

Won’t-See TV No, thank you.

• CSI
• NCIS
• Law & Order
• American Idol