Home add your blog Archives Search Forum Contact RSS FEED

This site is an rss/xml news reader containing our favorite feeds. All articles are the copyrighted material of the blogs that wrote them.

Digital Vision intros ultra-simple GiGo Digital
TV Recorder

post from TV Snob on 03 July 2009 08:49:00 AM. © TV Snob

Digital Vision has announced the GiGo Digital TV Recorder, a simplistic DVR built to record Freeview programming to USB thumb drives in MPEG2 format. Envisioned to be placed in secondary rooms such as kitchens rather than the living room, the GiGo does without a built-in hard drive though Digital Vision says it does connect to large capacity external hard drives without issue. It has 3 USB slot, only one tuner and an electronic program guide. It isn't compatible with Freeview+, but users can watch one program while recording another. The GiGo will launch later this year for the rough equivalent of $115 and Digital Vision says it is also working on developing higher-end DVRs with internal drives and MPEG4 compatibility.

Read

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TvSnobcom/~3/XIXQd0_QSiw/027204.php

Digg this

What To Watch This Weekend

post from TV Scoop on 03 July 2009 08:31:22 AM. © TV Scoop

It's the weekend and you know what that means? Saturday and Sunday, that's what. Of course, these two days are united by the fact that they both begin with the letter 'S'. No other day...

Read The Full Article:
http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/304/f/4293/s/51a280b/l/0L0Stvscoop0Btv0C20A0A90C0A70
Cwhat0Ito0Iwatch0It0I1410Bhtml/story01.htm

Digg this

Set The Video: Britney Spears Saved My Life, BBC
Three, Sunday 6 July, 9pm

post from TV Scoop on 03 July 2009 08:31:21 AM. © TV Scoop

It's been just over a week since Michael Jackson died, and the whole concept of fame has never been so uniformly up for discussion - what it means to be famous, what it does to a person... the whole nine yards. For Jackson, it was a case of shutting himself away and constructing fantasy personalities, and this extreme example just shows you what can happen when you're constantly under the microscope. Britney Spears is sort of the same. Obviously Jackson and Spears are totally different people, but every move she makes is reported upon, and the glossies and the papers just would not leave her alone during her period of difficulty. And, like Jackson, she inspires a near obsessional devotion in her fans. Don't believe me? Just look at this...

Read The Full Article:
http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/304/f/4293/s/51a280a/l/0L0Stvscoop0Btv0C20A0A90C0A70
Cset0Ithe0Ivideo0Ib0I770Bhtml/story01.htm

Digg this

In which I talk to the worderful Nicholas Martin

post from Entertainment Nerd on 03 July 2009 08:19:00 AM. © Entertainment Nerd

North Adams Transcript

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Nicholas Martin isn?t one to sacrifice quality for quantity.

A lackluster economy has patrons tightening their purse strings around the country -- a trend that cut the festival?s 55th anniversary season short. But Martin isn?t fretting, he believes patrons will forgive the shorter season -- cut by two productions -- in exchange for the festival?s ability to provide quality shows.

"Our decisions are entirely economic," Martin said Tuesday during an interview at the Williams College ?62 Center for Theater and Dance. "Last summer was rough. It was rough nationally. I didn?t want to cut our production budgets, the number of actors we bring in or our stage crews. We?re working with a skeletal crew as it is, so my only alternative was to drop a show."

While its not unusual for the Main Stage to only have four shows instead of five, the Nikos Stage usually mounts five productions a season.

"I had to drop two shows this season and I?ve very unhappy about it," he said. "I want to restore at least one of the productions next summer. The Nikos is where the new plays are featured and it?s one of my favorite initiatives."

Martin will direct a new play by Jonathan Marc Sherman, "Knickerbocker," for the Nikos Stage, where the play is due to open July 8.

"I?m very excited about this play," Martin said."The playwright has been a great friend and colleague since I taught him at Bennington College. I?ve directed two of his other plays in New York City. The first one, "Sophistry," had quite the cast. I directed Ethan Hawke, Calista Flockhart and Steve Zahn, before they were well-known."

The festival will begin its season today with a preview of the Main Stage production of A. R. Gurney?s "Children." On Thursday, the production will open at 8 p. m., preceded by a gala at 5:30 and remarks by Martin at 7.

"It?s more of a small ?gala-ette? -- much more relaxed than a huge event," Martin said. "We?ll feature picnic, Fourth of July-type foods. It won?t be a stodgy affair."

The Main Stage will continue with Sam Sheppard?s "True West," an adaptation of George Kelly?s "Torch Bearers" and Simon Gray?s "Quartermaine?s Terms."

On the Nikos Stage, "Knickerbocker" will be followed by "What is the Cause of Thunder?" and "Caroline in Jersey."

Now entering his second season as artistic director, Martin first joined the Williamstown Theatre Festival family in 1996 as a director. Prior to accepting the position of artistic director two years ago, he was head of the Huntington Theater in Boston.

"I wasn?t here for the first 30 years, but I was sitting in the audience watching, jealously, as a spectator," he joked. "I came with Michael Ritchie when he became artistic director. He remains the greatest influence on me in terms of how to run a theater and his understanding of the creative process."

He said the theater festival presents a much tighter schedule than his previous position.

"It both the terror and glory of Williamstown," Martin said.

A training ground for some of the country?s most talented playwrights and actors, the theater festival is not immune to the national recession.

"Theater is hurting nationally," he said. "The only place that doesn?t seem to be hurting is Broadway. Even with the price of tickets, it?s consistent historically. Broadway has never faltered, not even during the depression. It?s a huge industry and people want to escape their every day lives."

While patrons will open their wallets for a Broadway production, they?re cutting back on local shows.

"It?s everywhere," Martin said. "Instead of subscribing to a whole season, people are picking one or two shows to go to."

But as other venues revive past productions and offer deals and gimmicks to fill seats, he says the theater festival isn?t jumping on the band wagon.

"I?m still stubborn," Martin said. "I still believe that if you give people the best theater possible, they will come. We?ve been very selective of our players and our productions this season for that very reason."

For more information and tickets, call (413) 597-3400 or visit www.wtfestival.org.

Subscribe in a reader

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EntertainmentNerd/~3/XfJaM7c5nRo/in-which-i-talk-t
o-worderful-nicholas.html

Digg this

TV Review: Lie To Me, Sky1, Thursday 2 July, 10pm

post from TV Scoop on 03 July 2009 08:15:51 AM. © TV Scoop

Ever since Hugh Laurie nipped across the pond to play House, a string of other leading British actors have put on their water wings in pursuit. America, it seems, just can't get enough of us Brits at the moment. But, like most Americans, they usually want to have their (very large) cake and eat it, exploiting our reserved professionalism then asking: "Now play it again ... as a New Yorker." What makes Lie To Me so good is the fact that Tim Roth is the same rough-edged Englishman we expect. His curmudgeonly ways and sarcasm jar with that sickly sweet gloss of American drama, making us feel altogether more at home.

Read The Full Article:
http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/304/f/4293/s/51a1ff7/l/0L0Stvscoop0Btv0C20A0A90C0A70
Ctv0Ireview0Ilie0It0Bhtml/story01.htm

Digg this

Commercial Break: The Evian babies are back...
and this time they're on skates

post from TV Scoop on 03 July 2009 08:15:51 AM. © TV Scoop

I hate animators. They're obsessed with making hair look realistic and buying enough Apple products to own an orchard. When they're not doing realistic hair, they're piddling about with their other obsession...

Read The Full Article:
http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/304/f/4293/s/51a1ff6/l/0L0Stvscoop0Btv0C20A0A90C0A70
Ccommercial0Ibrea0I790Bhtml/story01.htm

Digg this

In which I interview Katie Finneran about the
Williamstown Theatre Festival and being in the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead

post from Entertainment Nerd on 03 July 2009 08:09:00 AM. © Entertainment Nerd

By Jennifer Huberdeau

North Adams Transcript

WILLIAMSTOWN -- The first time Tony award-winning actress Katie Finneran stepped foot on the Main Stage at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2000, it was at the urging of Nicholas Martin, who was directing "Hedda Gabler" at the time.

She returned last season, when Martin assumed the position of artistic director at the festival, to perform in "Beyond Therapy" and is scheduled to appear in two performances this season, beginning with "Children," which runs July 1-12.

"It?s so exciting to see Nicholas in charge," Finneran said in a telephone interview Friday afternoon. "Back in 2000, when he asked me to come to Williamstown, we had already done several productions together. I also knew Kate Burton from events that we both went to in New York City." She continued, "Last year, he asked me to come back. I met my boyfriend, Darren Goldstein at the festival. He played opposite me in ?Beyond Therapy.? It was one of those ?showmances? that worked out."

"Children," which will kick-off the festival?s 55th season when the curtain goes up Wednesday evening, is A. R. Gurney?s classic tale of a dysfunctional "WASP" family. The production, which takes place in a large summer home on an island off the coast of Massachusetts, centers around the matriarch?s announcement that she will remarry and leave the house to the three children.

"It?s a really interesting play," Finneran said.

"I like to do characters I?ve never done before. My character, Barbara, is interesting because she has the spirit of a teenager who never really grew up. She became a woman trying to follow the rules her mother laid out for her."

Set in the society of a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant privilege, the mother, played by Judith Light, has raised her three children according to her caste?s rules.

"The mother has three children who have never grown up," Finneran said. "It?s this mix of ?WASPy rules,? money issues, never following your instincts, always doing as told and putting up a certain face." She said she likes her character, because Barbara is so unlikable on the page.

"I?ve seen it as a challenge to make her accessible and likable," she said. "I love the fact that she?s this 38-year-old bratty teenager, who is doing what she wants to do. She is unhappily married because divorce is looked down upon by WASP society, so she?s having an affair with a guy who is deemed very inappropriate by the family. She?s doing it because it goes against what everybody tells her to do."

"Children" recently finished a run at the Westport County Playhouse in Westport, Conn. James Waterston and Mary Bacon round out the cast of the 90-minute play.

While theater is her main passion -- Finneran won a Tony in 2002 for "Noises Off" -- she?s also spent a considerable amount of time working in film and television. She starred in the comedy "Baby on Board," released this past May, with Heather Graham and has appeared on "Wonderfalls," "Frasier," and "Bram and Alice." But perhaps the role she?s most fond of is her part in the 1990 remake of "Night of the Living Dead."

"That movie has been on television for 18 years now," she said. "I?m very proud of my work in that role -- I?m terrible in it, but it was so much fun." A student at Carnegie Mellon University when the movie was being shot, Finneran and her friends went to a casting call for zombie extras.

"It was great. We rolled around on the floor and drooled," she said.

"Eventually they asked me to audition for the role of Judy Rose. I spent the summer screaming my head off, running around with a metal mallet and banging on doors. I still have nerdy men follow me around because I was Judy Rose."

Finneran can be seen July 1 to 12 in "Children" on the Main Stage at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Tickets can be purchased online at www.wtfestival.org or by calling (413) 597-3400.

Subscribe in a reader

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EntertainmentNerd/~3/2_vJdNiLWL8/in-which-i-interv
iew-katie-finneran.html

Digg this

Only Fools And Horses prequel commissioned

There has been talk of an Only Fools And Horses prequel for some time now, and it made a lot of sense - instead of bringing back David Jason et al for another tired OFAH one-off, why not get a whole bunch of new actors, give it a fresh premise and time frame but still imbue it with all that original Trotter familiarity? Now, finally, the BBC has confirmed that it has commissioned a one-off prequel. About time, really.

Read The Full Article:
http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/304/f/4293/s/519dc92/l/0L0Stvscoop0Btv0C20A0A90C0A70
Conly0Ifools0Iand0Bhtml/story01.htm

Digg this

BBC greenlights Only Fools And Horses prequel

Read The Full Article:
http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/304/f/4293/s/519dc90/l/0L0Stvscoop0Btv0C20A0A90C0A70
Cbbc0Igreenlights0Bhtml/story01.htm

Digg this

Religion gets a gameshow! The wonderful world of
Turkish Telly

Get this! There's a show in Turkey that's tickling me pink! Basically, you get a Muslim imam, a priest, a Greek Orthodox priest and a Buddhist monk and stick them in a gameshow. That image alone is worth tuning in for. However, here...