trivialTV

TV Tango

2009-01-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

If you enjoyed trivialTV, check out TV Tango. The Ultimate TV Database. Your Link to All Things TV.

TVTango.com is the most comprehensive compilation of TV information. What makes this database truly unique?

Aggregated External Links: Looking for information on other sites? TVTango.com has nearly 75,000 links to title pages at IMDb, TV Guide, Wikipedia, tv.com, British Film Institute, and Zap2It. All links load on the TV series home pages — just click the tabs to quickly switch from site-to-site. The TV web is at your fingertips.

Breadth: More than 30,500 TV series and 4,200 TV Movies & Miniseries.

Broadcast Grids: Type in a date and see what aired on TV that day. To generate these grids, TVTango.com uses a table of ~918,000 shows, including series episodes, TV movies, miniseries, theatrical films, specials, awards, and sporting events.

Media Links: Looking for a TV show on DVD or online? Media links are provided for individual episodes and TV movies! Not just a single link for the entire series or season. TVTango.com has more than 150,000 links to shows so users can watch or buy video.

Search Capability: Want a list of people who wrote TV movies about true crime for CBS? Need a list of military sitcoms on ABC that premiered in the '70s? Unparalleled advanced search capability.

Ratings: Wonder which TV movie had the highest rating in 1990? Looking for ratings data for a specific episode of "Friends"? TVTango.com has household ratings data for all shows since June 1, 1983 and viewer/share data for shows since September 25, 2000.

Discovery: Users will find new shows and be reminded about old favorites with these features:

Today in TV History: Find out which TV series, Movies, and Miniseries premiered on this date in the past. See what TV characters had life-changing events (births, deaths, weddings). Learn about firsts and lasts in TV history.

Maps of TV Land: Navigate real maps to see where TV characters lived and worked.

Simple (and Intuitive) Navigation: We have put a great deal of time and effort in developing a very intuitive system of navigating through our site. From any page on our website you are just one click away from finding the information you want. Every piece of information we enter into our database is confirmed or verified by an in-house researcher.

Combining real-time information updates with a sophisticated user interface, TVTango.com is the web's most powerful and reliable informational tool. In short, you are in control of your search. Since we search the top TV databases, you now have to search only one: TVTango.

Primetime for the Planet

2007-11-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Sundance Channel will continue its green programming.

Way back on April 17, 2007, Sundance unveiled a programming block called Green, which was comprised of three ecoprograms:

"Big Ideas for a Small Planet"
"Ecoists"
"Eco Biz"

Just last week Sundance filed a trademark app to protect Primetime for the Planet for "television programming services." I'm guessing that "Primetime for the Planet" will be a programming block, like Green, since the application did not specifically call it a series. (If you look at the apps for the three programs listed above, the goods and services descriptions include "on-going documentary television series." Quite specific. Sundance did not trademark Green.)

Maui Chopper

2007-11-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

A reality show about police helicopters in Maui? Or maybe highway patrol on motorcycles?

Regardless, you'll be able to watch the show on TruTV. Courtroom Television Network filed a trademark app on November 20, 2007 to protect Maui Chopper for use as the title of a TV series. And we all know, by the time it airs Court TV will be TruTV.

Hole in the Wall

2007-11-29T10:47:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this Japanese game show? It's often called Human Tetris, and if you watch this clip you'll know why. The show is so popular in Japan, that FremantleMedia recently signed deals with broadcasters in multiple countries.

Turns out, there may even be an American version of this wacky show. FremantleMedia North America, Inc. filed a trademark app on November 21, 2007 to protect Hole in the Wall for "entertainment services in the nature of a television game show."

I'm not a huge fan of celebrity shows, but "Celebrity Hole in the Wall" would rule. Can you imagine watching Britney get knocked on her butt into a small pool of water?

Too Many Eps Spoil the Broth

2007-11-28T07:56:00.000-08:00

I was in a meeting yesterday and somebody uttered an idiom I hadn't heard in ages — too many chefs spoil the broth. That sounds like the perfect phrase for TV writers of old to have fun for the typical sitcom and for TV writers today to honor for cooking-related shows. Here's the short list of eps:

The Many Robots Spoil the Broth (''Daigunder,'' 11/8/2003)
Too Many Cooks Are Murder (''Hart to Hart,'' 5/6/1980)
Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen (''The Party Planner with David Tutera'')
Too Many Cooks Spoil the Troop (''F Troop,'' 3/29/1966)
Too Many Greens Spoil the Bath (''Bad, Bad Bath,'' 5/16/2006)
Too Many Kooks Spoil the Broth (''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,'' 1/9/1963)
Too Many Limburgers Spoil the Cheese (''Biker Mice from Mars,'' 11/11/1995)
Too Many Waiters Spoil the Bistro (''Robin's Nest,'' 3/15/1979)

New Eps Online: November, Week 4

2007-11-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 20 November 2007:

''Combat Zone'' (Military; iTunes): season 1
''Dress My Nest'' (style; iTunes): current season (2)
''Jacob Two-Two'' (YTV; Unbox): season 3, 4 & 5
''My War Diary'' (Military; iTunes): season 1
''October Road'' (ABC; iTunes): current season (2)
''The Standard Snowboard Show'' (FuelTV; iTunes, Unbox): current season (4)
''Top Ten'' (Military; iTunes): season 1
''Weaponology'' (Military; iTunes): current season (2)

Speed Racer: The Next Generation

2007-11-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

That's it. That's the new logo.

I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Not sure what I expected, but it wasn't that.

I found the image in the USPTO Trademark Database. Speed Racer Enterprises, Inc. filed a trademark app on November 14, 2007 to protect that image with the main focus on the "lines depicting speed, propulsion, heat or wind."

Dance 'Til You Drop Weight

2007-11-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

What happens if you cross "Dancing with the Stars" with "The Biggest Loser" and throw in a dash of typical "American Idol"/"Next Great American Band" production qualities? I know. I know. The obvious answer is "Dancing with America's Biggest Loser." But that's not quite the answer I was looking for.

FremantleMedia North America, Inc. filed a trademark app on November 16, 2007 to protect Dance 'Til You Drop Weight for "entertainment services in the nature of a television game show."

Personally, I hope a show like this one becomes highly interactive in the near future. Have each viewer play DDR on Xbox Live so that s/he can compete against others in a regional competition — these regions should based on time zones, just like "Deal or No Deal" has regional contests.

Double Jumble

2007-11-23T10:54:00.000-08:00

If you enjoy your daily Jumble online or in the newspaper, then you'll love this item. "Double Jumble" may be coming to your small screen soon.

Tribune Media Services filed a trademark app on November 15 to protect Double Jumble for a few items, including "production of television game show." Plus, this type of a show fits the current model — a show that can be produced on a shoestring budget, without writers and that will probably follow the successful formula of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords."

I couldn't find anything else about this show, but I'd love to know how the game play will be different from previous Jumble-like game shows.

Big Girls Don't Cry in the Jailhouse Rock

2007-11-21T06:32:00.000-08:00

Let's turn on the music wayback machine. Twice. First 1962 and then 1957.

On today's date in 1962, The Four Seasons hit, Big Girls Don't Cry, just started it's five-week run at #1 on the Billboard charts. The song permeated pop culture enough that even "The Sopranos" had an ep named after the song. Of course, there's the obvious take-off, Big Boys Don't Cry, which a few series used for ep titles. Some series were more creative though:

Big Bird Don't Fly (''Animal Atlas'')
Big Girls Don't Fly (''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,'' 5/12/1996)
Big Gumps Don't Cry (''Little Wizards'')

Just five years earlier, Elvis dominated the charts for most of the year. On this date in 1957, "Jailhouse Rock" continued it's run at #1. What an easy target for TV scribes. Popular song. Easy word to rhyme. Here's how writers honored this song through ep titles:

Jail House Flock (''Captain Planet and the Planeteers,'' 3/26/1994)
Jailhouse Crock (''Captain Butler,'' 2/7/1997)
Jailhouse Dick (''3rd Rock from the Sun,'' 12/17/1997)
Jailhouse Doc (''House Calls,'' 11/14/1980)
Jailhouse Notch (Part 2 of 3) (''Son of the Beach,'' 9/24/2002)
Jailhouse Shock (''Timon & Pumbaa'')
Jailhouse Shock (''The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat'')

New Eps Online: November, Week 3

2007-11-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 13 November 2007:

''Bob and Margaret'' (Comedy Central; Unbox): complete series
''Class of the Titans'' (Teletoon; Unbox): seasons 1 & 2
''Cory in the House'' (Disney; iTunes): current season (2)
''Gangland'' (History; iTunes): current season (1)
''Lizzie McGuire'' (Disney; iTunes): seasons 1 & 2
''Lou Grant'' (CBS; Unbox): seasons 1, 2 & 3
''Nimrod Nation'' (Sundance; iTunes): current season (1)
''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' (Adult Swim; iTunes): current season (2)
''Tokko'' (Unbox): complete series

Awards Update

2007-11-18T12:37:00.000-08:00

I've added 725 records to the trivialTV Awards Db for the following:

Artios Award: 2007 winners
CIMA Award: 2007 winners
Cult TV Award: 2007 noms & winners
Diversity Award: 2007 winners
Emmy Award: 2007 winners
Environmental Media Association Award: 2007 noms & winners
Freddie Award: 2007 winners
Golden Laurel Award: 2008 noms
Golden Tater Award: 2007 winners
Hugo Award: 2007 winner
Human Rights First Award: 2007 noms & winners
Media Access Award: 2007 winners
Panda Award: 2006 finalists & winners
People’s Choice Award: 2008 noms
Reality Remix Reality Awarda: 2007 noms & winners
Scream Award: 2007 noms & winners
Stony Award: 2007 winners
SyFy Genre Award: 2007 winners
TV DVD Awards: 2007 noms & winners
Time Magazine’s 100 Best TV Shows
Tubey Award: 2007 winners
Viewers Voice Award: 2006 winners

You now search nearly 60,000 records every time you look for award info. Enjoy!

It's Party Time

2007-11-15T08:56:00.001-08:00

Lifetime is pretty busy pumping out ideas for new reality shows...and changing their titles.

"Matched in Manhattan" preems on January 4, 2008. It's original name? "Matt Titus: Matchmaker"

Two other shows are set to debut on the same day — "It's My Party" and "How to Look Good Naked." As far as I know, "Naked" still has the same name. As for "It's My Party"? Well....

According to this press release on October 10, "It's My Party" is just the working title of the show. Usually a sure sign it's gonna' change when the official announcement still has '(wt)' after the name.

And then on November 6, 2007 Lifetime filed a trademark application for "It's Party Time." Coincidence? I think not.

It's probably safe to say you'll be watching "It's Party Time" on Lifetime on January 4, 2008.

Fred Roggin's New Challenge?

2007-11-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

You heard it hear first. There are rumors that Fred Roggin (KNBC | Los Angeles) is developing a new weekly TV show. Something that's never been tried in LA TV history. Premieres January 2008.

Want more details? You'll just have to wait. Sometime before Christmas I'll spill the details.

Episode MAS*H

2007-11-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

Eighty years ago today, McLean Stevenson was born. We knew him best as the late Lt. Col. Henry Blake. After leaving "M*A*S*H," Stevenson appeared in only one theatrical film, The Cat from Outer Space (1978). Definitely not a blockbuster, but a great title for TV.

Think about some TV shows with "Outer Space" in the title.

"Homeboys in Outer Space" (UPN, 1996)
"Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space" (CBS, 1972)
"They Came from Outer Space" (Syn, 1991)

Not much of a list. Good thing it's Wednesday — that way we can take a look at episode titles with the form, "_____ from Outer Space."

A Scary Face from Outer Space (''Shake, Rattle and Roll'')
Ace From Outer Space (''G-Force: Guardians of Space'')
Birthday Party from Outer Space (''Denver, the Last Dinosaur'')
Brother from Outer Space (''The Astronut Show'')
Gomer and the Little Men from Outer Space (''Gomer Pyle, USMC,'' 10/26/1966)
Little Ace from Outer Space (''Beany and Cecil'')
Meatballs from Outer Space (''Cookin' Cheap'')
Menace from Outer Space (1956) (''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger,'' )
Microducks from Outer Space (''DuckTales,'' 6/24/1988)
Mind Stealers from Outer Space (''Wonder Woman,'' 12/2/1977)
Monster from Outer Space (''Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse'')
Oinks from Outer Space (''Tokyo Pig,'' 1/4/2003)
Raiders from Outer Space (''The Time Tunnel,'' 3/31/1967)
Revenge of the Chicken from Outer Space; (''Courage the Cowardly Dog,'' 3/23/2001)
Strange Trout from Outer Space (''Camp Lazlo'')
Strangers from Outer Space (''Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers,'' 6/27/1953)
The Ace from Outer Space (''Medabots,'' 3/9/2002)
The Alien Brain From Outer Space (''Frankenstein Jr.'')
The Big Angry Virgin from Outer Space (''3rd Rock from the Sun,'' 10/6/1996)
The Boy from Outer Space (''Astro Boy'')
The Chicken from Outer Space (''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,'' 3/8/1960)
Son of the Chicken from Outer Space (''Courage the Cowardly Dog,'' 11/1/2002)
The Monster from Outer Space (''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,'' 12/19/1965)
The Pied Piper from Outer Space (''The World's Greatest SuperFriends'')
The Survivors from Outer Space (''Highlander: The Animated Series,'' 11/16/1995)
The Thief from Outer Space (''Lost in Space,'' 11/9/1966)

And even though McLean Stevenson may have only watched Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), these eps are also from outer space:

Fruit 10 from Outer Space (Pomegranates) (''Good Eats'')
Plan 10 from Outer Space (''Probe,'' 4/7/1988)
Plan Ape From Outer Space (''Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys,'' 11/30/1996)
Plan Brain from Outer Space (''Pinky & the Brain,'' 9/28/1996)
Plan Eight From Outer Space (''Muppet Babies'')
Plan Six from Outer Space (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'')

New Eps Online: November, Week 2

2007-11-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 6 November 2007:

''Bunnytown'' (Disney; iTunes): current season (1)
''Clean House'' (style; iTunes): current season (6)
''411VM Skateboarding'' (iTunes): current season (15)
''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (CBS; Unbox): season 1
''The Mr. Bill Show'' (Unbox): multiple volumes
''Murder by the Book'' (CourtTV; iTunes): current season (2)
''Noein'' (Unbox): season 1
''The Studio Exercise Collection'' (Unbox): multiple volumes
''Trick My Truck'' (CMT; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''Wired Science'' (PBS; iTunes): current season (1)
''Xavier: Renegade Angel'' (Adult Swim; iTunes): current season (1)

TV Schedule Update

2007-11-11T13:49:00.001-08:00

I've added 543 records for four more weeks in the TV schedule search. You can now search for dates through 10/28/2007.

Enjoy!

Connect. Play. Share.

2007-11-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

Sounds like the perfect tagline for Nintendo or Sony, doesn't it? So imagine my surprise when I found that Lifetime was behind that slogan!

It's true.

On October 31, 2007 Lifetime Entertainment Services filed a trademark app for

Online services, namely providing a website featuring information regarding television and the distribution thereof and issues of interest and concern to women, namely sports, music, movies, books, celebrities, fashion, advocacy initiatives towards ending violence against women, biographies of everyday women, shopping, cooking, weddings, astrology, interior design and decorating, beauty, relationships, gardening, games, self-improvement and advocacy for breast cancer awareness and support.

Ep Title Medley

2007-11-07T02:13:00.000-08:00

Today, let's take a walk through music history looking at Hot 100 chart toppers for early November.

40 years ago: Lulu's "To Sir, with Love" topped the charts for five consecutive weeks. Only one song — "I'm a Believer" — had a longer run in 1967. A number of TV scribes wrote, "To Lulu, with Love," by honoring her song:

To Sewer With Love (''The Baby Huey Show'')
To Sir, with ... Ah, What the Heck ... Love (''Night Court,'' 2/26/1992)
To Sir, with Ed (''Ed, Edd 'n Eddy'')
To Sir, with Love (''Cagney & Lacey,'' 2/16/1987)
To Sir, with Lust (''Cybill,'' 11/5/1995)
To Sir, with Mom (''Eve,'' 3/23/2006)
To Soeur, with Love (''Encore! Encore!,'' 1/20/1999)

30 years ago: Debby Boone dominated the charts for ten weeks with "You Light Up My Life." It was a bigger musical hit than cultural hit though — this song didn't light up the lives of too many TV writers:

Pooh, Light Up My Life (''My Friends Tigger and Pooh,'' 5/20/2007)
You Gaslight Up My Life (''Scorch,'' 3/13/1992)
You Light Up My Union (''Boy Meets World,'' 10/22/1999)

New Eps Online: November, Week 1

2007-11-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 30 October 2007 (plus a few new ones I missed last week for Hulu):

''Airwolf'' (CBS; AOL): season 1
''Beer Nutz'' (MOJO; Unbox): season 1
''The Bob Newhart Show'' (CBS; iTunes, Unbox): seasons 1, 2 & 3
''Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' (NBC; Hulu on AOL): volume 1
''Chicago Hope'' (CBS; Hulu on AOL): volume 1
''Chowder'' (Cartoon Network; iTunes): current season (1)
''Codename: Kids Next Door'' (Cartoon Network; iTunes): season 6
''Everest: Beyond the Limit'' (Discovery; iTunes): current season (2)
''Firsthand'' (FuelTV; iTunes): all seasons
''The Immortal'' (Syn; Unbox): complete series
''Johnny Bravo'' (Cartoon Network; iTunes): seasons 2 & 5
''Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is'' (BET; iTunes): current season (2)
''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (USA; Unbox): current season (7)
''The Legend of Guan Gong'' (Cinemanow): season 1
''Lou Grant'' (CBS; Hulu on AOL): volume 1
''The Mary Tyler Moore Hour'' (CBS; Hulu on AOL): volume 1
''McHale's Navy'' (ABC; Hulu on AOL): volume 1
''Mr. Moon's Magic Circus'' (Cinemanow): season 1
''MonsterQuest'' (History; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''NASCAR in Primetime'' (ABC; iTunes): current season (1)
''Over There'' (FX; Hulu on AOL): season 1
''Popeye the Sailor'' (theaters; iTunes): volume 1
''Reaper'' (CW; iTunes): current season (1)
''Rehearsals'' (Unbox): season 1
''Roots: The Next Generation'' (ABC; iTunes, Unbox): complete miniseries
''Scrubs'' (NBC; iTunes): current season (7)
''The Shot'' (VH1; iTunes): current season (1)
''Three Sheets'' (MOJO; Unbox): season 2

I Survived...Split This House

2007-11-01T09:49:00.001-07:00

Now that would be a fun series. Unfortunately, it doesn't exit. I just concatenated two upcoming A&E series for the title.

On October 26, 2007 A&E filed trademark apps to protect I Survived... and Split This House for new TV shows.

According to one filing, I Survived... will be an "on-going telelvision series featuring the stories of people who have overcome overwhelming circumstances, near death experiences and/or accidents." A&E really has hit rock-bottom. Talk about an inexpensive copycat concept. These stories have been around forever. ABC aired "I Survived a Disaster" specials in 1997 and 1998. Fox didn't want to be left out; so it aired its own series of specials — "Surviving the Moment of Impact" — from 1998 to 2001. Then the survival stories went to cable. Discovery aired "Impact: Stories of Survival" in 2002 and "Survive This" in 2007. I'm sure there are many more, but you get my point. A&E is pretty far down the pecking order on TV channels these days. I wonder how many times the same person appeared in multiple series?

Split This House is "on-going television series featuring stories about home decoration" according to its application. Now here's one show I can finally tell you something about. Kelley Moore, one of the co-hosts of "Split This House," posted a few items about the pilot on her blog (w/makeover pics).

Born Ready

2007-11-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

Warner Music Group (WMG) and a TV sports show called "Born Ready"? That just doesn't make sense.

That's what I thought, too. But stick with me on this one.

On October 25, 2007 Warner Music Inc. filed a trademark application to protect Born Ready for "entertainment services in the nature of an ongoing web-based show and an ongoing television program in the field of sports." Odd. But the app is pretty specific about "Born Ready" being a web/TV sports program.

Wait. The plot thickens.

One month earlier on September 14, 2007, Den of Thieves registered the domain name, bornready.tv. As usual when I tell you about such things, the domain is just parked.

Are you confused yet? Let me clear things up for you. According to this NY Post article (May 8, 2007), Den of Thieves is a video unit of Warner Music Group Corp. and was formed to "drive New York-based Warner Music's digital sales of music as demand for compact discs declines."

Perfect. I e-mailed Evan Prager, one of the heads of the LA-based Den of Thieves, about the new project, but I received no reply. What else is new?

My guess? (And it's only a guess.) Den of Thieves will produce a short-form series that highlights extreme sports action set to new WMG music. Think about a web/TV-version of Ultimate X or any of Warren Miller's ski films. Or maybe think about it as a package of music videos with extreme sports as the common theme. It would also be a perfect product to market exclusively on AOL Video — it could be presented as an entire program or as individual music videos. It might also be one of many items required to raise the national profile of Time Warner Sports so AOL Time Warner can better compete with News Corp (Fox Sports, Fuel), Disney (ESPN), Comcast (Versus), etc.

Trick or Ep Title

2007-10-31T00:36:00.000-07:00

Trick. Treat. Trick. Treat.

Treat, please!

I can't wait for tomorrow when Halloween candy goes on sale. It's my second favorite candy day of the year. The Monday after Easter is my favorite candy day.

Since it's Halloween, I thought I'd present ep titles that reference the words you'll hear all night on your front step — "Trick or Treat."

Trick and Treat (''Soul Man,'' 10/28/1997)
Trick or Cheat (''Dinosaucers'')
Trick or Retreat (''Roland and Rattfink'')
Trick or Retreat (''Murphy Brown,'' 2/26/1996)
Trick or Techrat (''Jem,'' 10/30/1987)
Trick or Treachery (''Spider-Man'')
Trick or Treason (''The Dupont Show of the Week,'' 12/17/1961)
Trick or Treat Me Right (''George Lopez,'' 10/26/2005)
Trick or Treatment (''Fearless Fly'')
Trick or Treatment (''M*A*S*H,'' 11/1/1982)
Trick or Trust (''Living Single,'' 10/27/1994)
Tricks and Treats (''Hokey Wolf'')
Tricks and Treats (''Freaks & Geeks,'' 10/30/1999)
Tricks and Treats (''Lincoln Heights,'' 3/19/2007)
Trip or Treat (''Downtown,'' 11/8/1999)

New Eps Online: October, Week 5

2007-10-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 23 October 2007:

''College Hill: Interns'' (BET; iTunes): current season (1)
''The Electric Company'' (PBS; iTunes): volume 2
''Handy Manny'' (Disney; iTunes): current season (2)
''Jupiter Moon'' (Galaxy; Unbox): volume 1
''Phenomenon'' (NBC; Unbox): current season (1)
''Run's House'' (MTV; iTunes, Unbox): current season (4)
''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'' (ABC; iTunes): season 1

Country Keynotes

2007-10-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

"American Idol" gone country? I thought we already had that, seeing how Carrie Underwood won AI4 and everything. Maybe "Country Keynotes" will be more classic country than pop country.

Why do I say "Country Keynotes" might be "AI: Country Edition"?

FremantleMedia North America filed a trademark application on October 16, 2007 to protect Country Keynotes for "entertainment services in the nature of a television game show."

Earth Bears

2007-10-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

A new production from DIC Entertainment. But don't look for details on the website yet. Nothing's been officially announced.

On October 17, 2007 DIC Entertainment Corporation filed paperwork to protect Earth Bears for "a series of television programs in the field of entertainment for children." And a lot more, including CDs, action figures, and clothes.

I have no other info about the show, but I'm going to take a wild guess anyways. Maybe "Earth Bears" will be this generation's Smokey the Bear. Maybe instead of speaking out against forest fires, these animated bears will promote awareness of environmental issues — water conservation, fuel conservation, global warming — all ways to help save the Earth.

I could be wrong, but Hollywood now has a deep affection for all things green.

An Actor Called Kline

2007-10-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Happy 60th birthday, Kevin Kline.

What better way to celebrate his birthday than to honor one of his films, A Fish Called Wanda (1988), with an ep title extravaganza.

A Dog Called Wonga (''All About Me,'' 10/15/2004)
A Fish Called Buddy (''Charles in Charge'')
A Fish Called Gregg (''Can't Hurry Love,'' 10/9/1995)
A Fish Called Kine (''Kirby: Right Back at Ya!,'' 11/2/2002)
A Fish Called Martin (''Full House,'' 2/1/1991)
A Fish Called Raven (''That's So Raven,'' 1/24/2003)
A Fish Called Rhondda (''Dirty Work,'' 3/16/2000)
A Fish Called Selma (''The Simpsons,'' 3/24/1996)
A Fish Called Snappy (''The Smurfs,'' 9/30/1989)
A Frick Called Wanda (''The Nutt House,'' 10/11/1989)
A Stitch Called Wanda (''Doogie Howser, M.D.,'' 9/27/1989)

Viva Laughlin Quickly Dead

2007-10-23T07:17:00.001-07:00

I'm sure you already heard the news that CBS pulled "Viva Laughlin" from the airwaves after only two eps. Critics were afraid that "Craps Rock" would suffer the same fate as "Cop Rock." How wrong they were! "Cop Rock" lasted an eternity — 11 eps — compared to "Viva Laughlin."

Since I'm all about fast failures at this site, I thought I'd remind you about the other shows that only aired twice before being yanked by the nets.

''AFP: American Fighter Pilot'' (CBS, 2002)
''Aliens in the Family'' (ABC, 1996)
''America.01'' (ABC, 2001)
''Apple Pie'' (ABC, 1978)
''Backspin'' (Bravo, 2004)
''Big Shamus, Little Shamus'' (CBS, 1979)
''Charlie Lawrence'' (CBS, 2003)
''Clerks'' (ABC, 2000)
''Confessions'' (CourtTV, 2000)
''Danny'' (CBS, 2001)
''ElimiDATE Deluxe'' (WB, 2001)
''The Fifth Corner'' (NBC, 1992)
''Flash Gordon'' (Dumont, 1951)
''Four Corners'' (CBS, 1998)
''girls club'' (Fox, 2002)
''Going Hollywood'' (TLC, 2005)
''The Great American Dream Vote'' (ABC, 2007)
''Guess Again'' (CBS, 1951)
''Head Cases'' (Fox, 2005)
''Imagine That'' (NBC, 2002)
''Inconceivable'' (NBC, 2005)
''Joey Faye's Frolics'' (CBS, 1950)
''Little Muppet Monsters'' (CBS, 1985)
''Love and Marriage'' (Fox, 1996)
''The Mike O'Malley Show'' (NBC, 1999)
''My Guys'' (CBS, 1996)
''One Ocean View'' (ABC, 2006)
''The Paula Poundstone Show'' (ABC, 1993)
''Prince Street'' (NBC, 1997)
''The Princes of Malibu'' (Fox, 2005)
''The Real Roseanne Show'' (ABC, 2003)
''Roxie'' (CBS, 1987)
''Ryan Caulfield: Year One'' (Fox, 1999)
''Sammy'' (NBC, 2000)
''Sleepwalkers'' (NBC, 1997)
''Sunset Beat'' (ABC, 1990)
''Tag the Gag'' (NBC, 1951)
''Take Five'' (CBS, 1987)
''That Was Then'' (ABC, 2002)
''Tuesday Night Book Club'' (CBS, 2006)
''Viva Laughlin'' (CBS, 2007)
''Wind on Water'' (NBC, 1998)
''Wonderland'' (ABC, 2000)
''You're the One'' (WB, 1998)

New Eps Online: October, Week 4

2007-10-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 16 October 2007:

''Camp Lazlo'' (Cartoon Network; iTunes): season 3
''Dennis the Menace'' (CBS; in2tv)
''Gotti's Way'' (VH1; iTunes): current season (1)
''Growing Up Creepie'' (Discovery Kids; iTunes): volume 1
''Inside the Actors Studio'' (Bravo; Unbox): seasons 11 & 12
''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (E!; iTunes): current season (1)
''King Leonardo and His Short Subjects'' (NBC; in2tv)
''Little People, Big World'' (TLC; iTunes): current season (4)
''Medabots'' (Fox; Unbox): complete series
''Punky Brewster'' (NBC/Syn; Unbox): seasons 1, 2 & 3

Spike TV's Parolees at Large

2007-10-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

That title doesn't really leave much doubt about the focus of Spike's new show, does it?

Network Enterprises protected the word mark, Spike TV Parolees at Large, on October 11, 2007 for a television series.

A&E's Parking Wars

2007-10-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

Fly-on-the-wall documentaries of people at work. They're still all the rage, and we'll never run out of new jobs to watch.

A&E is developing a new show called "Parking Wars." On October 11, 2007 A&E Television Networks filed a trademark app for an "on-going series of reality based television programs and television programs featuring the lives and work of parking authority employees and drivers who receive motor vehicle violations."

'nuff said.

Martha Stewart's Everyday Baking

2007-10-18T08:52:00.001-07:00

If you love baking like I do, then you'll be happy to hear this TV news.

Martha Stewart will have a new show called ''Everyday Baking.''

On October 11, 2007 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. filed a trademark application for Everyday Baking. Of course, the word mark will be used for "Ongoing radio programs and television programs, online information, internet and mobile distribution of digital audio or audio-visual media." But you can also expect a line of bakeware and household utensils having this brand name.

Need more evidence?

Just ten days earlier on October 1, 2007, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. registered the domain names, everdaybaking.com and everdaybaking.tv. Nothing's there yet; so don't bother clicking through.

Still not convinced?

You can read last week's post at the New York Journals blog, which describes the five-week shoot.

Michael McKean Turns 60

2007-10-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

Michael McKean, of Lenny & Squiggy fame, celebrates his 60th birthday today.

I looked at his TV/filmography to decide how best to honor him with ep titles. I definitely thought the mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap, would've been the right choice, but I couldn't really find any TV episodes that referenced this film title. After a few more dead ends (Young Doctors in Love, Earth Girls Are Easy), I was stuck using his back-to-back head films — Coneheads (1993) and Airheads (1994) — for inspiration.

None of these ep titles pay homage to these two specific films, but it's still an interesting list:

Avocado Heads (''The New Gidget'')
Balloon Heads (''Little Bear'')
Boneheads (''Paleoworld'')
Bowling Pinheads (''The New Three Stooges'')
Bubbleheads (''O'Grady,'' 12/31/2004)
Bucketheads (''The Oblongs,'' 4/22/2001)
Cement Heads (''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters,'' 9/14/1996)
Chicken Noodle Heads (''7th Heaven,'' 11/14/2005)
Eggheads (''Sliders,'' 4/26/1995)
Flat Heads (''Three Stooges Cartoon Comedies'')
Foreign Legion Air-Heads (''Meatballs and Spaghetti'')
Hard Hats and Hard Heads (''Eight Is Enough,'' 2/1/1978)
Horror Heads (''Craft Lab'')
Jarheads (''The Blue Angels,'' 10/3/1960)
Kettleheads (''Jubilee'')
Loggerheads (''Death Valley Days'')
Loggerheads (''Here Come the Brides,'' 3/26/1969)
Loggerheads (''Liars & Legends'')
Motor Heads (''Toonheads'')
Pinheads (''The X's,'' 2/3/2006)
Radio Heads (''That's So Raven,'' 6/25/2004)
Schnitheads (''Rocko's Modern Life,'' 10/29/1995)
Skinheads (''Forty Minutes,'' 10/14/1982)
The Flatheads (''The New Three Stooges'')
The Metalheads (''My Coolest Years'')
The Redheads (''Official Detective'')

New Eps Online: October, Week 3

2007-10-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 9 October 2007:

''About a Girl'' (The N; iTunes): current season (1)
''Kaya'' (MTV; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''Latino Laugh Festival: The Show'' (Si; iTunes): volume 3
''Lonesome Dove'' (CBS; iTunes): complete miniseries
''Pageant Place'' (MTV; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''Return to Lonesome Dove'' (CBS; iTunes): complete miniseries
''Scooby-Doo'' (ABC; iTunes): season 3
''Stargate SG-1'' (Showtime/SciFi; iTunes): season 2
''Uncorked with Billy Merritt'' (MOJO; Unbox): season 1
''Wall Street Warriors'' (MOJO; Unbox): season 1

Moblogic

2007-10-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

Or maybe moBLOGic.

Regardless of how the letters are capitalized, CBS Interactive is having Wallstrip start a companion news and entertainment series.

On October 2, 2007 CBS Interactive, Inc. filed a trademark application to protect Moblogic for "entertainment services, namely, an entertainment and news series."

Just prior to that, on September 20, 2007 Wallstrip registered the domain, moblogic.tv. Don't bother clicking through yet. The domain is still just parked for now.

Want more evidence? On the domain registration, Jeff Marks is listed as the administrative contact. If you don't know his name, you can read Jeff's Blogger profile and find out he's the co-exec producer for Wallstrip. But if you read a cached version of Jeff's blogger profile, you'll see a link to one of his blogs, moBLOGic, which is no longer active.

Potpourri Ep Titles

2007-10-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

This week a few series are running eps with titles that I thought would be a big hit, but they all ended up with short lists. Instead of giving you one long list today, I present a few shorter lists — each list headlined by this week's ep:

No Man Is an Island (''Aliens in America,'' 10/8/2007)

No Man Is an Atoll (''The Brian Keith Show,'' 3/8/1974)
No Man Is Manhattan Island (''That Girl,'' 10/16/1970)

Laird of the Ring (''Carpoolers,'' 10/9/2007)

Lord of the Bling (''Veronica Mars,'' 2/8/2005)
Lord of the Wings (''Eat, Shrink and Be Merry'')

The Chicken and the Leg (''Boston Legal,'' 10/9/2007)

Caroline and the Egg (''Caroline in the City,'' 11/3/1997)
The King and the Egg (''Anna and the King,'' 12/17/1972)

You Only Die Once (''CSI: NY,'' 10/10/2007)

You Only Come Once (''Son of the Beach,'' 7/30/2002)
You Only Lick Twice (''Stripperella,'' 7/24/2003)
You Only Live Once (''American High'')
You Only Love Twice (''The Centurions,'' 11/13/1986)
You Only Move Twice (''The Simpsons,'' 11/3/1996)
You Only Run Once (''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater,'' 10/5/1956)
You Only Run Once (''Frontier Justice,'' 7/13/1959)
You Only Scare Twice (''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters,'' 10/26/1996)
You Only Sneeze Twice (''The X's,'' 2/24/2006)

New Eps Online: October, Week 2

2007-10-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 2 October 2007:

''After Hours with Daniel'' (MOJO; Unbox): season 1
''Aliens in America'' (CW; iTunes): current season (1)
''America's Psychic Challenge'' (Lifetime; iTunes): current season (1)
''American Chopper'' (Discovery; iTunes): seasons 3 & 4
''American Dad'' (Fox; iTunes, Unbox): current season (3)
''American Gangster'' (BET; iTunes): current season (2)
''American Gothic'' (CBS; Unbox): season 1
''Back at the Barnyard'' (Nick; iTunes): current season (1)
''Better Half'' (Bravo; Unbox): current season (1)
''Degrassi: The Next Generation'' (The N; iTunes): current season (7)
''Dr. Danger'' (MOJO; Unbox): season 1
''Everybody Hates Chris'' (CW; iTunes): current season (3)
''48 Hours Mystery'' (CBS; iTunes): volume 2
''Ghost Hunters'' (SciFi; Unbox): current season (3)
''Girlfriends'' (CW; iTunes): current season (8)
''Hogan Knows Best'' (VH1; iTunes, Unbox): season 3
''How It's Made'' (Discovery; iTunes): seasons 1 & 2
''I Love New York'' (VH1; Unbox): current season (2)
''The King of Miami'' (MOJO; Unbox): season 1
''Life Is Wild'' (CW; iTunes): current season (1)
''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'' (Bravo; Unbox): current season (5)
''The Sarah Silverman Program'' (Comedy Central; Unbox): current season (2)
''The Search for the Next Elvira'' (Fox Reality; iTunes): current season (1)
''A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila'' (MTV; iTunes): current season (1)
''Supernatural'' (CW; iTunes, Unbox): current season (3)
''Three Sheets'' (MOJO; Unbox): season 1
''The Wizards of Waverly Place'' (Disney; iTunes): current season (1)

Genre Mosaic View

2007-10-05T00:12:00.000-07:00

Imagine this. You're sitting at home and decide you want to watch a sporting event. You're not sure what sport, but you just want to find something good.

How would you find those shows on your telly?

Right now? Not so easy. You can hit the 'Guide' button on your remote. Then you can scroll through the electronic programming guide, channel-by-channel, looking for sports you recognize. Or you can browse by theme, such as 'Sports Misc,' looking for the sport you want.

If you search by either method, you get a title and a short description. That's it.

What if you could see video of six different sporting events at the same time before you make your selection? Plus, that'd be a really sweet way to watch multiple college football games on any given Saturday in October. That's what Cox Communications would like to offer you some day.

Yesterday the USPTO published a patent application (20070234388) from Cox Communications for "Generating a genre-based video mosaic in a cable services network."

Cartoon Network Gone Wild

2007-10-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

The Cartoon Network had a wild month of September with multiple trademark applications. CN filed apps to protect the following titles:

Big Baby
The Bremen Avenue Experience
Calling Cat 22
Lawn Patrol - Unit 42
Nacho Bear
Nutrient Rich
Roller Squirrels
The Talented Mr. Bixby

I have to say that "Nacho Bear" doesn't quite sound like he fits with CN's new rules about healthy eating — maybe CN will show a bear getting sick and fat after eating too many nachos.

I'm guessing "Nutrient Rich" will be an advertising slogan for a block of programming that depicts healthy eating.

The Big Straight Sketch Show

2007-10-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

You read that correctly.

Logo airs "The Big Gay Sketch Show," and, as you know, Logo is part of the Viacom family.

On September 25, 2007 Viacom filed a trademark app to protect the phrase The Big Straight Sketch Show. Wonder if it will be a web-based show or end up on Comedy Central?

Pros vs. Joes: Last Joe Standing

2007-10-04T06:10:00.001-07:00

Maybe you heard about the recent casting call for Pros vs. Joes 3? If not, you're too late. Entries had to be received by September 17. Maybe next time.

But that's not why we're here.

"Pros vs. Joes 3" will be likely be called "Pros vs. Joes: Last Joe Standing." Network Enterprises (Spike TV) filed a trademark app on September 21 to protect the phrase Pros vs. Joes: Last Joe Standing.

The Eps Are Always Greener

2007-10-03T07:52:00.001-07:00

This Friday's ep of "Las Vegas" is called The Glass Is Cleaner, an homage to the famous idiom. So famous that book titles, such as Erma Bombeck's "The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank", also honor this old saying.

I reckoned a ton of shows would have had fun with this phrase. "Leave It to Beaver" and "The Brady Bunch" (plus four other series) each used the phrase word-for-word for an ep title. Suprisingly few shows. Plus, those titles aren't so fun. But here's a list of the more interesting episode titles that reference "The grass is always greener":

The Bluegrass Is Always Greener (''King of the Hill,'' 2/24/2002)
The Glass Is Always Cleaner (''Las Vegas,'' 10/5/2007)
The Grass Is Always Finer (''Sister, Sister,'' 10/11/1998)
The Grass Is Greener Than You Think (''Summerland,'' 6/22/2004)
The Grass Is Sometimes Greener (''Julia,'' 11/25/1969)
The Lass Is Always Greener (''One of the Boys,'' 3/6/1982)
Your Grass Is Greener (''Bingo & Molly'')

New Eps Online: October, Week 1

2007-10-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 25 September 2007:

''America's Most Smartest Model'' (VH1; iTunes): current season (1)
''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (CBS; iTunes): current season (8)
''CSI: Miami'' (CBS; iTunes): current season (6)
''CSI: NY'' (CBS; iTunes): current season (4)
''The Captain and Casey Show'' (Unbox): seasons 4 & 5
''Chumong'' (Unbox)
''The Crocodile Hunter'' (Discovery; iTunes): volume 1
''Deadliest Catch'' (Discovery; iTunes): season 3
''Desperate Housewives'' (ABC; iTunes): current season (4)
''Dr. Steve-O'' (USA; Unbox): current season (1)
''The 808'' (FuelTV; iTunes, Unbox): season 1
''Exes & Ohs'' (Logo; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''Extreme Machines'' (Discovery; iTunes): volume 1
''Family Guy'' (Fox; iTunes, Unbox): current season (6)
''Fantasy Island'' (ABC; AOL): season 1
''Grey's Anatomy'' (ABC; iTunes): current season (4)
''In the Heat of the Night'' (NBC; iTunes): season 1
''Johnny Sokko'' (iTunes): complete series
''M80'' (FuelTV; Unbox): current season (4)
''Moonlight'' (CBS; iTunes): current season (1)
''My Name Is Earl'' (NBC; iTunes): current season (3)
''NCIS'' (CBS; iTunes): current season (5)
''Prehistoric Planet'' (Discovery; iTunes): volume 1
''Stargate: Atlantis'' (SciFi; iTunes, Unbox): current season (4)
''Swamp Thing'' (USA; Unbox): season 1
''Ugly Betty'' (ABC; iTunes): current season (2)
''The Unit'' (CBS; iTunes): current season (3)

My Mom Is Better Than Your Mom

2007-09-27T00:08:00.000-07:00

Wait. What?

Yesterday you probably read about NBC's new game show, "My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad," which is being created by J. Mark Burnett and Reveille Productions. I'm here to tell you that they're already planning episodes of "My Mom Is Better Than Your Mom."

Don't believe me?

On September 19, 2007, Ben Silverman Productions (doing business as Reveille Productions) filed two trademark applications with the US Patent & Trademark Office. One is for "My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad." The other? "My Mom Is Better Than Your Mom," of course.

Not compelling enough? Need more evidence? Take a look at this casting call, which was posted yesterday. See anything strange? They're looking for soccer moms! Why do they need soccer moms for "My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad!" Simple reason. They're already casting for the Mom version of the show.

Ep Side Story

2007-09-26T00:11:00.000-07:00

Fifty years ago today the original production of West Side Story opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.

You can just imagine how often TV writers paid homage to this musical. West Side Story and East Side Story are often used for ep titles. If Patrick Star was a sitcom writer, maybe he would've penned an ep entitled Weast Side Story. How else did scribes honor West Side Story?

Bayside Story (''Saved by the Bell: The New Class,'' 10/22/1994)
Eastside, Westside Story (''Claude's Crib'')
Lower East Side Story (''Double Rush,'' 3/15/1995)
Lower East Side Story (''Platypus Man,'' 5/1/1995)
Rep Side Story (''The Adventures of T-Rex'')
South Side Story (''Trapper John, M.D.,'' 4/3/1983)
South Side Story (''The Hughleys,'' 3/5/2001)
Sweatside Story (''Welcome Back, Kotter,'' 10/7/1976)
Upper West Side Story (''Food Show'')
Watts Side Story (''Sanford and Son,'' 1/26/1973)
West Side Astoria (''Archie Bunker's Place,'' 4/4/1982)
Westie Side Story (''King of the Hill,'' 3/2/1997)
Westley Side Story (''Class of 3000,'' 2/2/2007)

New Eps Online: September, Week 4

2007-09-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 18 September 2007:

''America's Next Top Model'' (CW; iTunes): current season (9)
''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (Nick; iTunes): current season (3)
''Back to You'' (Fox; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''Breed: All About It'' (Animal Planet; iTunes): volume 2
''Gossip Girl'' (CW; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''How I Met Your Mother'' (CBS; Unbox): season 1, 2 & current (3)
''Just Jordan'' (Nick; iTunes): current season (2)
''Kid Nation'' (CBS; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''Kitchen Nightmares'' (Fox; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''Landscape Solutions'' (HGTV; Unbox): seasons 3 & 4
''Life of Ryan'' (MTV; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
''MAD TV'' (Fox; iTunes): current season (13)
''Metalocalypse'' (adult swim; iTunes): current season (2)
''Penn & Teller: Bullshit!'' (Showtime; Movielink, Unbox): season 5
''Rules of Engagement'' (CBS; Unbox): current season (2)
''Shark'' (CBS; Unbox): season 1 and current (2)
''Shark'' (CBS; iTunes): current season (2)
''Survivor'' (CBS; iTunes, Unbox): current season (15)
'''Til Death'' (Fox; iTunes, Unbox): current season (2)
''Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge'' (CMT; iTunes, Unbox): season 1
''Unfabulous'' (Nick; iTunes): current season (3)

What Are the People Watching in Your Neighborhood?

2007-09-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

I doubt it will ever happen because of privacy concerns, but I can imagine some engineer wanting to mash set-top box signals with Google maps. We'll never see a map with house-by-house viewing habits, but you may someday see a community lumped together. You'll be able to compare the viewing habits of Manhattan vs. Queens or Pasadena vs. Glendale in real-time as well as historical ratings.

Love at First Sight

2007-09-20T09:04:00.001-07:00

FremantleMedia, the studio behind "American Idol", is developing a new show.

On September 14, 2007 FremantleMedia North America, Inc. filed a trademark application to protect "Love at First Sight" for

Entertainment services in the nature of a television series; entertainment services, namely, providing an on-line computer game; providing digitized print and visual information about a television series via a global computer network; sweepstakes.

The Deadliest Warrior

2007-09-20T08:54:00.001-07:00

Last night Spike unveiled a new season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Soon you'll be able to watch "The Deadliest Warrior."

On September 12, 2007 Network Enterprises filed a trademark application to protect "The Deadliest Warrior" for a TV series. If you recall, Network Enterprises files applications for Spike shows.

I've found no other info. All relevant domain names — both .com and .tv and short/long versions of the title — are still available. I've found nothing else online.

DIY/HGTV Series in Development

2007-09-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

Scripps Networks, LLC recently protected a number of new word marks for new TV shows. On September 7 Scripps filed apps to protect the following shows for HGTV/DIY:

Armchair Designers
Beyond Repair
The Big Move
The Big Reveal
Buy Mistake
Get It Done
Hammer Heads: Premieres October 6
HGTV Design Club with Matt and Shari: New show for Shari Hiller and Matt Fox.
Hollywood Handyman (or Hollywood Handymen)
The Inside Job
Outdoor Oasis: Previously an HGTV sweepstakes and the title of a single episode of multiple series. Concept finally gets its own show.
Renovation Realities
Rip + Renew: Premieres October 7
Take It to the House
Yard Crashers: According to Outdoor Living Trends, the show has "designers do complete makeovers of selected back yards" and at least one episode has been filmed.

New Food Network Shows in Development

2007-09-20T08:14:00.001-07:00

Way back on September 4 & 7, 2007 the Television Food Network filed multiple trademark applications for new TV shows, including:

The Gourmet Next Door: The new series starring Amy Finley, winner of "Next Food Network Star 3" is scheduled to premiere on October 14 at Noon.

Sugar Shack: Emeril is hosting a Sugar Shack event at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (21-24 Feb 2008).

Plate and Switch

Snack Attack

Alex on Fire

Episodic Nation

2007-09-19T06:57:00.001-07:00

Finally. "Kid Nation" preems tonight and I can't wait — for the commercials and marketing to be over, that is.

Tonight CBS creates a kid nation. What other types of nations has TV discussed in the past? Let's take a look at ep titles in TV history:

Access Nation (''Law & Order,'' 2/27/2002)
Animation Nation (''The F-List'')
Crustacean Nation (''Good Eats'')
Electric Nation (''Great Projects: The Building of America'')
Fallen Nation (''Team Knight Rider,'' 10/6/1997)
Fashion Nation (''Quilt Central'')
Gym Nation (''FitNation'')
Hip Hop Nation (''One-Hit Wonders'')
Imagine Nation (''Blue's Clues'')
Immigration Nation (''HistoryCENTER'')
Island Nation (''Southern Home by Design'')
Kimitation Nation (''Kim Possible,'' 11/15/2002)
Navajo Nation (''Primary Focus TV'')
The Emerging Nation (''The American Story'')
The Expanding Nation (''The American Adventure'')
The New Nation (''Tracks: Impressions of America'')
The New Nation (''America's History in the Making'')
The Ownership Nation (''Small Business School'')
The Right Nation (''Uncommon Knowledge'')
The Smallest Nation (''Decision: The Conflicts of Harry S. Truman'')
The Telltale Nation (''The Practice,'' 11/10/2002)
Tot 'em Termi' Nation (''The Paw Paws'')

New Eps Online: September, Week 3

2007-09-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 11 September 2007:

''The Big Bang Theory'' (CBS; Unbox, iTunes): current season (1)
''Blazing Dragons'' (ITV; Unbox): complete series
''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' (CBS; Unbox): complete series
''Dog City'' (Fox; Unbox): complete series
''Dumb Bunnies'' (CBS; Unbox): seasons 1 & 2
''House'' (Fox; Unbox): current season (4)
''iCarly'' (Nick; iTunes): current season (1)
''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (FX; Unbox, iTunes): current season (3)
''Josie and the Pussycats'' (CBS; Unbox): complete series
''K-ville'' (Fox; Unbox): current season (1)
''Mr. Bean'' (ITV; iTunes): complete series
''Mr. Bean: The Animated Series'' (ITV1; iTunes): complete series
''NFL GameDay'' (NFL Network; iTunes): current season
''The Neverending Story'' (HBO; Unbox): seasons 1 & 2
''Out of Jimmy's Head'' (Cartoon Network; iTunes): current season (1)
''Prison Break'' (Fox; Unbox): current season (3)
''Sin City Law'' (Sundance; iTunes): current season (1)
''Stargate: Atlantis'' (SciFi; iTunes): season 2
''Street Fighter II'' (Unbox): V
''Tum Yeto Sk8'' (iTunes)
''Upright Citizens Brigade'' (Comedy Central; Unbox, iTunes): season 2
''Virus'' (Unbox): volume 1
''WildC.A.T.S.: Covert Action Teams'' (CBS; Unbox): complete series

Virtual DVDs in the Sky

2007-09-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

DRM. Today's dirty word in entertainment.

There are two competing desires at work. Content providers want to maintain complete control and capture every last cent from the value of its properties. Consumers want complete control and be able to watch something anywhere, anytime, anyhow.

Someone has to lose. Or do they?

What if iTunes allows us to stream video on one device at any time with the option of downloading video that has a very short expiration date? By allowing us to stream a video on one device at one time, the content providers can keep control while allowing us to watch video almost anywhere. That's why the short-expiration download is key. If we don't have internet access, such as on most planes still, then we demand another option.

In five years I envision a company that will be an intermediary. Not iTunes or Unbox because they have exclusive deals with content providers. I'm talking about a company with no direct ties to content providers.

So what does this company do? Simple. It's the locker-in-the-sky for your video purchases. You keep your playlist on that site with your favorites and all the other fun community options. But that's not all. This company also maintains the links to all of your purchases, regardless of the purchase point. And if that company is really good, it'll provide a common interface to watch videos.

This company will play a critical role in the ala carte video age since we'll rely on recommendations of experts, friends and the masses to help us determine which new shows to watch. We'll no longer rely on networks to tell us what to watch.

Loaded Questions: The TV Series

2007-09-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

Don't laugh. Well, you can laugh at the game. Just don't laugh at the idea of the board game becoming a TV game show.

All Things Equal, maker of the board game Loaded Questions, filed a trademark app on September 6, 2007 to protect the name of the game for "entertainment services, including, production of television programs."

I'm not sure this idea is going to fly. According its website, All Things Equal has sold more than 500,000 units of Loaded Questions. I'm guessing no more than 2.5 million people ever played the game and only a fraction of those would be interested in watching it on TV. It might be OK as a niche game on GSN, but it won't have the mass appeal and instant recognition of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" or "Scrabble."

I would love to see the numbers — units sold and ratings — for "Taboo", "Balderdash" and "Scattergories" when those game shows preemed on TV. All three shows were based on board games and none of them had a long run. Geez, "Trivial Pursuit" only had a two-year run back in the mid-90s and everybody played that game.

You're Unbearable

2007-09-13T03:47:00.000-07:00

That's the Cartoon Network talking. Not me. I think you're just fine.

CN protected the phrase You're Unbearable for "entertainment services, namely, a live-action program series." Yes, you read that correctly. A live-action program series for the Cartoon Network.

I think CN means it too. If you look at the USPTO paperwork for "Out of Jimmy's Head", you'll find CN protected the word mark for "entertainment services, namely, an animated and live action program series." Lo and behold, "Out of Jimmy's Head" is CN's first live-action/animated series — just like the trademark application said it would be.

TV Game Hall of Fame

2007-09-13T03:19:00.000-07:00

Last summer GSN ran the countdown series, "50 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time." Around that same time Variety entered a show called "TV Game Hall of Fame" in the production charts for GSN. Completely different shows. One aired and the other died.

Or so we thought. GSN has resurrected "TV Game Hall of Fame" but will use the name for a museum instead of a TV series.

On September 5, 2007 Game Show Network filed trademark apps (SN 77272451 & 77272453) to protect two word marks, Game Show Hall of Fame and TV Game Hall of Fame, for "educational and entertainment services, namely, operation of a museum and/or on-line exhibit relating to games played on television."

Why not. Everything else seems to have a museum. Even Jello.

I Know My Kid's a Star

2007-09-13T03:12:00.000-07:00

Great. Just what we need. Another way for parents to tell us how great their kids are.

On September 4, 2007 Viacom filed a trademark app (SN 77271029) to protect I Know My Kid's a Star for a television series. Viacom owns multiple channels, but I'm guessing this show lands on Nickelodeon.

The Americanization of Episode Titles

2007-09-12T00:20:00.000-07:00

Eighty-five years ago the Pulitzer Prize winning autobiography, The Americanization of Edward Bok, was #3 on the non-fiction best seller list for the year. Despite his numerous professional accomplishments, Edward Bok had his biggest effect on our day-to-day life by simply creating a new word. If you believe his wikipedia page, "Bok is credited with coining the word 'living room' to replace the American 'parlor'."

Here's a short list of ep titles that pay homage to Bok's work:

The Americanization of Charo (''Chico and the Man,'' 1/6/1978)
The Americanization of Ivan (''WKRP in Cincinnati,'' 1/28/1980)
The Americanization of Jeannie (''I Dream of Jeannie,'' 11/6/1965)
The Americanization of Machiko - August 4, 1953 (''Quantum Leap,'' 10/11/1989)
The Americanization of Miko (''The Facts of Life,'' 1/20/1982)

New Eps Online: September, Week 2

2007-09-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 4 September 2007:

''The Adventures of Tintin'' (Unbox): seasons 2 & 3
''Afro Samurai'' (Spike; iTunes): season 1
''Biografia'' (iTunes): volume 1
''Bionic Woman'' (NBC; Unbox): pilot (free)
''Black Jack'' (iTunes): complete series
''Chuck'' (NBC; Unbox): pilot (free)
''Firsthand'' (Fuel TV; iTunes): season 8
''Journeyman'' (NBC; Unbox): pilot (free)
''L.A. Ink'' (TLC; iTunes): current season (1)
''Life'' (NBC; Unbox): pilot (free)
''Lincoln Heights'' (ABC Family; iTunes): current season (2)
''Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil'' (adult swim; iTunes): current season (1)
''Medabots'' (Fox; Unbox): season 1
''Meerkat Manor'' (Animal Planet; iTunes): current season (3)
''Mega Disasters'' (History; iTunes): seasons 1 & 2
''Moral Orel'' (adult swim; iTunes): season 1
''The Most Extreme'' (Animal Planet; iTunes): season 2
''Tak and the Power of JuJu'' (Nick; iTunes): current season (1)
''Tim Gunn's Guide to Style'' (Bravo; Bravo): premiere ep (free)

Series Preems in Theaters

2007-09-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

It's getting harder and harder to attract eyes to a specific show. I think we'll see some pretty creative marketing in the next two years as the nets try to find new ways to keep using the old broadcasting rules.

We'll probably see more event programming. Don't be surprised if you see a TV show premiere in movie theaters — for free.

Think about it. Build entire events in 10-20 cities around a series premiere. Different stars go to different cities on different days. Get potential viewers interested in the show and then let them have a shared viewing experience so the audience can feed off of itself. Increase buzz. Increase word-of-mouth. Hopefully, increase viewers.

The whole concept may cause drama preems to be treated like two-hour movies. It might even revitalize the TV movie departments or at least improve the synergy between TV and film divisions.

BETJ Morning Cup

2007-09-06T00:56:00.000-07:00

Black Entertainment Television filed a trademark application (SN 77268046) on August 30, 2007 to protect BETJ Morning Cup for "an ongoing television program featuring music videos." Sounds like you'll be able to start your day with a cup of jazz and joe in the morning.

Million Dollar Pageant

2007-09-06T00:48:00.000-07:00

Bennett Productions has been associated with the Miss Hawaiian Tropic International Pageant for a while, but it may be expanding its pageant coverage.

On August 28, 2007 Bennett Productions filed a trademark app (SN 77266465) to protect Million Dollar Pageant for an "on-going reality based television program."

Sex, Drugs & Ep Titles

2007-09-05T00:37:00.000-07:00

Eight years ago the series ''Sex, Chips and Rock 'n' Roll'' preemed on BBC1. The title pays homage to one of those great idioms that's just a twist on the much older version — wine, women and song.

Let's stick with sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll for today's fun with ep titles. Here's the short list of shows that stayed mostly true to the saying:

No Sex, Some Drugs and a Little Rock ‘n' Roll (''7th Heaven,'' 11/16/1998)
Sex, Drugs and Rockin' the Cradle (''Melrose Place,'' 12/12/1994)
Sex, Rugs and Rock 'n' Roll (''Room for Two,'' 6/8/1993)

But two out of three ain't bad either.

Sex, Death and Rock 'n' Roll (''Swift Justice,'' 3/27/1996)
Sex, Drugs and Catholicism (''Cybill,'' 11/4/1996)
Sex, Drugs and Surgery (''Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew,'' 7/14/2005)
Sex, Drugs and the Vicar (''Forty Minutes,'' 12/10/1981)
Sex, Drugs and Videotape (''Beggars & Choosers,'' 7/24/1999)
Sex, Judge, and Rock & Roll (''My Two Dads,'' 11/15/1987)

New Eps Online: September, Week 1

2007-09-04T22:57:00.001-07:00

Hmmm...for some reason this post appeared briefly this morning and then disappeared. I'm reposting now.

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 28 August 2007:

''Family Guy'' (Fox; CinemaNow): season 1
''Family Guy'' (Fox; Unbox): seasons 1, 2 & 4
''Pantry Raid'' (style; iTunes): current season (1)
''Picket Fences'' (CBS; Unbox): season 1
''The Practice'' (ABC; Unbox): season 2

DDRisney's HSM3

2007-08-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

Seems like Disney thought of every way to market High School Musical 2 to get your children to watch the show again and again and again.

Next weekend — September 8 at 8PM to be exact — your teens and tweens will probably watch HSM2 one more time. Why? Zac and the rest of the cast will teach viewers the dance steps to the opening and closing dance numbers.

For HSM3 Disney should go one step further. Make it into a game.

What if your kids could connect Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) beat pads directly to the set top box or download a file and play along in real-time on a Wii, PS3 or XBox gaming system? Disney should make sure the choreographers for HSM3 develop a few dance numbers that are compatible with using two DDR pads simultaneously.

Just think of the ways this idea can be used for other shows. About a year ago I talked about the concept of TV music Guitar Hero. When Harmonix releases Rock Band, can you imagine your kids watching "The Naked Brothers Band" and playing along? I can.

With the continued convergence of TV and gaming, I expect in two years that we'll be able to download TV episodes that will have some gaming aspect to them.

The Fish Whisperers on Cable/Satellite

2007-08-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Looks like The Fish Whisperers will be coming to your TV via cable or satellite, but only if you get the Outdoor Channel.

On August 22, 2007 The Outdoor Channel filed a trademark application to protect The Fish Whisperers for "entertainment services, namely, an on-going series featuring expert fishermen providing through cable and satellite television and the internet."

Kitchen Rock

2007-08-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

The Cartoon Network filed a trademark application on August 21, 2007 to protect Kitchen Rock for an animated series. Unfortunately, the description is the usual all-inclusive one that CN uses for all of its shows; so that doesn't help. More unfortunately, kitchenrock.tv is not active but Turner Broadcasting did register the domain on August 9. Even more unfortunately, I can't find anything about the show online. And most unfortunately, TBS and CN did not respond to requests for additional information.

Nearly two years ago I discussed how somebody needed to create an animated cooking show. Did somebody come through and develop that show?

Netflix Set Top Boxes: Moving Forward?

2007-08-30T08:15:00.001-07:00

You probably heard the rumors last year about Netflix working on a set top box, but nothing ever materialized. And then two months ago engadget reported on a focus group that tested set top boxes.

Looks like Netflix is moving forward like they mean it this time.

On August 21, 2007 Netflix filed a trademark application (SN 77260383) with the US Patent & Trademark Office to protect Netflix for new goods and services, specifically for "computer hardware, set top boxes and computer software, namely audio and video receivers and transmitters and computer software programs enabling receipt, download, playing, viewing, and rental of audio and video programming through the use of internet connections to computer hardware and receiver and transmitter apparatuses that connect to a television set or monitor." Sure sounds like Internet TV to me.

Just in case you were wondering: Netflix didn't apply for any similar trademarks in the past, and the vast majority of Netflix apps do end up as real products.

The Old Man and the Ep Title

2007-08-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

"The Old Man and the Sea" first appeared in print nearly 55 years ago. I know that today is not the 55th anniversary — it's Saturday — but this title is just too good to pass up.

My Old Man and the Sea (''Doogie Howser, M.D.,'' 11/15/1989)
The Old Caveman and the Sea (''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels,'' 6/14/1980)
The Old Man and the 'C' (''Civil Wars,'' 12/9/1992)
The Old Man and the 'C' Student (''The Simpsons,'' 4/25/1999)
The Old Man and the Key (''The Simpsons,'' 3/10/2002)
The Old Man and the Lighthouse (''Care Bears,'' 1/17/1987)
The Old Man and the Lisa (''The Simpsons,'' 4/20/1997)
The Old Man and the Sea Monster (''Medabots,'' 9/22/2001)
The Old Man and the She (''He & She,'' 9/6/1967)
The Old Man and the Sledge (''Sledge Hammer!,'' 1/3/1987)
The Old Men and the Sea (''Big Wave Dave's,'' 9/13/1993)
The Old Pacman and the Sea (''The Pac-Man Show'')

I think it's safe to say that writers for "The Simpsons" tend to be Hemingway fans.

Awards Update

2007-08-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a loooong time since I've updated the Awards database. Here's the latest and greatest noms, finalists & winners from:

ALMA Award: 2007 winners
Amy Award: 2007 noms & winners
Artios Award: 2007 noms
Banff World Television Award: 2007 winners
Broadcasting & Cable Critics Poll: 2007 summer results
Cable Positive’s POP Award: 2007 winners
Daytime Emmy Awards: 2007 winners
Deadline Club Award: 2007 winners
Emmy Award: 2007 noms
Freddie Award: 2007 finalists
Gabriel Award: 2007 winners
GLAAD Media Award: 2007 winners
Golden Tater Award: 2007 noms
Guy's Choice Awards: 2007 winners
Home Entertainment Award: 2007 noms & winners
Humanitas Prize: 2007 finalists & winners
Imagen Award: 2007 noms & winners
RATTY Award: 2007 noms & winners
Silver Gavel Award: 2007 winners & honorable mentions
Spacey Award: 2007 winners
SyFy Genre Award: 2007 noms
Teen Choice Award: 2007 noms & winners
Television Critics Association Award: 2007 winners
TelevisionWeek’s Critics Poll: 2007 summer results
Urban Music Awards USA: 2007 best show winner

New Eps Online: August, Week 4

2007-08-28T03:27:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 21 August 2007:

''Birdman and the Galaxy Trio'' (NBC; Unbox, iTunes): complete series
''The Dana Carvey Show'' (ABC; AOL Video): complete series
''Frisky Dingo'' (adult swim; iTunes): current season (2)
''Great Scott'' (Fox; AOL Video): complete series
''Hex'' (Sky One; AOL Video): season 1
''Jeremiah'' (Showtime/unaired; iTunes): season 2
''K-ville'' (Fox): series premiere
''MoonPhase'' (iTunes): complete series
''The Partridge Family'' (ABC; AOL Video): season 1
''Picket Fences'' (CBS; Unbox): season 1
''Roswell'' (WB; Unbox): season 1
''Space Ghost & Dino Boy'' (CBS; Unbox, iTunes): complete series
''The Tick'' (Fox; AOL Video): complete series
''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (CBS; Unbox): season 1

We Have a Oner

2007-08-24T02:23:00.000-07:00

You probably already read about "Anchorwoman" being pulled from the airwaves after only one airing. Granted, Fox showed two eps back-to-back, but the show will appear in the Nielsen ratings as a single presentation.

For those of you keeping track at home, here is the current list of TV series that were meant to air more than three times but only appeared once:

''Anchorwoman'' (Fox, 2007)
''Co-ed Fever'' (CBS, 1979)
''Dot Comedy'' (ABC, 2000)
''Emily's Reasons Why Not'' (ABC, 2006)
''Lawless'' (Fox, 1997)
''Public Morals'' (CBS, 1996)
''The Rich Li$t'' (Fox, 2006)
''South of Sunset'' (CBS, 1993)
''Turn On'' (ABC, 1969)
''A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers'' (CBS Cable, 1982)
''Who's Whose'' (CBS, 1951)
''The Will'' (CBS, 2005)
''You're in the Picture'' (CBS, 1961)

Get More. Make More. Live More.

2007-08-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

Any guesses as to which organization recently trademarked that tagline?

Give up?

I guessed the new Fox Business channel, but that's probably because I switched the words around and read it as "Make More. Get More. Live More." Both readings make sense in their own way. I kind of like mine better, but I'm a little biased.

The answer? Fox News Network filed the trademark application on August 17, 2007. Wonder if Fox News will be sharing intellectual property with Fox Biz?

Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas

2007-08-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Warner Bros. filed applications on August 16, 2007 to protect the following word marks:

Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas
The Cooler Kings

I've found no other info about these shows and the descriptions in the applications are the same catch-all boilerplate on all its trademark apps. Plus, Warner Bros. did not respond to my requests for info.

Most of the WB trademark apps actually make it to the airwaves — usually 6-12 months after the filing date; so I'd imagine that WB is pretty confident in these shows. But I have no clue where they might air since WB shows are broadcast pretty much everywhere. NBC. ABC. CBS. Lifetime. Court TV. That doesn't help.

The only other piece of info? On that same day WB also protected Studio Image @ 28 for "creation, production and playback of visual displays in the nature of video, computer and high definition images for use in film, television and commercial productions."

Some Fresh Hare

2007-08-22T00:07:00.000-07:00

Sixty-five years ago today WB released one of its now-controversial Bugs Bunny cartoons — "Fresh Hare". The title is a classic WB pun and the subject of this week's fun with ep titles.

Some of the more obvious puns use hare in place of hair:

Bad Hare Day (''Goosebumps,'' 9/14/1996)
Bad Hare Day (''Ace Ventura,'' 12/13/1996)
Bad Hare Day (''Brandy & Mr. Whiskers,'' 2/4/2005)
Hare Raising Night (''Tiny Toon Adventures,'' 10/1/1990)
Hare Replacement (''Garfield,'' 11/3/1990)
Loopy's Hare Do (''Loopy de Loop'')

But writers have replaced many other words with hare:

Ben Hare (''Beany and Cecil'')
From Hare to Eternity (''NYPD Blue,'' 12/14/1993)
Hare Mail (''Oswald the Rabbit'')
Hare We Go! (''WildFiles'')
Vanity Hare (''Adventures in Wonderland'')

Plus the standard variation of "here today, gone tomorrow":

Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow (''Adventures in Wonderland'')
Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow (''Beany and Cecil'')
Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow (''Gomer Pyle, USMC,'' 4/4/1969)
Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow (''Tiny Toon Adventures,'' 10/9/1990)
Hare Today… (''The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,'' 4/8/1996)

TV scribes didn't stop with hare though. They pulled another hair out of their hats.

From Hair to Eternity (''Head of the Class,'' 2/7/1990)
Hair Apparent (''Hill Street Blues,'' 5/3/1984)
Hair Jordan (''The Bernie Mac Show,'' 1/4/2004)
Hair to Stay (''ChalkZone,'' 5/31/2002)
Hair to the Throne (''King of Cars,'' 4/10/2007)
Love Is in the Hair ... Net (''Class of 3000,'' 2/9/2007)
My Hair Lady (''King of the Hill,'' 2/15/2004)
The Hair Witch Project (''The Worst Witch,'' 12/14/2000)

I won't bore you with all the eps that put a spin on "here today, gone tomorrow"; so here are a couple of the more interesting variations:

Hair Today, Gone Merlot (''The Bonnie Hunt Show,'' 3/24/1996)
Hair Today, Gone to Maui (''Byrds of Paradise,'' 6/16/1994)

New Eps Online: August, Week 3

2007-08-21T01:06:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 14 August 2007:

''Drake & Josh'' (Nick; iTunes): seasons 2 & 3
''The Hills'' (MTV; Unbox, iTunes): current season (3)
''I Wanna Be a Soap Star'' (SoapNet; iTunes): current season (4)
''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (FX; MySpace): season 3 preem
''Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'' (BBC2; Akimbo): complete series
''Popeye the Sailor'' (theaters; Unbox)
''Slacker Cats'' (ABC Family; iTunes): current season (1)

Temporary TV

2007-08-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges of content providers is how to provide free, but temporary access, to a TV show or movie for promotional purposes.

The studios want people to see the show but not be able to keep the show forever — if you can keep the show you're less likely to buy the DVD or a digital download. During this designated period the studios would also like you to share the show with others, but, again, they don't want your friends to have a permanent copy.

Showtime does a pretty good job of this online. It most recently had the 3rd season preem ep of "Weeds" and the series debut of "Californication" streaming on its website with password protection. Viewers could share the show with friends simply by providing the password. Showtime maintained as much control as they could, but that required viewers to use a computer or web-enabled phone to watch. (And I didn't try using a web-enabled phone; so I can't tell you if it actually worked well on an iPhone.)

Well, that's a software solution to the problem. What if you wanted a hardware solution instead? What if you wanted to distribute inexpensive, disposable, hand-held video screens to advertise your show instead? With a hardware solution, you can pass the device to the next person and they can watch whenever and wherever they want. It won't happen this year since the costs are still prohibitive, but don't be surprised if it happens in five years or so.

But the question still remains: How can you distribute media on hardware so that the media has a limited lifetime? The studios don't want the show to last forever on the device.

The answer? A flash drive with a stability curve that has a huge and steep degradation profile at some pre-determined time in the future. That's right. A flash drive with a physical expiration date based on time. At some point it just self-destructs. Just make the hand-held device with no data exchange ports so people can't easily move the content somewhere else. And implement a destroy-flash mode if the person tries opening the case to remove the flash memory.

Karaocasting

2007-08-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

Sounds a lot like podcasting for karaoke, doesn't it?

We'll find out soon enough.

On August 10, 2007 Comcast filed a trademark application for Karaocasting. There's really no other info in the app since Comcast uses the same description for goods and services for almost all of its word marks.

We do know it's not a new karaoke-on-demand service since Comcast has offered that option for a while. We also know it's not karaoke-in-a-restaurant-streamed-online-and-then-possibly-shown-on-VOD since Comcast unveiled that site (Ziddio) and Times Square restaurant (Spotlight Live) on April 6, 2007.

Could be one of two things.

Maybe Comcast will offer iPod-compatible downloads from Ziddio.
More interestingly, maybe future Comcast set-top boxes will have an audio input port so that you can sing at home, mix your own tape, and make a podcast to share with the world.

It could also just be a marketing campaign. On the same day Comcast filed documents for five other word marks that sound more like marketspeak than a new product or service:

Triple Slanguage
Tomphonery
Televisiphonernet
Phoruption
Quiz-Jacking

All I Know Is What I Read on the Internet

2007-08-15T02:46:00.001-07:00

I never met a blog I didn't like.

Yep. You guessed it. Today we're paying homage to Will Rogers, who died 72 years ago today.

Suprisingly, his quotes aren't immortalized in TV ep titles. Maybe they just have too many words.

What about his filmography? Well, I chose two of his flicks — Boys Will Be Boys (1921) and Life Begins At Forty (1935). Why these two? I wish I could say something significant. Historical. Maybe even amusing. But I can't. I chose them only because TV ep titles are likely to have multiple variations of these two phrases. Maybe not even homages, but at least they'll be similar.

Some say Life Begins At Forty, but when else does life start? And what about death?

Death Begins at Forty (''Home Improvement,'' 10/4/1994)
Death Begins at Seventy (''Adam Adamant Lives,'' 2/18/1967)
Life Begins at 65 (''Bridget Loves Bernie,'' 1/13/1973)
Life Begins at Dinner (''Nurse,'' 4/23/1981)
Life Begins at Thirty (''The Stockard Channing Show,'' 4/28/1980)

So if Boys Will Be Boys, what else will be?

Bots Will Be Bots (''Daigunder,'' 10/4/2003)
Bots Will Be Boys (''Rolie Polie Olie'')
Boy Bands Will Be Boy Bands (''Totally Spies!,'' 8/21/2003)
Boys Will Be Boys

''Any Day Now'' (2/17/2002)
''Babar'' (5/28/1990)
''Baywatch'' (2/6/1999)
''The Donna Reed Show'' (3/4/1959)
''Just William'' (11/19/1995)
''Kraft Television Theater'' (1/26/1955)
''Law & Order: Trial by Jury'' (5/6/2005)
''Meerkat Manor'' (7/7/2006)
''The Real World'' (9/21/2004)
''Road to Avonlea'' (1/31/1993)
''Room by Room''
''Safe Harbor'' (11/28/1999)
''Save Us from Our House''
''Silver Spoons'' (10/2/1982)
''Step by Step'' (12/11/1992)

Boys Will Be Eds (''Ed, Edd 'n Eddy'')
Boys Will Be Girls (''Wings,'' 4/7/1994)
Boys Will Be Girls (''Chicago Hope,'' 2/3/2000)
Boys Will Be Men (''Fireside Theatre,'' 4/25/1950)
Boys Will Be Men (''Matinee Theatre,'' 7/30/1957)
Boys Will Be Playboys (''The Smothers Brothers Show,'' 11/26/1965)
Girls Will Be Boys

''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (3/3/1965)
''Full House'' (4/28/1992)
''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' (2/13/1962)
''Punky Brewster'' (1/12/1986)
''Zoey 101'' (1/29/2006)

Girls Will Be Ghouls (''The Girls Next Door,'' 10/15/2006)
Guise Will Be Guise (''Angel,'' 11/7/2000)
Men Will Be Boys
- ''The Bad News Bears''
- ''Jack & Jill'' (11/21/1999)
- ''Little House on the Prairie'' (11/13/1978)
Men Will Be Men (''Christina Cooks'')
Toys Will Be Toys
- ''Fantastic Max''
- ''The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy''
- ''Grim & Evil'' (11/12/2004)
- ''The New Three Stooges''
- ''Tom and Jerry Kids''

New Eps Online: August, Week 2

2007-08-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I waited to see if Unbox would release "Family Guy" videos. Nothing yet. And I couldn't wait any longer.

If you go to the Unbox site and sort all TV titles by most recently added, you'll see a number of entries with a "Family Guy" pic but the link is not recognized. Maybe soon.

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 7 August 2007:

Crusade (TNT; iTunes): complete series
Flash Gordon (SciFi; Unbox, iTunes): current season (1)
Meet Mr. Mom (NBC; Akimbo): complete series
Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County (MTV; Unbox, iTunes): current season (1)
Robot Chicken (adult swim; iTunes): current season (3)
South of Nowhere (The N; iTunes): current season (3)

Database Update

2007-08-13T01:15:00.000-07:00

If you've been keeping track at home, you know it's been about two months since I updated the TV Schedule Finder and about three months since I updated the scoreboard and Total Tube Time features near the bottom of the right sidebar.

I added info to the TV Schedule Finder for the most recent nine weeks (ending 29 July 2007). That's 1,206 new records. Every time you enter a date you now search ~130,000 shows.

During the past three months I also added 4,038 new series to the database and confirmed the preem dates of 2,646 of these series. Whenever I search the trivialTV database for ep titles, I'm now searching eps for 20,608 series. Plus, the 'On This Date' feature includes 11,496 series preem dates — that's an average of 31 shows for every date.

Finally, I updated the results for Total Tube Time. There were just a few changes. "CSI" moved into 9th place overall when it passed "Unsolved Mysteries." On the list of dramas, "Law & Order: SVU" just passed "NYPD Blue" for 8th place and will pass "Dallas" next time.

Keep Your Nose to the Pheromone

2007-08-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

You know how NBC and Fox have a history of developing similar ideas for game shows at the same time? This year it's "The Singing Bee" and "Don't Forget the Lyrics." Five years ago it was "The Chair" and "The Chamber." Both sides claim the concept was their's. Each net claims the other one is a thief. Who really knows the truth?

Well, somebody decided to patent an idea for a game show. That'll show 'em.

But this isn't your average, run-of-the-mill game show idea.

Yesterday the USPTO published a patent application (20070184885) entitled "Game show with non-interpersonal subliminal prompt." Sounds intriguing doesn't it? It's OK. You can admit it. Anytime you see the word subliminal, it kind of catches your eye.

When you think subliminal prompt, your first thought is probably hypnosis. But that definitely requires a personal interaction, and the title specifically states non-interpersonal. Plus, people are skeptical of hypnotherapists anyways. This quote from the patent app says it all: "For example, participants who volunteer as subjects for stage hypnotism are often self-selecting, willing to lose their inhibitions, and enjoy being the center of attention, whether or not they are actually in a state of hypnosis."

OK. What's left? The contestant can watch a video with subliminal messages. The surroundings can be scented to affect behavior, similar to what some casinos in Vegas are trying in their attempt to more easily separate you from your money.

But those ideas are already out there. Think outside the box a little bit.

What about pheromones?

The inventor, Walter Parsadayan, would most like to use a mammalian steroid pheromones to affect contestant behavior. Think about "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" on steroids? Well, steroid pheromones to be exact. Or maybe "Blind Date: Pheromone Makeover"?

I don't think you'll be seeing any of these game shows soon. Even though the app was published yesterday, Mr. Parsadayan filed it way back in February 2006 and we haven't heard of any network developing this type of game show.

America's Doctors

2007-08-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Coming to a TV (or radio) near you. Fresh off their 2007 US Tour. It's "America's Doctors"!

From July 7 - August 18, 2007 Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael F. Roizen headlined a a multi-city, coast-to-coast tour, It's All About YOU: Be The World Expert on Your Body. Midway through that tour — on August 3, 2007 to be exact — Drs. Oz and Roizen filed some paperwork with the USPTO. That filing protects America's Doctors for "entertainment services in the nature of radio programs and television programs in the field of health, diet, and nutrition."

MGM HD

2007-08-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

Could The MGM Channel finally be coming to the States?

If you take a look at the The MGM Channel homepage, you'll see a pull-down list with a long list of countries. A few countries are conspicuously absent, including the US.

Why'd I even look?

On July 30, 2007 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Lion Corp. filed a trademark app with the USPTO to protect MGM HD for use in the States for the first time. The paperwork protects MGM HD for "cable television broadcasting services and high definition cable television broadcasting services."

Maybe we'll finally get to watch some of MGM's vast library, "comprising approximately 4,000 titles and over 10,400 episodes of television programming." (MGM Networks)

anytime, anywhere, anyscreen

2007-08-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

Maybe Sony gets its.

Sony Pictures Television filed a trademark app (SN: 77246516) on August 3, 2007 to protect the phrase Anytime Anywhere Anyscreen for "advertising and marketing of television programming."

'nuff said.

Ben 10: Alien Force

2007-08-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

I know "Ben 10" fans are psyched about this weekend's premiere of the animated movie (Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix), the upcoming live-action flick (Ben 10: Race Against Time), and the sequel series.

So far the sequel series has been called "Ben 10: Hero Generation" (wikipedia), but is that only a working title? Apparently everybody associated with the production is pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing and it's difficult to get a straight answer.

Why do I bring this up? Well, maybe the sequel series will be called "Ben 10: Alien Force" instead.

On June 28, 2007 the Cartoon Network filed a trademark app to protect "Ben 10: Hero Generation" for "an animated program series provided through cable television." Looks like all is well with the world.

But then — only one month later — on July 26, 2007 the Cartoon Network filed another trademark app. This time CN protected "Ben 10: Alien Force" for "an animated program series provided through cable television." Hmmm.... Does that description sound familiar?

We haven't heard anything about another animated flick. Nor any rumors about another spin-off series. Doesn't leave many options, does it?

A Hoffman Is As Old As He Feels...

2007-08-08T00:39:00.000-07:00

Dustin Hoffman turns 70 today.

In honor of his birthday, I put together an homage of ep title references for three of his more famous older flicks.

The Graduate (1967)

The Almost Graduate (''6teen'')
The Girl Graduate (''Family Affair,'' 1/1/1970)
The Graduate

''Movies That Shook the World''
''Love for Sal''
''Family Ties'' (3/15/1984)
''Who's the Boss?'' (12/10/1985)
''It's Garry Shandling's Show'' (10/8/1986)
''Perfect Strangers'' (4/29/1988)
''Roc'' (11/2/1993)
''Northern Exposure'' (3/8/1995)
''Dawson's Creek'' (5/16/2001)
''Felicity'' (4/24/2002)
''Life with Bonnie'' (2/11/2003)
''Family Bonds'' (10/3/2004)
''Growing Up Gotti'' (8/22/2005)
''The War at Home'' (4/22/2007)

The Oldest Living Graduate (''The Facts of Life,'' 11/3/1982)
The Post Graduate (''Everything's Relative,'' 10/17/1987)
The Undergraduate

''Julia'' (9/30/1969)
''The Brady Bunch'' (1/23/1970)
''The Partridge Family'' (10/8/1971)
''Charles in Charge'' (10/31/1987)
''The Fanelli Boys'' (2/2/1991)
''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' (9/15/1991)
''Dream On'' (11/7/1992)
''Married…with Children'' (5/21/1995)

The UnGraduate

''Gilmore Girls'' (9/27/2005)
''Hope & Faith'' (10/10/2003)

All the President's Men (1976)

All the President's Women (''Gun,'' 5/10/1997)
All the President's Women (''Panorama,'' 2/2/1998)
All the Vice President's Men (''Eight Is Enough,'' 11/22/1978)

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Harper vs. Harper (''Mama's Family,'' 3/10/1984)
Klinger vs. Klinger (''AfterMASH,'' 10/3/1983)
Monster vs. Mobster (''Milton the Monster'')
Rohner vs. Gradinger (''L.A. Law,'' 12/3/1987)
Saver vs. Spender (''Miami Ink'')
Skyler vs. Skyler (''Sky Dancers'')
Tanner vs. Gibbler (''Full House,'' 10/21/1988)

New Eps Online: August, Week 1

2007-08-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 31 July 2007:

Californication (Showtime): pilot (password: MONDAYS)
Cribs (MTV; iTunes, Unbox): current season (15)
Dr. 90210 (E!; iTunes): current season (5)
Eden's Bowy (Anime Network; Akimbo): complete series
Fallen (ABC Family; iTunes): 2007 eps
Hart to Hart (NBC; AOL Video): seasons 1 & 2
Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane (style; iTunes): current season (1)
Lost Worlds (History; iTunes, Unbox): current season (2)
Neo Ranga (Anime Network; Akimbo): complete series
The Pick-Up Artist (VH1; iTunes, Unbox): current season (1)
The Real World (MTV; iTunes, Unbox): current season (Sydney)
Rescue Me (FX; iTunes, Unbox): current season (4)
Rune Soldier (Anime Network; Akimbo): complete series
Solitary (Fox Reality; iTunes, Unbox): current season (2)
The Two Coreys (A&E; Unbox): current season (1)
Wild Arms (Anime Network; Akimbo): first-half of series

Ep Vid Finder Update

2007-08-03T00:36:00.000-07:00

It's been three months since I last updated the entire trivialTV directory of online videos. Hopefully, you'll find it was worth the wait. I added new services. I removed two video portals since they no longer provide video. I upgraded some links so that you go directly to the ep instead of just the series page. I removed some links since quite a bit of content was recently removed or just moved.

For those of you keeping track at home, the trivialTV Ep Vid Finder now has 45,854 links to 27,260 episodes for 1,426 series. I reckon it's still the most complete and updated list out there.

I updated content from these sites:

Previously in database
- ABC
- ABC Family
- Adult Swim Fix
- ADV Universe
- AOL
- CBS (innertube)
- CinemaNow
- The CW
- Disney
- Fox (MySpace)
- Google Video: ~1650 links removed
- GUBA
- Hanna-Barbera
- iFilm
- in2tv
- iTunes
- iWatchNow: ~150 links removed
- Movielink
- MSNtv
- NBC (Rewind)
- Outdoor Action: ~320 links removed
- OutZone
- ReelTime: content dramatically changed
- tbs
- toonami jetstream
- TVLand
- Unbox
- Vongo
- WalMart
New to database:
- Akimbo
- Azureus Vuze
- Joost
- LifetimeTV
- MoboVivo
- MovieFlix

Enjoy!

You've Been TMZ'd

2007-08-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

I really hope that isn't one of the catch phrases for the upcoming "TMZ TV." But you can hear it already, can't you?

I can visualize the whole sequence. During one segment "TMZ TV" will air a montage of exclusive TMZ content showing celebs in not-so-flattering form. The segment ends, fancy graphics come on screen, and the hostess gleefully yells "You've been TMZ'd!"

I have no clue if that's what will happen. It's just my best guess.

All I can tell you for certain is that Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. filed a trademark application on July 27, 2007 to protect the phrase You've Been TMZ'd. That much is true. The wording for goods and services in the app is the standard WB boiler plate and offers no additional insight.

Disney's Pictureland

2007-08-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

I wonder if Disney wants to develop its own version of TV Land?

On July 26, 2007 Disney Enterprises, Inc. filed a trademark application to protect Pictureland for:

Entertainment services in the nature of production, storage, hosting, downloading and distribution of wireless data and pictures (digital photograph), audio and video transmission services.
Entertainment services, namely, computer on-line services offered over a worldwide communication network featuring information and entertainment relating to motion picture films, television show programs, contests and family entertainment via a global communications network.

Disney basically listed all aspects of a full user experience. Audio, video, pics, and data. Film and TV. Info, contests, and games.

So now we have to ask a simple question: How is this new venture different from Disney's current online property? You know, the redesigned site it unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 8, 2007. The current site already offers this full experience.

Well two things jump out at me.

First, the current site focuses mostly on content for today's generation of tweens. If you're in your 30s you watched Disney shows and movies growing up, but you can't watch them online now. Plus, the site doesn't appeal to you but you probably send your kids there. There's obviously an untapped market niche and Disney has been charged with creating new business ventures.

Second, take a look at the proposed logo from the trademark application.

Look familiar? If you're under 30, probably not.

For the over-30 crowd, you might recognize the font from an older sign at Disneyland.

According to Yesterland, the sign was at the park entrance from 1958-1989.

Sounds reasonable doesn't it? But it's just my analysis with no insider info. I received no reply to my requests for additional information.

Fox Biz Channel TV Segments

2007-08-02T10:26:00.001-07:00

We really haven't heard much about the upcoming Fox Business Network yet. Surprisingly. Sure, the net won't go live for another two-and-a-half months, but I thought we'd hear a little buzz by now.

Fortunately for those who are interested, Fox Biz is planning. And you know what that means. Trademark applications.

From July 20 to July 26, 2007, the Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation filed applications to protect six different, but very related, word marks:

Fox Business HD Wing
Fox Business Hot Data Wing
Fox Business Hard Data Wing
Fox Business HD Bank
Fox Business Hot Data Bank
Fox Business Hard Data Bank

I can only tell you that Fox Biz wants to use one or more of these phrases for "entertainment services in the nature of a series of television segments featuring business information."

Update (15:01 PDT, 2 Aug 2007): Changed "Fox Business Channel" to "Fox Business Network" in lead paragraph. Kept title as-is since I didn't want it to appear as another entry in the feed.

As Honest as the Day Is Song

2007-08-01T00:38:00.000-07:00

Today is the anniversary of the first broadcast for multiple TV music channels:

1998: First broadcast by VH-1 Soul, VH-1 Country
1996: First broadcast by MTV2 as M2.
1981: First broadcast by MTV.

In honor of these anniversaries, I thought I'd stick with the musical theme for this week's fun with ep titles.

Forty years ago, The Doors' Light My Fire was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A ton of shows used the exact words, Light My Fire, for ep titles, but a few writers played with the title a little:

Firefly, Light My Fire (''The Bugaloos,'' 9/12/1970)
Kumamon Baby, Light My Fire (''Digimon: Digital Monsters,'' 9/23/2002)
Light My Firebush (''Son of the Beach,'' 4/17/2001)
Right My Fire (''To Have & To Hold,'' 11/11/1998)

And 35 years ago, the Eagles released the single, Witchy Woman. Everytime I heard that song I immediately think about Desperado. Thanks, Elaine ("Seinfeld"). Well, writers also paid homage to Witchy Woman through ep titles:

Ooh, Ooh Itchy Woman (''Hannah Montana,'' 6/10/2006)
Witch-ay Woman (''Johnny Bravo,'' 3/12/2004)
Witchy Grrrls (''Sabrina, the Animated Series,'' 9/20/1999)

Sony's Character Tracker

2007-07-31T03:36:00.000-07:00

Looks like Sony wants viewers to engage with TV characters on a new level.

Sony Pictures Television filed a trademark application on July 25, 2007 to protect the phrase Character Tracker for "non-downloadable software for following the exploits of feature players of various television shows."

I found no other info about Character Tracker, and I received no reply to my request for additional information. You know what that means — I'm going to fill in the missing gaps myself with my best guesses.

Blogs are so passe. TV characters have been keeping blogs for a while now. As far back as Fall 2005, The Carver from "Nip/Tuck" and Barney from "How I Met Your Mother" wrote blogs (ABC News, Jan. 23, 2006). Now if a new TV character has a blog, it's just not newsworthy.

Even TV characters probably migrate to newer tools for social networking. Instead of keeping a blog, can you imagine if Ripley Holden of "Viva Laughlin" used Twitter during the first season? What if you could follow Ripley's movements between airings using Gawker Stalker?

If Sony can execute these ideas to provide a deeper viewer experience without affecting the flow of the TV show for casual viewers — just like the graphic novels for "Heroes" — then they may have a winner on their hands.

New Eps Online: July, Week 5

2007-07-31T02:05:00.000-07:00

New series and seasons (full eps only) released online since 24 July 2007:

The Adventures of Tintin (; Unbox): season 1
Damages (FX; iTunes): current season (1)
The Fashionista Diaries (SoapNet; iTunes): current season (1)
Flipping Out (Bravo; iTunes): current season (1)
General Hospital: Night Shift (SoapNet; iTunes): current season (1)
Human Weapon (History; iTunes): current season (1)
The Immortal (Syndicated; Akimbo): complete series
Johnny Bravo (Cartoon Network; iTunes): season 4
Mind Control with Derren Brown (SciFi; iTunes): current season (1)
The Rock Life (VH1; iTunes): current season (1)
Saving Grace (TNT; iTunes): current season (1)
Short Circuitz (MTV; iTunes): season 1
SOB: Socially Offensive Behavior (BET; iTunes): current season (1)
Welcome to the Parker (Bravo; iTunes): current season (1)
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (SciFi; iTunes): current season (2)

Only Tiles Will Tell

2007-07-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

About a year-and-a-half ago I discussed Hewlett-Packard's patent application for tiled images that simultaneously show multiple video streams on your TV screen. Each stream comes from a different input device — set-top box, VCR, DVD, DVR, PS2, computer.

Today I just shake my head in disgust because it took me so long to devise a tiny twist on that idea. What if you use the same setup but use the four images to simultaneously stream live video? I'm not talking picture-in-picture. Four small images. All the same size. All shown at the same time. Plus, this new navigation tool will use lower-res video.

Think about it.

You press the 'favorite' button on your remote and four video streams appear on your telly screen. These channels are the four channels you view most often. (Don't worry about programming your system with your own favorites. Your set-top box knows all.) The video stream in the upper left corner is highlighted since that's your fave channel. Want to highlight another channel? Just use the arrow buttons on your remote. Want to watch that channel? Just press the 'select' button. Or maybe you want to see the next four channels on your list of faves? Just press the 'next' button on your remote. Of course you can use the 'previous' button to return to your top four faves once you nagivate away.

Since the feature uses lower-res video it doesn't require the full bandwith of showing four high-res video streams. It might only require the bandwith of 1.5 streams.

With this setup you may even be able to avoid the black screen of torture. About three months ago I described my own ideas about ways to eliminate the black screen that appears when you change channels. My whole premise was that the set-top box needed to guess which channels to stream before you selected them and guess when you might use your remote before you pick it up.

Now we'll just combine these ideas.

Your set-top box always streams lower-res video for your four most favorite channels while you're watching a single channel full-screen and when you are about to pick up (or are already holding) your remote control.

If you select one of those fave channels directly, your TV immediately shows the low-res video and the high-res video comes up within a second or two.
If you press the 'favorite' button, all four low-res images appear in a mosaic. If you select any of these faves, then the low-res image goes full screen and is quickly followed by the high-res feed.

Once you're using mosaic navigation, the set-top box will stream up to twelve low-res vid streams — the four you're watching, the next four and the previous four (if you navigated away from the first screen). That way the video is immediately available whether you select a channel or navigate through the mosaic mode.

No more black screen and a more effective way of searching. Now we're getting somewhere.

NextDayTV

2007-07-26T02:45:00.001-07:00

If you can't take TV with you, maybe you can watch it the next day.

Hewlett-Packard filed a trademark application on July 19, 2007 for nextdayTV. Here's a low-res image of the logo from that trademark app:

The word mark is pretty self-explanatory, but I was surprised by the range of goods and services that were specified in the filing:

production and distribution of prerecorded video and audio performances;
providing non-downloadable television programs via a video-on-demand service;
DVD rental and subscription services;
hosting the digital audio and video content of others for the purpose of enabling others to download the content on a pay-per-view basis.

Don't be surprised in a year or so if the HP media center on your laptop directly connects to a new HP media store. And don't be shocked if HP provides original content and exclusive repurposed content to grab your attention.

I expect quite a battle over the next few years as different companies try to get you to visit and download video from their sites. HP and other computer manufacturers will load special software for their own centers. Microsoft will direct you to their site automatically if you use Internet Explorer. Your portable video player will take you to the manufacturer's site or its partner's site.

Let the battle begin.

TakeTV

2007-07-26T02:28:00.001-07:00

It's about time for memory makers to jump into the TV download market.

SanDisk Corporation filed a trademark application on July 18, 2007 for TakeTV for a wide variety of fields of use, including:

computer hardware and software for viewing downloaded content;
computer and software for transmitting downloaded content;
hardware plug compatible with standard connectors that can carry video protected or pre-owned by users.

But SanDisk might not stop with its usual hardware solutions. That same trademark application protects TakeTV for "content download services for downloading content from websites, digital content kiosks, DVD stations."

SanDisk recently joined forces with Yahoo! for its Sansa Connect Wi-Fi MP3 player. Makes you wonder whether SanDisk will continue its relationship with Yahoo! and use an expanded Yahoo! TV to bring TakeTV to market for its video players.

Ep Title, Inc.

2007-07-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

As I'm adding and verifying links for my next update for the Ep Vid Finder (and it's a big one by the way), I came across an ep with Destruction, Inc. for its title. I've seen this same ep so many times before since it's from the 1941 animated version of "Superman" at in2tv, but it never really caught my eye.

After many failed attempts to find a topic that was historically relevant — the anniversary of some event — and with enough interesting ep titles, I decided to run with Destruction, Inc.. I looked for other ep titles that ended with Inc. or Incorporated.

I found a ton of eps that simply referred to a character in the show. There's Cher, Inc. from "Clueless" and Jed, Inc. from "The Beverly Hillbillies" and, of course, Ralph Kramden, Inc. from "The Honeymooners." And many, many more. Those seemed too obvious; so I removed them.

Then there are a ton of documentaries, too. "Frontline" had Pentagon, Incorporated. "Made in America" has "Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc." I eliminated them also. Definitely too common for this list.

And here's the list of companies that remained in the business directory.

Assassins, Inc. (''Bugs,'' 4/8/1995)
Cannonball, Inc. (''Petticoat Junction,'' 10/18/1966)
Crime, Inc. (''Startime,'' 1/19/1960)
Death, Inc. (''Penn & Teller: Bullshit!,'' 8/5/2004)
Destruction, Inc. (''Superman,'' 12/25/1942)
Disappearing, Inc. (''Snooper and Blabber,'' )
Fear, Inc. (''Big Town,'' 9/17/1953)
Gossip, Incorporated (''My Three Sons,'' 3/16/1968)
Immortality, Inc. (''Out of the Unknown'')
Inspiration, Incorporated (''Everyman,'' 4/10/1977)
Kicks, Incorporated (''The Mod Squad,'' 1/12/1971)
Kiddie Parties, Inc. (''The Lucy Show,'' 10/7/1963)
Law and Order, Incorporated (''The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca,'' 12/12/1958)
Mink, Incorporated (''The Phil Silvers Show,'' 12/11/1956)
Replacements, Inc. (''K-9 to 5'')
Quitters, Inc. (''The Adam Carolla Project,'' 12/6/2005)
Pixies, Inc. (''The Fairly OddParents,'' 2/20/2004)
Romance, Incorporated (''The Tycoon,'' 1/26/1965)
Spider, Inc. (''Science Fiction Theatre,'' 5/28/1955)
Squib, Inc. (''15/Love'')
Villains, Incorporated (''Richie Rich'')
War, Inc. (''The Agency,'' 4/26/2003)
Wildlife, Inc. (''Whistling Wings'')

trivialTV

TV Tango

Primetime for the Planet

Maui Chopper

Hole in the Wall

Too Many Eps Spoil the Broth

New Eps Online: November, Week 4

Speed Racer: The Next Generation

Dance 'Til You Drop Weight

Double Jumble

Big Girls Don't Cry in the Jailhouse Rock

New Eps Online: November, Week 3

Awards Update

It's Party Time

Fred Roggin's New Challenge?

Episode M*A*S*H

New Eps Online: November, Week 2

TV Schedule Update

Connect. Play. Share.

Ep Title Medley

New Eps Online: November, Week 1

I Survived...Split This House

Born Ready

Trick or Ep Title

New Eps Online: October, Week 5

Country Keynotes

Earth Bears

An Actor Called Kline

Viva Laughlin Quickly Dead

New Eps Online: October, Week 4

Spike TV's Parolees at Large

A&E's Parking Wars

Martha Stewart's Everyday Baking

Michael McKean Turns 60

New Eps Online: October, Week 3

Moblogic

Potpourri Ep Titles

New Eps Online: October, Week 2

Genre Mosaic View

Cartoon Network Gone Wild

The Big Straight Sketch Show

Pros vs. Joes: Last Joe Standing

The Eps Are Always Greener

New Eps Online: October, Week 1

My Mom Is Better Than Your Mom

Ep Side Story

New Eps Online: September, Week 4

What Are the People Watching in Your Neighborhood?

Love at First Sight

The Deadliest Warrior

DIY/HGTV Series in Development

New Food Network Shows in Development

Episodic Nation

New Eps Online: September, Week 3

Virtual DVDs in the Sky

Loaded Questions: The TV Series

You're Unbearable

TV Game Hall of Fame

I Know My Kid's a Star

The Americanization of Episode Titles

New Eps Online: September, Week 2

Series Preems in Theaters

BETJ Morning Cup

Million Dollar Pageant

Sex, Drugs & Ep Titles

New Eps Online: September, Week 1

DDRisney's HSM3

The Fish Whisperers on Cable/Satellite

Kitchen Rock

Netflix Set Top Boxes: Moving Forward?

The Old Man and the Ep Title

Awards Update

New Eps Online: August, Week 4

We Have a Oner

Get More. Make More. Live More.

Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas

Some Fresh Hare

New Eps Online: August, Week 3

Temporary TV

Karaocasting

Episode MAS*H