As we’ve learned from better science fiction, our creations sometimes surpass their original parameters. Sometimes they run amok (2001), sometimes they kill everyone everywhere (”Battlestar Galactica,” The Matrix), and sometimes they turn into charming naïfs (Data from Star Trek). Another unusual example can currently be seen during commercial breaks on American television.
Esurance, an online insurance [...]

All this Star Trek talk has made me sort of nostalgic. When I think about it, it’s difficult to remember the details of any given show.
Something…
But there was definitely, definitely something I liked about one of the later shows. Something that sort of drew me back, again and again…
Something…
I believe it was some sort of [...]

The ol’ Trek-o-Meter, that linear scale used to track the intensity of one’s Star Trek fandom essayed in these pages last July, apparently isn’t quite ready to be retired yet. For one thing, there is finally a new original cast Star Trek movie in production, with Chris Pine (Smokin’ Aces) as Kirk and Simon Pegg [...]

Got to spend the weekend up in Lake Tahoe with family. Tahoe is a large high mountain lake that straddles the border between California and Nevada. It’s mean level is 6225 feet (1898 meters) above sea level. I’m a sea level sort of guy, which meant the first evening I was up there I [...]

Thank God the writer’s strike is over and the directors came to an agreement! At last we can count on an uninterrupted stream of entertainment! After all, once the writers and directors are in place, what more do you need?
That’s right my snark-concious friend, there’s a zinger coming. The actors’ contract expires June 30th, and [...]

Enough already - JERICHO, the CBS series about survivors of a nuclear holocaust in a small midwestern town, has been officially canceled. The plucky little series, already canceled once but resurrected by a tiny collection of rabid fans, was given a second chance and a heavy promotion push in January during the writer’s strike, when [...]

Quite enjoyed the first two episodes of “John Adams,” the HBO miniseries based on David McCollough’s (avuncular-voiced narrator of “The Civil War” and Seabiscuit) biography of America’s second president. It’s a quality production, beautifully depicting the look and feel of Colonial America, and the dialogue was written at an erudite, thoughtful level, one that demands [...]

In Today’s (3 March) IMDb Studio Briefing this little article hung out near the bottom:
Consumers Hanging Up on Cell-Phone Video
Few people are watching clips of television shows and other videos on cell phones, according to a report by research firm Diffusion Group reported in today’s (Monday) New York Times. “All our research keeps pointing at [...]

We have implemented a policy change at work.
As noted previously on this site, Digital Television is set to kick off in about a year. One of the profound changes this represents is to the very delivery form of television: It’s aspect ratio. SD (Standard Definition, Analog TV) is 4:3– and DTV is 16:9.
It’s as simple [...]

Within the space of a year, the FCC has mandated that all television signals be broadcast in the new ATSC digital format, forever putting a lid on the beloved NTSC that has served us since before Milton Berle put on his first dress. And you know the nightmare scenario that’s going through your head: you’ll [...]