OldSpice has done a series of personalized commercials and posted them on YouTube. Simply go to this link and prepare to be amazed. Very funny, very clever and I have no doubt that I’ll be buying an Old Spice product very soon.

Got to go though. I have to create my new voice mail message!

It’s done in a hybrid classic sitcom/reality show style, kind of like “The Office”, but without the awkward moments. The actors are suppose to know the camera is there, so they break the third wall, but not too much.

Whatever, stop reading this and go watch it from the beginning. You can catch it on Hulu.com for the next few weeks and below is episode 3.

Jim Cramer really comes off like a schmuck and an apologist. Clearly John is on his game, is firing on all cylinders and controls the conversation expertly. It reminds me of his appearance Crossfire and well worth the watch. On Crossfire, John took CNN to task and in this interview he takes CNBC to the same task. To quote Stewart, the issue is about “… what CNBC advertisers itself as and what it actually is.”

The impression that I’m left with after watching the videos is that the credibility of CNBC and more specifically Cramer’s show “Mad Money” has been flushed. It was after Stewart’s appearance on “Crossfire” that the show was cancelled. I can’t help but think that we could be seeing a repeat.

Lastly, there’s one thing that Cramer says towards the end that really sticks out and will be my take away sound bite.

“I’m a guy doing an entertainment show about business.”

I just stuff like this where someone speaks from the heart and tells you honestly how they feel. Having them feel the same way as I do is a nice bonus!

There’s other videos of Craig, such as his unscripted monologue regarding his own struggles with alcoholism, but don’t bother going to CBS to watch them. You’ll need RealPlayer to watch them. Seriously? RealPlayer? 1998 called and they’d like their broke ass media system back.

Feeling as if Holly had suffered too long from being about to watch CMT and GAC, I finally broke down and ordered it for her. Comcast came out this week to install digital cable and I’m happy to report that it went without a hitch. Wanting to “test the system,” I bounced around a few channels and explored the online guide. Since it’s digital cable, there’s a programming guide that shows you what’s coming up. Scanning the channels, I came across my much beloved, and sorely missed station — channel 72, OLN.

Firing it up, the Tour de France was being shown live and my butt suddenly grew Velcro and I couldn’t move from the couch for the next hour. I was riveted to the screen as I heard Paul and Phil commentate on the action as it rolled along for Stage 10. Oh how I missed this! And if you’re a fan of the Tour like I am, be sure to check out Mike Rohde’s blog post on the subject. He has links to just about everything there is on the subject. Excellent resource.

Anyway, still heady from the TV high I was experiencing, and thinking that it couldn’t get any better, OLN when to commercial and I fired up the guide. Imagine the mix of shock and glee as I saw “Paula’s Home Cooking” appear just a few channels away. I felt like George Costanza in “Seinfeld” when he tries the trifecta of bringing corned beef and television into the bedroom. OK, the bed was missing, but I had the Tour de France and Food Network and a “Last” button that sent me instantly from one channel to the next.

That’s when I realized… I was having a TV-gasm. :p

The basic premise of the show was that the United States is more divided than ever, polarized if you will, between liberal (blue state) and conservative (red state). So George showed the small town of Montclair, New Jersey to illustrate a blue state community and then Franklin, Tennessee as a red state community. That’s where my client came in. H. Leonard Issacs is a reverend for a church in Franklin, among other faith based endeavors, and he leads a mens prayer group in Darryl Waltrip’s home.

It was somewhat exciting to see someone I know being on a national program, but I have to confess that I HATED the special. I tried to watch it up to the end, but I just couldn’t do it. I really wanted to like the program because I happen to like George Stephanopoulos and I think 20/20 is one of the better news programs out there. Unfortunately, this program was tainted from the start.

The reason for my distaste for the program stems from the fact that there was an un-mentioned bias that clouded the whole program. It’s an assumption that I see popping up more-and-more in the media, in books and in everyday conversation. It’s almost being boiled down to a mathematical equation:

Democrat = Liberal
Republican = Conservative
~ thusly ~
Liberal = Non-Christian, tree hugging, hippie
Conservative = Christian, gun toting, war monger

Since 20/20 had this preconceived notion in their minds already, everything in the program was styled to reflect this belief. I kept wanting to scream “Facts, not in evidence!”. Because until you define the terms that you’re throwing about willy nilly, your argument is flawed. What was presented was nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy. So all the video and discussion that was presented was nothing more than content that supported their world view – a world view I don’t agree with.

I’ve never been one for labels. In high school, I wasn’t a jock, or one of the BMOCs. I wasn’t a nerd, or a band geek. Looking back now, I don’t know what I was other than just a kid. As I grew up my politics seemed to follow the same style. I’ve never labeled myself a Republican, or a Democrat. I wouldn’t say that I’m particularly liberal, or conservative either. I’m a mix of all those things. On some issues I tend to be liberal and on others more conservative. And you know what? I don’t think I’m unique. I think everyone is a like that. It’s only when you force someone to pick sides that you start to polarize the issue. “Well gee, I guess if I have to choose between a rock and a hard place, I’ll go with that team.”

I don’t care what color you choose, but by putting up the context that you have to choose, you’re forcing people to go to one extreme, or another. Then with everyone entrenched on being either liberal, or conservative, you’ve created extremists for both sides and isn’t that what the whole War On Terror is about stopping?

Sure, America is divided when you force the artificial constructs of liberal or conservative, but for that matter, you might as well do a program about north versus south, because there are just as many differences there. The simple fact is that America is a diverse nation and whatever type of American you’re looking for, if you look hard enough, you’ll find it. Using 20/20′s logic, America must be full of women who don’t know who the father of their babies are, because that’s about the only type of guest I see on Maury.

I haven’t really written about politics in the past and I’m not usually one to get up on my soapbox and berate an issue, but after watching the first half of “State Of The Union: A Country Divided”, I just felt compelled because it was so poorly done. I could go into great lengths regarding some of the facts that they presented and how I think they’re flawed — such as how Franklin is really nothing but an extended suburb of Nashville, or how Franklin is not the largest “city” in the county and so their votes have to be weighed against the rest of the voters in the county, — but I’m reminded of the old saying, “There are lies, damn lies, — and statistics.”

The bottom line is that this whole red state, blue state thing is a load of crap. I for one and tired of the argument and just wish that there was a third option. I’m not red and I’m not blue. Can’t I just be purple? ???

This morning, I was reading Mike Mace’s article “We need a new mobile platform. Sort of.” and he made reference to the Palm Ad “A Perfect Day” and the fact that he couldn’t find the video online. I decided to do my civic geeky duty and upload the video to YouTube.com. Not wanting to stop there, I decided to upload all the videos I’ve collected over the years.
The playlist and the embedded player below, have the videos in date order as best as I can tell. There are 6 videos in all — enjoy.

I’ve created, managed and published a lot of web sites in my day, but I still get a kick out of seeing someting I’ve submitted appear on someone else’s site.

For example, I’m a big fan of the BBC television series “Hustle” and I was watching the lastest episode last Friday night. One of the characters, Danny Blue (Marc Warren), was pretending to be a journalist for the con that they were working. Throughout the episode he’s seen sporting a Moleskine Reporter Pocket edition. In fact, the journal was featured so much that in one scene you can even make out the embossing on the back!

Since I’m the TV.com Editor for “Hustle”, I felt it was my duty to take a few screenshots and submit them to one of my favorite web sites Moleskinerie. Within the hour, Armand posted them on his site, which you can see at this link.

It’s a small thing, but it still makes me smile and brightens my day. I hope I never lose that feeling.

John’s been having a great run over the past year or so. He was on “Law and Order” in the episode Acid, which then lead to a role on “Bones” in The Superhero In The Alley. Before all that, he was on “Medium” in the episode Suspicions And Certainties, which was a brilliant role. It was very dark but VERY funny.

Of course all of these appearances are nothing new for John. He’s been very active for many years out in LA. Including starring roles on “Reasonable Doubts“, “Courthouse“, and the cult hit “American Gothic“, just to name a few. What’s different for me now is that John let’s me know ahead of time when he’ll be making an appearance, so I can be sure not to miss it.

So be sure to tune in tonight to CSI!

Maybe this kind of comedy is typical in the UK, but from where I sit, (Nashville, TN to be precise) “The IT Crowd” is a breath of fresh air. Farcical comedy is so rarely done in the US, but it’s more than just the comedy stylings, it’s the fact that the whole show is based around the three people that make up the IT Department of Reynhold Industries. Other than the occasional nerd joke, having a whole comedy centered around computer geeks just makes my heart sing.

In Roy’s (Chris O’Dowd) first scene, we see the template for what is to come from the IT staff and it’s just brilliant. You can clearly tell that the bulk of his support calls are the same thing day in and day out. That alone is funny, but it’s not till the end of the episode where Jen (Katherine Parkinson) repeats Roy’s words that the comedic payoff reaches it’s climax. Since seeing this episode, I find myself laughing every time I field a tech support call myself.

To round out the casting for the stars of the show, Moss (Richard Ayoade) adds just the right touch of über-geek to the mix and creates a fantastic character in the process. These three actors really have a grasp on farcical comedy and their timing and commitment to their roles really makes this comedy shine.

There are only 6 episodes for the entire 2006 season, which may seem surprising to US viewers, but in the UK this is quite common. The series has been picked up for a second season in 2007, but until then, you can watch the shows on YouTube, or download them via BitTorrent. They are definitely worth watching and I highly recommend the series as a whole.

For more information on the series, please visit the TV.com Show Summary. There you can find quotes, recaps, reviews and more.

John told me he landed the role after his performance on “Law & Order in the episode Acid (which you can download on iTunes by the way). Someone saw him and from that he was cast in this episode of “Bones”. My hope is that his role will be fairly prominent, since his role on Law & Order, as Jason Corely, was pretty large as the “bad guy.”

Anyway, be sure to check out “Bones” tonight to see John’s performance. Regardless of the size of his role, I’m sure that it will be memorable. John’s really good at making his character’s stand out.

The plan was to leave the night of Thursday the 15th to get a head start on all the driving. High Point is an 8 hour drive, so instead of eating up all of Friday driving, we could break it up over two days and have most of Friday to browse the acres of furniture that High Point is known for. I also had to do my radio show for Computer Outlook that evening, and the day itself was crazy as ever with having to visit several client sites, shop for Holly, etc. Suffice to say that it I had a very busy day planned.

My second stop of the day was to my favorite caffinated watering hole Caffeine. They open at 7am and I was in the door shortly thereafter. My plan was to have some breakfast and get a little work done before my next appointment at 9am. I setup my laptop and sent my Tapwave Zodiac to go get my mail. Evelyn pulled a double espresso for me and Mark made my favorite breakfast dish of theirs – steak and eggs.

After a little chit chat to catch up on what they’ve been up to. I went to my table to enjoy a cup of coffee and go through my mail. I have a form on the weblog for people to contact me and my e-mail client flags them as urgent so that they don’t get lost in the deluge of my inbox. As I opened my mashby.com account, I saw that I had a “Contact Request”. As I went to open it, you can imagine my surprise when I looked at the address and saw that it was from John Mese. That’s right, I got an e-mail from John F**kin’ Mese!

It seems that John had found me while doing a Google search for when his episode of Law & Order was going to be re-aired and in the results was the article I did on my weblog. In his e-mail, John was very complimentary of the article that I wrote, although he said that he didn’t remember me, he did ask if I’d send him a picture. I sat there in Caffeine with my coffee in one hand, my Zodiac in the other and my mouth on the floor.

Now I’ve been meaning to reach out to John for some time now, but I didn’t have an address for him, or any method of contacting him directly. We do have a friend in common, so I had planned on calling her when I went to Baton Rouge the next month, but that was really my only option. What absolutely blew me away that HE reached out to ME.

I never even conceived that John would ever read the article that I wrote. I’m a small time writer publishing to a limited audience, so I had no grand visions that it would be read by anyone other than close friends. Case in point, I never would have written “He played some of the worst music I’ve ever heard in my life…”, if I thought that John would be reading the article. Thanks to Google though, he found it, read it, liked it and most surprising of all, took the time to contact me about it.

Sitting in Caffeine, I hit the reply button and responded. I sent him a link to a head shot that I had taken of myself a few years ago and also reminded him of a story from class in the hopes that it would trigger his memory. Much to my surprise, it did. In less than an hour, John replied again saying that he did indeed remember me, both by the photograph and the reminder of my final monologue I did in his class. Talk about flattered.

All throughout that weekend we e-mailed each other about what each of us have been up to and what we’re working. It was a great conversation and since then, we’ve continued to stay in touch. John has also offered some trivia about himself to add the to his profile, correcting a few entries I had made in error as well. Little did I know that by writing a little article about why I wanted to become John’s editor, would lead to actually being able to correspond with him one-on-one. When you connect the dots, it’s not so unfathomable, but at the same time it’s quite amazing.

I am continually amazed at how having a weblog can serve as a way to communicate with people. Sometimes it’s with people you haven’t talked to in ages and other times it can be complete strangers, but by putting a little something out there, your whole world can open up to new and exciting opportunities. Who knows, you might even get an e-mail from John F**kin’ Mese!

Back in 1988, I needed an elective at LSU and I opted for an Acting 101 class. John was the instructor and I have to say, he was an excellent teacher. It was clear that he found acting exciting and he translated that into the class. It was a blast and I ended up getting an “A” and fueled by John’s love of acting, I decided to go on to the 201 class after that. Unfortunately, the 201 instructor sucked and I dropped the class.

John ended up graduating from the Master of Fine Arts program, a graduate study curriculum in the Theatre Department, that year and moving to LA to pursue his career. While he was in Baton Rouge though, he was one a very cool guy to hang out with. I can’t say that we were friends really, I mean he was my instructor, but he was very approachable and fun to hang out with. I’ll never forget this party he through. He was living in an old shoe, or boot store (if memory serves) and he threw a party. I was lucky enough to be invited, so I invited a buddy of mine to go with me, since I didn’t know anyone other than John. We went and it was a blast. He played some of the worst music I’ve ever heard in my life, but it didn’t seem to matter because everyone was dancing and having a great time. I distinctly remember seeing John standing on a table howling up at the ceiling clearly enjoying his party as much as his guests.

Since I’ve gone off on a tangent, I might as well go off on another. During his days at LSU, John had long hair that was all one-length. If you remember Dan Cortese when he was on MTV Sports, then I think you get the picture. He was quite proud of his hair too, which is understandable, and would pull it back into a pony tail. You’d never know that he was a Catholic High School graduate to look at him then. He was definitely NOT preppy in any way shape or form.

OK, so back to the story. John graduates and moves to LA and although I wanted to continue acting, I dropped out of the 201 class because the instructor sucked. Even though I wasn’t in any classes, I had become involved with the local theatre community through my work as a trumpet player (my major in College). I played in “the pit” for several seasons of musicals at Baton Rouge Little Theatre and other theatres around town. It was at one of these performances where I ran into John again. He was in town for the holidays and that’s when I learned that he had landed a a co-starring role on Reasonable Doubts as Marlee Matlin’s love interest. As you might imagine, John was quite the star backstage at the local community theatre and deservedly so.

Since then, I haven’t seen John except for appearances on TV. Before I got hooked on TV.com this year, I never really knew when John was going to be on television, so when I saw him it would always be a surprise. Because of this, his name in my household has changed from John Mese to John F**kin’ Mese. My wife even says it! I know it sounds crude but allow me to explain.

Holly (my wife) and I got into the series Sex And The City rather late. We don’t have HBO, so it wasn’t until I started using NetFlix that we began watching it on DVD. One evening, we’re sitting down engrossed in The Chicken Dance episode when John Mese suddenly walks into the scene and begins talking to Samantha. They say a few words and then leave together. I suddenly blurt out, “That’s John F**kin’ Mese!” He had one other scene in that episode, which was funny as hell, and although his role wasn’t that large it was very memorable. In fact, he’s mentioned in the Sex and the City Hotspots tour. Anyway, I think you get the idea of how his name has changed and why.

John hasn’t hit it big per se, but he does have a nice body of work and has been steadily employed now for over 15 years. Bottom line – he has had a solid acting career. John tends to make his roles memorable ones and overall he is a damn fine actor. He was most recently in Law & Order as “Jason Corley” in the episode Acid (another “Hey that’s John F**kin’ Mese” moment). So since I have a slight connection to him and know a little bit of his back story, I figured he’d be a good actor to try and become editor for. We have some common friends, so I might be able to interview him and get some more tidbits for the site, you never know.

So there you have it. The whole story as to why I wanted to become John Mese’s editor. Sorry it wasn’t more exciting. I’m not stalking him, which would be kind of hard to do here in Nashville, TN, I don’t want to have his love child and I’m not a deranged crazed fan. I’m just his editor.

06. “Lost” (ABC)
My wife and I missed catching the first few episodes of Lost when it first began airing last year. It wasn’t until the Season 1 DVD came out that we were able to catch up and see what all the buzz was about. After the second episode we were hooked and now we never miss an episode and thanks to iTunes, I don’t have to.

“Lost” is the story about the survivors of a plane crash, who find themselves on an island. The real adventure begins once they discover that the island holds many mysteries and so do the survivors themselves. The hook that pulls you in and won’t let go is the way the story slowly draws you into the mysteries. Instead of big stunning revelations, the viewer peels away one layer at a time, much like layers on a onion. For this reason though, it’s really best to watch it from the beginning. Coming into the middle of Season 2 isn’t the best way to ease your way into the series. There’s a lot of strange things that occur and it’s best to experience them for yourself and not by word-of-mouth.

If you’re new to the series, be sure and watch the Season 1 DVD, or download the last season on iTunes for $34. It’s worth the effort.

07. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)
Since I don’t have HBO, I didn’t get into “Curb Your Enthusiasm” when it first began airing, so this is a show that I’ve had to enjoy via DVD. Now that I’m into the show though, I have to say, I could almost get HBO for this show alone – it’s that funny.

If you were ever a fan of “Seinfeld” and sorry to see it go off the air, then you need to get into this show pronto. Most of the crazy story lines and humor from “Seinfeld” came from the mind of Larry David and it’s him that this series is based on. If you remember the George character, as played by Jason Alexander, then you’re already familiar somewhat with Larry, because that’s who George was based on. With “Curb” being on HBO though, the gloves are off on the subject matter and the humor is just crazy funny.

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” is an eclectic mix between reality and fiction because Larry plays himself and there’s tons of guest stars that play themselves. Yet an actress plays his wife an several other actors play other characters, so you’re never sure until someone is introduced whether or not the actor is playing themselves or not. Regardless of the casting, Larry is in the middle of it and usually making choices that lead to hilarious results.

There are 4 seasons out on DVD and the 5^th is airing now, so if you have access to HBO, or *ahem* BitTorrent, then you just drop in anytime. Unlike “Lost”, you don’t have to watch it from the beginning.

08. “The Shield” (FX)
During the first season of “24″, FX began promoting a new show called “The Shield” starting Michael Chiklis. My first thought at seeing the promo was, “isn’t he ‘The Commish’?” I didn’t think much of that show, so I wasn’t all that interested in seeing Chiklis’ new show. Lucky for me though, the FX marketing paid off and I tuned into the first episode and I’ve been hooked ever since.

“The Shield” is a gritty, hard-hitting story of a dirty cop with good intentions. When we first meet Vic (Michael Chiklis), we quickly learn that he’s definitely not squeaky clean and he’s not someone you want to mess with. It’s a darker crime series than that of “NYPD Blue“, or “Law & Order” and my first impression of the series was that the storytelling was more about shock than substance. Based on other FX series, such as “Nip/Tuck“, I thought that the series was more about making you wince and cringe and less about solid storytelling and for the first season, that’s mostly what the series was all about.

Over the years though, “The Shield” has turned it’s attention more to the story and it’s characters and less to gore and violence. With the last season, season 4, the character development went into high gear with the addition of Glen Close to the cast. There were still plenty of things to make you cringe and jump out of your seat, but underneath it all was a beating heart of character driven storytelling. It was the best season yet.

Season 5 is set to start sometime in 2006. If you’d like to get caught up on previous seasons, you can buy them on DVD and take your time going through each season.

09. “Wire In The Blood” (BBC)
Many would argue that much of what is shown on television is crap. There are some standout shows, but on the whole, the bulk of what the networks deliver is junk. Thanks to Broadcatching, and some day IPTV, the landscape is changing somewhat in that we’re now able to see television from other parts of the world. There is a whole other world out there waiting to be explored and most of the content that I’ve seen from the BBC is fantastic! I’ve already talked about two BBC programs, Hustle and Extras and now it’s time for another gem.

“Wire In The Blood” is a crime drama which centers around clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill (Robson Green). Dr. Hill has the unique ability to get inside the heads of terrifying serial killers in order to solve the crime and capture the criminal. He is paired with Detective Inspector Carol Jordan, (Hermione Norris) and the two of them take the viewer on a thrilling ride which almost borders on the surreal, adding a strong measure of intensity.

The UK take on violence is a bit different from the US. It tends to be a little more reserved and not so graphic. Personally, I prefer the less graphic version, but this doesn’t take away anything from the creepines, or suspense from the show. If anything it heightens it!

Like most British programming, the seasons are short. In “Wire In The Blood”, there are only 4 episodes per season (6 for the first season). This may sound insane to American audiences that are used to 20+ episode seasons, but it is what it is. I like to think that having shorter seasons is one of the reasons that the shows are so good. Lower number of episodes = higher quality content.

Some UK shows are hard to get on DVD, but as luck would have it, both Season 1 and Season 2 are available through Amazon.com.

10. “Spooks” (BBC / A&E)
Clearly I’m hooked on BBC programming, because 40% of my top ten list comes from across the pond and “Spooks” comes in at number 10. The good news about this program is that unlike “Wire In The Blood”, “Spooks” is broadcast in the US as “MI-5” on the A&E channel. I figured I’d let you know this up front so that there’s no surprises at the end. Nothing like luring you in on a great show, only to find out you can’t watch it.

“Spooks” is about the British service MI-5, whose job it is to protect England. Most people are familiar with James Bond (aka 007), who is a member of MI-6. James Bond is a spy abroad. The folks at MI-5 are spies at home. Another way of looking at it is that MI-5 is much like the US FBI, but a lot more secretive.

OK, enough with the definitions, what the heck is this series about? Well, the series is about the anti-terrorism branch of MI-5 and the people that choose to live as a “spook”, or spy. Some might call it the British version of “24“, but it’s more than that. The series has a whole different feel to it and is less extreme for the most part and is more brains than brawn, because those who work for MI-5 do so in secret.

Now if you get very involved in characters and don’t deal well when they are killed off the show, it’s best that you don’t get hooked on this series. “Spooks” is known for sudden and dramatic exits of minor and major characters alike. So when someone gets caught up in something dangerous, you never really know that they’re going to make it out alive. This really cranks up the tension as you’re watching the program and can often keep you on the edge of your seat.

Season 4 just ended and can still be found at places like TorrentSpy , but you can get Seasons 1 & 2, and Seasons 3 of the US branded show.

That’s A Wrap!
So there you have it, my top ten television shows. These are the shows that I make sure to never miss and work very hard to make sure that I don’t. Hopefully you’ve found a show or two that’s new to you and you’ll give the show a chance. I would encourage you to try a show even if it’s in a genre that you don’t normally enjoy. I’m mostly referring to “Firefly”, but it applies to all the programs. Even if you don’t like Science Fiction, don’t let that stop you from watching. All of the shows that I’ve listed here are the best of their genre and are worthy of a viewing.

Just to recap the top ten, here they are.
   01. “Firefly”
   02. “Hustle”
   03. “Veronica Mars”
   04. “24”
   05. “Extras”
   06. “Lost”
   07. “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
   08. “The Shield”
   09. “Wire In The Blood”
   10. “Spooks”

01. “Firefly” (FOX)
This series was canceled in 2002, but to this day it stands out as my favorite television show. Created by Oscar and Emmy nominated writer Joss Whedon, who had created two blockbuster hits for FX with “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel“, was asked to create one more show for them. What he came up with was “Firefly“. The network eagerly bought the show and then didn’t know what to do with it. They decided not to air the pilot, then dumped it into a crappy time slot and in the end canceled it. Idiots.

Lucky for us, the fan base for the show was legion and they were vocal. After the show was canceled, they started up a grass roots campaign to drive the sales of the DVD for the series and that got Universal’s attention who decided to continue the story with the first of hopefully 3 movies called Serenity. The series is great, the movie is great and it’s all shiny.

“So what’s the story about?” It doesn’t matter. Go buy the DVD and watch it. “But isn’t it Sci-Fi?” It is and it isn’t. It’s unlike any show that’s out there, so go buy it and watch it. “Yeah, but I’ve heard it’s a western too” It doesn’t matter. Go buy the DVD and watch it.

02. “Hustle” (BBC / AMC)
“Hustle” has a style all it’s own. It’s posh, it’s svelte and a whole heck of a lot of fun. Being a criminal never looked so cool and being able to dip your feet into the fantasy of being part of Mickey Brick’s team is what it’s all about. We know that the life of a long con artist can’t be this fabulous, but oh how we wish it was. Simply put, Hustle is what Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve wished they could be.

Throughout each episode, Mickey’s team plays out a long con which is often times quite complicated. It’s not until the end, when there’s a bit of a “reveal” and we’re able to see exactly how the con was played out. As a result, you’re engaged from the beginning to see if you can figure out what the gang is up to. Thankfully, there’s always a nice surprise at the end, so it’s always fresh and surprising.

“Hustle” provides high-style, tongue in cheek comedy with just a dash of realism to keep us coming back for more. Clever writing that doesn’t rely solely on gimmicks makes this series a standout among all the rest. Clearly the BBC has a real gem on their hands and in my book is producing some of the best television anywhere on the globe.

Lucky for us, AMC has licensed the series and will begin airing it in 2006 from the beginning. Good thing too, because the BBC hasn’t released a DVD version that will play in the U.S. So unless you’ve broadcatched the series, this is currently the only way to see it.

03. “Veronica Mars” (UPN)
I stumbled onto this show because of its star, Kristen Bell. I had just seen her in two episodes of “Deadwood” and her performance really impressed me. So when I saw that she was starring in her own series, I decided to tune in to check it out. I’m glad I did, because reading the premise didn’t really grab me. I’m not much for “The O.C.“, or any of those other teen dramas and that’s what “Veronica Mars” was billed to be, but it’s SO much more than that.

Bell plays Veronica Mars, a teenager whose father is a private eye and former Sheriff of the fictional California town of Neptune. Because of her upbringing as a Sheriff’s daughter, Veronica has a naturally inquisitive nature and the resources in which to conduct investigations. The first season dealt with the murder of her best friend and this season is revolving around the tragic crash of a school bus. The writing is tight and solid with very little fluff. The characters aren’t just cookie cutter stereotypes who pine about their troubles. The series does have a light-hearted feel to it, but there’s just a hint of darkness to keep things balanced and the viewer guessing what could come next.

If you didn’t see the first season, it doesn’t matter because the current story line doesn’t rely on the previous one. It’s one of those shows you can drop into and pickup the thread, but it may take a couple of episodes before you get your footing if you haven’t seen it from the start of the season. Don’t worry though, it’s worth it. If you like solid storytelling, you’ll like this show.

04. “24″ (FOX)
I’ve been hooked on “24” since the first season. It’s suspenseful, gripping and somewhat violent story line grabbed me from the get go, but what set the hook was the “real time” aspect of the show. Each season takes place in one 24-hour period. Each episode is one hour long and events occur in real time. So if it takes 20-minutes to drive somewhere, then it’ll take 20-minutes in the show to get there. It’s sounds like a simple device, but it’s quite effective because it really cranks up the suspense.

Kiefer Sutherland plays Jack Bauer, a member of CTU (Counter Terrorism Unit) who will go to any lengths to keep the United States safe. As his title implies, Jack’s job is to prevent terrorist attacks from occurring and, as a result, delivers some VERY exciting plot lines. “24″ is a wild ride that will leave you on the edge of your seat as you see to what lengths Jack will go to do his job. It’s Kiefer’s definitive role and if you like action/thrillers, then you don’t want to miss this series.

“24″ is set to begin it’s 5^th season in January 2006 and you don’t have to have seen the previous four, so tune in when it begins airing. However, if you want to play catch up, all previous seasons are available on DVD. Just don’t think that you’ll be able to watch a whole season in one sitting because it would take you 24 hours to do it.

05. “Extras” (BBC / HBO)
“Extras” is a new series from the comic genius of Ricky Gervais. Gervais’ claim to fame is the series “The Office”“, which originally aired in the BBC, but was brought to the states this year with a new American cast for the NBC network. The American version is OK, but It’s not as good as the original. That being said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the original series either. The comedy for the show was dependent upon uncomfortable humor – people being caught in uncomfortable situations, that sort of thing. Personally I find that type of comedy somewhat uncomfortable, so I found much of it hard to watch.

So often when someone has a hit, they tend to stick to what works and just do more of the same. With the huge success of “The Office”, it would be easy to simply re-package the concept, slap a new title on it and wait for the money to roll in. That would be the safe thing to do. That might not make for good television, but it would be safe. Lucky for us that’s NOT what Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have done.

For starters, it’s clear that our lead character, Andy Millman, isn’t the fop that David Brent was. Andy is sharp, quick and knows exactly what he wants – a line in a movie. With that motivation in mind, it’s clear that Andy will stop at nothing, to try and get it. He has no shame and it’s a good thing, because it makes what he does VERY funny.

Of course some of the same elements from “The Office” can be found in “Extras”, most notably the awkward, uncomfortable scenes. In “The Office”, it was Gervais that was the reason for the awkwardness. With “Extras” it’s the stars themselves that are the cause and it works SO much better. Having the stars make fun of themselves is brilliant.

Just to give a hint of the humor you can expect to find, here’s a small scene between Andy (Ricky Gervais) and Ben Stiller, who is playing himself:

Ben Stiller: Who are you?
Andy: (muffled) Nobody.
Ben Stiller: What was that? Who?
Andy: Nobody.
Ben Stiller: That’s right. Nobody. Yeah, and who am I?
Andy: It’s either Starsky or Hutch. I can’t ever remember.
Ben Stiller: Was that supposed to be funny?
Andy: You tell me. You were in it.

From start to finish, the first season of “Extras” was brilliantly funny. It typically takes more than one season for a comedy to really get it’s legs and be this good. Merchant and Gervais have hit the ground running and delivered a very funny new show. With the ever changing stars and new sets, this series should continue to be fresh and exciting and I can’t wait for the next season!

» Continue On To Part Two

So how is this different? Well, with this model, you would have a dedicated device connected to your television that would then communicate with your television provider to receive the content. Once received and purchased, you could then hit a button on your remote and watch the program. With the iTunes model, you can easily download the content, but you have the hurdle of getting it to your television. With a DVR that hurdle doesn’t exist. Sounds like an easier solution then, right? Well, it is and it isn’t.

Problem #1 – Content Is Carrier Specific
NBC has partnered with DirecTV and CBS has partnered with Comcast. So unless you’re very loyal to only one broadcaster, you’re going to have to choose which content you would prefer to download and pay for. In most cases, you’re already subscribing to either DirecTV or Comcast, so it’s really just a matter of new features being offered, but if you’re a DirecTV user and love certain shows on CBS, you’re out of luck.

Problem #2 – You Need New Hardware
If you already have a DVR, like a Tivo, then too bad because you’re going to have to buy another device in order to receive this service. I’m sure that there will be plenty of mail-in rebates to make the device free, or low cost, and who doesn’t enjoy mail-in rebates? If you don’t currently own a DVR, this may be the push you need to get one, but that raises and interesting quandry…

Problem #3 – You Don’t Record The Show
This is one of the more perplexing issues to me. If you have a DVR, then why do you need to purchase the content? Why not just record it when it airs. The primary reason for getting a DVR is that it makes recording all your favorite content so easy. In fact, it’s the ONLY reason to own a DVR, so if you have one and it’s recording your favorite shows, why would then pay the network for the content the next day? This makes about as much sense to as buying gas for your electric car.

Problem #4 – You Don’t Own The Content
OK, so technically you don’t “own” television content, it’s licensed to you and all that jazz. Whatever. To the average Joe, when you pay for something you own it. Call it what you will, but consumers expect to be able to have some freedom in the products and services that they purchase. So when I read the following from this Salt Lake Tribute article, I was a little taken a back

Both services will charge 99 cents per show, which will be shown commercial-free. The episodes would be available just an hour or two after they air on regular TV. In most cases, shows would be available for a week and then taken down when new episodes air.

Does this mean that the networks would delete the program you purchased? Or, does it mean that you’ll only have a week or two in order to make the purchase? The geekset over at Slashdot seem to feel that it’s video with an expiration date, but whatever the case, none of it sounds good.

So What Does This All Mean?
I guess that all depends on your frame of reference. If you don’t have a computer, or don’t like the idea of TV on your computer, then I guess the CBS/NBC deals sound like a good thing. They’re TV-centric so it would seem like it’s a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, from my perspective, the CBS/NBC deals don’t seem to have sure footing – there are simply too many hurdles to contend with. With having to buy equipment, deal with mail-in rebates and then only have the content semi-permanent seems like too much work. Too many hurdles to overcome.

Using iTunes is twice as expensive ($1.99 vs. .99), but it allows me access to content any time I want and then view it as I see fit. Sure, I still have a hurdle of getting it on my TV, but that’s the only hurdle I have to contend with and I don’t think that will last much longer. It’s already expected that a new Mac mini will be unveiled in January and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s designed to hook up directly to your TV. Once that hurdle is gone, there I see no compelling reason to choose the CBS/NBC model.

Ultimately what makes the iTunes model so much more appealing is the freedom it provides. Freedom to download when I want to and the ability to watch when I want to, and as long as I want to. Additionally, I don’t have to rely on my television service to provide the content, nor do I have to buy any additional hardware in order to access it.

I am happy to see that CBS and NBC are making steps, even if they’re the wrong ones. In time I’m sure things will evolve so that the process is easier and and more convenient. For now however, it certainly feels like one step forward and two steps back for NBC and CBS.

In case you missed the announcement, Apple released its next generation iPods and one of the new features was the ability to play videos. In addition, they announced that they were now making available for sale music videos and select television content from ABC and Disney. This was HUGE news, because it was the first step in what will probably become an avalanche of content. For now though, there’s only 3 shows from ABC (Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Night Stalker) and 2 from Disney (That’s So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody), but with those two large networks signed up, it’s only a matter of time before other broadcasters belly up to the bar.

Now I could lose myself in the possibilities and the excitement of what’s to come, but given that the menu that is currently available for TV is fairly small, I think I’ll refrain. Why? Because it’s clear that the powers that be want to make sure that this model is viable. By releasing only three shows a piece, the broadcasters clearly want some proof before they go whole hog and provide more content. I was expecting to have to wait six months before the results came out, but Apple announced on October 10^th that they had sold over 1 Million videos in 20 days. Whaaa?!? :O

Now, keep in mind that this number included music videos as well as television shows. I would think it a safe bet that most of the content was music videos over TV for the simple fact that if you’re going to buy a single and the artist has released a video for it, why not just buy the video? Sure it’s $1 more, but you can listen to the song just the same, or view the video if you prefer. That being said, since television content is included in those numbers, it does prove the point that consumers are willing to purchase television that they can just as easily see for free.

This means that the networks may finally see the light and decide to release more content via iTunes and other networks may jump on board. Well, some are already making steps to just do that. CBS announced that they were considering iTunes. They’re still working out the deal, but the CEO definitely sees it as a strong possibility. In addition, the BBC announced that they too are looking at releasing all of their programs via download 7 days after they air. Not only that, but they’re thinking of doing it for free. Cue mashby’s happy dance

So it looks like the events that I thought were years away are actually happening today. Who would have thunk it? I’ve given the iTunes video a spin and I have to say that it works very well. I much prefer having the ability to download the content when I want it and having it on my desktop in under 30 minutes. I’m already using iTunes to manage my music, so having it manage my video content works great for me too. If more of my content becomes available, I’d gladly buy it versus using BitTorrent if for nothing else than for the ease of use.

Money aside, there is also a thriving brand of video content called IP TV that is helping to make downloadable TV more commonplace. IP TV is much like a video version of a podcast and it’s allowing just about anyone to create their own television show. You can subscribe to the content just like you would a podcast the only difference being that you’re watching video instead of listening to audio. The best part is that it’s free. So even if you’re not one to plunk down $2 per episode, you too can enjoy downloadable video. Personally, I’m subscribed to Digital Life TV, Tiki Bar TV and Systm. The quality of the productions is pretty good and I could easily see this content being produced for network television.

So there’s a lot of free content out there, which is great, but for those must-see shows, I’ll gladly fork up $2 a show. Does everyone want to pay for content? Definitely not, but I believe a larger percentage will choose paying for content over using alternative methods becasue it’s easier and it’s legal. It’s the same logic behind paying for music and it’s definitely paid off in spades for Apple and the music industry. Give the public a legal alternative and they’ll take it. Will there still be plenty of people using illegal methods, sure but in those demographics, there isn’t a lot of money to be made there.

Most of the illegal downloads are being done by teenagers for the simple fact that they don’t have the money in which to buy content. In high school and college, most of my music came from swapping albums and recording cassette tapes of them, or by taping the radio. That’s the very nature of being young, you trade your time for money (or lack thereof). Teenagers don’t have money, but they do have time, so they spend it trolling for the content that they crave. As you get older, you find that you have less-and-less time, so you begin to trade money for time and spending $2 is a bargin to buy the television show that you missed because of other commitments.

That’s exactly what I’ve done in buying episodes of “Lost”. I don’t have to worry about missing an episode, or remembering to set the VCR because I know that iTunes will have it the next day. “Lost” airs on Wednesday night and on Thursday morning it’s on iTunes ready for me to buy. Once purchased, I can watch it on my computer as easily as I can my TV. With so much of my time being spent in front of the computer, this isn’t a big deal for me. If I were to purchase one of the latest iPods, that content would sync with the iPod and allow me to watch it on the go. OK, I know what you’re thinking and yes the screen is small so I don’t see many people watching their favorite shows on the iPod iteslf. However, what I do see is taking that same iPod and hooking it up to the TV to watch my show. Now THAT’S easy to do.

In time I think Apple will release other products to make watching downloaded content on your television easier. With the interface that Apple created (FrontRow) with it’s new G5 iMac, there’s very little stopping them from coming out with a Mac Mini for the TV. Or they could even choose to release an updated version of the AirPort Express that would handle video in addition to audio.

Until then, living on the cutting edge of this technology is quite comfortable. No band-aids needed here.

Before TV.com, there was a site called TVTome.com and it was a great resource for finding out everything there is to know about your favorite shows. Well, it seems that C|Net purchased the company behind TVTome awhile back and on June 1st of this year they relaunched the site as TV.com. At first, I was pretty apprehensive given the fact that some “big corporate entity” took over my once beloved site, but after playing with it a few months, I have to say that it’s better than ever.

The IMDB OF TV
TVTome was always the IMDB.com of television to me. Although TV shows are part of IMDB’s content offerings, TVTome seemed to do a better job of it, probably because it’s what the site was all about. TVTome always had all the scoop regarding just about any TV show you could imagine, both past and present. I could always find episode guides, reviews, cast info even trivia about all of my shows. Well, TV.com has kept all that I loved about TVTome, but simply made it better.

Now I can find my favorite shows faster and the whole site seems to be more streamlined and efficient. Thanks to a pull-down list, I can jump to my favorite show with nary a click. Once there, I can drill down as deep as I want concerning any episode. In addition, there are a ton of new features, such as the ability to rate the show as a whole, as well as rate each individual episode. I can also post reviews, comments to reviews and even blog about it if I want to.

An Online Persona
All of this is made possible once you create your free account. There’s never any charges and it doesn’t seem to be a ploy to lure you into upgrading into some sort of paid membership. Creating an account simply allows you to create a profile whereby you can keep track of your favorite shows and preferences. Of course the entire site is accessible without an account, but having an account just makes it easier.

You’re free to post as much information about yourself and your preferences as you want, so if you prefer to play things “close to your chest”, then you can still do that. But having a site that keeps track of all your favorite TV shows is almost indefensible. For example, if you’re watching one of your regular shows and a character is suddenly written out of the show, you may be left wondering “WTF?”. Well, simply log into TV.com and in one mouse click you can read up on all the behind-the-scenes scuttle butt regarding your show.

Keeping Up-To-Date Thanks To The Community
Because TV.com isn’t only an archive of aired television episodes, it’s a hub for everything that’s happening with the shows that you like to watch. Up in the right hand corner of the screen is a listing of all new updates for all of your favorite shows, so you can easily keep up-to-date.

This is all made possible thanks to the fact that the entire site is community driven. As other fans of a show come across information via the Internet, or other trade publications, they have the ability to share it by posting it online. So any and all information that is relevant to a particular show is posted in one location. This way it’s super easy to keep up to date.

You may only be a passing fan of The Shield, but rest assured there are a legion of rabid fans that are all to happy to share their knowledge of the show. So when you’re left wondering if Glenn Close will be returning to the 5th season, someone will have already answered that question for you.

Total Integration
That’s really what online communities are all about – sharing information and enriching a user’s experience. Believe it or not, it’s not an easy thing to do. I’ve created many online communities, such as NPUG and InterPUG, but never have I seen a site so well integrate a community experience throughout it’s site.

At it’s core, the TV.com web site is designed to be custom tailored to YOU. Once you’ve created an account, your online preferences and persona are weaved throughout the site. Your list of favorite TV shows, your ratings of any TV show and even your comments are all integrated and thus alter how the site is presented to other visitors. Instead of a cryptic Nielsen rating, a show’s popularity is based solely on the thoughts and ratings of it’s viewers. If I were developing a television show, I would leave my browser set on TV.com.

In addition, your “persona” seamlessly flows between all aspects of the site. Want to ask a question in the Forums? No problem. You don’t have to create yet another profile because the forums are integrated into the site and thus uses the profile you’ve already created. Want to post a comment on another user’s blog? No problem – again it’s seamless. Clearly the team behind TV.com didn’t think of users as an afterthought, but instead put them into the forefront of the design of the site. I just wish all community sites could do it this well.

A Little Something For Everyone
In the end, wether you’re a rabid fan of TV, or simply have a passing interest, TV.com has something in store for you. From trivia, to in depth episode guides and reviews, TV.com covers television like no other resource I’ve ever found. So if you’re just interested in when the season premiere of Boston Legal is, or you want to know all there is to know about the cast of Six Feet Under, then TV.com is for you.

Update:
One of the things that I forgot to do in this article is to put a link to my TV.com profile, which can be found at this link. I’ve started a blog there as well, so we’ll see how that works.

Oh and if you have a profile on TV.com please let me know so I can add you to my “friends list”.

On Friday I had to meet Holly for a late lunch at 3:00pm so that we could go through the “security process” for the CMT Awards. Yes, you read that correctly, Holly and I are going to be part of the Country Music Television Awards tonight. Ok, it’s a small part – a very small part, but for a couple of kids from Baton Rouge, it’s pretty cool to us. We are going to be on the floor right in front of the stage. We have to stand there from 5pm – 10pm, with no chance of sitting (hence the apt nickname “the mosh pit” ), but we’ll probably be on camera throughout the broadcast. How cool is that?

So how did we get this opportunity? Well, Holly’s a member of the “Women in Music Business Association (WMBA)” organization. This group is a fairly connected group and because they work in the industry, and they come across unique opportunities and often pass them along to the group as a whole. This was one of those times. Holly received an e-mail and quickly submitted our names for consideration. We were selected and received an e-mail telling us what we needed to do, where and what the rules are (no cameras, cell phones, etc.).

The first order of business was to show up on Friday to go through “security.” I’m using quotes because it consisted of nothing more than showing your ID to prove you were who you said you were. After that 5 second process, our names were checked off a list and a plastic wristband was attached. We were then told that this wristband was all that we needed to gain admittance on Monday. However, we were not to remove it and if we did we would not be allowed on the floor.

So the entire weekend I’ve been wearing this clear plastic wristband, careful not to damage it in any way. At first I felt like it was a badge of honor, but I have to say, now that I’m into my 3rd day with this thing, I’m beginning to feel a bit like branded cattle. In a few minutes, I’m going to have to leave for the event and I think that feeling I’m having is going to persist.

Even though we’re “on the list” and tagged, it’s still a first come, first serve arrangement. At 3pm, they will begin receiving and they will stop at 5pm. Since we want to make sure that we get a good spot, we’re aiming for 3pm. The show airs live and doesn’t start until 7pm. That means that we’re arriving 4 hours ahead of time. I have no idea where we’ll be herded once we arrive, but they have explained (aka warned us) several times that there are no seats on the floor, so be prepared to stand.

Yep, you heard me right, we have to stand the whole time. In other words, I’m expecting to have to stand for around 8 hours this afternoon/evening, all so that I can have the possibility of having my mug captured for a brief second as some country music star lauds over me singing his or her heart out. Suddenly, as I type this, this little opportunity of Holly’s is starting to lose it’s sparkle.

OK, it’s time for me to run, but if you’d like to see if you can spot us, just tune your televisions to the basic cable channel CMT at 7pm CDT and look into the “mosh pit” right in front of the stage. Holly’s wearing a lime green top and a shiny scarf. I’ll be wearing a black western shirt. Yee Haw!

Disclaimer: Make sure you check with your local, state and countrys laws–In some cases you may be downloading (and uploading) copyrighted material. So far, there hasn’t been a legal case that we know of where broadcast TV networks have stopped or wanted to stop BitTorrent downloads of their shows, but we have heard that pay networks like Showtime, HBO, etc. have sent letters to some individuals for sharing recorded TV. This is all new territory for the most part, and it will be interesting to see what happens and if the TV networks realize that this could be their future distribution chain.
Engadget

The disclaimer above came from an article from Engadget entitled How-To: Broadcatching using RSS + BitTorrent to automatically download TV shows. In the article, they go into great detail regarding using Azureus. Personally I find that client a bit too technical, so I’m going to discuss a much simpler method. That being said, I do recommend reading Engadget’s article because it is an excellent overview of Broadcatching as a whole.

Let’s Get Started – The Technologies
In order to enjoy Broadcatching there are three technologies that we’re going to use: BitTorrent, RSS and DiVX. So just what are these technologies? I’m glad you asked.

BitTorrent – The Download Tool
BitTorrent was created as a solution to the problem of sharing large files online. Originally it was intended to deal with the issue of scalablity whenever a new distribution of Linux was released. For example, let’s say that Debian releases a new distribution of Linux. The total file size might be 700+ MB and since it’s new there’s going to be a lot of people that would like to get a copy. In order to accommodate the large numbers of users that will be downloading the new distro at the same time costs a LOT of money in terms of bandwidth and hardware. BitTorrent helps alleviate that burden through peer-to-peer file sharing.

Instead of downloading an entire file from one source, each user downloading a file via BitTorrent is also sharing the file with every other user that is downloading at that moment in time. This is a real departure from previous download technologies, including other file sharing networks, such as the old Napster and Kazza. With most download methods, you’re downloading a unique file from a unique user. With BitTorrent you’re downloading smaller bits of the file from everyone that is part of the “torrent”.

The other thing that’s different with BitTorrent is that you don’t have to create an account, or use a proprietary network in order to download files. You simply browse the web and if you see a torrent, you simply select the link and then BitTorrent handles the rest. It’s much more integrated with the Web and your current browsing habits, which makes it very easy to use.

Additionally, it’s important to note that you’re only sharing a file as you’re downloading it. Once you end your BitTorrent session, you’re no longer sharing that file. From a security standpoint, this is great news because it means you’re not having to leave your computer open for file sharing 24/7. Oh and one more thing – you can start and stop a torrent at any time. So if you need to resume a torrent download later, it will pick up right where it left off as long as you save it in the same place.

For more information on BitTorrent, including answers to questions like “What is a seeder?” as well as links to the current popular torrent sites, please read Slyck’s Guide To BitTorrent.

RSS – The Update Tool
RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is simply a small text file that web sites employ to keep their users updated on what’s happening with their site. Users simply “subscribe” to the RSS feed(s) offered on a web site and whenever new content is published, you’re notified. It’s a GREAT way to stay up-to-date with all of your favorite web sites without having to remember to go to each site every day.

To give a real world example, this weblog offers several RSS feeds. By using a News Aggregator, such as BlogLines, you can subscribe to the feeds and whenever I post a new entry, you’ll be notified in Bloglines. In regards to Broadcatching, RSS is what will allow us to download television shows as they become available automatically.

For a tutorial on RSS, please visit the LockerGnome RSS Tutorial for more information.

DiVX – The Viewing Tool
The last piece of the puzzle is DiVX, which is the technology that allows you to view the television program after you’ve downloaded it. DiVX is a codec (short for compression/decompression) and it’s what most people use to record the television into a digital file and share it with the rest of the world. You probably already have other codecs, such as QuickTime, Real and Windows Media already installed on your computer. DiVX is simply a different video format and you’ll need the free player in order to view what you’ve downloaded via BitTorrent.

Step 1: Download A BitTorrent Client
Now that we have all the background information out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff! The first step is to download a BitTorrent client so that you can begin downloading torrents. You can download the basic BitTorrent client from BitTorrent, but keep in mind that BitTorrent is primarily a underlying technology, so there are other clients available. Slyck has a complete list of BT clients at this link, so you can choose the appropriate client for your operating system there.

For Windows, the most popular clients seem to be BitTornado and Azureus. For Mac users, I’d suggest either Azureus, or Tomato Torrent. However, as of this writing, only Azureus with the RSS plugin will allow automatic downloads for Mac users as described in this article.

Personally, I use BitTornado, but there’s nothing wrong with the basic BitTorrent client, so if you’re unsure what to download, or are a little hesitant just install the basic client from BitTorrent.

Step 2: Open Ports On Your Firewall
If you’re behind a hardware firewall on your broadband connection, then you’re going to need to open up several ports in order to achieve high-speed downloads. When I first got into torrents, I forgot to open these ports and as a result my download speeds were quite slow. After opening the ports my download speeds increased ten fold.

Which ports to open with depend on the client that you’re using. The default BitTorrent client uses ports in the range of 6881-6889. The first port is 6881 and then it increases to the next number for each simultaneous download you initiate. So if you have 4 torrent happening at once, you’ll be using ports 6881-6884. BitTornado on the other hand uses random ports by default from 10000-60000. You can change this if you feel uncomfortable opening up so many ports on your firewall. A nice guide on how to do this can be found at this link.

Once you’ve figured out which ports you need to open up, actually opening the ports will depend largely on what hardware you have. There’s no way I could go through every configuration imaginable in this article, but as luck would have it, there is a whole web site dedicated to this subject at PortForward.com. Technically you don’t HAVE to open up any ports, but your download speeds will be so slow, I recommend that you take the time to do so.

Oh and if you’re not behind a hardware firewall, then you don’t have to worry about this step. Just make sure that your software firewall allows your BitTorrent client access to the Internet and you should be good to go.

Step 3: Install TVTad
If you’re a Mac user, and/or you’ve chosen Azureus as your BitTorrent client, then you need to follow the steps detailed in the Engadget article, since there’s a plugin that is specific for that client. Personally, I didn’t care for Azureus, and since I’m using a Windows machine, I opted to use a different piece of software called TVTad.

TVTad is an RSS reader specifically designed for the #TVTorrents web site. Whereas a traditional RSS News Aggregator is designed to work with any site using RSS, TVTad only works with the RSS feed on the TVTorrents web site. The reason behind this fact is because this RSS reader does more – it allows automatic downloading of your favorite TV shows.

Here’s how it works. Once you’ve installed the software, TVTad will monitor the TVTorrents web site every hour. Whenever one of your favorite programs becomes available in the format(s) you prefer, it automatically initiates a BitTorrent download of the file. It’s a thing of beauty to wake up in the morning to find that the latest episode of Law And Order has already been downloaded and is ready for viewing.
To make all of this happen, all you have to set a few options within the program. Here’s a quick rundown of what to do:

3.1 Choose Download Method
In most cases you’re going to use the “SaveAs Method”. All you have to do is browse to where your BitTorrent client is installed and select OK. If you’re using Azureus, TorrentStorm, or ABC Torrent, then you can choose the “ShellExecute Method”. Just ignore the “Storage Method”.

3.2 Settings
Under the “Settings” tab, set the “Check for new list every” box to at least 60 minutes or more. Updates don’t occur all that frequently and setting a higher refresh rate will save on TVTorrents bandwidth, so be nice.

In the middle of the page, you’ll see a box entitled “Store files in:”. This is where your torrents will be saved automatically. For example, you might decide that you want all of your downloads to save to a big hard drive you have, or to you “My Videos” folder.

3.3 Choose Your Favorites
Now for the most important step – choosing your favorite shows! Under the “Favorites” tab simply use the pull down menu to select your favorite TV show. Select the format(s) that you’re interested in, such as HDTV, and then select the “Add” button.

Most shows are going to be in either HDTV or PDTV format. I wouldn’t recommend choosing “All” simply because there are other formats such as HRHD and if “All” were selected, then you could be downloading multiple copies of the same program (one in HDTV and another in HRHD).

Also, you may want to list your favorite show several times using different spellings. For example, if you like “Law and Order”, I’ve found that sometimes the show is posted as “Law And Order” and other times it’s listed as “Law & Order”. If you’ve chosen only one, then you might miss an episode.

3.4 Adding Favorites Later
If you’ve noticed that TVTad didn’t download one of your favorites because of a naming issue, or you simply forgot to add it earlier, there’s another cool and easy way to add a show. Once TVTad has an updated list, look under the “Shows” tab and you’ll see the current list of shows. Right click on a show and you’ll have the option to “Add to favorites”.

This right-click option is also handy should an error occurs with a download. Sometimes TVTad doesn’t start the download correctly. When that happens, you can simply choose “Download” from the “Shows” tab and start the download manually.

Step 4: Install DiVX
The only step left is to install DiVX and begin watching TV! Simply Download the free version and install it on your system. Once installed, Windows users can usually choose to view videos in either the DiVX player, or in Windows Media Player.

As you branch out into more and more content, you may come across a format that you’re not familiar with. I recommend using the utility GSpot Codec Information Appliance to figure out what codecs you need to view the file should you run into a file you can’t view.

“I Think We’re Going To Need A Bigger Boat”
Once you get hooked on Broadcatching, you’ll soon realize that these files can be quite large. An hour of TV typical runs around 350MB. Download 3 hour long shows and you’ve eaten up a Gig of hard drive space. Suddenly you might catch yourself saying “I think we’re going to need a bigger boat!”

There’s several options at your disposal:
1. You can simply delete what you’ve watched
2. You can burn your programs to DVD
3. Or you can buy a bigger hard drive.

If you opt for a bigger hard drive, the least expensive way to go with is with an internal drive, such as this SEAGATE 300GB Internal Drive for $192.99. Whereas this MAXTOR One Touch II External Hard Drive runs $250 for the same 300GB. Of course smaller capacity drives are less expensive and you may not have to worry about hard drive space initially. Just know that if you’re not quick to delete the videos after you’ve watched them, you’re going to quickly run out of space.

What About Older Shows?
With BitTorrent you’re only sharing a file as it’s being downloaded. Although that’s a huge plus in my book, it also means that there’s a downside – it’s best to download a file early in it’s posting. Need the latest Lost? No problem! Need the episode 1 of season 12 of NYPD Blue? Yeah, that’s not so easy.

As a torrent ages, fewer and fewer people who have the entire file (seeders) are still sharing it. If there is no seeder still sharing the file, then there is no way to get the entire file. Sometimes people will post a torrent of an entire season, but you’ll have to wait and hope that someone does this once the season is complete.

So if you’re just now getting into Broadcatching, you might want to actively attempt to download any past shows you’ve missed now, rather than waiting since it’ll be harder and harder to do so as time goes by.

Why Can’t I Find This Show Or That?
Since BitTorrents are a community effort, popularity rules supreme when it comes to Broadcatching. If you’re show isn’t popular, your downloads will take longer, or may not even available at all. For example, I really like the show Nigella Bites on the Style Network, but that show hasn’t made it into torrent form yet.

As Broadcatching becomes more and more popular, it’s possible that other niche web sites will appear that will cater to non-prime time networks such as The Learning Channel among others. For now though, if it’s on ABC, NBC, or CBS, chances are it’s online.

Helpful Links
Everything discussed up to this point has dealt primarily using BitTorrents associated with only one web site, #TVTorrents. However there is a huge community that extend far beyond the scope of TVTorrents. Here’s a few handy links that you might find useful.

» BTEfnet – the parent site of TVTorrents. They sometimes have other shows that TVTorrents decide not to carry, such as the ESPN show Tilt.

» DigitalDistractions – a small but growing site which hosts shows from Food Network, The Discovery Channel, and the BBC, among others.

»TVTome – The mother lode of information regarding your favorite programs. A great resource for finding how many episodes to expect in a given season and what the titles of each episode are.

» TorrentReactor – If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can wade into the deep end of torrenting and sample this site. You should be aware however that TorrentReactor has torrents for movies and software, both of which are undeniably illegal to download. So be careful what you download.

» PeerGuardian – If you want to add a layer of protection to your downloading, you can install PeefGuardian to block your IP from rogue (aka MPAA, RIAA, etc) connections. It’s not perfect, nor guaranteed, but it does offer some measure of protection and is better than nothing.

» For a more links, please visit this link.

Pass The Hat
As I stated at the beginning of this article, all of the software and networks are free to download and use, but if you find yourself being very active with any of the technologies, I would encourage you to give a donation. Most offer the ability to give a donation via PayPal. If you use any of the sites, or the software enough, please give a donation so that the developers can keep offering their technology for free.

» Donate To BitTorrent.

The Next Step – Putting It On Your Handheld
So there you have it! Everything you need to know to begin enjoying your television on your computer. In a future article I plan to show you how you can take your Broadcatching to the next level and put movies on your handheld.

There’s nothing quite like waiting at the airport and enjoying the latest episode of 24 on your pa1m0ne Treo 650. So stay tuned! LOL

I’ve been a member of NetFlix for just over a year now and I absolutely love it. It’s allowed me to watch The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and many other shows that I missed by not having HBO. Having been selfish for most of my rentals, I decided to start a series that I thought Holly would like – “Sex And The City”. During it’s heyday, it was quite a popular show, especially with women, so I figured it would be something Holly would enjoy.

We watched the first few episodes and both agreed that it was OK, but we could take it or leave it. By the end of the first season though, we were hooked. Normally I break up my series rentals with a movie or two. For example, I’ll receive the first disk of season one, then two movies, then disk two of season one and so forth. Since the season disks contain a lot of content, breaking it up with a movie or two usually works pretty good. When Season Two started arriving this way, Holly quickly informed me that this wasn’t going to work. “You have to get ALL of them back-to-back”, she explained in a tone that I’d heard before. If I knew what was good for me, I’d do as she requested. So, of course, I did.

So from Season Three onward, the disks would arrive in order, one after the other. This is when we became absolute gluttons. We would sit down at dinner and watch an entire disk in one sitting. This usually meant 4 to 6 episodes in a row. Granted, they are 30-minute episodes, but that still equates to 2 to 4 hours. By Season Four, I had found a way to skip to the next episode in just a few clicks as soon as the credits for the previous episode appeared. The show’s theme song would begin, my thumb would make a few taps on the remote and we’d begin the next episode. It was one continuous steam of “Sex”. With Season Five we were popping these episodes like PEZ and it was clear we had a problem. Knowing we were close to the end of the series only made it worse and it all came to a head with Season Six: Part One.

My timing with NetFlix was off and we received the last two disks of “Part One” at the same time. So that evening, we gulped down 8 episodes in one sitting. It was close to 3AM when we finally finished watching them all. The next morning, still half asleep, I logged onto NetFlix to make sure that “Part Two” was next in the queue. Imagine my surprise when I found that it wasn’t. Sitting a bit more upright in my chair, I did a quick search to rectify the error and that’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks – Part Two had not been released yet. :O

That’s right, HBO had not released the final episodes to DVD yet. I frantically searched on Amazon and found that Sex And The City Season Six: Part Two wasn’t due out until December. At the time of my query it was October, so that meant I had to go almost three months without “Sex”. As bad as I felt about that, I felt even worse that I had to break the news to Holly. She looked at me as if it was all my fault.

Holly: “What?!?”

Me: “Part Two hasn’t been released yet.”

long pause…

Holly: “What?!?”

Me: “Part Two hasn’t been released to DVD yet.”

Holly: “What does that mean?”

Me: “Well, it means that it’s not out on DVD. So we can’t rent it to watch it.”

Holly: “How could this happen?”

Me: “I don’t know. I thought I had all the episodes in my queue on NetFlix, but when I went there this morning, that’s when I saw that Part Two wasn’t out yet.”

Holly: “Michael damnit!”

Me: “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Holly: “You made me watch all those episodes last night because you said we had Part Two coming.”

Yeah, like I had to tie her to the chair to watch them.

Me: “I made a mistake. I’m sorry Holly.”

Holly: “Well when is Part Two supposed to come out?”

Me: “Sometime in December.”

Holly: “What!?!”

So for the past three months, Holly and I have been pinning away awaiting the final chapters of the story to be released and I’m happy to report that today is the day! I will call all over town to see who has it in stock and Holly will pick it up on her way home. Tonight we’ll cuddle up on the couch, eating some seafood gumbo that we brought back from Baton Rouge, and we’ll lose ourselves in the stories of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha.

This time it is going to be a little bit different though. This time we’ll savor each episode and draw it out as long as we can. A series this good needs to be savored.

I’ve been very lucky. I haven’t had to pay for basic cable TV for the past 5, or so years. Did I purchase one of the descrambler boxes you read about in your SPAM? No, I acquired my television signal through much more benign methods – I sweet talked the installer. If you don’t have cable TV and you order high speed Internet, they put on a governor that blocks the TV signal and only allows the Internet data to pass. When the installer came to my house close to 4 years ago, and to my apartment 2 years prior to that, I chatted him up and nonchalantly asked if he HAD to install the governor. In both installations, the installer left the governor off. As a result I’ve enjoyed basic cable free of charge.

In my defense, I’m paying close to $70 a month for my Internet access, so it’s not as if Comcast is not making plenty of money off of me. Basic cable is another $30 and I just can’t justify $100 a month. Granted my Internet costs would drop if I had basic cable, but the net is still higher than the $70 I’m paying now. And technically, I’m not stealing, Comcast has been giving me free basic cable. Also, don’t forget that there are downsides to this scenario. I can’t complain to customer support when the cable TV goes out.

As I walked back to my desk, I had the sneaking suspicion that the guy at the top of the ladder was putting the governor back on and if so I knew that there was nothing I could do about it. A few minutes later, as I sat typing an e-mail, I noticed my Internet go down for about a second. It came right back, but clearly something had been un-plugged. I finished the e-mail rather quickly and got up to look out the window again. The mysterious man in the plain silver van was gone. I thought to myself, “That was awfully quick. You don’t install someone’s high-speed Internet that fast. He didn’t install a governor did he?” I hopped downstairs and quickly turned on the TV and much to my dismay, all I saw was a lot of static.

Technically speaking, there was still some presence of a signal, but it wasn’t strong enough to realistically consider watching anything. My free TV had been jacked. Later that evening, I dug up some old “rabbit ears” and switched the TV back into antenna mode and was pleasantly surprised at the picture quality of the 10 channels that I can pick up. The downside is that many of the channels that I watch are cable only. So TNT, Discovery and FX, just to name a few, are now gone.

I probably watch too much television as it is, so I’m thinking of this as a blessing in disguise for the time being. I know that I’ll break down and finally purchase basic cable, but I may live in denial for awhile as I try and convince myself that I don’t need those other channels. I don’t need to watch The Shield, Mythbusters, American Chopper, MTV, or Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Buffy?!? Wait, err, I mean SportsCenter. Ahem, yeah, SportsCenter.

Now that I’ve dipped my toe in the Linux pond, I’m now considering putting together my own Linux box and rolling my own Tivo. Thanks to a Wired article on the subject, I’m considering attempting to install MythTV, which is an OpenSource project that allows you to setup your own digital video recorder. I read this article back in June, but it wasn’t until I saw the Hush Silent Mini-ITX PC that I started giving it some serious thought. There’s a plethora of Mini-ITX cases out there, with all sorts of options and bells and whistles. What appealed to me about the Hush is that is already pre-configured and it’s super quiet, which is perfect if you’re going to have it in your living room.

But why do I want a digital video recorder (DVR) you ask? What I like most about the idea of a DVR is that you have a digital agent that is constantly monitoring the television for you, recording your favorite programs. Imagine sitting down and always being able to watch your favorite shows. From everyone I’ve talked to, they say it totally changes the way you watch TV. Sure you can program your VCR, but it’s such a PITA, who does it? You have to know in advance that you’re going to miss your show in order to tape it. With a DVR it will record every episode of Friends it can find without you having to remind it to do so. If you’ve seen it already, fine – with one click you delete the program and go to the next one.

My hope is that I’ll abandon sitting through crap TV in the hopes of finding something I like later and instead watch the shows that I like. However, I’m not taking that step just yet. I’m just seriously thinking about it. I don’t have the cash yet and more importantly, I don’t have the time to start another project, but the itch is there and it isn’t going away.