“F–k SNL and the whole cast; Tell ’em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass.” So much for that “Power” verse. Kanye West is slated to make a triumphant return to Saturday Night Live on October 2; Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston will serve as host. Perhaps ‘Ye will use this time in the spotlight to formally introduce his next single “All of the Lights”? Whatever goes down, you can expect one helleva performance because Kanye is on his game right now.
[Via EW]
It’s mid-September, my favorite time of year. Brand new television programming begins and old favorites return. I’m going to run through the new network and cable shows that I’m most anticipating, let you know which returning shows you should be watching, and I’ll hypothesize about which new shows are likely to get the axe. Not so interested in my opinions? Simply click here to view the 2010 fall schedule for the big four networks (including synopses, cast/creator info, and trailers) and decide what to watch on your own terms.
CBS: There’s a reason why CBS is the most watched network–they mostly air procedural crime dramas that do not force viewers to tune in every week. Take, for example, the CSI franchise (which now includes CSI, CSI: NY & CSI: Miami) and the NCIS franchise (NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles). Sprinkle in some fantastic comedies like The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother plus popular reality shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race, and Undercover Boss and you’ve got a worthy lineup that does not require weekly viewing. Though I am not not the biggest fan of the procedurals, The Mentalist does a fine job of drawing me in when I happen to channel surf to the network. Also, I’ve only heard good things about The Good Wife, so you might want to give that a try as well.
Of the five new shows premiering this fall on CBS, there’s only one that I’m fully interested in: Hawaii Five-O. Again, crime procedurals are usually not my cup of tea but there’s no denying how action-packed and fun this 1960s reboot looks. (The show originally aired on CBS for 12 seasons from 1968-1980.) Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Fringe) serve as executive producers and stars Alex O’Loughlin (Three Rivers), Scott Caan (Entourage), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), and the beautiful Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica: The Plan) will work together to take down the villains. Except tons of explosions, violent action scenes, and quick, witty banter from Caan. It only helps that the backdrop to all of this is Oahu! Premieres Monday, September 20 at 10PM.
Getting the axe? $#*@ My Dad Says.
Are you the ultimate LOST fan? I know I am, and that is why I purchased the LOST: The Complete Collection on Blu-ray. Besides the 36 Blu-ray discs, the detailed and textured set is packed with tons of Lost related goodies including a “recovered Black Rock journal entry”, the senet board game complete with black and white stones, a replica image of the Island, and an exclusive episode guide. This being a LOST package, it comes to little surprise that hidden easter eggs are aplenty. The included ankh stores a “secret message from Jacob” and a Dharma branded black light torch can be used to search the set for clues.
I invite you to look after the break and watch my encompassing unboxing video; I detail all of the set’s contents and reveal the hidden easter eggs. Also, peer into the galleries below to gander at still images of all the content. The first gallery is an extensive look at every item; the second gallery focuses on the Blu-ray sleeves for each season.
Continue reading Unboxing: LOST: The Complete Collection [Blu-ray] (images + video)
More like Good Saturday. At around 5am Saturday morning, ‘Ye pushed out the latest track in the G.O.O.D. Friday series. Mos Def, Swizz Beatz, and Raekwon lay down their own verses and soul master Charlie Wilson provides an exceptional backdrop (per usual) during the chorus and all throughout this seven and a half minute laid back rap epic. Preview and download below.
Download: Kanye West – “Lord Lord Lord” (Featuring Mos Def, Swizz Beatz, Raekwon & Charlie Wilson)
[audio: Kanye West – Lord Lord Lord.mp3][Via KWBlog]
At this year’s Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, Dell unveiled a brand new super cool laptop design with the Inspiron Duo. The Duo doubles as a netbook and tablet thanks to a swiveling 10.1 inch capacitive multitouch display. What looks like a standard netbook at first glance can instantly be transformed into a tablet device by swiveling the screen from within the frame. It’s powered by a dual-core Intel Atom N550 chip and runs Windows 7. Additional specs and pricing have yet to be disclosed. Dell says the unconventionally designed hybrid will be released into the wilds later this year. Look after the break for a brief video showing off the swivel action and signs of capacitive touch in Microsoft Surface Globe software.
Update: A new video sufaced today featuring Dell Product Marketer Dave Zavelson handling the Inspiron Duo and showing off photo and video touch-based applications. It’s sitting after the break for your viewing pleasure.
[Via Engadget, here, here & here] Continue reading Dell’s Inspiron Duo is a netbook/tablet hybrid with swivel design
Earlier this week Twitter announced that a homepage redesign is coming to a browser near you. The new design is built around a two column style, a look that is reminiscent of many Twitter apps for mobile devices. On the left side resides your timeline of tweets. The timeline features infinite scrolling, meaning you won’t have to click a “more” button to view older tweets. @mentions, retweets, searches, and lists are housed directly above the timeline “creating a single, streamlined view on the left of the screen.” And above all that sits the “what’s happening now” status bar. On the right side you can view personal account information such as tweet count, your most recent tweet, your list of followers and who you are following, favorite tweets, the lists you are on, suggestions for who to follow, and the trending topics. Along the very top of the site is the search bar and links for home, profile, messages, compose a new tweet, and account settings.
Other than showing your personal information, the right column is also used to present contextual info and embedded media from tweets. When you click a tweet from your timeline, additional information related to the author and subject of the tweet shows up in the right column. Twitter has teamed up with a bunch of social media sites (including DailyBooth, DeviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube) so that when you click a person’s tweet in your timeline, an attached image or video will instantly appear in-line in the right column; no more clicking links and being forced to view media content in a separate portal. And if a tweet is geotagged with a location, a miniturized map will show up in the column too.
Now don’t go too crazy. The 140 character limit and all integral aspects of Twitter are staying the same. This is purely a relaunch of the site design to make things more streamlined and accessable. The new Twitter is currently being rolled out as a preview to limited number of users. The redesign will be pushed out to all users “eventually.” It shant be too long I presume. Look after the break to watch an introductory video.
[Via TwitterBlog; NewTwitter] Continue reading Twitter homepage redesign on the way
To celebrate and promote the launch of PlayStation Move, Norwegian marketing agency Suddenly Oslo have dreamed up the Move Men. Their mission? To stalk you on Facebook, crash your party, and entice you to play a video game using the new PlayStation 3 motion peripherals. Giz makes a good point; don’t these spherical fellas remind you of the creepy “Wii would like to play” dudes from the old Nintendo Wii commercials?
[Via Gizmodo]
Light painting meets stop motion in this creative video designed by BERG and Denstsu London. Using only a camera and multiple iPads, the team was able to capture illuminated 3D typography in real space. I could blab about how they used multiple long exposures to create the awesome effect, but you should really just watch the video embedded above to see the final product and learn exactly how it was done.
[Via Engadget]
J.J. Abrams, creator of Felicity, Alias, Lost, Fringe, and the upcoming NBC spy show Undercovers, is readying two new dramas for network TV. Variety reports that FOX has picked up Alcatraz, a series based on the famous island prison that was shut down in 1963. The spec script was written by Elizabeth Sarnoff (Lost, Deadwood). Sarnoff will serve as executive producer along with Abrams and Bryan Burk (Alias, Lost) on the Warner Bros. TV/Bad Robot project.
Next up is Person of Interest, another Abrams-backed project that was just picked up by CBS, according to NYMag. The source describes it as an hour-long crime thriller. Jonah Nolan, brother of film director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), is penning the pilot script and serves as co-creator with Abrams. Can someone say dream team?! This marks the first time Nolan contributing to a TV series. He is best known for his collaboration work with his brother on The Dark Knight & The Prestige; he also wrote the short story that inspired Memento. The fact that CBS of all networks reportedly picked up this particular series is somewhat startling. CBS is known for playing it safe by strictly airing procedural shows that people can tune into at any time without worrying about missing key plot developments (think the CSI franchise, The Mentalist, etc.). The Abrams/Nolan series might just break the CBS mold by premiering a more serialized show that demands weekly viewing. And that makes me very, very giddy.
As you might guess, very little to no information regarding plot and casting has leaked about these new Abrams projects. But you can be sure I’ll report back when things start to ramp up. If all goes according to plan, I’m hoping the new dramas will be ready to premiere next fall.
Yeah, yeah I know; we’ve already been privy to cast stills from NBC’s upcoming conspiracy thriller The Event. Well the network has decided to issue a new set of publicity shots, this time including a new cast group photo and stills from the series premiere. You know the drill–cast and premiere photos are categorized into the two galleries below. Go crazy.
The Event premieres Monday, September 20 at 9PM on NBC.
[Via IGN]
Princeton Plainsboro Hospital is almost open for business. The mad doc has finally found love in Cuddy, Thirteen will be taking some time off, and young Amber Tamblyn will be joining the cast in the beginning half of the season. Check out these House cast and season premiere stills (organized in the two galleries below); add ’em to the collection that includes the awesome season poster and cast group shot.
House premieres Monday, September 20 at 8PM on FOX.
[Via IGN]
Ready to be freaked out again? Paranormal Activity 2 is almost here. The image that’s depicted in the poster above should be familiar to you. It’s a still frame from the original trailer featuring a dog and a mysterious baby whose reflection is not visible in the mirror. Jump after the break to find a breakdown of the hidden footage embedded inside the new trailer. Continue reading Paranormal Activity 2 poster (+ new creepy trailer w/ easter eggs galore)