Category: Television

NetFlix to Stream ABC and CBS Shows

LOS GATOS, Calif., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Netflix, Inc.(Nasdaq: NFLX), the world’s leading online movie rental service, todayannounced separate agreements with the CBS Television Network and Disney-ABCTelevision Group that will allow current season episodes of a number oftoday’s most popular TV shows to be streamed at Netflix. The two deals addmeaningfully to a growing library of 12,000 choices that Netflix members canwatch instantly on their PCs and TVs as part of their existing subscriptionplans and without impacting the number of DVDs they receive.
The CBS deal brings to Netflix the global phenomenon “CSI.” Starting inOctober, when it returns for a ninth year, current season episodes of theoriginal “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” can be instantly streamed atNetflix. Beginning this week, current season episodes of the hit spin-offs”CSI: Miami” and “CSI: NY” join the roster. The CBS agreement includes twoadditional current hit shows, “NCIS,” which dramatizes the Naval CriminalInvestigative Service of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, and the FBIdrama “Numb3rs,” from producers Ridley and Tony Scott. “NCIS” returns for itssixth season this week and “Numb3rs” is back for a fifth season in October.

The agreement for Disney Channel content centers on three of the Channel’soriginal series — “Hannah Montana,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” and DisneyChannel’s newest original series, “The Suite Life on Deck,” a spin-off of thehit, Emmy-nominated “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” starring fan favoritesDylan and Cole Sprouse, Brenda Song and Phill Lewis and introducing DebbieRyan. The series premieres Friday, September 26. “Wizards of Waverly Place”and “The Suite Life on Deck” can be streamed instantly at Netflix beginningthis week, 24 hours after each episode’s initial broadcast. Disney Channel’ssmash hit comedy series “Hannah Montana,” starring multi-talented Miley Cyrus,will be available online at Netflix beginning this November. Brokered byDisney-ABC Domestic Television, the deal represents the first Netflix digitallicense for Disney-ABC Television Group content since Netflix launched theinstant streaming component of its service 18 months ago and is a significantaddition to the company’s lineup of studio and network partners.

“We are thrilled to enter into these relationships with CBS and DisneyChannel and build upon their innovative distribution strategies,” said RobertKyncl, vice president of content acquisition for Netflix. “We have a sharedinterest in granting fans expanded access to and strengthening the networks’key shows.”

The agreements with CBS and Disney Channel also add catalog shows to thelibrary of choices that can be watched instantly at Netflix. Some 500episodes from Disney Channel’s kid-driven, family-inclusive programminglibrary, including previously aired episodes of “The Suite Life of Zack &Cody,” “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “Hannah Montana,” as well as episodes ofthe popular animated series “The Replacements,” “Lilo & Stitch: The Series,””The Emperor’s New School” and many others, will come online to Netflixbeginning in 2009.

Some 350 CBS episodes covered in the deal include prior seasons of thethree “CSI” series and “Numb3rs,” the first two seasons of the popular”Jericho” series and, among others, episodes from TV classics such as “StarTrek,” “MacGyver,” and “Family Ties.” The catalog episodes will come onlinethis fall.

As Netflix continues to expand the online content it offers its members,the company is also partnering with leaders in consumer electronics to bringto market a growing number of network devices that can instantly stream moviesand TV episodes from Netflix directly to subscribers’ TVs. The Netflix Playerby Roku was introduced in May to strong reviews and Netflix has previouslyannounced plans to instantly stream movies and TV episodes via Microsoft’sXbox 360 game console and LG Electronic’s LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Playerstarting this fall.

About Netflix, Inc.

Netflix, Inc. (Nadsaq: NFLX) is the world’s largest online movie rentalservice, with more than eight million subscribers. For one low monthly price,Netflix members can get DVDs delivered to their homes and can instantly watchmovies and TV episodes streamed to their TVs and PCs, all in unlimitedamounts. Members can choose from over 100,000 DVD titles and a growing libraryof more than 12,000 choices that can be watched instantly. There are never anydue dates or late fees. DVDs are delivered free to members by first classmail, with a postage-paid return envelope, from over 50 U.S. shipping centers.More than 95 percent of Netflix members live in areas that generally receiveshipments in one business day. Netflix is also partnering with leadingconsumer electronics companies to offer a range of devices that can instantlystream movies and TV episodes to members’ TVs from Netflix. For moreinformation, visit http://www.netflix.com/.

SOURCE Netflix, Inc.

Heroes Season Premiere Summary


This is the third season of Heroes and it was pretty action packed. We got two episodes, back to back! It was…perhaps a bit TOO action packed. I’m not sure if they felt they needed to make up for last year, or what, but there were so many things going on it was nearly a jumbled mess. Nearly… but not totally.

Spoilers ahead…

We saw that Nathan’s shooter was Peter, and that Nathan didn’t die at the end of last season. (Turns out there was more of that going around… more on that later). He ended up in the hospital, where he died. But then, TA DA! He wasn’t dead… again. This time he stayed not dead.

The other dead person that came back was Linderman! Quite a surprise that one; something I didn’t see coming at all. Neither did anyone else, since Nathan’s the only one that can see him. We know this because 1) Nikki/Tracy didn’t go ballistic and kill Linderman on the spot and 2) Linderman told Nathan that. Pretty big clue on #1 though, so #2 wasn’t a big surprise.

Syler ended up at Claire’s house, looking to pick Claire’s brain about her powers, and he did just that. This is another one of those shows where a giant “WARNING! BRAINS ABOUT TO BE SHOWN!” would have been helpful. I can only attribute the lack of this warning to possibly getting a paper towel company to sponsor the show, because there was probably a bit of barf people had to clean up when they showed the scene where Syler went into Claire’s brain.

Ando and Hiro were great, as usual. I’d like to see a show with just those guys in it. They met a fast woman…. I know what you’re thinking, this is a family blog, but yeah, she’s super fast. She stole the formula that Hiro’s father made Hiro promise to guard. (Nice touch with the “I thought I told you not to open the safe”).

Parkman went on safari out to Africa, not really by choice, but through “Peter from the Future” when Parkman figured out something wasn’t quite right with the whole Nathan shooting.

Peter ended up in – a Level 5 prisoner’s body? Yeah, OK… We can go with that. HOW that happened, well, “Peter from the Future” must have learned it somehow.

The biggest surprise was that Peter, Nathan and Syler…. brothers. Yeah, that’s what Peter’s mom said.

Other things happened, including some obvious product placement, finding out too late that Bob’s special ability was pretty cool, and that Maya really has to get on the bandwagon if she wants to stop bad things from happening.

PLUS they let out all the bad guys on level 5. Peter’s going to be hanging with them for a while.

As for Mohinder… Poor Mohinder. He’s turning into Spiderman.

And, this season something new! Ha! Kidding. They’re saving the world… AGAIN! (Anyone else catch “Save ourselves, save the world?”)

This is an interesting show, that’s for sure. Where else can you see the Greatest American Hero show up for a guest spot as a popsicle, right? I’m just afraid that in their zeal to make this more action packed, things have gone a little bit TOO action packed. WAY too many things going on.

Let’s hope things settle down a bit so we can get into some storylines that make all this fit together nicely.

Oh, and a nice “WARNING! GROSS STUFF ABOUT TO HAPPEN” would be nice too.

Season Premieres – Monday, Sept. 22

Here’s a listing of what’s premiering tonight:

8:00

Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

8:30

How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

9:00

Two and Half Men (CBS)
Heroes (NBC)

9:30

Worst Week (CBS)

10:00
Boston Legal (ABC)
CSI: Miami (CBS)

—

I’m planning on catching The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and Heroes, either by watching “live” or via the DVR. Still haven’t given up on “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, so I’ll be recording that too.

Kitchen Nightmares – Giuseppi’s


Kitchen Nightmares – Giuseppi’s

Gordon visited Giuseppi’s in order to get the restaurant turned around, and it looked like it wasn’t going to be easy. The restaurant was opened two years ago. The state of the restaurant was that there weren’t many customers. The parents, Joe and Kathy of the head chef had opened this restaurant in the hope they could pass it down to their son, but it just wasn’t working out. The parents were working 20 hours a week, Joe didn’t have faith in his son Sam, and the food was terrible.

Gordon tried the food – the octopus salad was rubbery and he thought his eggplant had been nuked in the microwave (it had). Gordon questioned the whole idea of having potato skins on the menu too. (And they weren’t good either). After telling everyone what he thought, Gordon left until later that afternoon.

When he came back, Gordon went to the kitchen and immediately insulted one of the waitresses by calling her a Cucktoo. When the customers started to come, the microwave went into overdrive and the food was going out quick. The food started coming back – it was either cold (and re-nuked), or just not seasoned correctly. The kitchen sure seemed to have two head chefs – Joe and Sam… but nothing was working. Joe finally kicked Sam out of the kitchen.

Gordon’s assessment at this point is that Sam and Brian (the sous chef) were doing OK, but were cooking a bit fast. Then Joe would walk in, bark some orders and leave, after treating Sam like dirt, which Gordon called “sad”.

After the dinner service, Gordon critcized the use of the microwave. Sam spoke up and told Gordon that he wanted to cook fresh. Gordon asked “Is Sam a good chef?” Joe’s response? “He likes to cook”. Joe’s weakness? “You’re not comitted”. At this point, things broke down and it came out that Sam has been trying to get Joe’s attention since he was 13.

Gordon sat down with Joe the next day, and they discussed Joe’s diabetes. Gordon told Joe that he had to slow down.

Next, Gordon challenged Joe and Sam to make any dish they wanted, and the winner of the tasting (by the staff) would have that dish go on the menu. Sam made salmon, and Joe made a stuffed center-cut pork chop with seared scallops. The score ended up being Joe, 4 and Sam, 2. Gordon decided that BOTH dishes went on the menu. Afterwards, it seemed that everyone was pretty fired up about the new dishes.

Gordon took Kathy aside and told her that he’d never quite run across a restaurant with such bad communication. He told her to write a letter and tell them exactly what she felt, but not to show it to them.

Next Gordon took Sam aside and told him to write a letter to his father. Gordon said he would take the letter.

At food service that night, Joe was to be expediting, and Sam was to be working the line. The food started going out to the customer’s satisfaction, but soon Joe started taking over the kitchen and cooking. Gordon called him on it and told him to expedite. Gordon finally got Sam to get Joe to get off the line.

The service finishes well. Gordon told Joe to write a letter to Sam, but to make sure to keep it for Gordon.

Gordon got everyone together and told them they’d relaunch the next morning. The Kitchen Nightmares crew went through and changed the place completely. It was a GREAT improvement. It looked great!

Gordon decided to market the relaunch through a “Giuseppe’s Bowl-A-Thon for Diabetes”. They raised money, served samples, and had a great success.

That afternoon, Gordon presented a new menu and it looked like everything was going to go well.

That night, Sam was on the line, and Joe was given the task to expedite. Orders started coming in. Thirty minutes in, and Joe was back on the line. Food started coming back, and Sam kept trying to get Joe off the line. Joe kept trying to get back, and they kept telling him to rest.

The kitchen was deterating, food came back, the sous chef was goofing around. Customers weren’t happy. Gordon tried to correct it, but, Brian told Gordon, “I blame this all on you”. Well, that went over about as well as you think it probably did… it didn’t go over well AT ALL. Gordon called him on it, and Brian walked out. (So did the customers).

It turns out that was just the thing that was needed to bring Joe and Sam together. They finished service and ended with a successful service. Joe told Sam, “You did an excellent job today”. I think that meant a lot to Sam.

It was a successful end of the night. Gordon got Sam, Kathy and Joe together, and told them to each read the letters they had written. They were all heartfelt letters, and they all were pretty broken up. It brought them all closer together.

Dharma Test 5 And Recruitment Closing SOON

Just got the following:

ATTENTION ALL RECRUITS
RE: RELEASE OF TEST 5 AND
CLOSING DATE OF RECRUITMENT PROGRAM

Namaste.

I am pleased to announce the release of the fifth assessment in the Dharma Initiative’s Volunteer Recruitment Program is now available at www.dharmawantsyou.com.

The latest test in the program is a Numeric Projection Evaluation. It will assess a recruit’s ability to recognize a variety of patterns in numeric series.

In response to the impressive progress of a number of recruits I have devised a number of particularly challenging questions in this latest evaluation.

IMPORTANT: CLOSING DATE OF RECRUITMENT PROGRAM

Please be aware that the Volunteer Recruitment Program will officially close at 12:00PM PDT on October 7, 2008.

All testing procedures, including Recruit Created Assessments, will be inaccessible after this date.

All recruits are advised to complete their assessments by this time.

Following the completion of the program, the Recruit Evaluation Panel will collect all assessment data for processing and analysis in order to determine final volunteer roles and group allocations within the Dharma Initiative’s latest research project. This information will be collated in a personalized Volunteer Assessment Dossier for each recruit.

Having supervised the recruitment program thus far, I am extremely optimistic that the ranks of the Dharma Initiative will soon be greatly enhanced by the new recruits.

Namaste.

Hans Van Eeghen
Head of Recruiting
The Dharma Initiative

Fringe – The Same Old Story

Some random thoughts about “The Same Old Story”, Fringe’s episode tonight.

After watching tonight’s Fringe episode, “The Same Old Story”, I’m not sure if the show is going to be a huge hit, or whether people are going to turn away from it complete disgust. I refer to the complete lack of a warning that should have said “WARNING! EYEBALL SURGERY! BARF-O-RAMA! REALLY! IT’S GROSS!”. Yeah, I rewound to check… Nope, no warning like that.

I’m not sure what to make of this episode. Nina Sharp, the apparent spokesperson for Massive Dynamic, talking with Phillip Broyles, the guy from Homeland Security? Are the people at Homeland that stupid that they don’t suspect Massive Dynamic? Maybe it’s a case of “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” – I don’t know.

Then you have the whole “I wonder what Scott was up to” thread that Olivia is following. You have Walter acting crazy milking cows, and doing eyeball surgery to get retina pictures. On top of all that, you have the mystical, magical computer laptop that can take an image, correlate it to a 3D wire frame, and pinpoint within a block where a building in Boston is.

And, just when you might have thought they’d be subtle and imply that Peter (that’s Walter’s Son) might have a relation to Walter’s work, they go the extra mile and slap you right in the face with “I assume you read about Peter’s medical history – You didn’t? Oh, nevermind”. Up to that point, when Walter was describing what working back during his original work was like, they dropped enough hints that there might be more to Peter than meets the eye. They really didn’t need to hit us over the head with it.

Finally, they had a half-second glimpse at a lab somewhere in Massive Dynamic (probably) that showed THREE versions of the same guy that killed those women. Ok, we can infer that maybe the guy that died of old age at the end wasn’t the original guy that Olivia was chasing all those years ago. The killings did stop for a while, so it’s reasonable to assume that whichever clone did that, he ended up dying. Otherwise the killings would have continued because of his need for the pituitary glands.

If it were me, I wouldn’t have shown that. I would have shown them in that lab a few shows later, just briefly, as someone walked by that lab at Massive Dynamic. That would have at least given fans something to find, and make the connection. People are pretty good at seeing things like that and talking about it. LOST fans are REALLY good at this sort of thing. They don’t need to be hit over the head with hints, the way Fringe is doing.

I just get the feeling that Fringe is trying much too hard to jam the backstory and weird things that are happening down viewers’ throats too fast. This show’s been compared to the X-Files. At least on that show, there was a slowly developed storyline that drew people in. On Fringe, it’s all about the “Hey! Look! We’re doing weird stuff! Check out the huge evil corporation! Weird, huh! Look at the eyeball surgery! Ha! We should have warned you about that, but too late!”

OK, ok, ok… we get it. Just give the viewers a bit more credit.

Kitchen Nightmares – Handlebar


First restaurant of the new season! The Handlebar. Before I get into the summary of what happened, I need to say something. Parts of this write-up are a bit disjointed and seem to jump from situation to situation…. well, that’s because that’s the way the show was.

Bill and Carolyn his wife bought the Handlebar in Mount Sinai, New York a year ago, seeing it as a good business opportunity. A year later, they were in trouble because the restaurant wasn’t filling with customers.

Gordon arrived, tried the food, and immediately realized that was the problem. In the sit down with Bill, Carolyn, and Melissa the head chef. Much to Gordon’s surprise, Melissa says that she’s really not interesting in being a head chef!

The food being served later that night wasn’t good. Frozen broccoli was served, radishes being served with steak, and burnt French Fries.

A good look at the back rooms was a surprise, it was really, really filthy. Billy really didn’t want to hear any of Gordon’s criticism, and walked off. Billy was REALLY mad at Gordon for speaking to hi in what he felt was a disrespectful way. He ended up driving off, after calling Carolyn to say he was going to throw in the towel.

The servers and chef ended up cleaning the refrigerator, and they got a plan together to get things going again. Gordon gave Melissa a quick demonstration on how to make clams with a homemade tartar sauce, and home made potato chips.

During dinner service, Billy returned. Service started to stack up, and the customers were waiting quite a while. The customers even started yelling at each other.

Finally, Billy and Gordon talk about what happened that night, and decided to have a staff meeting after dinner. They cut down the menu to make it simpler.

The Kitchen Nightmares team went in that night and revamped the whole restaurant. (I have to say, I’m pretty impressed to see how much they did).

They transformed into a Gastropub, the first on Long Island.

As a way to relaunch the restaurant, Gordon got Dee Snider (from Twisted Sister) as part of a motorcycle rally promotion, and they handed out fliers for the relaunch with a simplified menu.

The restaurant filled up and the food was going out well to start. They had a quick break and Dee Sinder came in on a motorcycle they want to auction for the March of Dimes.

After that, the kitchen started to fall apart. Food was coming back because it was undercooked, and things weren’t looking good. The main problem was the Melissa wasn’t using the other two cooks in the kitchen. Once she did this, the kitchen started working better. The restaurant ended the night on the high note. The next few days were busy too, and they started to do better.

By the time Gordon left, the Handlebar had turned the corner.

I was happy to see that the restaurant turned around, but it really seems like the show needed to go into a bit more depth about how they changed the menu and got the kitchen going again.

Visit the Handlebar website here. Hope they’re doing well!

Write Your Own Dharma Tests


A message from Hans Van Eeghen on the Dharma Wants You site explains that recruits to the Dharma Initiative can now start writing their own tests. It involves writing 10 questions, and having other recruits complete your test for which you’ll get 50 Dharma points. You can also achieve “Instructor Status”:

If your test, or one of its questions, is of an appropriate quality it may be selected to form part of the Official Volunteer Assessment Program. For this you will receive 500 Dharma Points and be awarded Instructor status.

You have to have your test created before Sept 17th, 2008

Dharma Initiative Test 4

Dharma Initative
ATTENTION ALL RECRUITS
RE: EXPANDED ROLE FOR RECRUITS

Namaste.

As a result of the outstanding assessment results delivered in recent weeks I am pleased to announce an expanded role for recruits in the Volunteer Assessment Program at www.dharmawantsyou.com.

This new activity will draw on the impressive knowledge base of recruits and will offer the opportunity to challenge your colleagues in a friendly intellectual competition.

You have the potential to earn significant Dharma Points with this new activity, which will contribute to your overall assessment results.

Log in and consult your “Progress” page for details.

I look forward to another inspiring display of initiative from you all.

Namaste.

Hans Van Eeghen
Head of Recruiting
The Dharma Initiative

Update
ATTENTION ALL RECRUITS
RE: TANGENTIAL JUDGMENT ANALYSIS IS NOW LIVE

Namaste.

I am pleased to announce the release of the fourth assessment in the Dharma Initiative’s Volunteer Recruitment Program is now available at www.dharmawantsyou.com.

This new test will assess your ability to formulate imaginative solutions to a range of conundrums.

Many of you have already demonstrated your ability to think “outside the octagon”, so to speak. I am sure you will find this activity suitably stimulating.

I am also happy to report that a great number of you have enthusiastically embraced the recently released “Recruit Created Assessments” (RCA). Industrious recruits are devising for their colleagues a dizzying array of examination topics that will, no doubt, significantly expand the knowledge base of the Dharma Initiative.

These talented recruits not only stand to significantly increase their Dharma Points but will also be eligible for promotion to the position of “Instructor” in the Volunteer Recruitment Program.

On behalf of the Dharma Initiative I would like to thank these conscientious recruits for their efforts.

Keep up the good work.

Namaste.

Hans Van Eeghen
Head of Recruiting
The Dharma Initiative