On Gear Live: Samsung S95C: The OLED TV You Can’t Afford (to Ignore!)

Amazing RaceAMAZING RACE FANS, LISTEN UP:  That annoying blonde blur of a team is history and the gazebos of South Carolina have been demolished.  If you’re suffering from cabin fever and been itching to see other countries again—you are in luck.  The Amazing Race is ditching that ‘family edition’ experiment of last season and allowing the teams of two to use their passports once again.  Hallelujah!  No more falling children to worry about—the adults can finally visit the Middle East!  Forget the forced family interaction—now we can get back to seeing dating couples on the verge of a breakup!

For many fans, last season’s disappoinment was a bit hard to swallow…regardless of Phil Keoghan’s endless charm.  While die-hard fans managed to stick it out, CBS lost an average of 2 million viewers per episode with their fuzzy family fiasco.  But there’s always a time to forgive and forget—and when it comes to one of my favorite series, I am willing to hold my head high and move on.  So bring it on Phil—I’ve got my calendar marked on Feb. 28th just for you…


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DescriptionThe fine minds of American television have ripped off yet another European series and hope to make it work. And perhaps it will, if it’s as much like American Idol as it sounds. Although…there can be such a thing as too much American Idol, right?

For 50 years, or 45 years more than “American Idol” has been on the air, Europeans have been tuning in to the annual Eurovision Song Contest, in which singers and groups compete to have their song named the continent’s best.

NBC will try to import that tradition—which draws up to 100 million viewers across Europe for the finals—to this country by adapting Eurovision into its own nationwide talent contest.
The network has teamed up with production company Reveille (“The Office,” “Blow Out”) to produce an American version of Eurovision—Amerovision?—that will take performers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia and have them compete for viewers’ affections.

Eurovision has helped launch the careers of ABBA (who won in 1974) and Celine Dion (1988, representing Switzerland), among others.


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Jay HernandezFace it - if a guy can look good even when he’s sweating, vomiting, and being splattered with blood, he obviously is quite the hottie. Many viewers adored the tortured, splattered Jay Hernandez in the gore-fest flick Hostel. Now Jay will be beamed into your living room every week. Hernandez will star in ABC’s drama Six Degrees, an artsy serial that follows the lives of several people whose lives link together in mysterious ways.

Six Degrees is just one of the many pilots this fall that will focus on bizarre plots and themes. But only one will have Jay Hernandez without a shirt on.


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Rock StarHaul out the amp and practice those riffs: here’s your chance to be a rock star. CBS is bringing back the popular Rock Star: INXS, an American Idol-esque competition where would-be rockers perform and then are eliminated one by one, until one metal god is left standing. The title will be slightly changed, since INXS already claimed its lead singer last season. CBS is still searching for the band that the contestants will audition for. Visit the Rock Star site through the ‘Read More’ to learn more and apply.

Rock on.


Read More | Rockstar


What's On TV

It’s an exciting night for Arrested Development fans! A four-episode marathon completes the beloved series.

Arrested Development, 8pm, FOX. Catch the final four episodes of this cherished comedy.

Dancing With the Stars, 8pm, ABC. Learn the results of the latest dance-off.

The Olympics, 8pm, NBC. The ceremonies start with much fanfare tonight. Say hello to thrilling action and athleticism; say goodbye to your favorite shows that will sink to repeats to avoid competing against the games. EndScore will have coverage.

In Justice, 9pm, NBC. We can’t decide what’s worse: the hokey title, or Kyle’s hideous haircut.

Obviously, a less than thrilling night for television, with all the repeats and the heralding in of tepid weekend entertainment. Unless you’re an Arrested Development fan, of course.


DescriptionLove Showtime but can do without HBO? Dig the Discovery Channel but find the History Channel a snooze? What if you could pick and choose your channels, keeping your favorites and leaving the bores behind? Many customers are frustrated that they don’t watch many of the channels they pay for in the standard channel ‘pack.’ Now, you may have a better option: selecting only the best channels for you. The FCC, reversing an earlier announcement, finally admitted that being able to choose channels would not only please customers, but would also be cheaper. Here’s hoping that cable companies get the message, and offer customers their own personalized menus. I’ll take a main course of Encore and Showtime please, with a little ESPN on the side. And hold the HGTV.

Most cable TV subscribers would save money if allowed to pay for only the channels they want, a Federal Communications Commission study said Thursday, reversing the agency’s earlier finding that consumers wouldn’t benefit.

The analysis by FCC staff provides new support for consumer groups and conservatives pushing for a pick-and-choose pricing system to replace the bundled services offered by the cable industry. Cable companies fear that would diminish their wide distribution.

“I am pleased that the commission has concluded that ‘a la carte’ offering could reduce consumers’ cable bills by as much as 13 percent,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who plans to introduce legislation next week to create and promote use of the la carte system.

Read More | Yahoo! TV News


DescriptionAlways a bridesmaid, never a bride: Greg Grunberg has been known for a number of supporting roles in popular series, but has never carried the spotlight himself. From a goofy sidekick on Felicity to a right- hand man in Alias to a cameo as an ill-fated pilot in Lost, not only has Grunberg received all his roles from popular series creator J.J. Abrams; he’s also always been the guy in the background. Finally, he’ll have a chance to take the lead in the NBC drama Heroes, about normal people who discover they have gained superpowers. Will Grunberg be able to carry a show on his sturdy shoulders? We’ll tune in to find out.

Greg Grunberg, whose “Alias” character supported the nearly superheroic Sydney Bristow for several seasons, is getting some powers of his own. Grunberg will star in the NBC pilot “Heroes,” a show about people who discover they have superpowers. “Heroes” comes from “Crossing Jordan” creator Tim Kring. It’s about a group of seemingly everyday people, Grunberg among them, who realize they have superhuman abilities, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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Apprentice OlympicIn a new twist for the sixth season of the popular NBC reality series The Apprentice, viewers will choose one of the candidates, from a list of twelve Olympic athletes. Why an Olympic athlete? Perhaps because with the amount of physical and mental fortitude required to rise to the top of a sport, the contender would have no trouble competing against the other candidates, and would not buckle under the pressure of The Donald’s stare.

Maybe this will add a dash of spice to a show that has waned a bit the past few seasons.

NBC Olympics and Mark Burnett Productions have joined forces for this ambitious exercise in corporate synergy. Voters will choose from 2006 US Olympic athletes Allison Baver, Travis Cabral, Casey FitzRandolph, Todd Hays, Chad Hedrick, Danny Kass, Joe Pack, Speedy Peterson, Angela Ruggiero, Katie Uhlaender, Seth Wescott, and Chris Witty. The winner of the online vote will appear as a contestant on season six of the series. Voting begins Friday, February 10 and concludes Sunday, February 26, at NBCOlympics.com.

“One does not reach the Olympic Games without enormous drive, perseverance, ambition, and a willingness to take a risk; [these are] traits required of business leaders,” said Gary Zenkel, President of NBC Olympics, in a statement.

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The Unit Scott FoleyGlowing from the success of NCIS, CBS is launching another military-themed show next month: The Unit. The show will star green-eyed Felicity heartthrob Scott Foley as a neophyte member of a special forces team that fights crime around the world. With its mix of hardcore storylines and talented leads, The Unit may be a sure bet. But will a lousy time slot hold it back?

CBS is hoping some of the success of its naval-cops drama “NCIS” will rub off on another show set in the military—“The Unit.”

The network says “The Unit,” a drama about special-forces soldiers and their families from David Mamet (“Glengarry Glen Ross”) and Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”), will premiere at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, March 7. Although it will face a formidable competitor in FOX’s “House” in that time period, the new show will also get as its lead-in “NCIS,” which has a compatible theme and an audience of better than 15 million viewers per week.

Read More | Zap2it

 


Andrea AndersEven Joey’s own stars are weary of the tepid comedy, which NBC is already considering for cancellation. Andrea Anders, who plays Joey’s neighbor on the NBC show, is not waiting for her walking papers. She has already ran over to a different network. She will star in the CBS comedy Class, which will follow the adventures of seven adults who reunite after years of separation following their childhood friendships. Class is already garnering decent buzz, which may mean Anders has made the right choice.

Read More | Reuters


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