MagneticMediaFed

NPH: Evil Mastermind… or is he?

The first act of Joss Whedon’s three act web-series “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” has been posted via Hulu and available for download on iTunes. The trailer has been making the rounds for a couple weeks, though aside from glimpses of Neil Patrick Harris and the should-be leading man Nathan Fillion it gave very few clues as to what we could expect.

Having seen the first episode, now, apparently it was all in the title. There’s Dr. Horrible (Harris), he has a blog, and there is singing. Really, it’s the singing that kicks things into high gear (well, that and Fillion’s pompous super-hero character). Harris is, as expected, hilarious. It’s hardly worth mentioning the plot, but it involves super-villainy, laundry and a love triangle.

The next two acts are released on July 15th and July 17th — no need to drag things out, right?

UPDATE: Flood of Fans Crashes Dr. Horrible Website - [Wired]

Look, I have no idea if Pitchfork Media is still the indie-rock behemoth it once was. Maybe it’s bigger. Either way it is an unmistakable brand and is one of the few sites formed in the 90s that hasn’t either dissolved or been purchased by some major media conglomerate, so love it or hate it, accolades should be given. Monday, the site launched a spin-off called Pitchfork.tv with the stated goal of creating the first television channel to exclusively showcase independent music. On face value it seems like yet another web-video portal of the YouTube age — something akin to Funny Or Die. To my great pleasure, it isn’t anything like that, and in fact works so well because it just may be the first website that actually reproduces a reasonable facsimile of what watching television is actually like.

There is no user-submitter material here, and thank god. If I’m tired of anything in the web-video revolution it’s trolling through piles and piles of crap looking for the one or two gems. Web-video needs programmers, and this site is meticulously programmed. It’s broken down into sections labeled, Featured, Shows, Pitchfork Live, One Week Only and Music Video, each category with a small collections of video clips to be played one after another or on demand (one especially cool feature is that if a video ends the next one in sequence is cued up immediately and played).

As for what those videos are, there is a pretty even collection of repurposed material and exclusive content — right now the feature-length documentary LoudQUIETLoud: A Film About the Pixies is being show in the “One Week Only” category in its entirety.

The big question is where advertisements eventually fit into the equation. Right now there isn’t a single sponsored frame on the site (it’s like in high school when a new FM station used to launch and would be wall-to-wall music for the first week), but one has to imagine this will change — probably sooner than later. I’m guessing it will be a mix of banner ads and video spots though the site is so expertly crafted, I’m hoping they’ve found a way to make their business model just as seamless.

Being an independently-operated shop probably makes all of this a lot easier on their part in terms of rights acquisition and reason enough to suspect it may be some time before more “web TV channels” start popping up, but it is an optimistic sign of things to come.

Whomever or whoever? Enjoy this awesome clip from perhaps my favorite episode of The Office ever, “Money,” courtesy of Hulu.

Living in something of a television black-hole with almost obscene amounts of free-time, I’ve frequently found myself over at the NBC/FOX video-joint Hulu, which just went public a few weeks back. As far as sanctioned video is concerned, there might not be a better destination online (though I will also add that the revamped Daily Show website is wholly usable). So far I’ve re-watched the first half of this season’s episodes of The Office, more than a few 30 Rocks, The Jerk, The Three Amigos and (strangely?) Dude, Where’s My Car. The experience, which is where any video-based website lives and dies, is so good I almost want to classify it as “feel-good.” There’s something almost novel about the notion of getting content that for so long has been on the fringes of legality now packaged in a super-slick wrapper sanctioned by all of the powers that be (including our once-short-shrifted writers). More after the jump…

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Let me describe my current situation: I have just moved from New York City to Nashville, Tennessee. To make the move as streamlined and economical as possible I opted to leave behind several things. One of those things was my trusty 20″ Panasonic tube standard-definition television. Televisions are (or rather, were) quite the bulky piece of equipment. Because of this decision I have been keeping myself up-to-date in the world of televised media by watching whatever I can on my computer. Because we now live in a world where there are myriad legal (and perhaps a few legally dubious) options for television content on computers I have to assume that this is not a method of consumption unique to me and my current situation. I have to assume many thousands (millions?) of viewers watch video on their computers or, frankly, it probably wouldn’t exist.

This leads me to a very interesting development that I believe to be unique to the process of watching video on a computer monitor. Tonight I was catching the most recent episode of FX’s stellar drama The Riches when the screen dipped to black where the commercial would have been had I been watching on legit cable (let’s just gloss over the fact that it wasn’t). Well, because one sits so much closer to the screen while watching video on a computer, when that video dips to black it is not unlikely for the viewer to catch a rather revealing glimpse of themselves in the reflection of the suddenly black monitor. It is one of those rare moments when one sees themselves as they actually are, completely unencumbered by pretense. For me, during this episode of The Riches I two-times caught myself grinning like an idiot as the drama of the episode escalated to the point of cliffhanger just before cutting away to commercial. It is rare in life to see oneself with this degree of utter realism. In the morning, while looking into the mirror while brushing our teeth we know what to expect. It’s an image we’ve seen millions of times before. In the presence of cameras we may believe the image being captured is reality, but more often than not what we see is the adoptive presence of someone who knows they are about to be seen and recorded.

But those unexpected flashes of black, where we suddenly see ourself as an active participant, that’s where the truth lies. Smiles, grins, looks of horror, boredom, curiosity, these are the most accurate reviews for any program on the air. Next time you start streaming something to your computer, don’t be surprised if what you see if yourself.

“You weasel!”

Oh television, we barely knew you. Once a bastion of entertainments both important and trivial, this year you were reduced to rubble after the writer’s strike sucked out your very essence — original, scripted programming. And now, you’re dead. But! Could there be a resurrection? Perhaps. It appears the strike could be coming to a close. I fear it is too late. After the jump, please enjoy MagneticMediaFed’s first foray into this whole “web video” sensation everyone has been talking about, as we throw a funeral for television…

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Image via apple.com

Right now we’re mid-cycle when it comes to new and exciting technology. At the Consumer Electronics Show that wrapped up last week in Las Vegas the “sweeping technological innovation” seemed to be ridiculously thin televisions, a product whose actual benefits can be measured with a six-inch plastic ruler. Even my beloved Apple couldn’t find a way to properly dazzle us Tuesday at this year’s Macworld Expo. What was the big product? A thin laptop. Are we really this short on space? (Those who have seen my bedroom… ladies… probably shouldn’t answer.)

Having a couple days to mull it over, I’ve started to realize that the gem of Macworld was not the MacBook Air, but instead the companies revamped Apple TV — a product that still isn’t quite ready for prime time but does give us a very realistic look at how the television experience could change (soon). More after the jump…

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USA Today recently named Britney Spears as “Celebrity of the Year.” If you were unsure up to this point just how awful 2007 was, this should be the last piece of evidence needed. How this decision was reached seems dubious at best and probably should be avoided at all costs. Whatever the methodology, the result is sadly spot-on, and goes to great lengths to not only summarize 2007 but the entire decade.

To really understand why 2007 was the way that it was, and why it is the year that best represents the aughts, we need to revisit the previous decade, some would say the better decade: the nineties. More specifically, we should take the Way-Back Machine to see where our “Celebrity of the Year” was so that we can better understand where she is now and by extension where we are now. If we focus primarily on mass culture, Britney Spear completely embodies what we often think of as being “the nineties” (or at least late-nineties) despite the fact that she didn’t really explode in the music industry until 1999. Because of this we have to acknowledge that cultural eras aren’t particularly concerned with the Gregorian calendar. Need proof, look at that photo of you from 1991. Those tight-rolled jeans and neon bracelets scream 80s far more than grungy 90s. More after the jump…

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In lieu of a The Hills post this week, I figure we’re all better off just watching this Funny Or Die video. I just pray that everyone finds it funny so as to avoid any unnecessary deaths around this, the holiday season.

Thanks to Kim for the tip!

Ten days ago (or so) I posted about how Nielsen Media Research was finally going to start monitoring college dorm rooms. I found this news amazing as I was under the impression that kids in dorm room actually liked watching television. But what do I know? I don’t work for Nielsen Media Research.

Well the first wave of numbers are in, and guess what? The ratings for several “on the bubble” shows 50% increase in viewers in the 18-24 demographic. Obviously this is great news, but its also like trying to treat a severed limb with a band-aid. The television ratings system is so arcane and inaccurate its frightening that these numbers are affecting board room decisions.

I have an interesting solution to the problem. The idea initially came to me while reading the cover story in this week’s New York Magazine. It’s about the new generation gap that exists between those people who are just older than me and those who are just younger than me and their desire or lack of desire for privacy. Basically, the average plugged-in high school student is blogging their life and posting Flickr streams and a are, in a way, archiving their existence. Privacy isn’t a concern.

I understand this lifestyle and embrace it. Some would argue that the more personal information you give out the more advertisers will try to target you. Well, good. We’re going to be slammed by advertising one way or another, so why not have it targeted.

Here’s an example. Last.fm allows users to track everything they play through their iTunes and then creates a personalized radio station based on the types of songs of which you like to listen. This could be perceived of as being kind of creepy, and that’s really the whole point of the NYMag piece. Those who use technology like this get it, love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. Those who don’t see it as a breech of privacy.

Well, what if you could voluntarily have your cable box or computer logged by Nielsen in exchange for, say, a break on your broadband bill? I’d imagine they’d end up with a pretty decent sample size (and one obviously comprised of those viewers who are more likely to watch content away from the typical appointment television framework.

The problem, as I see it, is in trying to collect data from people who don’t want to give it up. Web 2.0 works* because the users are submitting the content, and those who are submitting the most content are reaping the biggest rewards. In the world of television, those people who allow their patterns to be tracked could be rewarded with higher ratings for their favorite shows (even if the country, as a whole isn’t watching those shows). Shouldn’t the people who are giving the data, the people who are basically saying, “Find a better way to advertise to me,” be the ones who control what is actually ON television?

I’m ready to sign up.

Web 2.0 might not actually work

Or rather, he’s going viral (maybe both).

Last week during his show he filmed a segment where he twirls around in front of a green screen (a la ‘The Star Wars Kid‘), then asked his viewers to add the special effects and put it on the web. See:

Since then, the clip has been remixed hundreds of times. You can see a large selection of them by going to www.codebot.org/colbert.

This is why Stephen Colbert’s platform is just about perfect (for him and for the network). The Colbert Report’s format is so loose they can really do whatever they want under the guise of politics or Colbert’s vanity (often both) or whatever. Likewise, the show’s audience interaction (be it Wikiality where he asked people to change the Wikipedia entry for elephants, the Hungarian bridge-naming competition, and now these jedi videos), in this the age of the internets, creates a system in which fans of the show can actively contribute to its presence– and be recognized by the show itself. Click below for more Colbert Jedi Clips…

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First of all, I feel I’m not going to be able to write nearly as much in this post as I should given the amount of notes that I’ve been jotting down over the past three days. I suppose that’s the problem with not posting everyday. Ideas build up and then the getting them out begins to seem overly daunting for something that’s suppose to be fun.

But anyway.

Tonight, MTV will be airing a documentary called Iraq Uploaded at 8:00pm EDT. The subject of the doc is about the videos that have been uploaded to sites like YouTube by soldiers who were or are currently in Iraq. More so, its a doc about unfiltered news video (I haven’t seen it yet, but this article does a good job of setting things up).

Thanks to the ease of both uploading and watching web-video, it has suddenly become possible for people all over the world (specifically in war zones) to shoot and distribute first-hand accounts of these wars– sometimes (oftentimes) in a way that is exponentially more raw than anything the nightly news would dare broadcast. Keep reading by clicking below…

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John Hodgman was on The Daily Show Wednesday night talking about the Net Neutrality Act. It makes this blog due to its crossover in being not just about television BUT ALSO the internet.  See, that’s how MMF rolls, y’dig?

It is nice to see TDS being up on this legislation– it seems to be slipping through the cracks in most of the mainstream media (is The Daily Show considered mainstream media now? I suspect it draws more viewers than most of the shows on the 24-news networks).
Read more about it here.

Here is an e-mail I received Friday afternoon:

Here’s the deal. Sci Fi.com has posted a pilot episode of The Amazing Screw On Head on its website. Its an animated show based on a comic by Mike Mignola (creator of Hellboy) produced by Bryan Fuller (creator of Wonderfalls) and features the voice work of Paul Giamatti as the title character. Its damn hilarious and looks amazing to boot. Now here is where the readership of MMF comes in. After you watch the pilot, Sci Fi wants everyone to fill out a survey about the pilot and based on viewer reaction, they will then decide whether or not to pick up the show and make it into a series. Crazy, no? The suvey itself is only 9 questions and takes about a minute to fill out. So please, for the love of God, post about this on MMF Rick. This might be the only chance I get to care about the Sci Fi channel.

Also, it might be wise to remind people that the pauses in the show (I thought my comp froze) are just where the commercials would be. It is a full 20 minute pilot.

http://www.scifi.com/amazingscrewonhead/

AK

Who am I to say no to that?

So I went to the site and watched the pilot. It was good. It was really good. Its the type of animated program that is cool for the same reasons Batman the Animated Series was cool, but funnier. In fact, it continued to get funnier as it went along. After the first minute or so it just appears to be an action show (though with an amazing look and feel), but then there’s this monkey with a gun and…

Look, just check it out.

Though what struck me about this whole thing is that it seems illustrate the exact trend Chuck Klosterman wrote about in this month’s Esquire (even if his take on the issue was suspect at best).

I’m curious what everyone else makes of this idea– the idea being that of media companies attempting to give the people EXACTLY what they want instead of just guessing blindly.

More from me after some sleep (and some rock and roll).

Today NBC started uploading its special summer series “The Office: Accountants” onto the Office homepage at NBC.com. The serial, a myserty about the accountants (Kevin, Oscar and Angela) trying to figure out where $3000 in company money went, should be posted over the next couple weeks (I’m assuming, as there is no info on their site about frequency). The first two aren’t the best, but decent.  Unfortunately, the accountants are all that funny without Michael or Dwight to egg them on.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July. It is a federal holiday and many people will not have to work. Though today is not a holiday. Some people will work, some people will not. I find this troubling. Since the 4th floats across the week year to year, it should be treated like Christmas whereas the vacation is rouded up or down to the nearest weekend. Okay.

G4 TV, making friends left and right! The G4 cable network (formerly TechTV) is starting a new campaign geared to attracting people to its late-night offerings. The gimmick: threatening your friends late at night. You sign up your friends through their website and then they will receive threatening phone calls telling them to watch this programming. What a delight.

A way to kill 108 minutes. A new site, EnterTheCode.com wonders if anyone will let the Lost-countdown-clock actually reach zero. As of this writing, the answer is no. It has been reset 695 times. Part of me says this is a bit much as I like Lost but refuse to stare at a countdown clock all day, though the other part of me is seriously intrigued by the notion that the internet is far too vast to actually let the time expire. Doing so would require much cooperation. I like it.

Apple to conquer the livingroom. Here’s an article/mockup of the mythical iVault, the ultimate entertainment component. I’m ready for it, but I suspect it could be some years before it happens. Though it WILL happen. But maybe, I’m wrong, maybe its closer than we think. iTunes has only been selling TV shows for 9 months, and yet it seems like ages. The future looks awesome/expensive.