Will The Price Be Right?

Game show addicts out there should be excited as starting next Monday on Prime7/ Channel 7 is the return of The Price Is Right. This show has been produced in a number of different formats in Australia over many years and is also viewed in many countries around the world as well. The game show time slot has proved to be popular for Channel 9 and 7 on weeknights in the lead up to their nightly 6pm news bulletins, when the audiences are proven to be always tuning in. and the many games that are played are a very easy way to earn the $$. The other good news about this come back is the announcement that the old host, Larry Emdur will be back fronting it too. I've heard he's as happy as Larry.

                            An intense game

                                  
The range of games played are a very easy way to earn the moula and over the years, contestants have scored luxury, as well as wacky prizes on the show, from sports cars to chainsaws, and grocery items (still very handy) to golf clubs.

A contestant who seems pretty happy in 2004 on the show.

I will be tuning in occasionally to be honest as everybody loves to see nobodies win prizes that will change their lives and the moment when the voice-over booms "Come on down!" and the contestants trip down the steps is pretty thrilling television as well. I might even have to apply..

Below is a link to a recent reunion from The Morning Show where Larry met up with a memorable contestant Mary Stephen, she was over joyed to say the least when she won back in the day. (As seen in the above youtube video as well)
Link to Mary Stephen reunion with Larry

           A sneaky secret shot of the new set. (Not really a secret now though)

The Power of Technology Today

I found out some interesting facts today when reading The Daily Telegraph and an article in it that was titled 'How phones, iPads and laptops smarten up our nightly viewing habits'. Apparently technology is transforming our lounge rooms into a digital hive, where viewers are using their mobiles to interact with TV shows, stream movies wirelessly to their TVs and multitask entertainment. We, as Australians are connecting to the plasma more than ever every month, up to 6% more than last year to 113 hours and 38 minutes to be precise. In the US, a Nielson study gathered info to find that 90% of viewers with smartphones or tablets used their devices while watching TV. It's a similar situation Down Under where almost half the population have a smartphone. When you think about it, there is not always something thrilling on the screen and because of the tech savvy society we live in, we must turn to our phones for more entertainment. Sometimes during the ads, which can be annoying and repetitive, a challenging game on the iPhone is a much better option.

          A couple enjoying a typical night in front of the TV.

Some shows like Q&A on the ABC or The Block on Channel Nine encourage us as viewers to get involved in live conversations via social media such as Twitter. TV programming has also sucked us in where we also turn to Facebook to further comment on a singer on The Voice for instance.

Programmers are using the power of the crowd, with shows trying to create a new style where we share with fans, judge live performances and access other features about the show, and that way we continue to watch in numbers. It is interesting how it works but this is really the power of technology and social networking in 2012.

Australian TV's Night of Nights

It was a night I was looking forward to for such a long time- the 54th Annual Logie Awards. There was the typical line up of famous TV personalities walking the red carpet and wanting their pictures taken with their acceptance speeches close by. There was no host as each category was announced by pairings of even more famous TV people.

                                  A view of the big red carpet.

The night did not go without a controversy however. The gold logie winner had already been leaked online 45 minutes before it was announced but it didnt faze winner Hamish Blake. It was due to a Herald Sun article published online just after 10pm before being pulled from the website, but it wasn’t enough to stop it spreading like wildfire through Twitter. The Herald Sun said, "The error occurred during live testing of the Herald Sun's new iPad application which is due for release in coming weeks". Teething problems are always a good excuse. Hamish and Andy's show Gap Year gained success last year and this year the team are going to start shooting soon Euro Gap Year ( I guess the title explains it all).

The best moment for me was when Adam Hills impersonated an Angelina Jolie oscars moment when he kicked off the show.The pshyco young girls and other fans of the teen group of the moment 'One Direction' also made up audience numbers as even the stars boogied away to the song they sang at the end. The logies are not really the most amazing awards out there but they are always entertaining nonetheless.
Link to Adam Hills opening the Logies show 2012

The Voice

I am going to review this show after it premiered tonight on Win/Channel Nine. There has been a lot of hype about it with all the promos that have been shown every time I switch to this channel and was even thinking I didn't need to watch it because of this reason.. This show is not the typical singing competition however.

                                          The judging panel.


The judges line up is impressive with Delta, Keith, Joel and Seal who sit in big red chairs like Emperor Palpatine's that spin around when they buzz the contestants they like the sound of. What the show is all about is truly 'the voice' and not 'the look' that other shows focus on which is what makes it unique. During these moments that are called 'the blind auditions', I was surprised at times when I saw some of the contestants walk on stage and suddenly belt out notes. I feel pretty sorry for the people that keep singing till the end of their song however and none of the judges wish to do the spin, though it is a competition and only a select few are lucky in the end. I will keep watching it from time to time to see how Karise Eden, from tonights first episode goes. She's something else. Check it out.
Link to Karise Eden's first performance

My comparison of the chairs.

 





2.17 million viewers watched this premiere allowing it to win the battle for the ratings that night!

My Summary So Far

As a review of what I have I achieved with my blog so far, I have commented on a few different topics relating to TV and local news and I've actually started to get into the whole 'blog' thing for the first time. I have created 7 different posts and here are some links to some of the interesting ones (well I hope they are).
Channel Ten's Reality Shows
The Walking Dead
The Chaser and The Janoskians
To achieve the layout I have created, I experimented with templates for a while and wanted to include some pictures when you the reader first sees my blog. I experimented with colours as well and tried to make different sections, like headings stand out. The change in fonts also helped achieve this.
I've looked at other people's blogs and what they have been trying to express. Some of the posts and opinions I've read have interested me so far. Heres links to the ones I commented on.
Comment1
Comment2
To keep my blogs consistent, I have used similar tags like thoughts, MPI104_2012 and my name as well as key words related to the topics I've discussed, which is usually Television news. To make the blog a little more interesting I added some more gadgets like a poll and a Darth Vader quote every time someone refreshes the page never goes astray. I hope to learn more about these gadgets and make its even more interesting soon.
Link to my main Blog page

Through discovering the page of Delicious, I created the 2 stacks and in my personal stack I have bookmarked 12 different links and in the MPI104 stack I have saved 6. The sites I have saved are useful because I access them most of the time and interesting because I believe they are just good sites I can waste my time looking at instead of other useless ones. Here are some links to my favourites I have discovered so far.
dbsw.net
youtube.com
therebelbase.tumblr.com
Here is the link to my Delicious page. http://www.delicious.com/brogers_mpi104

On Flickr, I have currently uploaded 18 different pictures into my MPI104_2012 set. I took some photos but mainly uploaded some pictures I have had for a while that all have different meanings associated with them. Soon, I plan to search for pictures from the net and upload them as well. Here are some of my favourite images;
Favourite1
Favourite2
Favourite3
Here is the link to my Flickr stream. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradrogers-mpi104/
Summing up, I have been enjoying this subject so far as I have learnt how to make a blog, which I've never done before and the benefits that come with it, which include expressing opinions and learning about what others think in the cyber world. I look forward to continuing this work and informing others of what I think, if they wish to read it that is.

Thanks,
Brad.

The Chaser Team and The 2012 Pranksters

One of my favourite shows that used to be on TV a few years back was The Chasers War On Everything which screened on the ABC from 2006-2009. The Chaser have made many other satirical programs over time like covering elections and making mock news shows, however, last year saw the team back on our TV screens with The Hamster Wheel , another show that analysed the stories making news of the time. This show was still of a high standard though it was different to The War On Everything due to the absence of stunts they have a large (and good) reputation for. 

They are known for making a fake APEC motorcade during the summit held in Sydney in 2007 and attracted a lot of attention for having a fake Osama Bin Laden played by Chas, one of the team, step out and get arrested. 

The famous scene

Warren Cartoon- Thedailytelegraph.com.au

Thats just one example of the efforts they went to that made the show a success. The ABC has strict programming guidelines as well and its a wonder how many of the stunts always got approved in the first place. The current project only some of the team are working on is creating a show titled The Unbelievable Truth which is a comedy panel show based on BBC radio show of the same title and is set to be released sometime this year. 
Here is a few of the Chaser's different types of stunts I sourced from youtube that highlight some of their work on The Chasers War On Everything. 

Just in recent times, it has come to my attention (and just 10 million other people on youtube) that there is a new group out there becoming famous. The Melbourne pranksters are known as 'The Janoskians' and are similar in some ways to what The Chaser's skits have created in the past. Yes some of its funny to watch and popular as well though it will get old soon as its really been all done before. This A Current Affair Story asks if the group are being pranksters or just plain pests to the community. Is it really funny and smart to lie down at the bottom of an escalator and people have to step over you?

Link to ACA story 'Pranksters Or Pests'?

It will be interesting to see the scale of pranks they are going to undertake and just how far they can go without getting into too much trouble. Time will tell. Here is the link to their youtube page if you haven't seen any of their videos already.

Link to The Janoskians- Youtube

Oprah's Big Mistake

It was announced on the news this morning that poor Oprah has failed with her OWN( Oprah Winfrey Network) investment as American viewers have tuned off and she's losing millions of dollars- not that it would hurt her that much really. In 2011 she earned an estimated small amount of $290 million and after farewelling her popular talk show of 25 years she thought she would crack this market however its now something she is regretting, and if she had her time again she wouldn't do it. She recently dropped comedian Rosie O'Donell from the network and lost $20 million for taking the risk. It is a very different role Oprah is used to, from interviewing people on a couch everyday to running a network, but in reality, she probably has many assistants by her side.

                              Tom Cruise enjoyed being on Oprah's show.


She says she is not going to quit but I believe she should have stuck to what she was doing best, entertaining the stay at home 'moms' and continuing as a world wide phenomenon. It will be interesting to watch this space.
Here is the interview on CBS News. The important interview

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is a show I recommend to any zombie-loving, post-apocalyptic horror fans out there. While the show premiered on cable TV channel AMC (this channel has also produced the great show Breaking Bad) in the US in 2010, it has only just recently been released on DVD/Blu-ray here in Australia and I re-watched the episodes in the dark, at night, all alone and jumped at every time a zombie appeared on screen. Thats the only way to do it right? Okay, thats exaggerating a little but I admit parts of it make you convinced the zombies are very realistic, and the quality of the production proves this. It is a big budget and well scripted story, where its different to the typical zombie movies out there due to what I believe is the nice development we see that pans out over the series.

                         The survivors of the series.


I don't wish to give much away about the storyline, however if this is not your kind of show then you would be wasting your time watching it. Sadly it has not been on Aussie TV screens, however I first came across it last year while working on an assignment which focused on re-dubbing a scene and recording the sounds for it when the small group I was in decided to chose this show. Here is a summary I found about the creators talking about the first episode and how it draws in the viewer (like it did for me) and establishes the story.
Link to The Walking Dead Season 1 "Days Gone By"


The series begins when Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln wakes up from a coma realising the world is a very different place while encountering the very unique characters. He searches for his family and comes across a group of survivors along the way. The audience should not wish to connect with range of different characters for too long though, as many have a short life span once they get bitten by a zombie and become one themselves. As a viewer, you have to watch the following episodes to see the fate of the lone survivors. I haven't yet seen any of season 2, which was released last year, I definitely plan to soon. Season 3 is confirmed as well. Here are a few interesting facts I discovered about the show that will make you want to watch it if I haven't done a good enough job of convincing you already..

• Actors who played zombies had to go through zombie school in order to learn to walk and act like proper zombies.
• The show is based on a comic strip of the same title, and out of 20 characters at the camp, only 10 of those are in the original comics.
• The word 'zombie' is never said throughout the first season. The zombies are either referred to as "Walkers", "Geeks", "Roamers", "Lamebrains", and to the CDC, "Test Subjects". 

Interesting facts? Now watch the show!

Link to The Walking Dead Season 2 Trailer
Link to the official site

The Return of the shows on GO!

It is always good to watch shows that are new and returning rather than watching re-runs all the time. From next week, GO! is bringing back shows like Chuck, Community, The Bachelor (probably won't watch that) and unaired episodes of Top Gear Australia. These are programmed to be in the prime-time to late night slots.  

Community is an US comedy series if you haven't heard of it already and follows a range of different characters of all ages including a lawyer, a former drug addict, a single mother and a millionaire, just to name a few, that interact in a study group at a community college. It will be heading into its third season on GO!, which premiered in the US in September last year so its about time we get to see it here! Devoted fans would already have seen it by downloading all the episodes however. 

Link to "Community Returns" 3rd Season

I like the show as the series plays heavily on jokes within jokes and typical types of daily scenarios at a college as well as making frequent references to pop culture, taking off film and television and the clichés they come with them.

                                         The cast 

However, just today it has been reported that it is not always a community spirit on the show. A bitter war of words has broken out between veteran funnyman Chevy Chase and the creator of the hit television show Community, resulting in the actor leaving a foul-mouthed voicemail on his boss' phone that has been leaked online.

Chase stars as Pierce Hawthorne in the comedy, and he branded his boss Dan Harmon "fat", an "alcoholic" and an "abomination" in the profanity-riddled message which has sparked rumours that the star is likely to quit the show.Bad blood between the pair flared when Chase reportedly walked off the set on the final day of shooting last month without filming a crucial scene for the season finale, entertainment website Deadline.com reports.

An infuriated Harmon then gave a speech at the wrap party where he encouraged the crew to yell 'f--- you!" after the 68-year-old, in front of Chase's wife and daughter. Chase left the party with his family immediately hitting back with a phone message Charlie Sheen would be proud of. The words mentioned are not appropriate for this blog however I'm sure anyone interested can just google it if they were that keen.

Harmon reportedly played the voicemail sometime later at a meeting in front of his colleagues and the recording then found its way online. Now thats not cool. Its big news for interested fans of the show anyway, like me.

The "Iron Lady"

Here is another local news story, of a different kind. From today, April 1st, at 9am, Jan Hastings, from  Tumbarumba is trying to break a world record by beating the current record of 75 hours of ironing. Mrs Hastings must be crazy as she says she has always enjoyed ironing.

                          Photo courtesy of The Daily Advertiser.com.au 24/2/12

The rules allow Mrs Hastings to have a five minute break every hour and 30 seconds between each garment- thats generous. Working away in the Tumbarumba Memorial Hall with a team of supporters and timekeepers will also be on Mrs Hastings' side. I hope she has strengthened her muscles for the occasion as she says the longest she has ever spent doing the job is for 18 hours straight. She hopes to finish at noon on Wednesday April 4, and then take it hour-by-hour. Lets hope her iron stays replenished with water at all times, and she doesn't fall asleep on the job as well.

Link to Prime7 News Story

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