I recently got sucked into the whole craze surrounding the
Twilight Saga. I started the book series just to understand what all the buzz was about surrounding the movie. I knew that teenagers, and girls of all ages, were devouring the books and were salivating for the movie. I figured I’d give the series a shot – if it helped me understand the entertainment buzz an no more, that’d be fine. But I got sucked in. I believe I even termed it a “sickness” on Twitter.

The Twilight books were written by Stephenie Meyer and involve a love story between young Bella Swan and teenage vampire Edward Cullen. The first book was made into a movie, with star Robert Pattinson becoming an instant teen idol. It’s quite crazy. But back to the books. I really was sucked in.

I started reading while I was sick, so I had plenty of time to devour all four books in a matter of less than a week. I can’t explain the series better than this: it’s like being a teenager in love all over again. Vampires and supernatural worlds aside (the series goes into more than just vampires), the series has the crazy emotional pull of being a teenager. Plus, it’s written in a way that keeps you going and going, with very few natural breaks to stop. It’s more of a romance series than a Sci Fi series, and it’s quite far from pretentious. But it nonetheless has the power to come to life as you read it.

The first book was my favorite, with perhaps the fourth winning me over again. I was at first a little annoyed at the introduction of other supernatural creatures, and the flippant play of emotions and obvious easy “outs” that are built into the plot. But I enjoyed it quite a good deal anyway. There is a fifth book in the series that was started and was leaked online. Author Stephenie Meyer was disappointed with this and chose to put the novel on hold, but released the partial draft on her website. It was my favorite of the series, by far. It’s essentially the first book re-told from Edward’s perspective, which was fascinating.

Keeping in the theme of vampires, I decided to pursue the series that inspired the HBO drama True Blood, which was my favorite new series of 2008 (and that’s saying something). The Southern Vampire Mysteries, now known mostly as the Sookie Stackhouse Series was written by Charlaine Harris and involves 8 books so far, with another slated for release in May of 2009. This story follows Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid telepath living in a small town in Louisiana. She has the reputation of being a little crazy, but is a lovable spunky character. Her whole world changes once a vampire, Bill Compton, comes to town (in this series, a synthetic blood product allowed them to ‘come out’ in society a few years ago) and she finds that she cannot read his mind. Drawn to his peace, she has a relationship with him, and becomes quite involved in his world.

Unlike with Twilight, it’s more of an ‘adult’ story (particularly as the series progresses), with a great deal more murders and gruesome details. Charlaine Harris has written many murder mysteries, and the Sookie Stackhouse Series is no exception. Just like with Twilight, however, the supernatural world is made up of more than just vampires. As the series progresses, we meed werewolves and shape shifters, for example.

Although not as ‘addiction’ as Twilight from the emotional draw that I can’t logically explain, I still managed to devour the entire series in less than two weeks. They are well written and the stories and characters are vivid and likable. The first season of True Blood did a beyond-fantastic job of capturing the essence of the first book. A few things were changed, and the changes became more apparent as the season unfolded, but so much stayed true to the vision.

So, for several weeks, I lived with vampires. If you need to escape for a while, I’d recommend reading either series (or watching True Blood!!).

After Discovery Channel created this inspiring video, which pays homage to its shows and to the world at large, fans were inspired and began making their own ‘I Love the World’ videos on YouTube. Discovery Channel created a playlist on their own website to highlight some of these great videos.

The original campaign was created by 72andSunny for Discovery Channel. It was directed by James Rouse, with further credits here.

And here’s an xkcd Boom De Yada mash-up that Ianiv is just crazy for:

And a gaming parody:

Here is Dirty Jobs star Mike Rowe doing his own rendition, joined by other Discovery Channel stars:

There’s also a Canadian version of the campaign which features stars from some of our original Discovery Channel Canada shows:

Souces: Wikipedia, Briefing Room

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein

The Friendly Giant:

Size Small:

And now they are blogged for the sake of posterity ;)

There’s a lot of buzz going around the web for Feist’s appearance on Sesame Street and her remix of her hit song "1234" to be a counting song on the kids’ show. The remix features Feist singing and dancing with the muppets. Backstage at the Juno Awards, Feist says that the Sesame Street remix of "1234" was refreshing for her.

Feist made her apperance on Sesame Street in the 39th season of the show. Shows to appear on this season of the show include Jessica Alba, David Beckham and Heidi Klum. The Feist episode will air on August 11th.

Other upcoming parodies of pop culture include "30 Rocks", "Pre-School Musical", and "Are You Smarter Than an Egg Layer?"

Tags: feist, muppets, sesame street, 1234, 1 2 3 4, 1-2-3-4, feist sesame street

We arrived in Banff part way through the first day of nextMEDIA, but in time to catch a few good sessions. Jeremy & b5media were featured on Canada’s Digital Media Giants panel. It was also announced that b5media is a finalist in the Candian New Media Awards for Most Promising Company of the Year.

It was great to spend some time with Jeremy at the conference, as well as fellow b5ers Jeanne & Jyle Dupuis. We took a "b5 family" photo before Jeremy headed back to Toronto.

Jeremy had a good talk with Kris after speaking at nextMEDIA. Check it out:

The next few days we attended an endless stream of sessions and networking events at the Banff World Television Festival, including the Banff World Television Awards where Kim Cattrall was honored. Our hotel wireless was broken for our entire stay, so that put a bit of a damper on the ability to keep up with work and post timely news on the conferences. It definitely set me a few days back on my return.

The festival was aimed at the business side of the tv industry – for producers, executives, writers, etc. I learned a lot from attending the sessions – they had a great lineup of speakers, and I was only disappointed not to be able to attend more than I did. The networking events were also very well put on – we didn’t attend many after-parties, but the days themselves were full of networking breaks and the BBQ was the best of the bunch.

You can read some of my posts on the sessions I enjoyed the most here:

• Kim Cattrall Says Yes to “Sex and the City 2?
• David Hoselton Dissects House
• Hart Hanson’s Journey With Bones (my favorite session)

You can visit the full Flickr set here.

Tags: nextmedia, nm08, bwtf08, bwtv08, banff, television festival

Although I missed the show last night, Jeanne tipped me to the video of Kaitlyn Maher, who just turned 4 years old. She sang on the show and has now become the youngest contestant ever to get through to the next round.

I think Disney should hire her. Adorable. She even has a MySpace.

Tags: americas got talent, kaitlyn maher, child stars

“We are profoundly aware of the economic loss these fourteen weeks have created not only for our members but so many other colleagues who work in the television and motion picture industries,” wrote WGA West president Patric Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship in a letter to members following the vote. “Nonetheless, with the establishment of the WGA jurisdiction over new media and residual formulas based on distributor’s gross revenue (among other gains) we are confident that the results are a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future.”

Late Night shows will be the first to reap the benefits, as writers return (for those shows without private WGA deals) and actors who previously showed solidarity to the striking writers return to the show circuit. Many networks have already announced plans to shoot new episodes for the season. Here is what we know so far of those shows…

Shows returning to production for the season:

• Battlestar Galactica to return to production as early as March
• CSIs will shoot 4-9 episodes each
• Desperate Housewives will get 4-7 new episodes
• Gossip Girl will get 5-6 new episodes
• Supernatural will get 5-6 new episodes
• Grey’s Anatomy will get 4-7 new episodes
• House will shoot 4-6 new episodes
• Lost will get 5 new episodes, totaling 13 (instead of 16) for the season
• Medium will get more
• Moonlight will get a ‘handful’ more
• Reaper will get 5-6 (has 3 yet to air as well)
• Samantha Who? will get 3 new episodes (has some to air as well)
• Ugly Betty will get 4-7 new episodes

Shows not returning to production this season:

• Heroes will not be shooting new episodes this season, as Chapter 3 would be too short. New episodes will defer to next season.
• 24 will be postponed to January 2009
• Aliens in America will air the remaining 8 episodes, but not film the additional 4 ordered for the first season
• Chuck is done for the season
• Pushing Daisies is done until Season 2

For more of which shows are returning and which are not, check TV Guide.

Via broadcasting & cable Tags: wga, wga strike, writers strike, tv, tv strike, new tv, television, television news, broadcast news

I think I am enjoying the site more now than I ever have before. The community that stuck around is fantastic – supportive, interactive, and insightful. The end of the show has challenged me to explore a lot of new ways to develop a television fansite.

As soon as the show ended, I took stock of my categories and completely rehauled them to reflect things I wanted to improve my SEO on: actor names, shows they are in, etc. While my focus was before fairly broad, I made it an aim to seek out a lot of information rather than passively writing what’s in the news.

I started a fun trivia category, dig around for what all the actors are up to, and come up with fun posts about the show – like my Oy with the poodles already post. I have also been, since some time in November, recapping Gilmore Girls from its pilot episode onward every weekday to coincide with its airing on ABC Family – so 5 Gilmore Girls episodes a week. We all watch the episodes together and I tack on some discussion questions to my recap post. It takes a long time to do (at least 2 hours per recap), but I actually look forward to that part of my day. The early seasons of Gilmore Girls were the best ones, and I always feel good after watching an episode.

I provide regular recaps of Aliens in America (with Scott Patterson) and Samantha Who? (with Melissa McCarthy), as well as recaps of any guest spots. Right now, for example, Matt Czuchry is doing a guest arc on Friday Night Lights. I have been contacted by more publicists now than ever before, so I have been able to promote a lot of exclusive stuff and run some great contests.

The whole experience has taught me the value of community and how that community will stick by you, and indeed grow, if you support them and share with them. It has been a great experience, and I love writing this site probably more than any other. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s still one of the largest blogs in b5 ;)

Now, off to watch another episode – we’re mid way through Season 3 now. Stay tuned here if you want to read them.

Tags: gilmore girls, gilmoregirlsnews, b5, tv blogging, community

Stargate SG-1 (filmed in Vancouver) chronicles 1997-2007 and a spinoff show, Stargate Atlantis, covers 2004-2014 (we haven’t even started on these). In March of this year, an SG-1 film, entitled ‘Stargate – The Ark of Truth’ will be released to DVD (preorder available). At least one other SG-1 film, ‘Stargate: Continuum’, is scheduled.

However, this is not the end. Ianiv poked around Wikipedia and found that a third Stargate television series is expected:

Stargate Universe is the working title for a third Stargate series which is currently in development. According to producer Robert C. Cooper, the concept will revolve around the ninth chevron on the Stargate. It is on track to premiere in 2008.

Of course, this is not new news. But it is new to us, as we’re still exploring the Stargate universe. And it’s exciting. We absolutely love the show. Here are some of our favorite quotes:

• Jack O’Neill asks Teal’c which hockey team he supports, to which Teal’c replies: "I believe the Canucks of Vancouver are formidable warriors"
• Jack O’Neill whines that the SGC won’t accept his name for the new ship, to which Carter replies: "Yeah, sir, we can’t call it the Enterprise."
• Disturbed to see Teal’c, a native says: "He is Jaffa." to which O’Neill replies:
  "No, but he plays one on TV."

The comedy comes out in ways you just can’t always capture by quote. It’s subtle. Like Major Carter humming the SG-1 theme song. The subtle hat tips to Vancouver. Teal’c's facial expressions. For those of you who’ve seen the show, you’ll know what we mean.

Tags: stargate, sg1, stargate series, stargate tv, stargate universe, stargate movies, stargate humor, television, scifi, science fiction

In the 1964 Christmas story features an outcast reindeer and wanna-be dentist elf who run away together – run into the Abominable Snowman, find an island of misfit toys, to which Rudolph eventually leads the way for Santa’s sleigh.

In the Mac spoof, a desperate PC bastardizes the holiday classic, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to encourage people to buy a PC and not a Mac – to which the Mac and Santa look on disapprovingly. Though it’s not a story spoof, it’s incredibly clear where the inspiration for these characters came from!

The Apple: Get a Mac Santa Ad is shown below:

The classics DVD features Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, Little Drummer Boy, Cricket on the Hearth)

Tags: claymation, christmas movies, christmas classic, apple ad, mac, apple mac, commercial, advertisement, mac santa ad, santa commercial, rudolph the red nosed reindeer