Archive for the 'television' Category

Billo’s Advice to Conan

Cidu Bill on Jan 19th 2010

(language advisory)

Filed in Billo, Conan O'Bien, Jay Leno, television | Comments Off

Television Logic I Don’t Understand

Cidu Bill on Jan 1st 2010

A pivitol Doctor WHo episode was aired in England today — if you’re a fan you know what I mean and if you’re not, there’s nothing gained by explaining — which won’t be shown in the United States and Canada for a couple of months. What I’m not understanding is why they don’t broadcast it on this side of the Pond (on BBC America) today as well. This question applies just as well to other programs, of course.

What is the possible downside of letting this air on American television on the same day? There’s no technological or logistical problem, of course. It’s not taking anything away from the BBC or the British public. And in the specific case of Doctor Who, it’s a safe bet that 97.3% of all American fans know how to and will simply download the episode tonight — which is what I’m doing — rendering the eventual American broadcast rights virtually worthless. My wife discusses Doctor Who and Torchwood (a spinoff) episodes online with friends and no exaggeration, not one of them is aware of when any of the episodes ran on American television.

If BBC America showed today’s episode tonight, they’d have a huge audience (by BBC America standards). Two months form now, American fans will be downloading and watching the start of the following Doctor Who season.

Filed in Bill Bickel, Doctor Who, television | 22 responses so far

R.I.P. Soupy Sales

Cidu Bill on Oct 23rd 2009

Filed in Bill Bickel, Soupy Sales, YouTube, television | 17 responses so far

When Turkeys Fly

Cidu Bill on Nov 26th 2008

Off-topic, of course, but… Can anybody think of a single line, used only once in a single television episode, that’s as memorable (and capable of evoking memories of the entire episode) as “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly“?

Filed in Bill Bickel, Thanksgiving, WKRP, television, turkeys | 57 responses so far

No Accident

Cidu Bill on Nov 17th 2008

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Something to do with the traditional “throw a brick through the window” thing. I guess.

Filed in Bill Bickel, Brevity, Guy & Rodd, comic strips, comics, humor, libraries, television | 7 responses so far

Best Endings

Cidu Bill on Sep 10th 2008

Last week, we discussed the worst comic-strip and television finales. For symmetry’s sake, we should mention the very best. Continue Reading »

Filed in Bill Bickel, Bob Newhart, Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side, Frumpy the Clown, Fugitive, Judd Winick, Preteena, St. Elsewhere, comic strips, comics, humor, television | 21 responses so far

Worst Endings Ever

Cidu Bill on Aug 30th 2008

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So Grandpa Jim will remain on death’s door for eternity. How uplifting.

This monstrosity made me think about the worst television endings ever. I doubt there are many Star Trek fans who wouldn’t name Enterprise’s finale as one of the worst-ever finales. Quantum Leap was another stinker.

Of course, a great many television series simply go off the air and don’t have finales at all — and some go on for too many seasons and stink so bad by the end that any finaleis merciful (I’m sure some of you are thinking FBOFW falls into this category, so I’ll save you the trouble of pointing that out) — but the question before us here is: Worst television finale ever (or to put it in a more trendy way, worst. television. finale. ever.)

Filed in Bill Bickel, Enterprise, For Better or For Worse, Lynn Johnston, Quantum Leap, Star Trek, comic strips, comics, humor, television | 68 responses so far

Are They Ignorant, or Just Hoping We Are?

Cidu Bill on Apr 14th 2008

Not comic-related, but this ties into my longstanding complaints about comic strip writers constant use of the “If there’s global warming, why is it so cold?” gag.

If you haven’t seen this week’s episode of Bones, and you plan to, then please ignore the rest of this. Otherwise… Continue Reading »

Filed in Bill Bickel, Bones, DNA, television | 33 responses so far

This is Only a Test

Cidu Bill on Mar 28th 2008

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Okay, how old do you have to be to have seen these on anything near a regular basis? For that matter, I’d imagine the window of opportunity for seeing test patterns in color must have been fairly brief.

Filed in Bill Bickel, comic strips, comics, humor, television | 24 responses so far