Tag Archives: Television

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Make it so! Star Trek: The Next Generation remains radically hopeful television | Television | The Guardian

By Paul Verhoeven, Tue 11 Apr 2023 11.00 EDT

An enterprising crew: Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi and John de Lancie as Q in the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Photograph: CBS

In the 1992 comedy Wayne’s World, Wayne Campbell makes a wise observation about the comparisons made between sparkling wine and champagne. “It is a lot like Star Trek: The Next Generation,” he notes of sparkling wine. “In many ways it’s superior, but will never be as recognized as the original.”

Wayne was right about many things, but even he couldn’t have foreseen the cultural impact of Next Gen from his vantage point in 1992.

The original Star Trek series, starring the likes of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, was great, and the Star Trek films were intermittently so too – all following a crew of spacefaring idealists exploring the universe and having velure-ensconced adventures. But in 1987 the story of Star Trek recommenced with a new series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, which skipped a century ahead and charted a fascinating new course with an all new crew on a new and improved USS Enterprise, a ship with a continuing mission to explore the universe under the steady hand of the uptight but charming Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).

Source: Make it so! Star Trek: The Next Generation remains radically hopeful television | Television | The Guardian

Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Music, Pleasures, Television, Web & Technology

Most User-Friendly Streaming Services: Netflix, Hulu And More – Variety

From ‘Glitchy’ HBO Max to ‘Overwhelming’ Amazon Prime Video, Hollywood Insiders Spill on Their (Least) Favorite Streaming Interfaces

By Selome Hailu, Jennifer Maas

Illustration by Zohar Lazar

Television viewing has never offered consumers more agency.

Though the streaming revolution has provided viewers with a dizzying array of TV and movie choices, it has also led to a free-for-all in how that content is accessed across various devices. Every streaming service has added custom touches to the overall user interface — the tabs, the rewind and fast-forward buttons and myriad other functions that viewers need in order to cue up their shows.

From the ability to speak into the Apple TV remote’s microphone instead of using a search bar to the fateful day when Netflix allowed users to shut off the bombardment of homepage autoplay, the interactions that fans have with streaming services have come a long way.

Source: Most User-Friendly Streaming Services: Netflix, Hulu And More – Variety

Arts & Humanities, Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Memories & History, Television

The Consummate Professional: Lance Reddick (1962-2023) | Tributes | Roger Ebert

By Brian Tallerico March 20, 2023

From article…

It’s clichéd to say this about someone after they’re gone, but a show or movie changed when Lance Reddick showed up. He brought a quiet intensity and refined gravity to everything he did. So when his face appeared on screen, everything was somehow instantly elevated.

Think about when he appears late in Adam Wingard’s “The Guest,” taking a film that has been focused on a family and community terrorized by a sociopath and turning it into something much more expansive and intense. His very presence in a scene somehow added stakes to that scene. Oh, wait, we have to take this more seriously now. Lance is here.

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Source: The Consummate Professional: Lance Reddick (1962-2023) | Tributes | Roger Ebert

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Disney’s Most Groundbreaking and History-Making Moments of the Last 100 Years

This year, Disney is celebrating its 100th anniversary of storytelling and entertainment. See the company’s most iconic moments in history in preparation for the company’s centennial celebration.

By Staff Author, Published on February 16, 2023 01:06 PM

Photo: Everett Collection

Walt Disney and his brother Roy Disney pen a deal with Margaret Winkler, one of the leading distributors in animation at the time, to fund 12 episodes of the Alice Comedies. Known at the time as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, this contract is viewed as the start of the Walt Disney Company, as it’s known today. Walt went on to write and produce all 57 episodes of the series that launched his career.

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Source: Disney’s Most Groundbreaking and History-Making Moments of the Last 100 Years

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Bewitched by TV Themes | Library of Congress Blog | Library of Congress

By Mark Hartsell, January 23, 2023

The sheet music for “Jeannie,” the theme song to the hit TV show. Music Division.

Most folks know the ridiculously catchy instrumental theme song for the 1960s classic TV comedy “I Dream of Jeannie.” But how many can recite its lyrics — “Jeannie, fresh as a daisy! / Just love how she obeys me” — or even knew it had any?

The theme for “Bewitched,” another ’60s favorite, briefly had its day: Peggy Lee, among others, recorded a jazzy vocal version in 1965. The lyrics weren’t used in the series, however, and over many decades of reruns faded from public consciousness.

The original lyrics for both songs, and countless others, are preserved in Library collections as submissions to the U.S. Copyright Office, which is part of the Library. Such submissions for registration help preserve mostly forgotten stories about pop culture staples: They chronicle the creators’ original ideas and, sometimes, the subsequent histories of their works.

Source: Bewitched by TV Themes | Library of Congress Blog

Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Memories & History, Politics, Television

Jan. 6, Two Years Later: 10 Documentaries to Watch | FRONTLINE | PBS

January 6, 2023, by Patrice Taddonio

A screengrab from the FRONTLINE documentary ‘Trump’s American Carnage,’ which examined the road to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

On Jan. 6, 2021, a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election.

How and why did the insurrection happen, and how have American politics been impacted in the two years since?

Explore the FRONTLINE documentaries collected below for context.

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Source: Jan. 6, Two Years Later: 10 Documentaries to Watch | FRONTLINE