![[OTHER TV SHOWS]](images/OtherTVShowsLogo.gif)
When midnight strikes at the end of 2/17/09, all full-power analog television broadcasting must have ceased (in the U.S.). Exceptions are being made for stations near Canada and Mexico.
For more information about the digital transition, head on over to the DTV Answers web site.
The DTV converter coupons can now be applied for at the official TV Converter Box Coupon Program web site.
The 2008 College Championship was recorded right here at the University of Wisconsin on April 11th and 12th.
Here are the details for each of the shows. For shows that haven't aired yet, highlight the area to see the info.
5456 - 4/11/08 - 5/05/08
5457 - 4/11/08 - 5/06/08
5458 - 4/11/08 - 5/07/08
5459 - 4/11/08 - 5/08/08
5460 - 4/11/08 - 5/09/08
5461 - 4/12/08 - 5/12/08
5462 - 4/12/08 - 5/13/08
5463 - 4/12/08 - 5/14/08
5463 - 4/12/08 - 5/15/08
Highlight to see remaining contestant and totals for the first day.
In show 5452, which aired 4/29/08, the contestant named Tom Morris answered "Daylight SavingS Time" to the clue in the TIME category.
The correct question has no "s" as the word "saving" is not plural. Contestants are told they are wrong all the time when words are made plural and they are not.
It is hard to say if the final outcome would have been different, or not. Either way, it is an error in a show that is normally a real stickler when it comes to questions supplied by the contestants.
I tried to send them e-mail about the error, but there is no feedback e-mail address and Variety does not list the show in their TV Production chart.
Read his posting here.
It certainly seems like it. Back in the day, there were four commercial breaks in an hour. Then clutter started, program time decreased and the number of breaks increased.
Five commercial breaks became the norm. The fifth break was normally right before the closing credits. But, with competition, the fifth break was moved to within the program and the end of the program went directly into the closing credits (OK the butchered version of the closing credits).
I thought I noticed something before, but tonight (12/18/07), while editing the CBS program Cane, I discovered that there were SIX commercial breaks. Yep, you read that right, six commercial breaks. Five during the show and one at the end of the show, right before the butchered closing credits. The length of the show was 42:23. That is horrible.
The networks want us to watch, yet they pull this crap, pushing us away instead. Idiots!
Here are the Fox Bugs that I've collected so far.
For a discussion about Fox bugs and how you can contribute to the roster, head on over to the AVS Forum.
I hope to see your Fox affiliate bug here soon.
OK, the headline is a little over-the-top, but tonight Lewis Black came out and laid into the networks for having those damn sprites (also called lower thirds) at the bottom of the screen.
He also layed into them for shrinking the closing credits.
I'd have the video and audio of that piece, but thanks to ASUS computer motherboards and Windblows XP, it is missing from my capture of the Emmy telecast because the computer crashed and 35 minutes got wiped from the hard drive :-(
It was a great piece. Something I've been complaining about for years!
Here is what Matt Rousch had to say when asked about those damn sprites (9/24/07):
Question: I liked it when networks put a small logo, usually ghosted in the bottom right of the screen, so I knew what channel I was surfing to. But now the trend seems to be to have an entire billboard down there, and they are getting bigger and bigger! TNT and ABC Family seem to be the biggest offenders so far. I was watching Kyle XY and they had this huge promotion for new episodes of another show starting soon. I thought it would go away after the first minute, but it stayed up there the entire time. I find it very distracting. I now tend to stay away from networks that have these "in your face" messages. Do you think there will be a point when shows will be half commercials? Sharon H.
Matt Roush: Don't give them any ideas. It's getting out of hand as it is. This is a new variation on one of my most frequently heard complaints. About the only part of the Emmy broadcast I enjoyed last Sunday was Lewis Black's rant against this practice. He spoke for millions, if my mail is any indication. That said, given the proliferation of cable, I agree that having a transparent logo in the corner of the screen is a very helpful tool for channel-surfers, especially for those who haven't migrated yet to digital or satellite TV, with their on-screen guides. But when Holly Hunter keeps popping up when I'd much rather be watching Kyra Sedgwick, I am not amused.
First one is just plain assinine screen clutter. Put the crap for plugging one of your properties in a promo, don't put that crap on during the show.
The last two show just how stupid management can get. Here we are, watching the show on the local affiliate, in HD, via the affiliate's DTV channel. Yep, CBS has the balls to tell us that we are stupid and that DTV is coming next February. D'oh! We are already watching the DTV channel, you stupid frakin' idiots at CBS.
On March 17th, CBS officially joined the asshole network list. Just look at those big ugly sprites. Like other networks, they treat the viewer as if s/he is an idiot by displaying the name of the show that the viewer already knows. They sure as Hell aren't doing it for the channel surfers. What are the odds of a channel surfer landing on that channel at that specific few seconds.
Obviously the idiots at CBS are taking lessons from their sister network, The CW.
At least they didn't place these damn sprites on the video during the next-to-possibly-last episode of Jericho. They get Brownie points for that, but earned Brownie points don't even come close to making things right with the idiotic huge sprites.
On March 11th, and during the Sunday repeat, the idiots at The CW placed the above two ugly sprites in the video. Ya I know, nothing new. What is new is that these sprites were placed FOUR MINUTES into the last segment. Not right after the break, but well into the segment. And I thought that they couldn't get anymore stupid over at The CW. I was proven wrong again.
On Feb 26th, the idiots decided that their single viewer just had to see that big ugly opaque sprite announcing Beauty and the Geek. Of course, they just had to have the idiotic text over the top of the bug that is in the wrong place in the HD video.
On January 28th, The CW ran their Gossip Girl Revealed special.
If you watched the show via NTSC analog, you saw a letterboxed image of the "revealed" bits. OK, that's expected if the material was in HD, even though the show itself is full screen.
But, if you watched it via HD, you were treated with a video image that was letterboxed and pillar bar'd. Yep, the HD version was the SD version upconverted.
What the hell is wrong with these people! Shoot the damn thing in HD (widescreen) and show it in HD (widescreen). What was presented looked like crap on the HD screen.
How can the fuckin' idiots at The CW possibly think the the large and ugly bug and the type along the top of it is going to please their one and only viewer.
Listen up you numbskulls at The CW, the CW bug is large and in the wrong place on the screen, and to add the crap on top of it just adds insult to injuy. It is an HD image, not a SD image that this crap is being displayed on.
Do your single viewer a favor and can this crap before you have no viewers left.
The answer is yes. They've actually eliminated the horrible (and that is being polite) snipe that blocked a lot of the screen. As seen from the above images, they are not there yet. They are still animating the damn bug. They are still telling you what show you are watching, even though you knew that already. They are still annoying viewers by trying to plug other shows. And they are still leaving that damn text on the screen above the bug. Just fade in the bug and can everything else, including animating the damn rating icon.
How can the fuckin' idiots at The CW possibly think the the large and ugly bug and the type along side it is going to please viewers. Oh, I'm sorry, viewer. They've driven two of their three viewers away with this crap.
Listen up you numbskulls at The CW, the CW bug is large and in the wrong place on the screen, and to add large text to the left of it just adds insult to injuy. It is an HD image, not a SD image that this crap is being displayed on.
Do your single viewer a favor and can this crap before you have no viewers left.
The answer is yes. The so-called executives at NBC are fuckin' stupid. You can quote me and you can sue me, and I'll prove it in court.
They are still taking lessons from The CW. Is NBC and The CW trying to outdo each other as to who can be more stupid? There are no winners in a contest like that. The only losers are the viewers, who have to suffer through this fuckin' crap.
Just look at that large snipe in the first image. For the second image that damn bug was on the screen during each of the six segments, lasting 36:43 (7:36, 5:46, 5:03, 6:22, 4:22, 7:34). We don't need to see that crap on the screen during the show. We want to see the show, not this damn clutter.
These idiots just can't get it through their thick skulls that we viewers do not want this crap on our screens.
Send e-mail to the following NBC so-called executives and lodge your complaints:
The stupidity at The CW has gotten worse. That snipe is fuckin' large. There is no damn reason for snipes in the first place and definately no damn reason for them to cover this much of the show.
Stupidity at its best.
Dawn has been committed for allowing the CW bug to be large and obnoxious, as well as being located in the wrong place on the screen.
Plus she allowed those damn snipes to appear on the HD programming.
Good Grief! Did the idiots over at NBC have a meeting with the idiots over at The CW and discuss how they both can do their best to piss off their viewers? Well, it looks like NBC took it a couple of steps further. All of their crap not only stinks, but it is animated as well.
The first image shows how they animated the ratings bug. Are they shitting me or what! They have idiot mode on high. The eighth image shows the animation of the NBC bug, if they were not going to put up the dam snipes. That was twice per normal commercial loaded program.
Lastly, the idiot mode turned into stupid mode, when they added the image of an actor from the show being shoved down our throats. The fourth image is an example.
Yep, those are snipes during the HD broadcast. The CW is the first fucking broadcast network to put snipes on their HD broadcast. They did two snipes after each of the five commercial breaks. Notice how extremely large they are. Those damn snipes are sized as if they were being displayed on a NTSC analog TV. Idiots, the lot of them.
They deserve the term assholes. I want to watch the program, not those damn snipes. Obviously the idiots didn't watch the Emmy telecast.
BTW, if you think I am pissed, you are 100% correct.
The 3/16/07 airing of JEOPARDY! had an event that has never happened on the show. The show is #5190, which is a lot of shows over the years.
History was made during Final Jeopardy! when there was a three way tie. All three contestants ended up with $16,000. The current champ actually had the ability to win, but his wager also brought him to $16k.
Monday's show (3/19/07) will explain that a kid asked Alex during the break before Final Jeopardy! if there has ever been a three way tie. Alex answered no and the current champ heard that and wagered so that he would tie the others, if they both bet it all ($8k) and got the question correct. They all did and history was made.
Posted 23:00 CDT - 3/15/07 - You read the secret here, before the episode aired.
Unbelievable. The 10/26/06 episode of Supernatural was only 39:52 in length. Can you believe that crap? The networks just don't give-a-shit. The new CW network is screwing viewers already.
It is getting fraking worse. The 3/15/07 episode of Supernatural was only 39:27 in length.
They just don't fuckin' care. The 1/31/08 episode of Supernatural was only 39:40 in length. And that includes the 29 seconds of reformated closing credits. How the Hell can the CW get away with this crap!
When is HD not really HD? When it macroblocks really bad, ruining the visual image. Fox basically bragged in the television industry trade rags that the method by which they are delivering their HD to the affiliates is the best.
Their delivery method is indeed the best. The use of the splicer system provides the cleanest transition between local and network programming (when it works: there is a problem locally that I haven't been able to narrow down).
But they get a failing grade for execution. Why? Because they said that they will be providing the best video to their affiliates, with enough room for the affiliate to add a secondary SD stream. Well, they provide enough room alright. For example, the image is from the March 20 episode of Prison Break. If you click on it, you'll get a full resolution 1280x720 image of lovely macroblocking. If Fox was really providing the best video possible, it certainly wouldn't look like that.
The problem is with the MPEG-2 bitrate that they are using. For this show, it was 8.55 Mbps. That is the bitrate that would be used on a standard DVD, for best video quality, not for HD video that requires more bits.
The best that can be done for our not-so-perfect DTV system is about 18.1 Mbps. To leave room for a SD channel, of poor quality, requires an HD bitrate of about 15 Mbits.
The MPEG-2 encoder that Fox is using seems to do a great job on motion video, as I couldn't really find any problems with motion, but edit locations and fades just killed the encoder. An edit location is where you see a change in the scene, for example, two people are talking and the visual changes to show each individual. The joint in the image where the cut is located can drive the encoder crazy. In a majority of the locations that I found, it took about five frames before the image cleaned up. Not good.
To see several (14 to be exact) TIFF images of the horrible Fox macroblocking, download the zip file of those images.
It is extremely annoying to watch HD video and see all this macroblockig. Shame on Fox for bitstarving their programming and shortchanging their viewers.
3/23/06 Update: After talking with another person about the low bitrate, it dawned on me as to why they are using such a low bitrate. The satellite transponder they are using to send the data just doesn't have enough bandwidth. Fox is using four satellite trnansponders. Each transponder is digitally configured to carry four HD channels and four SD channels. But there currently isn't enough digital bandwidth to go around. To provide the best video possible basically requires about 17.2 MBps. At four channels, that would mean 68.8 Mbps total. But wait, they currently only have a bandwidth of 55 Mbps, for everything.
I'm sure they are using a statistical mux that will dynamically allocate bitrate to the video that needs it. In theory, they should only need bandwidth for one HD channel and one SD channel during primetime, even though they provide feeds for three time zones. East and west do not overlap. No problem there. East/Mountain do overlap, but that can be solve by putting east/central on one transponder and mountain on the other. That means 55 Mbps can be divided pretty much between the two channels. The SD feed can work perfectly well with 7.5 Mbps. That leaves 47.5 Mbps for the HD channel and the color bars that are on the other 6 channels. Static color bars, with timecode, take up very little in the way of bandwidth. Even so, if you take 19 Mbps for HD (video/audio and other data) and the 7.5 Mbps for SD, that only adds up to 26.5 Mbps, less than half of what is available.
So why the Hell is only 8.55 Mbps being allocated to the HD channel? To top it off, tonight's episode of The O.C. was transmitted with less than 8 Mbps.
Fox is finishing testing of 73 Mbps transponder bandwidth. Why bother going to 73 Mbps when they aren't even using what they have to the upmost, at least as far as I see it?
BTW, if they aren't using a stat mux, it would explain the horrible bitrate, as wasted bandwidth would have to be given to channels that are only displaying colorbars. Since I do not have the ability to receive their satellite signals, I cannot say if they are using CBR or VBR for their video channels.
These pages contain opening credits, closing credits and previews of other TV shows that I like to watch.
Shows that have complete guides are listed in BOLD CAPS.
Select a show from the list on the left.
I am told, indirectly, that the producers of The OC never intended it to be seen in widescreen and that Fox wanted a widescreen version for air. But is that information anywhere on the outside or inside the box? Nope. It seems that the corporate lawyers and head honchos have "templates" as to what can appear on boxes to describe the content. To get it changed basically requires an "act of God."
The box says that the package contains the standard version, i.e., the 4:3 version of the original television airing. Excuse me, but the show was aired in both 4:3 and 16:9 at the exact same time. I know that lawyers and management are dumb, but are they really that stupid to believe that we don't know what aspect ratio we saw it in? If the producers don't want us to see the 16:9 version they gave to Fox, at least they should say so on the outside of the box. Lawyers be damned.
There is a truth in packaging law and I think Warner Bros. violated the intent, if not the letter of the law.
As for American Dreams, it is my understanding that the producers wanted it in Widescreen but Universal did not. Something about us not wanting to see it that way. That is utterly stupid and rediculous. I hope that my understanding is wrong.
Since they shot it in Widescreen and shown in HD (confirmed by checking the official NBC schedule for affiliates) and wanted it released that way, then it should be been released in Widescreen.
Two examples of shows not being aired in Widescreen, but released on DVD in Widescreen are Roswell and The Twilight Zone (2002 version).
If it was shot in 16:9, release it in 16:9. No ifs, ands, or butts.
Janet Jackson screws up and shows a boob with a nipple cover and you guys go off your rockers, going after free speech. We have a Constitution and you are all (OK not all) trying to undermine it.
Now you are going after words on Radio/TV. It isn't up to you to control what I can watch, or listen to. I can control my own listening/viewing. Parents do not need you to be their babysitters. Let them do their own babysitting, like they should.
Tonight (3/21/04) I watched the Canadian show, The Eleventh Hour, which had no problem using the word "fuck" a few times. And here you are getting your knickers in a twist. Canadians have a handle on life, so should you.
Wake up and smell your surroundings.
Here are some examples of what Canadians see at 10ET/9CT (episode aired 4/25/04):
| Type | Length | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1S | 1:15 | 13,228,208 | Scene 1 |
| M1S | 0:10 | 1,891,736 | Scene 2 |
| M1S | 0:52 | 9,226,280 | Scene 3 |
JEERS to ramping up the clutter. We (and just about everyone else) have been screaming for years about those logo "bugs" on the bottom right corner of the TV screen. What do we have to show for it? More elaborate intrusions. Like Spike TV's animated spray-painter writing the channel's logo, graffiti-style, across our screen. Can it, please.
Available on Blu-ray disc.
Get the latest news from TV Shows on DVD
Get the latest list of Amazon.com TV Shows on DVD sales.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Length | Size | Notes | |||
| M1S | 0:27 | 4,873,428 | Season 4 Open Ltbx | |||
| M1S | Season 4 Open WS | |||||
| M1S | 4,740,960 | Season 3 Open Ltbx | ||||
| M1S | 0:28 | 4,912,936 | Season 3 Open | |||
| M1S | 1:28 | 15,368,612 | Season 2 Open | |||
| M1S | 0:32 | 5,737,956 | Season 2 Close | |||
| M1S | 0:25 | 4,517,856 | Season 2 Textless | |||
| MPE | 1:24 | 14,676,060 | Season 1 | |||
| MP3 | 0:25 | 1,002,240 | Season 4 Open | |||
| MP3 | 0:25 | 727,040 | Open | |||
| MP3 | 0:30 | 849,920 | Close | |||
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|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | Notes | |
| M1S | NA | EU | :46 | 8,064,280 | Ver 2 - Textless |
| NA | EU | :48 | 8,415,204 | Ver 2 - Open | |
| NA | EU | :40 | 7,013,832 | Ver 2 - Close | |
| NA | EU | :48 | 8,415,204 | Ver 1 - Letterbox | |
| MP3 | World | :45 | 1,449,984 | Open | |
| World | :38 | 1,218,560 | Close | ||
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1S | NA | EU | :48 | 8,529,080 | Season 1 Open |
| NA | EU | :46 | 8,064,280 | Season 1 Open Textless | |
| NA | EU | :31 | 5,793,732 | Season 1 Close | |
| MP3 | World | :44 | 1,763,874 | Opening | |
| World | :31 | 1,223,662 | Close | ||
| The COURT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | Notes | |
| M1S | NA | EU | 1:30 | 15,724,184 | Open/Close |
| MP3 | World | :55 | 1,769,472 | Open | |
| World | :05 | 165,888 | Bumper | ||
| World | :25 | 827,392 | Close | ||
| CROSSING JORDAN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | |
| MPE | NA | EU | :50 | 8,756,832 |
| Type | Length | Size | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1S | 0:42 | 7,355,460 | NTSC Ltbx | ||
| M1S | PAL Ltbx | ||||
| MP3 | 0:40 | 1,606,208 | 320 Kbps | ||
| MP4 | 954,496 | 192 Kbps | |||
| The EDUCATION of MAX BICKFORD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | |
| MPE #2 | NA | EU | 1:00 | 10,660,188 |
| MPE #1 | NA | EU | 1:00 | 10,574,200 |
| MPE - Close | NA | EU | :32 | 5,624,080 |
| ELEVENTH HOUR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Length | Size | ||
| M1S | :46 | 8,173,508 | ||
| MP3 | :40 | 1,127,113 | ||
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1S | NA | EU | :52 | 9,226,280 | Opening |
| NA | EU | :39 | 6,953,408 | Close | |
| MP3 | World | :51 | 2,019,874 | Opening | |
| World | :38 | 1,503,694 | Close | ||
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|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Length | Size | Notes |
| MP3 | 0:30 | 1,209,992 | Open |
| MP4 | 475,134 | ||
| MP3 | 0:36 | 1,448,229 | Close #1 |
| MP4 | 574,431 | ||
| MP3 | 0:30 | 1,207,902 | Close #2 |
| MP4 | 477,832 | ||
| JACK & JILL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | |
| MPE | NA | EU | 1:19 | 13,806,884 |
| The LONE GUNMEN | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open - :47 | Ltbx - :47 | Close - :39 | |||
| Type | Size | Type | Size | Type | Size |
| MPE | 8,233,932 | MPE | 8,233,932 | MPE | 6,844,180 |
| MALCOLM in the MIDDLE | |
|---|---|
| Open - :35 | |
| Type | Size |
| MPE | 6,146,980 |
| Type | Length | Size | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVI | 1:31 | 27,252,736 | 1080p - DD5.1 | ||
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|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Length | Size | Notes |
| M1S | :48 | 8,415,204 | Opening |
| M1S | :32 | 5,737,956 | Close |
| MP3 | :46 | 1,866,274 | Opening |
| MP3 | :30 | 1,206,943 | Close |
| ONCE and AGAIN | |
|---|---|
| Credits - 1:25 | |
| Type | Size |
| MPE | 15,026,984 |
| PRESIDIO MED | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | Notes | |
| M1S | NA | EU | :32 | 5,793,732 | Season 1 Open |
| NA | EU | Season 1 Open Textless | |||
| NA | EU | Season 1 Close | |||
| NA | EU | Season 1 Close Textless | |||
| MP3 | World | :31 | 1,230,976 | Opening | |
| World | :26 | 1,026,176 | Close | ||
| SPECIAL UNIT 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | |
| MPE | NA | EU | :42 | 7,367,080 |
![[Third Watch Cast 2003]](images/ThirdWatch-Cast-2003-01_300x173.jpg)
Eddie Cibrian as firefighter Jimmy Doherty,
Kim Raver as paramedic Kim Zambrano,
Chris Bauer Fred Yokas,
Coby Bell as police officer Ty Davis,
Molly Price as police officer Faith Yokas,
Skipp Sudduth as police officer John "Sully" Sullivan,
Tia Texada as Sgt. Maritza Cruz,
Michael Beach as paramedic Monte "Doc" Parker,
Anthony Ruivivar as paramedic Carlos Nieto,
Nia Long as Sasha Monroe
| THIRD WATCH | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mirror | Length | Size | Notes | |
| M1S | NA | EU | 0:52 | 9,226,280 | Open #3 |
| NA | EU | Open #2 | |||
| NA | EU | 1:39 | 17,239,432 | Open #1 and Close #2 | |
| MPE | NA | EU | 0:44 | 7,708,708 | Close #1 |
| TITANS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movie - 1:19 | Open - :46 | Close - :30 | |||
| Type | Size | Type | Size | Type | Size |
| MPE | 13,978,860 | MP3 | 1,495,040 | MP3 | 978,944 |
![]() WONDERFALLS - Music Video |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video - 3:07 | Audio - 3:05 | ||||
| Type | Size | Type | Size | ||
| M1S | 32,647,552 | MP3 | 5,943,048 | ||
NOTE: All M1S movies are 352x240, 29.97 fps, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo [VideoCD compatible].
NOTE: All AVI promos are MPEG-4 (size listed in Notes),
NOTE: 48 kHz, Dolby Digital 2.0
or 5.1.
NOTE: The
DivX or
Xvid
codec required to play these promos (video).
NOTE: The
AC3Filter
required to play these promos (audio).
MicroCrap Windblows tends to configure browsers to stream AVI files. Save the file to your hard drive before attempting to play it. Right-click on the link and save the file.
Last modified on Tuesday, 13-May-2008 21:59:14 CDT.