If there’s only one TV show you can watch this week I recommend that it be the “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon. The telethon is obviously meant to raise funds for Haiti.

Show schedule for the telethon is January 22, Friday, at 8PM ET/PT and 7PM CT. It will be shown simultaneously on the following networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT. Since it will be showing on so many channels there’s no reason to miss it while channel surfing. However, what’s really important is not really watching the show but supporting the fundraising effort. It doesn’t matter if you give via the telethon or directly to charity organizations that are currently helping out in Haiti.

All proceeds of the fundraising telethon will be split evenly among the following: Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF and Yele Haiti Foundation and World Food Programme.

And as if the cause is not enough reason to watch and give our support to they’ll have the yumminess of George Clooney as host in LA, my personal fantasy, Anderson Cooper to cover the story live in Port Au Prince, and Wyclef Jean in New York.

The show will be star-studded for sure with the music industry greats such as Jay-Z, Coldplay, Bono, Shakira, and Taylor Swift coming out in full force to lend their support.

Now it’s our turn to give ours.

CBS News has reported that award-winning CBS News producer Bernard Birnbaum passed away this Thanksgiving Day at the age of 89.

Birnbaum died from a heart attack at Stony Brook University Medical Center in Long Island. He is survived by Deborah and Amy Birnbaum (Amy has followed her father’s steps and is currently a CBS producer) as well as four grandkids.

Birnbaum is best known for his documentaries some of which include legendary specials spanning controversial and important issues and events such as the Watergate scandal (, Kennedy assassination (“CBS News Inquiry: The Warren Report” and “Who Killed Kennedy?”), the Vietnam War (“Vietnam: A War That is Finished”), and the plight of miners in Kentucky (“Christmas in Appalachia”) for which he won an Emmy. Actually, Birnbaum won 7 Emmys in all.

Some of the CBS shows that Birnbaum produced, whether as associate or senior producer, included: “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite”,”Adventure,” “Eyewitness to History,” “The American Parade”, and “Sunday Morning.”

During his stint as CBS he served as mentor to many aspiring producers and correspondents. According to Sean McManus, CBS News and Sports President, “He always had an encouraging word and was always available to help with a problem. No one who had contact with Bernie can forget his enthusiasm as he would present some little known or forgotten treasure from the CBS News Archives – many of which he had been responsible for filming or taping.”

Before finding his niche at CBS Birbaum studied cinema at Rome, served in Italy during the World War II, and worked as a photographer in MGM Italy.

My head is aching a little bit and my eyes are still a bit puffy. If you watched CNN Heroes several hours ago like I did I bet you know exactly why I still have severe side effects from that awards show.

Last year when I saw CNN Heroes it wasn’t planned and just happened to tune in to CNN exactly at the middle of the show during a replay. Needless to say I was hooked. So hooked that one year later I was one of the avid viewers who clicked repeatedly on my hero hoping for a win. My hero didn’t win but I am not at all bitter because Efren Penaflorida, the hero from the Philippines who taught children Saturdays from a pushcart classroom, deserved the win just as much as any of the 10 nominees did.

If you didn’t see CNN Heroes or don’t even know what it is, it is the best awards show right now. What CNN does is it asks people to nominate ordinary people doing extraordinarily heroic things every single day. This year CNN got over 9,000 nominations out of which their blue ribbon panel selected the 10 CNN Heroes of 2009. Each of the 10 I believe deserved the to be Hero of the Year but since there can only be one I can only be happy for Mr Penaflorida and all the children his pushcart classroom will reach because of the $100,000 grant.

There are no words for the emotions and the inspiration one will feel seeing people strive to make a difference get recognition, so just make sure you see the rerun of CNN Heroes.

Not happy with your cable TV? Maybe Sezmi has the answer for you.

Sezmi is a startup company with a new kind of TV service. According to Sezmi’s website, their goal is “to redefine the television experience with the first-ever personal television system.” But what does Sezmi really have to offer?

Some of the features they have to offer include:

*An extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies – TV shows available include current and past seasons.
*Integrates TV and the internet – You can browse on YouTube and while watching a TV show.
*Personalized Sezmi remote – A special remote control that allows each person to set their own preferences and viewing patterns for their own profiles.
*Integrated DVR – Sezmi can automatically record shows for you on its hard drive. Can record up to 1,000 hours.

So what’s the catch?

The catch is that right now it is still in trial-mode in Los Angeles. If you live in Los Angeles and has a broadband connection at home make sure to go to their website to see if you qualify for the free 3-month trial period. If you end up not liking the Sezmi system you can return their equipment after the trial period at no cost. Participants of the free trial who end up liking the Sezmi get to keep their Sezmi system for half the introductory price.

Each Sezmi system includes an HD Media Recorder, HD TV Reception System, remote control and all the necessary cables.

The Parents Television Council (PTC) has reported that the number of “storylines depicting violence against females are increasing”. Now I have to say that I am all for awareness. However, the TV shows have also been depicting these violence in a more graphic way, blurring the line between helping raise awareness and desensitizing viewers to violence against women, or worse, trivializing the whole issue.

According to Tim Winter, PTC’s president, “Our new research points to a disturbing trend: by depicting violence against women with increasing frequency, or as a trivial, even humorous matter, the broadcast networks may ultimately be contributing to a desensitized atmosphere in which people view aggression and violence directed at women as normative, even acceptable.”

Here are their major findings:

Violence, irrespective of gender, on television increased only 2% from 2004 to 2009, while incidents of violence against women increased 120% during that same period.

1. Every network but ABC demonstrated a significant increase in the number of storylines that included violence against women between 2004 and 2009. (Hooray for ABC!)

2. Although female victims were primarily of adult age, collectively, there was a 400% increase in the depiction of teen girls as victims across all networks from 2004 to 2009.

3. Fox stood out for using violence against women as a punch line in its comedies — in particular Family Guy and American Dad — trivializing the gravity of the issue of violence against women. (Boo to Fox!)

4. From 2004 to 2009 there was an 81% increase in incidences of intimate partner violence on television.

Read the entire study “Women in Peril” here.

OLED here we go…

LG has announced it’s latest TV set – a 15-inch AM-OLED TV. OLED TV sets are pretty much the wave of the future. According to Marie-France Han and Rhee So-eui of Reuters, “Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AM-OLED) displays, which use self-glowing materials, have better picture quality, consume less power and are thinner than widely used liquid crystal displays (LCD) that need backlight units.” With people becoming more energy conscious by the day this is a big plus for OLED TVs, that and the fact that everyone’s always happy to get something with better picture quality.

LG’s 15-inch AM-OLED tv set is not the first of its kind with Sony having paved the way with its 11-inch OLED tv that was launched 2 years ago. But in this age where smaller is usually better, when it comes to TV screens bigger is still better. Probably this is why LG is aiming even higher by working on coming out with a 40-inch AM-OLED TV set in the “not too distant future”.

LG will be launching it’s latest product this next week in Berlin at the IFA 2009 consumer electric show. The TV set will be available in Korea by November. As for the rest of the world, we’ll have to wait till next year to get our hands on this OLED TV. Of course, you might want to sit on your current TV and wait till the 40-inch monster comes out.

If you’re one of those who are finding less and less time to watch TV but more and more time to go online, you’re probably one of those who are giving Comcast’s planned “TV Everywhere” test the thumbs up. “TV Everywhere” is Comcast’s answer to the growing number of people who are watching videos online and on mobile devices more and more. Instead of having to look for pirated version of TV shows online, “TV Everywhere” will allow cable subscribers to watch their favorite TV shows legally FOR NO EXTRA CHARGE. Since we love free stuff it is no surprise that 73% of Comcast and Time Warner cable subscribers surveyed by Solutions Research Group indicated that they think that “TV Everywhere” is an “excellent” or “good idea”.

So far 23 networks including HBO, TNT, and CBS, have signed up with Comcast. The online videos available thru “TV Everywhere” will generate income for Comcast and the networks via online ads. This is critical for the TV networks since greater competition among networks coupled with the recession has been hitting their ad revenue. They are counting on “TV Everywhere” to get more advertisers on board to supplement their current decreasing revenue. With the popularity of online videos it won’t be surprising if advertisers jump on the bandwagon. Of course, for us viewers, this can only be a win-win situation.

Comcast is expected to start testing this month. Only 5,000 households will be included in the test so cross your fingers and hopefully you will be included.

Been trying to write about some tv show but I keep coming back to Michael Jackson’s death. What else could I do since it seems like there’s nothing else to see on tv except rehashed stuff about MJ. Not that I’m really complaining because I am quite guilty of the fascination most people feel when MJ is brought up. I also have to admit that his death leaves me totally befuddled. I am not a fan but weirdly enough his loss does hit home. It leaves me wondering not just about his life but brings up all these stupid existential questions. I would love to come up with a fitting post for Michael Jackson but after I read Neil McCormick’s article on the Telegraph, “Michael Jackson: This Really is It”, I felt like he nailed exactly how I feel. Here’s an excerpt of Neil McCormick’s article:

The death of someone so famous shakes us to the core, because it is like a death in the family. Love him or loathe him, Michael Jackson was part of the fabric of all our lives. Or maybe worse, it is like the death of a God, a sudden unexplainable absence in the mythos of the times. President Kennedy, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Lady Diana: these are the kind of deaths that confront us with our own mortality, the realisation that the end is unavoidable, death stalks us all, no matter how anointed by the fates. Such a death is usually greeted with a kind of incredulity. But this is it. This is really it.

And as the dust settles, what are we to make of Michael Jackson, who had denied us, and himself, the ultimate showbiz redemption?

MJ RIP. To his kids I hope they have a better life than their father had.

Image Source: ABC News

A new reality show is in the works and its all about second chances. At least according to Ryan Seacrest and Lindsay Lohan that’s what they’ve been working on when they were reported to be seen by the paps partying together all night clubbing in LA and hanging out both in Linsay’s pad at the Chateau Marmont and also at Ryan’s place.

Ryan Seacrest, who’s the producer of “Keeping up With the Kardasians”, “Denise Richards: It’s Complicated”, and “Bromance”, tweeted that he “Met with Lindsay last night about a show idea I have for her . . . it helps people and gives others a second shot!” Lindsay also seems excited about the reality show in which she will be a judge (No she won’t be the one we’ll be watching trying to get a second chance…she’s already got that after all!) and tweeted, “Working on a really great project for television — I am excited!”

The reality show will be cast people who are in need of a second chance. The show will be giving the one deserving of a second chance $1 million dollars to start life anew. Of course with how things have been going for many people who have appeared on reality shows after the shows are over we don’t know if it’ll actually result in a second chance at life or just the same life but with the added pressure of being under the microscope.

Friday is D-day for TV viewers across America because Friday is the last day when you can watch TV on your analog tv sets, unless you’re a cable or satellite subscriber or you have a new tv set.

So what exactly will be happening on June 12? On June 12 ALL tv stations will be switching completely to digital over the air broadcast television. No analog signal will be transmitted for your rabbit ear antennas to catch. The good news is that you won’t have to put up with grainy tv anymore but the bad news is that if you’re still relying on the rabbit ears you won’t be putting up with any tv at all.

So what can you do to make sure you will still be able to watch tv after Friday even if your TV isn’t equipped for getting digital signals? Here are some things you can do.

Subscribe to cable or satellite TV – The cable and satellite providers will be the one to do the analog to digital conversion for you. The problem with this is of course is more bills to pay and in this economy this is not the solution for everyone.

Buy a “digital to analog converter box” – I checked it out at Walmart.com and you can get these for $49.87. Again the problem is the cost but the good news is that the government has helped defray the cost by issuing $40 coupons at 2 coupons per household. You can get your coupon at the “TV Converter Box Coupon Program” website. Note though that as of the moment coupon issuance is on hold but you can still sign up and be waitlisted.