The weekend saw “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” on the top of the North American box office beating “ Surrogates” and “Fame” despite being on its second week. Bad news for Disney (“Surrogates” distributor) and MGM/Lakeshore (“Fame” distributor) since their opening weekends resulted in really weak sale, especially compared to what they expected ($20 million and $15 million respectively). Aside from the weak sales what must rankle even more are the ratings moviegoers have been giving the two film, a C for “Surrogates” and a B for “Fame”. This doesn’t bode well for them because it will mean a short run giving them little chance to turn things around.

1. “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” (Sony): $24.6 million – 2nd weekend; $60 million – total domestic sales

2. “Surrogates” (Disney): $15 million – opening weekend

3. “Fame” (MGM/Lakeshore): $10 million – opening weekend

4. “The Informant” (Warner Bros./Participant/Groundswell): $6.9 million – 2nd weekend; $21 million – total domestic sales

5. “I Can Do Bad All by Myself” (Lionsgate): $4.8 million – 3rd weekend; $44.5 million – total domestic sales

6. “Pandorum” (Overture/Constantin): $4.4 million – opening weekend

7. “Love Happens” (Universal/Relativity): $4.3 million – 2nd weekend; $14.7 million – total domestic sales

8. “Jennifer’s Body” (Fox): $3.5 – 2nd weekend; $12.3 million – total domestic sales

9. “9″ (Focus): $2.8 million – 3rd weekend; $27.1 million – total domestic sales

10.”Inglourious Basterds” (Weinstein Co./Universal): $2.7 million – 6th weekend; $114.5 million – total domestic sales

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.

It was only a matter of time till Octomom got her own reality show – and now she has. I wouldn’t have cared if it was only her that would appear on the show but of course we know that what she’ll really be cashing on would be her kids. Nadya Suleman has signed the deal with Eyeworks, a European production company. If it weren’t for the kids I would love for that show to bomb.

The reality tv show deal she’s signed stipulates that each of her 14 kids will be earning $250 a day. For this year they’ll be shooting for 36 days. On the second and third year they’ll be shooting for 21 days and 14 days respectively. What this means is that collectively the kids will make $250,000 over the next three years. Filming will start this September.

The only real good news about this whole thing is that the deal specifies that 15 percent of the earnings will automatically be deposited to the kids’ trust fund, which can’t be touched even by their mom, till they reach eighteen or they become legally emancipated. So I guess they’ll at least have some savings.

Seriously though I enjoy watching reality shows as much as the next person sometimes things can just sicken you. As always it’s the kids that have to suffer. At least there’s no marriage to split up here. Let’s just hope the kids somehow end up better off with this.

“So You Think You Can Dance?” Apparently Katie Holmes thought she could, and though there are some naysayers out there, I have to agree with her this time. Critics have been saying that all she did was lip synch and go from pose to pose but all I can say is I wonder if the ones who say that can go from pose to pose as gracefully and looking so cool and absolutely stunning as she did. I am no Katie Holmes fan but she did look really good in SYTYCD 100th episode.

Aside from doing a great job with her homage to Judy Garland it’s really nice that Katie Holmes worked on the routine really hard to help draw more attention to the charity organization “Dizzy Feet Foundation.” Dizzy Feet Foundation’s mission is to “to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the United States.” It is meant to help underpriviledged talented young dancers. They will start off by looking for 10 kids and offer them scholarship.

Of course, for the SYTYCD audience the highlight (or lowlight) of the 100th episode was the finding out who would be leaving that night. Like the judges I was very disappointed and surprised when Janette Manrara was voted off instead of Kayla Radomski. As Nigel Lythgoe said “America got it wrong” that night.

Oh well. Life goes on. As for the show we’ll see if it’ll be as interesting without my favorite around. I’m not saying that the other dancers are not high caliber but as anyone knows when your fave is out, out goes your excitement to watch a show.

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.

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.

Who watched yesterday’s episode of Ellen? I sure did!

I’ve been waiting for Portia de Rossi to come on the show all week last week more than I was waiting for the end of Hawaiian week. Understandable since I wasn’t going to Ellen and win the trip to Hawaii anyway.

So what did I learn about Portia?

1. She’s shorter than Ellen but wears really high heels, which is why I am one of the people who always though it was the other way around. Good work Ellen you did accomplish one of your goals – setting the record straight on who is taller.
2. She’s a little sloppy, at least compared to Ellen who is apparently very neat.
3. She’s and Ellen are not pregnant.
4. She’s going to be the scary boss on the office comedy show “Better Off Ted” which premieres tomorrow at 8:30PM E.T on ABC.
5. She likes roles like Veronica (her role on Better Off Ted) because in person she’s a people-pleaser and gets to be bad through her roles.
6. She does a good duet with Ellen, but then again we all sound good in the bathroom.

All in all the episode with Portia was fun but it wasn’t as fun as I expected.

Aside from Portia’s first appearance of Ellen they have also been in the news recently for the possible invalidation of their marriage. The reason as we all know is the Proposition 8 rule that outlaws gay unions. Ellen and Portia’s marriage is not the only one in question because California judges are given only about 3 months to decide whether to nullify the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place before the Proposition 8 rule was voted in place last November.

Reality TV shows are everywhere. People, including me, just can’t seem to get enough of the drama surrounding the loves of other people and for many, like Meredith Viera who I just saw confess in the Ellen show, watching certain reality shows is their guilty pleasure.

Before there were reality TV shows though the thing that paved its way are the reality RADIO shows that came out during the 40s. A direct ancestor of one of the first TV reality shows ever is the Candid Microphone, which placed prank calls to radio listeners, a reality radio format that can still be heard on radio these days. The reality TV show that sprung from this is called the Candid Camera, making Punk’d ideas really old. Nevertheless prank shows are still really enjoyable.

Immediately following the prank shows came the game shows, talent shows and competitions with shows in the Beat the Clock, Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour, and Miss America. The first reality show that got audience feedback to be able to decide on their content came out in the 1950s in the form of You Asked for It. After that reality show after reality show came out and now we have everything from documentary type reality shows to dating shows and social experiments. And still we can’t seem to get enough of these shows!

And just in case you’re wondering, Meredith Viera feels guilty about watching the Bachelor. It’s ok Meredith take Ellen’s cue and embrace your addiction. ^_^

TV networks are really happy about the Nielsen Company’s latest report but I’m pretty sure parents and developmental doctors wouldn’t be. According to the report TV watching has increased by up to 151 hours per month. That’s around 5 hours a day!

The statistics were gathered during the last three months of 2008, which was when the US elections was really intense and the economy crisis was much felt. However, the people watching the news to keep track of these significant events are not solely to blame for the sudden rise in TV watching since the rise is, according to Gary Holmes of Nielsen, actually a long term trend. Factors that really contribute to the rise include…

more cable channels – This means a greater variety of shows to choose from at all hours of the day.

Technology – TiVo and DVR has made TV watching a lot more convenient even for the busy people, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to watch TV.

Economy – The news watchers is not to blame this time but the fact that people are trying to save money thus turning to the cheaper form of entertainment, at least compared to movie going and eating out, which is the television.

What isn’t taken into account with this study is the viewers’ habits so that the actual time spent in front of the television watching instead of doing other things while it is on is not really known. On the energy/environmental friendly note please refrain from doing this and turn off your TV set when not watching. Remember it will also help lower your electricity bills!

When you think of the South, what comes to mind? Thick southern accents perhaps? Mullets? Beer? Country music? Perhaps all that and more. While some of these stereotypes may hold true, real people from the real South know that there is so much more about them and their way of life than what the rest of the (perhaps uninformed) world knows. You have to admit, what Hollywood brings to the screen – TV or movie – is not always the real deal.

With Eastbound & Down, however, we just might get a taste of what southern living is really all about. Danny McBride, the writer behind the series and the main actor as well, wants the world to know that the show is not all about the “Hollywood south.” Instead, he wants to shout that this is the real thing – the real south with real people living real lives.

So what is this six-episode series all about? Amy Hotz of Star News Online wrote:

McBride plays Kenny Powers and “Eastbound” is about his down and out life. Kenny used to have a very successful career as a pro baseball pitcher. He had the money, he had the girls, he had the drugs. Progressively, though, he just seemed to have lost his power on the mound. And then he lost his job.

Forced to find something else to do, Kenny had no option but to put his head down in shame and return to his hometown, Shelby, N.C. To add insult to injury, the only job he can find in this un-glamorous town is with his old middle school, which needs a substitute P.E. teacher. Oh, and he’s so poor he has to live with his brother’s perfect family.

The unique thing about the show is that they found actors who are really from the south. To quote McBride, “When people that aren’t from the south pretend like they’re from the south it just brings out all the cliches and, you know, just all the stuff that you’ve seen a million times. It’s not even that accurate and not even that entertaining anymore at this point.” As such, do not expect any of the usual portrayals we see. Looks interesting to me.