OK, kids. Earth Day is right around the corner and, like bitch being the new black, green seems to be the new gay: hard for some folks to understand, but totally making the world more fabulous.So let’s gather round the paperless computer screen and run down some of the eco-awesome programs now available on DVD.Planet in Peril — Global warming meets good ol’ hotties in this dazzling CNN special that sends Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and wildlifer Jeff Corwin around the globe to check out the myriad treats mucking up our environment. Once you see what the guys uncover in an Asian market, you may never want some “herbs” again.Buy Planet in Peril on Amazon.comLiving with Ed — Sounds like a sitcom, but tastes like The Osbournes-meet-An Inconvenient Truth. Devout conservationist Ed Begley, Jr. and his less-green wife Rachelle open their eco-tricked-out home to the cameras as they attempt to save energy, recycle and reduce their carbon footprint in gener...
read more
Emmys, schmemmys. When it comes to rewarding the very best of TV (and radio), I tend to look at the annual announcement of the prestigious Peabody Awards as my guidepost. Administered through the University of Georgia, the Peabodys is hardly a stuffy institution. This year’s eclectic list of honorees, released earlier today, ranges from terrific critical breakthroughs like NBC’s 30 Rock and AMC’s Mad Men to such deliciously offbeat choices as Showtime’s darkly delicious Dexter and Bravo’s stylish Project Runway, the first reality show ever to make the cut. (For a full list of this year’s and past years’ winners, go here.)I have come to know Peabody director Horace Newcomb through our joint participation on many AFI Awards jury panels, and he’s as serious, and seriously open-minded, about quality in both news and entertainment programming as it gets. This year’s Peabody Board chose from more than 1,000 entries to select this year’s 35...
read more
HBO has joined the parade to Blu-ray after Warner Bros, its distributor, announced on Friday that they were dropping HD-DVD in May 2008. The Warner Bros announcement could be the event that ends the war between high-definition formats. HD-DVD has the exclusive support of Universal and Paramount/DreamWorks, while Blu-ray has Fox/MGM, Warner Bros, Disney, Sony and Lionsgate. Warner Bros, which holds about 20 percent of the market, was a huge win for the Blu-ray group, and leaves Blu-ray with roughly 75 percent of the HD market. The Warner Bros decision has influenced New Line, along with HBO, to make the switch to Blu-ray, but BBC Home Video is bucking the trend and "will evaluate the marketplace before committing to one format" (according to the studio); the studio has four high-definition releases planned for 2008, available on both formats, and has sold more copies of Planet Earth on HD-DVD. Recent notable Blu-ray releases include The Simpsons (Fox), Pirates of the Caribbean: At Wo...
read more
Question: What are you thoughts on Shark Week? I think the idea is a great move for Discovery Channel, giving them some much-needed press. All of the shows are very well-done and can be both exciting and informative. I hope they start showing these fantastic shows in HD in the future, since no one beats Discovery in the HD department.
Answer: Actually, it looks like Discovery HD Theater is going shark-mad this weekend (Saturday and Sunday), so you're getting your wish. Shark Week has for 20 years been one of the canniest marketing concepts on cable. It's always a big hit, and with Planet Earth earlier this year, it's another reminder of how powerful a brand the Discovery Networks have become. And while we're talking Discovery, here's a reminder that its sister channel, Animal Planet, is launching a new season of the irresistible Meerkat Manor next Friday (Aug. 10) ...
read more
I'm extremely excited for April 24, because that's the day one of my most anticipated titles is released. No, it's not WKRP, which is plagued with music-licensing issues. It's the BBC release of Planet Earth. This 11-episode series explores our planet like no other series has done, from the North Pole to the South Pole, it's all covered in this program. They spent $25 million and 2,000 days in the field shooting material for the program, and they did it all using high-definition cameras. Narrated by the legendary David Attenborough (the Discovery Channel version is narrated by Sigourney Weaver), this series is being released on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD, and all formats are among the top sellers on Amazon (as of now, DVD is No. 1, HD DVD No. 8 and Blu-ray No. 19 — their list is updated hourly). The DVD set also includes a bonus program, "Planet Earth: The Future," and 110 minutes of behind-the-scenes material that isn't available on the higher-priced Blu-ray and HD DVD releases.T...
read more
