Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Television

Pentagon proposal to install "Address the Populace" device on TVs

CutaneousRabbit — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:10:16 -0800

"In 1971, [the Pentagon proposed] to President Nixon that an electronic gadget be attached to every television set in the country. Capable of being activated directly by the president, it would switch on every set in the country at once." Really? The above is a quote from Jerry Mander's Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, just before which he said that this news was in "a small item" in the New York Times. I can find no reference to this proposal anywhere on the internet. Can you find proof that it actually happened?

Is my TV a goner?

iamisaid — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:10:34 -0800

Do these translucent vertical bars on the screen mean my LCD TV is going out? I recently began noticing a series of translucent vertical bars on the screen of my 3-year-old Olevia 227V LCD TV. The bars are approximately two inches wide. The picture is still displayed as normal, but depending on the image being displayed the bars range from barely noticeable to quite visible.

At first I just noticed two vertical lines on the screen at approximately the area at which a standard definition image is cut off from the rest of the screen, and I thought I had some sort of LCD burn-in issue. But now I see these wide bars across the entire screen, rather than just single lines.

I see the bars regardless of whether the input is HDMI, component, or composite. However, I don't see them when the TV is on but the screen is blank (as when my DVR or Xbox 360 are shut off).

Is this a sign that the screen is likely to go out in the near future? Is there anything that can be done to get rid of these bars or should I start shopping for a new model now?

Dr Who: I don't get it

northerner — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 03:45:02 -0800

Why is Dr Who so popular with adult American audiences? Dr Who is considered a children's TV programme here in the UK (although the beeb have tried to market it more toward family-viewing in recent years) so it seems quite strange to me just how popular it is amongst the 'geek community'. Particularly considering the current golden age of American sci fi TV.

I am not criticising the show itself, I'll leave that to the critics. But surely the scripts or the supplementary programming are clues to its intended audience.

Perhaps by asking this question I'm revealing an ugly snobbish side of myself when I should just be leaving people to enjoy what they want to watch. If I regularly watched Dr Who I'm sure I would feel the same intellectual juvenilisation guilt that my adult friends who read Harry Potter admit to. However, I'm genuinely interested in why the show is so popular. My original theory was that the number of anglophiles in that same geek community skewed the rest somehow.

Letterboxing our TV

AzraelBrown — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:51 -0800

We've got no good reason to justify spending $500 (or even $100) to replace our 3:4 aspect ratio 32" CRT television. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that TV shows are being broadcast in 16:9 and the left and right edges are getting cut off. Is there any way to 'letterbox' our TV, somewhere between the cable box and the TV, so we can see the entire frame?

Why does my TV get clear video, but only static as sound?

jimdanger — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:24:35 -0800

Why does my TV get clear video, but only static as sound? My wife, despite knowing absolutely nothing about any kind of electronics, purchased a used TV from a garage sale. The TV was from a company I had never heard of, PRIMA, and looks to be in good condition. My basic setup is a standard coax cable from the wall to an adapter at the other end of the coax, the connector looks similar to that of an RCA connection...a thicker dongle basically, which goes into the back of the TV. I've tested it on two connections, one of which is for my normal TV, but both times I get a good picture with only static as sound.

The TV's menu options allow me to set the input type from UHF, VLF-H, VLF-L...do any of these matter? Also, the audio can be from M, BG, or I...not sure what any of these mean.

Someone please tell me I too know nothing about electronics, and the TV isn't a worthless piece of junk? If it matters, I'm in Singapore...thanks!

That drunk guy on TV that was on past my bedtime.

chambers — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:37:31 -0800

Identify this late 70's-early 80's British TV show starring a drunk guy! I saw it in the late 70's - early 80's in the United States, on a PBS station in Pittsburgh. It was on late at night, right before or right after Benny Hill. It was most definitely from the UK, but wether it was BBC or ITV produced I don't know.

Forgive the somewhat odd backstory, but it will help give some context to the vague remembrances of over 25 years ago. I was only a small lad then, and was only about seven or eight. My parents found it somewhat amusing, but discouraged me from watching it, as it was apparently a bit of salty humor. Most of it went over my head, but i remember he was offensive at times, and quite opinionated. Topics mostly were about current events, I think. It would have been seen as a very un-PC show, if that term were around then.

It was just a middle-aged man, in a suit and sitting on a stool, and he always had a drink in his hand. He was some sort of comedian or raconteur, and would get progressively more drunk as the monologue went on. I have no recollection of him having guests on, but I may be wrong.

Any ideas?

Keyboard for my HTPC setup?

petah — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:17:11 -0800

Recommendations for a good HTPC (home theater PC) keyboard? I've got an old laptop I've hooked up to my television, and I'd like to be able to browse the web and operate my computer from the couch.

I was wondering if there were any dedicated keyboard/mouse combos for this task?

If you own a press...

Moistener — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:29:26 -0800

Assuming "Cable Access" and the host works for $3000 a month, how much would it cost to produce a daily pundit blather show? (O' Reilly, Olbermann, Maddow, Matthews, Beck) Assuming airtime is free, what are the costs of writers, editors, camerapersons, producers, directors, motion graphics experts, ad sales staff and several others I'm too ignorant to mention... Anybody know how to estimate production costs for a mass-media opinion show?

White flatscreen TV around 42"?

Riki tiki — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:57:20 -0800

Looking for a good flatscreen TV, 42" or thereabouts... and white. I haven't been able to find anything that size that isn't in industry-standard black. Any suggestions?

TV on DVD worth buying?

cosmic osmo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:17:57 -0800

What are some great DVD releases of television shows? I love television, and I watch a whole lot of it. Thanks to the magic of the internet, I generally have every episode of every show I'd want to watch already on my computer. Thus, when I buy DVDs, it's not for the replay value of individual episodes but rather for the bonus material. I'm mostly looking for insightful (or hilarious) commentaries, making-of features, and interviews (as opposed to deleted scenes or gag reels).

So what television DVD box sets are really worth buying? Assume I'm open to basically any kind of show.

(Alternately, is there a site that does good reviews of DVD releases? Amazon.com reviews tend to be about the show itself rather than the actual DVDs. Wikipedia is okay for looking up specific shows I already have in mind to see what the extras are, but it'd be nice to be able to read reviews of shows I wouldn't necessarily think of myself.)

Help me design a new home entertainment system.

ColdChef — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:08:04 -0800

My old tube television has died a terrible sputtering death. Help me get over my sense of loss by assisting me in replacing it with a new HD television and entertainment system. Here are my needs: I'm working with a budget of around $2000. I want a HD LCD television set that's between 46-52 inches. I currently have an old-style Tivo box, a decent DVD collection, a Playstation 2, a Nintendo Wii, a DVD/VCR combo, an iMac, and a Netflix account.

I'm not interested in converting all of my DVDs to BlueRay, so I want a player that has a good conversion system for old DVDs. I'm fighting the urge to get a Playstation 3, because I have a tendency to spend too much time playing games--but I could probably justify it with my wife if it's the best option.

Here's what I'd like to be able to do: have 2 or three game systems hooked up simultaneously, stream Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu from my iMac.

Should I upgrade my Tivo to the Tivo HD/XL? Would that keep me from having to get the PS3?

Also: my home is very Mac friendly, but I've never really looked at the AppleTV. Should I?

So here's what I'm looking at:
HD LCD Television
BlueRay Player
New Tivo?
Whatever will allow me to stream Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu

Thanks in advance.

television broadcast production of the 50's

parallax7d — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:06:27 -0800

Are there any good resources that explain the logistics, equipment and practices of television broadcast production of the 1950's?

A piece of fruit on prime time?

slactoid — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:33:38 -0800

Fruit on TV? I remember someone saying something to the effect of, "If we put a piece of fruit on television every night, it will become a national icon". Who said that? And I think that someone actually did it (SNL?), did THAT happen?

Looking for recommendations for recent popular music soundtracks

cosmic.osmo — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:21:43 -0800

Does anyone have any recommendations for somewhat recent (post-2000) TV or movie popular music soundtracks (or some other kind of compilation)? I tend to like alternative rock, but I'm open to any genre. I've realized that I've been in a musical rut for the past several years, so I'm looking for a fast way to discover new music and expose myself to some of what I've missed. I've gotten the soundtracks to Scrubs and Garden State, and I've found a lot that I like in them, but I'm also almost finished with them.

So, any recommendations?

My computer sucks at brightness

hayvac — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:30:12 -0800

I have a computer hooked up to my TV (a normal CRT), but any video played from the computer is too dark. Turning up the brightness or contrast settings on the computer just makes the "black" parts of the picture look grey. What setting am I looking for to fix this? So I'm watching TV on my computer-TV system. Scenes that aren't dark (like outdoor scenes shot during the day) look perfect. But during scenes set at night nearly the entire screen is black, even though the picture is clear when the same video file is played on another computer.

It's almost as if the computer is interpreting every slightly dark part of the picture as "black," so that turning up the brightness just makes it a lighter black but doesn't actually show anything. I think there's probably some setting buried in my graphic or codec settings that affects this, but I've looked and can't find it.

Details: the TV is wired to the computer's video card via the RCA video input. The output on the video card is actually S-Video, so I have a converter in-line. Video from other sources (cable or my DVD player) looks totally normal on the same TV.

Sci-fi tv episode

anonymous78 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:37:08 -0800

I'm looking for an episode of a television show that I saw sometime in the 80s or 90s. In the show, some people - possibly those who had committed a crime - were marked with some kind of flesh-colored lump on their forehead. While they had this mark, they could only communicate with other similarly marked people. They were clearly considered outsiders. Once the mark was removed (possibly with some kind of vacuum-like device) they returned back to "mainstream" society.

I thought it might have been a Twilight Zone episode but my b/f and I went through the DVD set and couldn't find it.

Where did this chimney sweep waltz?

thivaia — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:06:42 -0800

Please help me identify this scene/sketch. I am haunted by a memory of a scene/sketch from childhood. It was a chimney sweep waltzing with a woman in an elaborate pink satin ballgown in a Victorian-style parlor. This was not Mary Poppins. For years, I thought maybe I'd seen it on "The Electric Company" or some such children's program, but I've never found any reference to it. I'm pretty sure it was not in a movie. I've been trying to find this one my own for years, but I clearly need help. Does anyone else have any memory of this? I would be so appreciative.

Please advertise to me.

shakespeherian — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:50:17 -0800

Is there anyplace online to find whatever television ad campaigns from a specific company happen to be playing nationally in the US currently? A friend of mine was recently in a Honda commercial and has started getting residual checks, so she knows that they're airing. However, she doesn't know what the commercial is about or anything that's said in the ad, and I don't know that it's particularly interesting or funny enough to have popped up on YouTube. She does know that the spot is called 'Think About It,' but apart from that I have nothing to go on. I'm not asking anyone to find the commercial for me, but is there any way (other than staring blankly at the teevee for hours) that I can attempt to track down this commercial?

How do I sell my cable access show to a network?

apiaryist — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:13:29 -0800

How do I sell my cable access show to a major network? I've been working on my show for the past 5 years. I think it's good and would like to either sell the old episodes or the concept to a network. I don't the first thing about doing this. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

How can I quickly name and tag TV episodes ripped from DVD?

sun-el — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:59:22 -0800

Is there an ripping/converting application that will automate naming and labeling of TV episodes copied from DVD? I own a lot of TV on DVD, and with my newly rebuilt Windows Home Server, I'd like to rip it to hard disk so that I can view it anywhere in the house at any time. I normally use Handbrake to rip and convert, but in this case the problem is that I don't want to spend endless hours naming, labeling, and tagging episodes individually. Is there a program or service that will automate the naming and/or tagging of the video files by episode that result from each disk being ripped? Ideally, I'd insert the disk, rip the episodes from it, and they would save with the name of the series, the season and episode number, and the episode title. My main system with the fastest drive is running Windows 7 Professional, but I'd settle for OS X, Vista, XP -- I'd even drag out my Ubuntu box and update it if need be.

Quien Es Mas Macha?

The corpse in the library — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:28:04 -0800

While on my nice, safe treadmill at the pleasant, well-lit gym, I like to watch dramatic, character-driven documentaries like Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, and Carrier. Any suggestions for other nonfiction TV shows like that, with women in the starring roles? Preferably the shows would be available on iTunes or DVD in the US. I want danger, adrenalin, good stories, interesting locations, dramatic weather, adventure. The cast doesn't have to be entirely female, but there should be a significant female presence.

Modern TV Needed

shew — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:03:56 -0800

Help me find a new LCD television for my modern guest bedroom. I currently have the Samsung LN-S3252D in my master bedroom. It's white. It's sexy. I love it. I need another one (or similar) for my guest bedroom. Since that TV is about four years old, I was hoping to get an upgraded model. Has Samsung discontinued this model? I can't find the LN-S* series anywhere. I was hoping that Samsung would have a new version of the same design out by now but no luck.

I'm willing to buy a different TV but do not want to compromise on the design. Has anyone stumbled upon any great looking, modern flat 32" panels out there?

Did I see Harry Blackstone Cut a Womans' Head Off?

jefficator — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:47:20 -0800

Does anyone remember a Harry Blackstone Jr. television decapitation that traumatized me as a child in the later 80s early 90s? I distinctly recall a television special with Harry Blackstone in which he put his pretty blond assistant in a guillotine and cut off her head. Then he placed her head on a counter and started having a conversation with it. I believe this would have aired on broadcast television, as we did not have cable, but I could be mistaken.

I was mortified as a child, but now I'm downright curious.

Anyone remember?

Television advertisement showing the stock market as a frenzied sideshow

drdanger — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:10:10 -0800

Saw a television ad several years ago with fantastic art direction depicting the stock market as a circus or similar frenzy of colorful, somewhat frightening characters. Can anyone help me track it down? I'm guessing I saw this ad on American television about five years ago, but it could have been as early as 2000. The imagery and intensity struck me more like a Fellini movie than like a typical advertisement. It was colorful, kinetic, and showed a shouting, frenzied sideshow of crazy characters. There was the two-faced broker who yelled, "Buy! Buy! Buy" until he did a 180 and his other face yelled, "Sell! Sell! Sell!" There were carnival barkers and blimps and I can't remember what all else. The point, of course, was that the sponsor (Schwab? Ameritrade?) would offer you a refuge from the hysteria. I would love to find a video of this, but alternatively enough information to track it down in the real world (sponsor? agency?) would be enough for my eternal gratitude.

Who designed these new logos for CW and MTV shows?

D.Billy — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:18:50 -0800

Working on a graphic design exhibition, and trying to source the designer(s) of these logos for Gossip Girl, Melrose Place, 90210, The Beautiful Life, and Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew. This exhibition focuses on design influenced by Herb Lubalin, and these are key contemporary examples. We'd like to go through the proper channels to get vector versions or high-res art to include in the show, and have them properly credited. Attempts to contact the CW and MTV networks have been unsuccessful thus far. Anyone know anyone who knows someone who could help?