Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with tv

On what TV channel can I follow the Canadian election returns tomorrow?

Kattullus — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:58:46 -0800

I'm in the US and want to follow the Canadian parliamentary election returns. Will any US TV station, cable or otherwise, have election coverage?

What is this tv programme I watched as a child?

badmoonrising — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:29:08 -0800

[Irritating-mystery filter] Of magical elevators, murder mysteries, Kenwood mixers and time travel: please help me identify this tv programme I watched once as a child! O Noble MeFites, please help me with something that has been irritating me for years and years. I remember watching an episode of a tv programme many years ago, and for some reason random details have stayed in my mind. I have no idea why - I don't remember being particularly struck by the programme at the time. I can't remember if it was any good. It might be something incredibly obvious. Every now and again I try googling, but have never had any luck tracking down the name of the programme.

I'm 99.9% sure that I watched this with a babysitter, which makes it at least ten years old, very probably more. It was shown in the evening, or at night, (although probably not after midnight). I'm English, so it was definitely shown in the UK, although the series wasn't necessarily English. I think I was scared watching it, as a young child, although the babysitter probably wouldn't have let me watch it if it had been anything too horrific.

There was some form of time travel involved, possibly in a lift (elevator). The main characters were trying to solve or prevent a murder.

I remember that a female character visited a restaurant kitchen, and didn't want to give her real name so pretended to be called Miss/Mrs/Ms Kenwood, after glancing round the kitchen frantically and seeing a Kenwood kitchen mixer. I have a vague feeling she later got into trouble with her boss/colleague for this - I think she wasn't supposed to have gone to the restaurant. This may have been because they were worried about creating a time paradox.

At another point, Character A asked Character B if he/she had taken some medication with the words "have you taken it/them?". I think it was medication that A had tampered with. When later questioned about this, after B's death, A claimed he/she had been talking about Character B taking some letters to the postbox. The detective-type characters then debated about this, deciding it was strange grammar to use and rather suspicious.

Well, that's as much as I can remember. I realise these are all very minor details, and this is probably completely unsolvable, but thanks in advance for any light that can be shed!

What's up with the funky syntax used by television reporters?

HotPatatta — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:13:23 -0800

Extra! Extra! The verb "to be" missing from TV newscasts! Anchors and TV reporters omitting "to be," often favor using participles instead. Why? I find TV news to be unwatchable for a lot of reasons, one of them being the wacky syntax used by reporters. They often put past events into the present tense:
"A fire ravages an apartment complex in Cleveland, one of the victims just twelve years old."

Then there's the whole participle thing:
"Mayor Bloomberg deciding to run for a third term after hinting he might do so for weeks."

"The stock market plunging 37% this week! Many investors deciding to sell their portfolios."

And sometimes they just drop "to be" and don't use a participle:
"The cause of this fire still under investigation."
"Many Americans unsure of the nation's economic stability."

When did this start? Where did it start? Did one influential newscaster promulgate it? Do they do it to add a sense of urgency to whatever they're reporting? I can understand doing it in a newspaper headline where space is limited, but in TV news that wouldn't be an issue.

Could my new Airport Extreme be causing weird sounds on my TV?

The corpse in the library — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:45:15 -0800

Could my new Airport Extreme be causing weird sounds on my TV? I recently got a new Apple Airport Extreme. Since installing it I've had two problems which I think are related, as they didn't happen with the old Airport:

1. My TV set makes a VVVVUT vvvvvvut VVVVVVUT vvvvvvut sound (if only this were "Car Talk"), for about a minute, several times an hour.

2. My WiFi radio is having problems picking up signal. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes it just doesn't connect.

Any suggestions for fixing these problems? My computer skills are limited, but I'm happy to tinker when given good directions. Going back to the old Airport is not an option, as it caught fire.

How do I clear my media backlog?

b.an.dekker — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:21:48 -0800

I'm drowning in a sea of media I have no time to consume - someone please throw me a lifeline On my to-consume media list I currently have The Wire series 5, Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, Siren: Blood Curse for PS3, Playback by Raymond Chandler, Flight of the Conchords series 1 and countless movies. And the list is growing all the time.

Regular long-haul flights are helping me make a dent in the movies backlog, but how do I tackle the rest, short of holing up in a monastery or container ship for a few months with my media library?

Any guidance on how you deal with this luxury problem gratefully received.

How to use my laptop as a TV remote?

JDHarper — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:43:59 -0800

Is there an easy way to use my laptop's IR port to control my TV? I'm using a Fujitsu T4215 laptop running Windows Vista Business Edition, which has an infrared port on the back of it. I would like to be able to use this to remotely control my TV and my DVD player, but I can't find anything that isn't horribly complicated looking.

I know they made similar software for Palm Pilots (e.g. OmniRemote) where you could have the Palm "learn" the signals from your remote control. Surely someone's made the PC equivalent?

(Searches of previous threads indiate that there wasn't much around 3 years ago. Responding to a potential reply right off the bat: The IR signal is strong enough to reach the TV from my couch, as it will occasionally turn on the stereo next to the TV, seemingly at random.)

Help me become a misanthropic vicodin addict.

gregvr — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:03:41 -0800

What kind of shoes does Hugh Laurie (House MD) wear in Season 3, when he's on the skateboard? (shown in this screencap) I've started watching House MD, and for some reason, I really want the shoes that Hugh Laurie wears in the season opener of season 3.

They are Nikes, obviously. I've googled, looked at Nike's site, etc, etc. The show was first aired in Sep 2006, so presumably they were available in early 2006.

They could be NikeiD, and were picked from custom colors. I haven't found the exact model that appears to match.

Any ideas?

Why so many people with physical quirks on My Name is Earl?

chudmonkey — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:25:05 -0800

Is there any particular reason why My Name is Earl features the number of disabled/injured/otherwise-non-standard people it does? Over the course of it's run, My Name is Earl has featured a dis-proportionately large number of people with something physically unusual about them - folks missing limbs, folks with "circus-freak"-type deformities, little people, etc.

In a few cases, these traits are bestowed with TV-magic, but it's obvious that the show uses lots of performers with their own genuine physical idiosyncrasies.

Does anyone know if there's anything up with that? Do the producers make a point of it, for some creative and/or social reason?

can I buy complete series of Married with Children?

esolo — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:38:54 -0800

can I buy a complete DVD series of Married with Children? If so, where? How much should I expect to pay? It has 11 seasons, and I want to buy it as a gift. However, it would be way too expensive to pay 35-45 dollars PER season, for each individually.

What to show on our office bigscreen?

viama — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:05:52 -0800

Are there any websites optimised to show a news feed on a TV screen? I'm wondering what to show on our newly mounted plasma screen in the office. We've got a PC attached to it that's currently showing a blocky feed from the BBC website.

Who owns rights to the use of the song in Film?

mary8nne — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:48:06 -0800

Can someone please explain how to get Synchronization Rights to a Cover Version of a song? Or who would have control of whether you can use a cover version in a film. For example, in say the Life Aquatic parts of the sound track use Seu Jorge cover versions of David Bowie songs (sung in Portuguese).

So who's permission do you need (who do you pay) to use a recording like that in a Film (I assume, TV, DVD, etc are the same)?

Suggest Some Good TV Shows

cjorgensen — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:39:40 -0800

I'm in need of quality 30 minute or less dramas. I have a 35 minute bus commute and find it annoying to watch only half a show. I prefer high quality drama. Rome, The Wire, Carnivale, Dexter, Deadwood, Damages, Tudors, 6 Feet Under, House, The Shield, etc. But these are all 1 hour shows.

The only half hour show I know of is "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," but I am watching that one with someone, so don't want to jump ahead.

I have a few simple rules on picks.

1. Has to be 30 minutes or less.
2. Has to have at least one season behind it and have been renewed for a second (or two season if it's already been canceled). More seasons the better.
3. No comedies unless they are dark humored.

I think this will work. I can come up with more shows that I like, but the above should be a good start. I dig legal dramas, mob/crime stuff, supernatural, super hero, sci-fi.

Thanks.

Click here?

JtJ — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:09:22 -0800

On American TV drama shows I have noticed that TV remotes make an audible click when a button is pressed by one of the actors. Living in the UK, I have never heard/seen this in real life. Do all American TV remotes click? Or is this just a dramatic device? UK TV remotes do not click. Why?

DVD player that isn't hostile to end-users?

odinsdream — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:54:31 -0800

Can you recommend an upconverting DVD player with component output that ignores region coding and allows me to perform any action at any time? Can you recommend an upconverting DVD player that doesn't treat me with active hostility? I'm specifically looking for a player that:

1. Ignores region coding, or can be easily set to ignore region coding without installing new firmware.

2. Never, ever restricts me from fast-forwarding previews/warnings/anti-piracy tirades or skipping to a particular menu.

I can work around these issues by ripping the discs and then re-burning them but this is highly inconvenient.

It would also be nice if the player had all of the usual standard cool things, like digital audio output and some nice pulldown detection, and didn't sound like a jet engine.

maybe I should just clean my glasses

randomstriker — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:58:41 -0800

37" widescreen LCDTV viewed from 12' away, do my eyes have the resolving power to justify getting a Blu-ray instead of upscaling DVD player? I realize the best way to the answer this question is to go into Best-Buy and see their demos or something, but it's hard to find demos setup exactly the way I need to make an accurate, objective comparison. Everything seems to be setup to sell me the most expensive thing.

Hopefully someone with knowledge of the anatomy of the eye can provide advice based on "first-principles".

Whose line IS it, anyway?

phaded — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:35:56 -0800

On the 100th episode of [the Drew Carey edition of] Whose Line is it, Anyway?, "Scenes From a Hat" was played. Colin said something that was bleeped twice. Would anyone know what that might have been? During this game of "Scenes From a Hat," Drew pulled "things that will get bleeped by the censors" out of the hat. Colin came out, and while I don't know what he said because it was bleeped (obviously), it looked like he was mouthing "air-fuck-fuck" or something. The next suggestion was "outtakes from the 100th episode of WLII,A?, and Colin came out and said the same thing. Does anyone happen to know what he said? This was just on ABC Family in reruns (yay late-night channel chasing!), but I've seen it before and wondered, and this reminded me. Any help, if available, would be greatly appreciated.

Should I bother getting a digital TV converter?

oaf — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:18:06 -0800

We get little to no analog TV reception. Is switching to digital going to improve things? Even on the best of days, with the strongest of stations, and with an antenna, our TV reception is so fuzzy it's almost unusable. Is digital TV going to be any better? I'd rather not buy one of those converter boxes if it's not going to make any difference (or make things worse).

We don't watch TV that much, but it's pretty good for live events.

Help me dial in digital TV in Portland

chrchr — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 10:37:33 -0800

I canceled my cable and switched to OTA digital using a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1950 tuner and a cheap amplified antenna. I'm getting great reception on all channels except KPTV, where there are enough dropped frames and signal interruptions to make the station unwatchable. Can you help me watch the Seahawks this afternoon? In Portland, all of the broadcast towers are placed on a hill just to the west of the city. I live in Northwest Portland, about two miles from that site. I'm getting strong signals for KOIN and KATU, and the signal for KGW is weaker but good enough. KPTV is the only station I need that I'm not getting. I live on the third floor of an apartment building, and I've got the antenna on a six foot high shelf. By the looks of it, I just need a little bit more signal. The Hauppauge software has a signal monitor that shows a signal to noise ratio of about 19 on KGW, and on KPTV I get about 13 to 16. Thanks for your help.

Name this children's book and TV series from the 80's

ticktockdoc — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:18:49 -0800

Name this children's book and TV series from the 80's...? It's Lord of the Flies meets Follyfoot. Kinda. Plot: Three (?) children [definitely two boys, maybe a girl too...] are living in their grandfather's/stepfather's/some dude's(?) massive house and estate/lands. For some reason(?) they decide to run away, but instead of actually going anywhere, they instead hide out in the land/forrest of the estate. They manage to hide out there for YEARS, within sight of the massive house all the while. They evade many search parties [something about a hollow tree...?] and it becomes rather Lord of the Flies, with them making clothes out of animals and eventually their escapade ending with one of the boys [dark-haired one] returning home to the big house [can't recall if he rats out the other two]. Maybe the dark-haired kid got sick, so that's why he had to go back...?

This was a book , but was also a TV series shown in the UK in the late 80's with similar production values as 'Famous Five' and 'Follyfoot'. I remember it being full of awesome. The closest I can come to remembering the actual title is: 'The Boys of Brendan Green'. But fruitless Googling and Amazon-ing(?) prove useless.

Cheap computer to run Spore?

raygan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:23:12 -0800

What's the cheapest reliable computer I can buy that will play Spore? Challenge: I want to use my 32" HDTV (with VGA) as a monitor. My girlfriend bought Spore and we were both excited to play it, but it won't play on either of our laptops. (She has a newish HP of some kind running Vista and I have a MacBook) Neither of us has a desktop right now. I'm looking for an inexpensive desktop that would be capable of running the game, but it's been a long time since I've bought any computer that wasn't a Mac and I would like some recommendations. Budget is the main controlling factor. CHEAPER THE BETTER! I don't need the game to look great, I just want it to run.
I don't have a spare monitor, but my 32", 720p HDTV has a VGA input and I'm hoping to use that. Would the game be playable on such a monitor? How about routine web-browsing and so on?
My plan has been to get something that could sit under my TV and occasionally double as a video-player and second computer, so quiet would be nice.
Links to Newegg or similar appreciated.
Thanks!

Looking for a Kerry/Gore SNL sketch

rustcellar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:42:13 -0800

Does anyone else remember this SNL sketch with Gore and Kerry commiserating about losing to Bush? My wife I and both vividly remember a sketch (we think it was Saturday Night Live but it might have been Mad TV) with Al Gore and John Kerry both talking (in the beginning) about how they're not bitter about losing to George W. Bush. Kerry keeps his cool, and when he's done saying he doesn't hate Bush, Gore says "I also hate him. I hate his squunched-up face." Also something like "You lost but I won. I should be president."

Anyway, we'd love to see it again but it seems like NOBODY else in the Google-verse picked up on it because I can't find any part of the quotes I mentioned or anything else with Gore and Kerry together. I've looked on Hulu.com and Youtube to no avail.

Did anyone else see this, or did we completely make it up?

Help me find this animated show about aliens

lynnie-the-pooh — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:03:10 -0800

Looking for old animated film of aliens. I saw this on t.v. in the late 70's or maybe the 80's. Aliens that kind of looked like people were in animation and sometimes they would sit like they were meditating and then a big bubble would float above them, and you could not figure out if their soul was in the bubble, or if they were somehow procreating with others by doing this. I remember that the children were not suppose to bother someone who was doing this. It was a very interesting animation. I thought that the word "planet" was in the title but I'm not sure. Any ideas??

Why cover up logos on TV shows?

Thrillhouse — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:21:49 -0800

Why do tv shows blur or cover up logos on clothes instead of just changing clothes? I'm watching Mythbusters and Tory is wearing a hat with a piece of duct tape over the logo on it. It's not as though they have no control over what he wears on camera. Why don't they just have him wear another hat or something? This seems to happen frequently on this show in particular.

Network TV, OFF network

dpcoffin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:22:00 -0800

Network TV, OFF network: Who's got the scoops on what's coming to Netflix Roku, AppleTV, Amazon, etc…? Is there… anybody blogging about this, posting press releases, speculating, or even just nattering interestingly about these alternative TV delivery options? (Not counting watching episodes on the computer only; we want to see 'em on our big screen, and we're willing to wait…)

We HATE watching the networks (it's how the ads destroy the pacing, mostly; after years of watching DVDs only, it's hard to believe that anybody puts up with such constant hi-decibel interruptions…), but have gotten hooked on several current shows, so we invested in Roku and AppleTV, and we want to both keep up on what's coming to these, and more generally to track this aspect of the TV industry. Where to go? Thanks!

When should I buy my new TV?

Caz721 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:06:03 -0800

When is the best time to buy a new tv? I'm moving into a new apartment at the end of the month and I want to buy a new tv. Currently my roommates and I have a hand me down tv that has some color and sound issues on occasion. Its functional, but now that I'm getting my own place, I think it may be time to invest in my own new television.

I'm in Manhattan, so space is definitely at a premium. I won't know until I move in (Oct 1st or thereabouts) exactly how much space I have, so I can't buy until at least then. Our current tv is about 20" I think, for the four years prior to this I was using a 13" tv, so I don't need a huge tv. But if I'm going to invest hundreds of dollars, I want something that I'll have for years. I was thinking a 32" or 37" LCD, but that's not set in stone.

My question is whether October/pre-Christmas is a good time to buy a tv with those sorts of specs or whether I should wait until the pre-Super Bowl sales (or after? Are there deep discounts in mid-February)? If the savings were likely to be a couple of hundred dollars, I'll definitely wait, as the tv we have now is serviceable, if not great. If it's unlikely to change much, I'll get a new one soon so I don't have to move the old one.

If it matters as to what tv I'll buy and how prices will move, I don't play videogames and am unlikely to buy a system. I do watch a lot of sports, if that makes a difference. Thanks