NBC goes BUCK wild

•February 20, 2008 • Leave a Comment

Okay all of you retro/vintage TV fans….this blogs for you. 

As a follow-up to my last post regarding the release of TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY to DVD and the trend in Hollywood to remake favorites from the 80s, see the below press release from NBC Digital Entertainment.  

Today, NBC Digital Entertainment announced plans to begin streaming FULL episodes of retro and vintage TV shows this month for free on NBC.com and select NBC Entertainment sites. 

Here is the press release:

BURBANK and NEW YORK – February 19, 2008 – NBC Digital Entertainment and NBC Universal Cable Entertainment today announced plans for streaming vintage television content on their entertainment websites.

Full episode streaming of classic, fan-favorite series including “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “Kojak,” “Miami Vice,” the original “Battlestar Galactica,” “A-Team” and “Emergency” will be offered on NBC.com, SCIFI.com, ChillerTV.com and SleuthChannel.com beginning this month.

“NBC Universal has a tremendous library of quality content and we are very excited to re-introduce these classic shows to a new web audience,” said Vivi Zigler, Executive Vice President, NBC Digital Entertainment.

“These are the kinds of titles we get requests for all the time at the network, and now we’re able to give our viewers a new way to watch their favorite classic shows and share them with their friends,” said Craig Engler, Senior Vice President, SCIFI.com.

“Fans of Chiller and Sleuth are going to have a great time re-discovering classics like ‘Night Gallery’ and ‘Kojak,'” said Dan Harrison, Senior Vice President, Emerging Networks, NBC Universal Cable. “These are timeless series that are going to find entirely new audiences on the web. This platform is another great extension of our new digital brands, Sleuth and Chiller, which extend from television into on-line and now on-demand video.”

A full list of streaming vintage series follows:

NBC.com
“A-Team”
“Emergency”
“Night Gallery”
“The Alfred Hitchcock Hour”
“Miami Vice”
“Battlestar Galactica” (1978)
“Buck Rogers” SCIFI.com
“Battlestar Galactica” (1978)
“Buck Rogers”
“Tek War”
“Night Gallery”ChillerTV.com
“The Alfred Hitchcock Hour”
“Swamp Thing”
“Tremors”
“Crow”
“Night Gallery”

SleuthChannel.com
“Kojak”
“Miami Vice”
“Simon & Simon”
“A-Team”
“Night Gallery”

I can’t say I am overly thrilled about any of these with the exception of BUCK ROGERS which I think will be an absolute riot to rewatch.  

 I mean, do you remember THIS guy???

The “Hawk” has indeed landed…on NBC.com. 

Thoughts?

Posted in advertising, marketing, movies, pop culture, technology, television, uncategorized

Pineapple Express Yourself

•February 18, 2008 • 1 Comment

Drugs, cursing, blood, drugs…yup, the guys that brought us KNOCKED UP and SUPERBAD are back with another great dark comedy – PINEAPPLE EXPRESS – that is sure to evoke squeals of “oh no they didn’t!” 

Plus, we will see FREAKS AND GEEKS alumns James Franco and Seth Rogin back in action together.  This is going to be an instant cult classic.

Warning!  The following trailer is for restricted audiences only.  Consider yourselves warned!!  No complaints allowed!! 

Looks awesome!  Like CHEECH AND CHONG meet PULP FICTION.  Am I right?? 

Anyhow, looks like they have the nifty release date of 8-8-08. 

Fruit roll-ups.  Yeah.

Posted in advertising, movies, pop culture, uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Tales of the Gold Monkey

•February 18, 2008 • 3 Comments

I just watched the KNIGHT RIDER made-for-TV movie and noticed that The Weinstein Company has a KNIGHT RIDER feature planned for 2010 – so more Hoff is certainly in our foreseeable future.  I dig talking cars, so that is cool.

I have been thinking about other TV shows and movies from my youth that may now be ripe for “remake” fodder…  Born in 1975, I am on the cusp of being either a Generation X-er or a Millennial/Echo Boomer/member of Generation Y.   

At any rate, it is clear that “my” generation is having a profound impact on Hollywood.

We’ve already seen ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS, GARFIELD, SCOOBY-DOO,TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, DUKES OF HAZZARD and MIAMI VICE reimagined….what’s next?

FAME will be in theatres for Christmas 2008 – undoubtedly playing off of the popularity of the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL fanbase.

Many of you may have heard that a DALLAS movie is in development over at Fox (perpetually, it seems!)…


….and Paramount has been busy restoring and revisioning the Hasbro toy/Saturday morning cartoon faves like TRANSFORMERS (sequel announced for June 2009) and GI JOE (August 2009) into big screen spectacles. 

FANTASY ISLAND is coming to theatres with Eddie Murphy taking the healm for Sony and FOOTLOOSE, starring none other than Zac Effron will be a Paramount release – both in 2009. 

Despite rumors early on in the viral marketing craze that CLOVERFIELD was actually a VOLTRON movie (it wasn’t, by the way), there is – in fact – a planned VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE film planned for 2009.

By the Power of Greyskull….I have the POWER!!!  Also in ’09,Warner Bros. will bring back HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE to the big screen for all of those Mattel action figure fanboys. 

Disney has planned remakes of TRON and WITCH MOUNTAIN (based on ESCAPE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN) both scheduled for 2009 release…. and wil be distributing a Henson produced FRAGGLE ROCK (with executive producer Ahmet Zappa!).

THUNDER CATS will be a CGI release from Warner Bros. in 2010…and even THE A-TEAM will be coming to theatres in 2010 (with director John Singleton and starring Woody Harrelson and Ice Cube).

What’s next? 

MACGYVER was rumored to be made into a new series and/or a movie back in 2002, but that seems to have cooled off.

For me, one of the most exciting shows that I remember watching was actually very short lived.  Does anyone else remember TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY?  The ONE season that the show aired was just recently was re-released on DVD…and with INDY coming back this year, I am predicting a renewed interest in this genre. 

Here is the opening to the show (for those of you looking for a moment of nostalgia):

What about a live action JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS?  I already have casting ideas:  Miley Cyrus as Jem and Ashley Simpson as Pizzazz in 2010?  C’mon!  You know that it is going to happen!

I am also hoping for QUANTUM LEAP, MY SO CALLED LIFE, MAGNUM P.I., BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY, STARMAN, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES and V…

…and who wouldn’t love another GHOSTBUSTERS?!

Anyone else have thoughts?  Wishes? 

Posted in kids, marketing, movies, pop culture, television, toys, uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »