Sunday, May 22, 2011

Glee!


"Glee" has become the latest television phenomenon and I'm proud to have been converted into Gleekdom by my iCarly friends on twitter. I've finally reached levels of fandom where I'm getting really into the music from the series. But rather than going along with one of the plethora of pre-made CDs from the world of Glee (there are like 15 albums of Glee music out), I decided to accumulate some of my favorite tracks and put together my own. And so here it is!

1. Misery (The Warblers)
2. Raise Your Glass (The Warblers)
3. Candles (The Warblers)
4. Bills Bills Bills (The Warblers)
5. Hit Me Baby One More Time (Rachel)
6. Friday
7. Like a Prayer
8. I Want To Hold Your Hand (Kurt)
9. Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version)
10. Sway
11. Valerie (Santana)
12. Jar of Hearts (Rachel)
13. Rolling In the Deep
14. Livin' on a Prayer / Start Me Up (mashup)

I think it ended up being surprisingly well-balanced between group songs and solo performances from my favorite characters, considering I didn't give it any thought and just picked my favorite tracks. I put The Warblers tracks first so it would be like a little concert, with the Warblers opening for New Directions. :3

Monday, May 2, 2011

The Perfect TV Day (slightly altered)

Monday thru Friday
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Early Morning Action Cartoons (5:30am - 10)


Todd McFarlane's Spawn
ThunderCats (2011)
Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball Z
Gundam Wing
Gundam Wing
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Legend of Korra





Midday Sitcom Block (10am - 2)


iCarly
Victorious
The Secret World of Alex Mack
Pete & Pete
Everybody Hates Chris
Reba
George Lopez
Shake It Up




Afternoon Drama Block (2pm - 5)


Gilmore Girls
The West Wing
Dawson's Creek



Evening Sitcom Block (5pm - 8)


A.N.T. Farm
Friends
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Victorious
iCarly




Nighttime Adult Cartoon Block (8pm - 1)


South Park
South Park
Futurama
Futurama
The Boondocks
The Boondocks
Daria
Archer
Beavis and Butt-head
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
12 oz. Mouse




Deep Night Drama Block (1am - 4:30)

South of Nowhere
The Good Wife
Being Human
Breaking Bad




Deep Night Anime Combo (4:30am - 5:30)


His & Her Circumstances
Neon Genesis Evangelion

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Epilogious note: Weekend lineups would feature similarly themed blocks of good shows that aren't quite good enough for the 5-days-a-week playlist. Certain shows (The Simpsons, Family Guy), are good enough for a weekday slot, but are simply so ubiquitous that showing them five days a week on my station would not be palatable or necessary.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Dream TV Programming

I have a deep abiding love for television. One of my ultimate dreams has long been to sequence my own television channel. Not anything broadcast level, just something closed-circuit, moderated by a computer system. Understandably, I've taken the liberty of putting together a handful of flawless programming blocks for the weekdays (and one for the weekend).

The show schedule is sequenced with slashes representing the weekly airings ala Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday. Shows that are shown 5 days a week are simply listed once, while shows listed in pairs are alternated between (therefore one program has 3 episodes in a week and one has 2, switching weekly).

"Toonami"

The perfect morning action block, pairing the great string of 90s marvel cartoons with the quintessential anime, and daily airings of the top 3 action shows of all-time.

- Berserk/Zero No Tsukaima/Kare Kano/Neon Genesis Evangelion/Toradora!
 - Gargoyles/X-Men TAS/Spider Man TAS/Thundercats (Reboot)/Iron Man
(second season)
- Gundam Wing
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Dragon Ball Z
(Ocean dub first 2 seasons, subtitled 3rd)


"Adult Swim"

The ultimate mix of late-night adult-oriented animated comedies, pairing the best of the original Adult Swim with the best of Fox, Comedy Central and MTV.

- The Simpsons/Futurama/South Park/Futurama/American Dad
- South Park/Family Guy/Futurama/The Simpsons/King of the Hill
- The Boondocks
- Daria
- 12 oz Mouse/Frisky Dingo/12 oz Mouse/Home Movies/Frisky Dingo
- Beavis & Butthead/Metalocalypse/Dr. Katz/Home Movies/Beavis & Butthead


* The final half hour consists of 15-minute runtime shows, except for Home Movies, which doesn't have TWO episodes in the lineup, but rather one 30 minute episode.


"The Break Room"

The ideal afternoon compilation of great situation comedies including the best teen sitcoms from past & present, Nick & Disney.

- iCarly
- Victorious
- Seinfeld
- Reba
- Roseanne/What I Like About You/Scrubs/Everybody Hates Chris/Life With Derek
- Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide/Clarissa Explains It All/Unfabulous/Phil of the Future/South of Nowhere
- iCarly



"Daily Dramas"

A simple evening showcase for my favorite dramas.

- Being Human/Breaking Bad
- Dawson's Creek/Glee
- The Sopranos/House



"Nightmare Special"

A Saturday "deep night" 5 hour block of the coolest and creepiest paranormal documentary-styled programs from a wide variety of sources, playing into the weeist hours of the early day.

- Sightings
- Real Scary Stories
- Beyond Bizarre
- Beyond Belief
- Lost Tapes
- In Search Of...
- Twilight Zone


--

It really wouldn't be all that difficult to accomplish. It would require a large database with all of the material to be shown, and beyond that, pretty simple computer programming could regulate the showing. I enjoy the tv-watching experience, so my channel would absolutely include the typical breaks from programs. But our setup would be loose, similar to The Disney Channel in that commercial breaks would be occupied not only by commercials but also by shorts and music videos. In addition to a large collection of all my favorite commercials (everything from funny ads like The Slowskys to the iconic Jurassic Park trailer that hypnotized my youth), plus commercials for all the programs shown on the station, breaks would be occupied by eclectic music videos and live clips from all of my favorite artists, as well as favorite youtube shorts such as George Washington and shipping classics like Dismantle Repair.