Comic-con herds nerds and TV execs

Don't bother to ask why non-comic, non-sci-fi, non-superhero TV shows get to hold court in San Diego each summer for Comic-Con. They just do, OK? So for every Big Bang Theory and Caprica, which warm the hearts of geek nation, there's non-genre fare like CBS' Hawaii Five-0 remake and USA Network's White Collar. Lots of tasty tidbits came out of the just-wrapped 100,000-strong fan gathering, with cable and broadcast networks realizing it's a one-of-a-kind way to get an influential segment of entertainment consumers Tweeting, blogging and otherwise communicating (maybe even verbally!) about their shows. Among the morsels dropped this past weekend: there's going to be a Burn Notice prequel movie starring fanboy favorite Bruce Campbell, exploring the secret military life of Sam Axe before he joined forces with Michael Westen;

All 'ears' about a low-tech answer to a cable service problem

So, as you might know from my previous MediaFreak posts, up until recently, I have gone without cable TV and television in general for some time now. I became fed up with Time Warner Cable's less-than-regular, expensive service. After six months of getting no feed for ESPN and having no Time Warner technician able to fix it, I said enough is enough. I watched most of my shows either on Hulu.com (kosher) or Justin.tv (a little less kosher). Recently, a commenter on one of my posts said I should stop complaining and get a pair of rabbit ears to connect to my HD TV. So, I did. I bought them at Best Buy for just about $11, and after hooking them up to my TV, I immediately got 38 channels, some of which were in crystal-clear HD (all the main broadcast nets). Sure, I’m not getting cable channels, but how many of them did I really watch anyway? One? Three? (HBO and Showtime don’t count since they don’t come in the basic cable package.) I found that most of what I watched was, in fact, on the regular broadcast networks. And given that Lost and 24 have come back, I pretty much only need ABC and Fox. And with the Olympics on NBC, I’m good to go, too. OK, you might say, but what about a DVR? When I miss an episode of 24 or Lost, I just watch it on Hulu or ABC.com. Cable? Who needs it.

—Posted by Will Levith

TV series and PSAs suddenly swollen with knocked up teens

How's this for Hollywood and Madison Avenue being out of sync with "real" America: There's a gusher of TV programs and PSAs about teen pregnancy just as the rate of pregnant youngsters in the U.S. increased for the first time in two decades. Before anybody blames the entertainment for causing hormone-crazed teens to do what hormone-crazed teens are wont to do, let's note that we're in a post-Juno phase where being in-the-family-way isn't all songwriting and Slushees. MTV's hit reality series 16 and Pregnant, with a new season launching next month, shines a harsh light on life as a knocked-up high schooler, and a multi-media PSA campaign from Serve Marketing in Milwaukee likens it to being stuck in an 18-year-long horror flick. Lifetime's The Pregnancy Pact, which aired over the weekend and broke viewership records for ad-supported cable in female demos, shows what happens when conservative politics gets in the way of sex ed. (Hint: baby boom!) In Fox's fan and critical favorite, Glee, head cheerleader Quinn got kicked out of her house and off her It Girl throne when she revealed her delicate condition. There are slightly glossier versions of teen motherhood and its fallout in The Secret Life of an American Teenager, an ABC Family hit returning this summer, and the CW's new midseason series, Life Unexpected. But even those scripted series have their share of sturm und drang. It's compelling stuff, all right, but I can't imagine it would compel any teens to want to join that club.

— Posted by T.L. Stanley

Michael Jackson leads the pack in banner year for tasteless Halloween costumes

Since Halloween is supposed to bring out the ghoul in us all, I guess it's no surprise that partygoers are planning to masquerade as dead celebrities this year. The high-profile recently departed from the worlds of music and TV seem to be the most popular, which means there will be lots of Michael Jacksons, Farrah Fawcetts, Billy Mays and Ed McMahons wandering around this weekend. Guess nobody's bothering to ask, "Too soon?" (Jackson, by the way, is the top costume choice in numerous polls.) Movie-ticketing service Fandango found in a survey that the much-anticipated concert film This Is It may be inspiring tons of Jackson wannabes, but Twilighters aren't far behind. (Neither is the comic-based Wolverine.) Trick-or-treaters will be drawing from movies based on graphic novels (Watchmen), toys (G.I. Joe), children's books (Where the Wild Things Are) and sleepers (Paul Blart: Mall Cop, The Hangover). Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton's update of the acid-trip tale, doesn't launch until next spring but snagged the most write-in votes in Fandango's survey of more than 1,200 people. Media and pop culture continue to spawn the lion's share of dress-up ideas, like Kate Gosselin and her ridiculous hair-don't, the steamy True Blood vamps and President Obama. All I know is, I'd better not open my door to a blubbering Glenn Beck. No candy for him!

—Posted by T.L. Stanley