Someone seems to be forgetting to tell large corporations that there is a recession going on.

Disney recently bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, Dell is buying Perot Systems for $3.9 billion, Xerox is purchasing Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 billion and now there is a rumor that all of these deals will pale in comparison to Comcast purchasing NBC Universal for $35 billion.

While both companies are currently declining to comment on the story, it is looking like the deal is close to being done with Comcast buying an 80% stake in the television network from its current owner, General Electric.  The remaining 20% currently belongs to Vivendi, who has actually been talking about offering their portion as an IPO (initial public offering) of common stock, which Comcast has been rumored to have expressed an interest in purchasing.

If this deal proves to be real, Comcast will be acquiring a truckload of products.  Beyond just the flagship NBC network, the holdings include the cable networks Bravo, MSNBC, Syfy, USA Network, Telemundo and The Weather Channel.  In the realms of the Internet, NBC is the owner of the iVillage website, and is one of the key owners of Hulu.  This isn’t to mention the theme parks and several other smaller holdings.

In short, this is one giant of a purchase … if true.  My thinking is that this is real, and it is happening, if there wasn’t some truth to it, the two companies could have easily denied it, but instead they both just declined to comment.  According to the original source, the deal is almost hammered out, so expect to see this hitting big in the news any day now.

The 61st Primetime Emmys were held tonight, and there were a few surprises, and a few disappointments.

• The Amazing Race won for Best Reality-Competition Program … again.  I think this was win number seven for them.  Yet Phil Kogen never wins for host, it makes no sense.
• Yay for Kristin Chenoweth winning for the role of Olive on Pushing Daisies!  Such a great show, sorry to see it go.
• Sorry Christian Clemenson didn’t win for Supporting Actor in a Drama for Boston Legal.  He was fabulous as Jerry.
• I’m sorry, but I just can’t take The Daily Show with Jon Stewart any more.  He delivers his jokes in the exact same manner every time, and it just isn’t that funny any more.
• American Idol won an award for directing … um … okay.  ”Show the contestants!  Now … show them from another angle!”
• Neil Patrick Harris was robbed of best Supporting Actor in a Comedy.  I’m sorry, but he was.
• I haven’t watched Breaking Bad or Mad Men yet … I’m thinking I should.

2009 Emmy Winner List

• Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men,” CBS
• Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Kristin Chenoweth, “Pushing Daisies,” ABC
• Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock,” NBC
• Actress, Comedy Series: Toni Collette, “United States of Tara,” Showtime
• Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Michael Emerson, “Lost,” ABC
• Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Cherry Jones, “24,” Fox
• Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, “Braking Bad,” AMC
• Actress, Drama Series: Glenn Close, “Damages,” FX
• Miniseries: “Little Dorrit” PBS
• Made-for-TV Movie: “Grey Gardens,” HBO
• Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Ken Howard, “Grey Gardens,” HBO
• Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Shohreh Aghdashloo, “House of Saddam,” HBO
• Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Brendan Gleeson, “Into the Storm,” HBO
• Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, “Grey Gardens,” HBO
• Directing for a Comedy Series: “The Office: Stress Relief,” Jeff Blitz, NBC
• Directing for a Drama Series: “ER: And in the End,” Rod Holcomb, NBC
• Directing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series: “American Idol: Show 833 (The Final Three),” Bruce Gowers, Fox
• Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: “Little Dorrit: Part 1,” Dearbhla Walsh, PBS
• Variety, Music, or Comedy Series: “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central
• Reality-Competition Program: “The Amazing Race,” CBS
• Writing for a Comedy Series: “30 Rock: Reunion,” Matt Hubbard, NBC
• Writing for a Drama Series: “Mad Men: Meditations in an Emergency,” Kater Gordon and Matthew Weiner, AMC
• Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series: “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central
• Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: “Little Dorrit,” Andrew Davies, PBS
• Host, Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Jeff Probst, “Survivor,” CBS
• Original Music and Lyrics: “81st Annual Academy Awards: Song Title: Hugh Jackman Opening Number,” ABC
• Outstanding Comedy Series: “30 Rock”, NBC
• Outstanding Drama Series: “Mad Men”, AMC

To see the complete list of the nominees, see the 2009 Emmy Nominations list.

I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually watched the MTV Video Music Awards, but considering all of the hullabaloo over them this year as they aired, it was almost impossible not to watch them.

Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video, and as she went to give her acceptance speech she got part of the way through it when she was suddenly interrupted by Kanye West who basically said she was not deserving of the award.  Instead it seems that Mr. West felt that Beyoncé was more deserving of the award, although as it appears he was at least somewhat drunk, the reason isn’t entirely clear. Watch it for yourself, although be warned it is almost uncomfortable to see it actually happen.

Later in the broadcast Beyoncé won for Video of the Year, and while I have never been a fan of her music, I have to give her amazingly huge kudos for what she did during her acceptance speech to make it up to Taylor Swift when it wasn’t even something she was at fault for.

Mr. West? You could learn a lot from what Beyoncé did here.

Kanye West did later release an apology of sorts that … well, it is also not exactly coherent, but here it is:

I’M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD’VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE’S IN THE BLEACHERS! …………………… I’M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!…………….. BEYONCE’S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I’M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN’ THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE … WELL YOU KNOW!!!! I’M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME… THAT’S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!! I’M NOT CRAZY YALL, I’M JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I’M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT!!!!!

The backlash against Kanye was pretty much instantaneous thanks to services like Twitter. My favorite quote had to come from singer Katy Perry who took to her account to say, “F*** U KANYE. IT’S LIKE U STEPPED 0N A KITTEN.”

For those who would like to know who won all of the wards, here is the complete list.

• Video of the Year – Beyonce, ‘Single Ladies
• Best New Artist – Lady Gaga, ‘Poker Face’
• Best Hip-Hop Video – Eminem, ‘We Made You’
• Best Male Video – T.I. featuring Rihanna, ‘Live Your Life’
• Best Pop Video – Britney Spears, ‘Womanizer’
• Best Rock Video –  Green Day, ‘21 Guns’
• Best Female Video – Taylor Swift, ‘You Belong With Me’
• Best Video (That Should Have Won a Moonman) – Beastie Boys, ‘Sabotage’
• Breakthrough Video – Matt and Kim, ‘Lessons Learned’
• Best Art Direction – Lady Gaga, ‘Paparazzi’
• Best Choreography – Beyonce, ‘Single Ladies’
• Best Cinematography – Green Day, ‘21 Guns’
• Best Direction – Green Day, ‘21 Guns’
• Best Editing – Beyonce, ‘Single Ladies’
• Best Special Effects – Lady Gaga, ‘Paparazzi’

It’s unfortunate that Mr. West felt the need to interrupt Ms. Swift for whatever his insane reason was. It’s sad to see someone that does actually have some talent act the fool every time you turn around.

Season 2 of HBO’s hit series True Blood is wrapping up tonight (9PM EST/8PM CST), and what a wacky season it has been.

If you aren’t familiar with the series, it is based on a series of novels by Charlene Harris entitled The Southern Vampire Mysteries.  While the television series and novels start diverting from each other in the very first episode of season 1, the core of the stories remains pretty much the same.

Sookie Stackhouse, portrayed by Anna Paquin in the series, has had telepathic abilities since childhood, and this has ostracized her from the majority of people in Bon Temps, Louisiana where she resides.  A few years prior to the start of the series, vampires “came out of the coffin” due to the introduction of a synthetic blood that has been marketed under the name “Tru Blood”.  No longer having to feed exclusively off of the living, the vampires finally decided it was time to merge with mainstream society.

While Sookie has desired to meet a vampire ever since they made themselves known, she had no clue how meeting Bill Compton, played by Stephen Moyer in the series, would change her life.  She quickly gets entangled in the intricacies of vampire society, the power plays they make against one another and becomes romantically desired by more vampires than just Bill.

While season 1 of the series was good, season 2 has just been insane in the amount of new dangers, plot & character advancement and just a general sense that the stakes have been raised that much more.  If you want to give the series a try, season 1 is out on DVD (although, always be cautious with HBO DVD sets), and episodes are also available on HBO on Demand.

Tonight is the season 2 finale, and everything points to it just being wall-to-wall insanity, and somehow I doubt we’re going to get a happy or clean ending.  Below is the promo video released by HBO set to the song “Corrupt” by Depeche Mode.

The Duggar family, stars of the TLC series 18 Kids and Counting, have announced that Michelle, the mother of the family, is pregnant with her 19th child.

What sort of insanity is this?

While one of the great things about the United States is that you have the freedom to make whatever choices you want, and that includes having 19 children.  Does it make it right?  Of course not, but that it isn’t stopping the Duggars.

I have never watched one moment of this series, even when it was 17 Kids and Counting, and I have no desire to ever watch any of it.  How can anyone possibly glamorize this family?  Say what you will of Jon & Kate Plus 8, but at least there 8 children were the result of extreme luck with fertility treatments.  The Duggars are doing this the old fashioned way of popping out one child after another.

It is the right for every family in this country to have as many children as they want, but is it really the responsible thing to do?  According to The Inquisitr, the Duggars are part of a religious movement known as QuiverFull which deals with Psalm 127: 3 – 5:

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

I am all for religious freedom, and worshiping as one sees fit, but isn’t there a point where practicality and social responsibility finally kick in?  What about the strain on the planet?  The Earth is already over populated, and here we have a family with 19.

Some years ago I knew a girl who was the 15th of 17 children, and since I haven’t talked to her in 15 or so years now, I can safely say she was messed up by it.  Her siblings I met were also rather ‘out there’ and all seemed desperate for whatever attention they could get, and by whatever means necessary.  This isn’t to say all large families have similar effects on their kids by any means, but it certainly was an eye-opening look into that kind of life.

It’s difficult to say that enough is enough as this does fall under religious freedom, and if it’s something they believe in, they should be allowed to practice under the freedoms of this country, but it certainly doesn’t mean I have to agree with, or condone it.

The Walt Disney Company has agreed to purchase Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock.

Wow… just… wow.  This is huge news in the entertainment industry, and just business in general.  Here is the official announcement:

August 31, 2009
DISNEY TO ACQUIRE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT

Burbank, CA and New York, NY, August 31, 2009 —Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.

Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Iger said.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.

This just blows me away as someone who has been in and around the comic book industry for decades now. I remember when Marvel was trading below a dollar a share and it looked like the company was going to completely collapse. If anyone had ever told me this was coming, I would have laughed my behind off.  (If I also had bought shares like I considered at one point, I would be dancing a jig right now…)

Marvel was truly on its last legs there for a while, and then thanks to some new owners coming in, the company turned around and started to grow like crazy.  The core business is no longer the comic books, but that is still the base upon how all of the other properties grow.  It is no exageration that Marvel has a stable of 5,000 characters, and what Disney can do with them could be massive.  You thought the Marvel movies were doing well before?  Just wait until you see what happens with them now that the Disney marketing machine will be behind them.

After the initial dust settles here, it will be interesting to see how things shake out.

• Will we see Marvel properties on TV?  Disney owns a slew of television property, they could fill time slots until our eyes bleed.
• How will the theme parks settle out?  Universal Studios currently features Marvel characters, so will they have to relinquish those licensing agreements, or will they now be paying a license fee to Disney?  (something I am sure they will hate doing)
• Will all current movie plans stand as-is for now?  I.E. will we still see the mondo Avengers movie that is being planned?

This is absolutely huge, and honestly somewhat difficult to wrap your brain around.  The deal prett much came out of nowhere, and everyone seems to be going “wha…?”  The concept of Disney owning characters like Wolverine and the Punisher IS highly amusing though…

I am sure this won’t be the last post you see on this.

***MAJOR SPOILERS***

Continue Reading ->

The “celebrities” for season 9 of Dancing with the Stars have been announced, and Tom DeLay is among them?

• Melissa Joan Hart (actress)
• Kelly Osbourne (reality TV star/singer)
• Aaron Carter (singer)
• Mya (singer)
• Chuck Liddell (Ultimate Fighting Champion)
• Louie Vito (Professional snowboarder)
• Michael Irvin (former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver)
• Natalie Coughlin (six-time gold medalist for swimming)
• Debi Mazar (actress)
• Mark Dacascos (actor)
• Joanna Krupa (swimsuit model)
• Ashley Hamilton (actor)
• Donny Osmond (singer/actor)
• Tom DeLay (politician)
• Kathy Ireland (former supermodel)
• Macy Gray (singer)

I swear that each cast list just gets stranger and stranger on this show.  Although I will say they are getting better at finding people I actually remember from things like Melissa Joan Hart, Kelly Osbourrne, Donny Osmond and a few others, but who in the heck is Mark Dacascos?  Never heard of him before today.

Of course the name every one is focusing on is Tom Delay.

He was the Republican House Majority Leader from 2003–2005, and eventually stepped down over some legal issues.  Doesn’t really matter, just not the kind of guy you imagine dancing a tango or a jive on national television, ya know?

Yes, the cast is the largest yet, and apparently there will be some special eliminations to deal with that.  There will also be new professionals to help with the number of “stars”.

The new season kicks off on September 21st.

UPDATE: Oh!  Mark Dacascos is the “chairman” of Iron Chef America… got ya.

The rumors are true folks, Chima Simone is no longer on Big Brother 11.

Although I long ago quit doing reality television news, this was just too good to pass up mentioning.

For those who need to be caught up, on Thursday’s episode of Big Brother 11, Jeff Schroeder used a special power given to him by the viewers, the Coup D’Etat. This allowed him to over throw the current Head of Household (HoH), Chima Simone, nominations and replace either one or both of the current nominees with his own selections. He chose to replace Lydia Tavera and Russell Kairouz with Natalie Martinez and Jessie Godderz, with Jessie being his ultimate target.  By a vote of 3-to-2, Jessie was evicted, and Michele Noonan became the new HoH.

Chima was quite angry about her nominations being over turned, and as Thursday night wore on, and she and Lydia & Natalie mourned Jessie’s eviction in something akin to a cult leader dying, Ms. Simone reportedly considered quitting the game. Big Brother staff talked her out of it, and she stayed in the game.

When Friday rolled around, Chima, Lydia and Natalie, now known by fans as the Bitches/Witches of Eastwick, continued their mourning and attempted to rattle the other house guests by doing things such as taking over the lone washer and dryer and washing one pair of socks at a time. They also stole other house guests property and hid it around the house, conspired to slip red M&Ms into Michele’s food as she is allergic to red food dye and numerous other antics.

Things escalated even more as Michele announced her nomination for possible eviction this week, and she put up Chima and Natalie with the hopes that Chima would be the one evicted.

Late Friday night/early Saturday morning, things escalated as Chima began refusing to listen to the requests of Big Brother, and when told to put on her microphone pack, she instead threw it in to the hot tub. She was later told to get a replacement mic from the storage room, which she also refused to do. Fellow house guest Kevin Campbell eventually retrieved it for her, and again Ms. Simone refused to put on her mic. She did finally concede to that request, but only after her fellow alliance members begged her to do so.

Around 12:30 AM PST, the live feeds were cut and people who watch the live feeds (myself included, and all of these accounts of what happened are from my watching) were treated to what is known as FotH, Fish of the House, where Big Brother forces us to watch the fish in the aquarium, for a little over an hour and half.  When the feeds returned, I was in bed, but the house guests reported that Ms. Simone had indeed left the house and would not be returning to the game.

It is unclear at this time if she left of her own accord or was removed by the producers of the show, but either way, she is no longer a part of the game.  As the game had now moved on to the Jury portion, she will not be included in the Jury, and will have no vote in who the ultimate winner of the game is.

This week was a planned Double Eviction, meaning that two house guests would be evicted.  The way this usually works is that one is voted out at the beginning of the live episode on Thursday and then an HoH and Power of Veto competition are quickly played to nominate the next two potential evictees.  The night then finishes off with another HoH being played for the next week.  As Ms. Simone has left the game, Mrs. Noonan has been removed as HoH and another competition is to be held prior to Thursday to keep the show on schedule.

Having watched this show for 11 seasons, I can tell you that Ms. Simone’s actions in the house have been some of the most atrocious ever seen.  She has been referring to Mr. Kairouz as a “terrorist” for some time now as they do not get along and he is of Lebanese descent.  She carried this further on Thursday night referring to him as “a Muslim extremist” and she likened herself to the World Trade Center.  Her flagrant disregard for the requests from Big Brother producers were merely icing on the cake for her antics.

CBS is expected to make a formal announcement at some point, and footage is sure to be shown on the Sunday and Tuesday editions of the series.

UPDATE: Well, that was quick, CBS has made an official statement:

Chima has been evicted by the producers from the Big Brother house for violating the rules. She will not be part of the show’s jury. Her eviction will be addressed on an upcoming broadcast of the show.

If you’ve never heard of Batman Beyond, don’t worry, you aren’t alone.

Back in February I talked about having just completed watching all of Batman: The Animated Series, and commented how nice it was to see some form of media outside of the comic books get the Batman formula correct. Well, after completing that series I moved on to the next animated Batman project, Batman Beyond.

Running from January 10, 1999 to December 18, 2001, Batman Beyond took place approxiamtely 20 years in the future (um… yeah… flying cars, impossibly large buildings, completely AI robots, all of that’s only 20 years from now… uh-huh) after an ailing Bruce Wayne has had to retire the mantle of the Batman.  Gotham City has been without a Batman for several years now, and crime is again on the rise: random crimes, teenagers who worship the deceased Joker run gangs called The Jokers, corporate crimes and a whole lot more.

Terry McGinnis is a 16-year-old that has a troubled past, but after his father is killed for discovering wrong doings at the Wayne-Powers corporation, he becomes obsessed with discovering why his father was killed.  While trying to figure out what happened to his father, he questions Bruce Wayne and stumbles across his long buried secret.  Terry decides to take up the idenity of the Batman against Wayne’s wishes, but he begrudgingly accepts him for training and they form a partnership where Bruce stays in the Bat Cave and directs him via video and audio feeds.  (Much, much later, it was revealed in an episode of Justice League Unlimited that Bruce was actually Terry’s biological father via DNA manipulation, but even Bruce was unaware of this early on)

Having watched all three seasons I have to say it wasn’t nearly as bad as some people have made it out to be.  The villians weren’t quite as strong as Batman’s original Rogue’s Gallery which leads to some moments where you feel no real challenge to Terry’s Batman.  The series did seem to spend a lot more time on actual character development than Batman: The Animated Series, which as fine with me as I prefer seeing characters develop over time as opposed to just never ending fight after fight.  Considering some of the views online, I appear to be pretty much alone in this opinion, but oh well, I liked it.

Apparently Comcast subscribers can check out the first season on the Kids WB on Demand service, beyond that you can pick it up fairly cheap on DVD and it’s worth a look if you missed it when it aired and are desperate for something to watch.  Would I go out of my way to see it?  Doubtful, but it was entertaining while I was lifting weights.  Next up: The Batman (which I am already in season 2 of, just didn’t have time to write this up before)

It seemed like we were safe from these rumors when they died out after the series finale of The Sopranos, but all of a sudden they are rising from the depths like some sort of zombie mobster.

Lorraine Bracco, who payed Tony Soprano’s shrink, Dr. Melfi, has been talking about the possibility of a big screen version of the hit television series.  The New York Daily News recently asked her about the rumors of the hold up being Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini, “I don’t think it’s that at all,”  Bracco told the paper, “I think it’s really trying to get the right script. Without the right script, it’s really not worth doing.”

HBO apparently has no comment, but Steve Van Zandt, who played Tony Soprano consigliere Sil, has made some cryptic comments about his character, who was hanging on for life at the end of the series, still being alive.  It could just be his own thoughts, or it might have something to do with the rumored script, who knows at this point.

There is no doubt this was a great series, but there is absolutely no where a movie could go that would interest me.  It would also completely negate the powerful ending of the series we were left with that allowed the viewer to decide what happened next to Tony.  Did he get whacked in the diner?  Did he live and go on to run all of Jersey (they never flat out said this was a possibility, but considering how much of the Jersey crews had been whacked, he almost would have to)?  Did he just stay with his crew?  A film would just feel tacked on to me.  What could possibly be accomplished in a two or two and a half hour movie that would improve on this landmark series?

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

This would be a complete dice roll, and the odds of hitting something spectacular are pretty slim.  So, please, to all the people involved, leave us with those 86 fabulous episodes and call it a day.  Even one more minute of footage will totally wash away what we had.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I am fascinated by Google Trends. Being able to see a snap shot of what people are looking for is like an odd little snapshot into the lies of the Internet in general.  However, sometimes you see things that just make you go, “Really?  Are you all this stupid?”

While I am never going to endorse the use of illegal torrent files, let me give you all a clue here: if you find a torrent through a public search engine such as Google, there’s a good chance that it either contains a virus or may be a trap to track your IP address.  HBO has been fairly strict about hunting down torrent users in the past, so if you’re going to use a public search to find a publicly reachable file… it kinda screams “TRAP” to me.

I know a lot of people have turned to torrents as an option for watching their favorite television shows, but do yourself a favor and at least educate yourself about general safety of their use if you’re going to do it.  And, honestly, unless it is something like True Blood, just don’t do it (even then, don’t do it), there are too many legal ways to watch TV shows on the Internet for freenow.