Categories
Web Misc

My 500th Post: The Top Seven of 2007.

Based on pageviews alone, the 7 most popular posts this year so far have been:

7The making of Top Gear and the fate of season 10.
6All my life watching America.
5The making of the Six Feet Under title sequence.
4The Simpson’s War on Everything.
3Two stunning minutes of MTV.
2The Chaser’s War on uncut H264 downloads.

and the most popular post of 2007 so far has been…

Categories
ABC1 Videos: Promos

Summer Heights High: Enrolling this Wednesday.

UPDATE: The ABC will be offering downloads of Summer Heights High here.

UPDATE 2: The ratings are in.. Wednesday’s rock the ABC.

> Quicktime H.264
(12.8mb)
> iPod Compatible
(5.9mb)
> Watch in Flash
(3mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(13.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(5.8mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.7mb progressive)

In May last year Chris Lilley became the first Australian ever to win at the prestigious television awards, the Rose d’Or. He won for best male comedy performance in his show, We Can Be Heroes, which introduced us to among others, his character Ja’mie.

Ja’mie is back this week, with Summer Heights High starting Wednesday on the ABC.

Categories
European TV Videos: Broadcast News Videos: Openings

Nyhetene and Været.. News and Weather.

> Quicktime H.264
(4.5mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.7mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.3mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.3mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.1mb progressive)

I’ve learnt a lot more about Norway than I thought I would from writing this blog. I’ve learnt that Norway it isn’t (despite what I thought) part of the European Union, that it ranks number #1 in the UN Human Development Index, and now apparently its the most peaceful country on earth!

Back to TV though, check out Norwegian broadcaster TV2’s idents here in my earlier post, or watch their news and weather openers above, with music composed by David Lowe, whose work you may have heard in the theme music to BBC News.

– Thanks Hans for the videos.

Categories
Ten Network Videos: Promos

The American Office re-relaunches in Australia.

> Quicktime H.264
(5.7mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.5mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.2mb progressive)

The American version of The Office is without a doubt, one of the best sitcoms around. It is one month from today until the fourth season starts in the US, but tonight on Ten, you can catch the beginning of season three, which may not make a lot of sense to the uninitiated since the second season ends on a cliffhanger.. but anyway.

Ten treated this show pretty horribly, pulling it from prime time when the pilot didn’t rate well, and then playing a bunch of episodes late on Sunday nights. Well now they’re giving it kind of a chance, playing it at 10:25pm tonight after Californication.

If you haven’t seen it before, the first two seasons are on DVD, and season three is all over the net, so like I said with Weeds on 9, do yourself a favour and watch it at your own leisure, because you know Ten is just going to end up pissing you off somehow.

Categories
European TV Videos: Idents

KanaalTwee: Arrested Development in Flanders.

> Quicktime H.264
(6.9mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.2mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(7.4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.1mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.2mb progressive)

Picture this.. you’re in Belgium, and you’ve got a craving for some Arrested Development, what do you do? You flick onto KanaalTwee (translation: Channel Two). This Belgian television station has been on the air since 1995 and is available over cable and satellite.

Above are stitched together start and end break bumpers to give you an idea of the KanaalTwee brand. After the jump are two promos and a chance to see how they interrupt credits in another part of the world. So keep reading..

Categories
ABC1 Videos: Promos

The new ABC News Online.. on television.

> Quicktime H.264
(7.2mb)
> iPod Compatible
(4.5mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.6mb progressive)

When you’ve got one of the best online news services around, the least you can do is promote it. So check out the video above thats been running on the ABC lately, or just start reading, listening and watching the news here.

Categories
Nine Network Videos: Promos

Good show, bad promo, wrong network.

> Quicktime H.264
(7.8mb)
> iPod Compatible
(4.8mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.5mb progressive)

Weeds is a brilliant show, and just like with Big Love you don’t have to be into polygamy (or in this case marijuana) to appreciate it.

Season three has just started in the US, but fans have probably already seen the first four episodes which were leaked pre TX with all but the blessing of the shows creator (don’t you love progressive television folk?).

Channel Nine have started spruiking the September/October return of season two with this promo. Now I don’t know if its just me, but the music choice/volume just seems totally incorrect even for my young ears. When I first saw it, I actually thought iTunes had started playing over it, thats how disconnected it seems from the footage.

Now, if you’re eagerly awaiting the shows return on Nine, firstly let me welcome you to the club of Weeds fans, but for the love of god, just download it, you know Nine is going to end up pissing you off somehow.

Categories
Videos: Idents Web Misc

Beauty in the Breakdown

All videos seem to be offline at the moment sorry, hopefully this won’t last too long!

UPDATE: And we’re back! Enjoy.

Categories
American TV MTV Videos: Idents

Two stunning minutes of MTV.

> Quicktime H.264
(45.9mb)
> iPod Compatible
(21.9mb)
> Watch in Flash
(8.4mb progressive)

MTV can get pretty trashy.. and it can get very tiring, but what can you do? You take a break. Literally. This stunning “narrative and visual break” ident created by Sägas for MTV Latin America is two minutes of hypnotic look-up-at-the-sky-and-smile bliss.

Designed to rest the eyes and mind, this video marks the first post on this blog about a South American production, and I couldn’t be more impressed, with not only the execution of the piece, but also the beauty of the concept.. literally breaking from a stations usual fare to give you a breather (not entirely unlike this).

Download some high resolution stills from the video below..

idents.tvidents.tvidents.tv

– And a huge thanks to Fernando from Sägas for the video.

Categories
European TV Videos: Broadcast News Videos: Idents

France from afar: France 2

> Quicktime H.264
(5.9mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.6mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(16mb)
> iPod Compatible
(8mb)
> Watch in Flash
(5.4mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(8.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(4.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(5mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(10.8mb)
> iPod Compatible
(4.7mb)
> Watch in Flash
(5mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(5.5mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.5mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2mb progressive)

France 2 is the largest public television station in France, it was also the first channel in the country to go colour in 1967, and is in closest competition with TF1.

In the above videos you’ve got the closest thing French television have to idents, their “publicité” spots, followed by a movie promo, two news openers from throughout the day and a primetime line up.

For more French Television, check out my posts on ARTE, France 3, France 5, TF1 and the France Télévisions group.

– Thanks again, Jean-François.