Desperate Housewives
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Lovefilm, Disney UK deal brings ABC content across the pond
If you're living across the pond and hankering for ABC's content, it's en route. In what could be considered a response to Netflix's expansion to the UK market, Lovefilm has joined forces with Disney UK to offer members on-demand streaming access to ABC Studios' content. Available titles include Castle, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Happy Endings, Grey's Anatomy and the Ghost Whisperer, with all episodes available after their first run in the UK market. Compatible streamers include the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iPad, smart TV's and Blu-ray players and the service itself starts at £4.99 ($7.65) per month. Still no news as to when the Camo Snuggie will make its European debut.
Amazon, Netflix ink licensing deals with ABC, add new content for you to munch on
It was a pretty busy day for the Disney-ABC Television Group yesterday, as the company announced a new licensing deal with Amazon, while renewing its pre-existing agreement with Netflix. The Amazon deal will allow Amazon Prime members to access all prior seasons of Grey's Anatomy, every episode of Lost, and all previous seasons of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, among other series. Amazon expects to add a total of some 13,000 titles to Prime Instant Video by "early next year," and just in time for the holiday season (as well as the release of the Kindle Fire). The renewal of Netflix's deal, meanwhile, ensures that the company will continue to offer episodes of shows like Private Practice, Brothers and Sisters, and Ugly Betty, as well as new additions, including Switched at Birth, Kick Buttowski and Alias. Basically, though, it's just more of the same. But at a time when Netflix is losing customers in the wake of its price hike and Qwikster debacle, maybe stability isn't such a bad thing. Surf past the break for a pair of dueling PRs.
Lost, Desperate Housewives & Grey's Anatomy streaming to Netflix Watch Instantly
This weekend, the first four seasons of Lost suddenly became available for streaming (in HD even) via Netflix Watch Instantly, and now Netflix and Disney-ABC have announced an agreement (an extension to the deal that already brought Disney episodes of JONAS, Hannah Montana and more to the service the day after they aired) that will bring even more familiar content to the service. Desperate Housewives and Legend of the Seeker already have some seasons available, while the fifth seasons of Grey's Anatomy, Lost and Desperate Housewives are coming along for the ride in September. We're sure the Lostpedia heads have already bought and doubled up on the series DVD and Blu-ray releases, but for everyone else struggling to remember what the hell is so important about that island, it's easier than ever to catch up before the final season starts.[Via The Official Netflix Blog]
WoW Moviewatch: An introduction to The Chronicles of Nightfall
It looks like we have another mystery machinima on our hands, folks. Chronicles of Nightfall - Prologue was meant to be an introduction to a series, but it doesn't really explain much in the video itself. According to Ivanzoe's explanation, we're looking at Rederik Aileron, Captain of the Stormwind Militia, coming home after a day of fixing his blades in Ironforge. We see him riding through a bustling town, crossing the bridge, and ultimately, coming home to his wife, Thornflower. What do you think happens in the next episode?Here's what I'd like to see -- Desperate Housewives in WoW form. Rederik should have come home to find his wife making out with the teenaged herbalist. He'll have more important things on his mind, though, as he's facing tax evasion charges for not paying gold for years. Meanwhile, the stares of the other women on the street do nothing to comfort them, but those women have secrets of their own ... The moral of the story is to describe your series better from the very beginning.[Via Warcraftmovies.com]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
How the Writer's Strike could cost iTunes subscribers
Macworld (the magazine, not the party that many of us are missing out on this week) has an interesting note up about how the writer's strike is going to be bad news for iTunes subscribers, and it's not what you think. Sure, the whole strike is supposedly about television writers getting paid for their work from online sales (which means that if the writers win, networks will likely claim they have to charge more for sales on iTunes and other digital outlets), but there's another negative: no writers means shorter seasons, which means iTunes subscriptions aren't worth as much. Desperate Housewives and Prison Break had both of their seasons cut short, and that means that anyone who bought either of those seasons isn't getting as much as they expected for their money.As MW says, the closest thing they've heard to an answer from Apple on this is an example of The Daily Show and Colbert Report subscriptions-- subscribers of those shows were told that their subscriptions would resume when the shows did, so people who have subscribed to Desperate Housewives may just expect to have part of the next season paid for already as well (or may get refunds of iTunes credit for other shows that are available).And it'll be interesting to see what effect this has on the keynote at Macworld tomorrow-- will Apple promote television shows that are headed off the air for a while? Or maybe the rumored movie rentals will draw attention away from iTunes TV subscriptions anyway.
ABC Television and MGM brings HD content to Xbox Marketplace
At CES today, Microsoft announced an expansion of its Xbox Live video offerings. ABC Television and MGM will both offer HD videos on the Marketplace. Coincidentally, these studios are exclusively aligned to Blu-ray. This agreement gives Xbox owners a chance to experience this content in HD as well.ABC Television Network, ABC Family, ABC News, Disney Channel and Toon Disney are all part of this new offering. More than 500 hours of content, in both standard definition and high definition, will be offered including ABC Television shows Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. Past and current shows will be offered, as will archived ABC News broadcasts.MGM will offer a wide variety of movies, from the Rocky series to Dances with Wolves. Movies across all demographics will be available, including Terminator, Silence of the Lambs, Legally Blonde, Barbershop and Agent Cody Banks. Platoon, Rain Man and The Usual Suspects will also be available.Price and an exact launch date of this newly announced content have yet to be revealed. HD DVD may have gotten a serious death blow this week, but it appears Microsoft's on-demand offerings should more than satiate the HD film appetite of the Xbox fan.
TV and game writing compared
Reuters profiles Scott Sanford Tobis, a writer for Desperate Housewives who also penned the game based on the series. He's described as a gamer who was excited to work on the conversion.His interest relates to the similarities and differences between TV and game writing. Tobis says that games have more paths than TV shows; script details often need to be cut for TV, but they can give gamers more places to explore.We agree with most of Tobis's comments, but the article leaves us with questions about the true relation between game and TV writing. Should games make us feel like we're playing a TV show or movie? If developers try to fit games into TV conventions, do they miss the point of gaming?
ABCs million-download giveaway
It's promo time! In an attempt to woo new customers ABC is giving away free copies of last season's finales of Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy [iTunes link]. One million of 'em, in fact. If you've been wanting to try out that shiny new iPod you just bought, here's your no-risk opportunity. Get 'em while they're hot!
Putting the desperate back into Desperate Housewives
Last week I was able to get a sneak peek and play the latest game to capitalize on a successful franchise -- Desperate Housewives. Planned for release this fall on the PC, the game is really nothing more than a stripped down Sims with a TV show name and premise slapped on it.Here were my highlights as I walked down Wisteria Lane: Took a shower with my pixelated naked character Tried to go to the bathroom -- no luck Changed into my Desperate Housewives jumpsuit Went outside, planted a flower Went to the neighbors house, had sex with male neighbor Went outside, found another man, had sex with him Tried to have sex with female neighbor, but denied So yeah, that pretty much sums up this game. Designed for women in mind, this game seems like the kind of thing your mom would dig. Just make sure she's not getting any extra love from the mailman because of it. You know, because video games influence our actions so much, and all.
TV franchises rule mindshare of college students, games trail by wide margin
David Edery, Associate Director for Special Projects at the MIT CMS Program, reports that his team's recent studies have revealed that college students are five times more likely to consider themselves "big fans" of television properties than video game properties. While Edery admits, "[it's] hard to say with any conviction what this really means," he supposes that the 'best' TV franchises are better at controlling a fan's mindshare than the 'best' video game franchises. Gaming may be eating into the pockets of TV's bigwigs, but most game publishers still have a lot to learn about creating that addictive IP.
HDTV Listings for May 14, 2006
What we're watching: Your mother is very upset that you never call or write, so stop by and catch a new episode of Desperate Housewives with her. Further confirming that there is an episode of Law & Order on somewhere in the world at all times, we get back to back new episodes of Criminal Intent starting at 9 p.m.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HDTV Listings for May 7, 2006
What we're watching: NBA Playoffs second round matchups are finally upon us. Spurs vs. Mavericks is going on now while the Pistons take on Lebron & the Cavaliers at 3:30 on ABC. NHL Playoffs have hit round dos as well with Anaheim and Colorado dropping the puck at 3 on NBC. Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy continue their usual Sunday night scheduling but we'll probably catch Team America: World Police on Showtime.No NASCAR, Malcolm or War at Home today for Fox so no HD whatsoever. Why can't we get 720p King of the Hill?Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HDTV Listings for April 30, 2006
What we're watching: You didn't need high definition to see that LeBron took about 73 steps before his game winning layup over the Wizards on Friday, but it didn't hurt. They'll tip off again at 7 p.m. on TNT. If such egregious lapses by the officials bother you, never fear as Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy are both (finally) back with new episodes tonight.If you really can't choose, flip over to Spurs at Kings at 10 p.m. and get the best of both worlds. Also worth mentioning, since you can never have too much Tom Selleck, there is also the CBS TV movie Jessie Stone: Death in Paradise at 9 p.m. tonight.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Lost, Desperate Houswives will be free on the web
Disney announced today that it will make episodes of both Lost and Desperate Housewives available for free via the web, starting in June. The files will feature "chapters" to let users quickly jump ahead in the episode, though not past the embedded commercials. The article merely says that the shows will be available "...on the internet," which sounds like they mean outside of the iTMS. Both Lost and Desperate Housewives have been big sellers for Apple, so this seems like an odd move for Disney (they are calling the project a two month experiment). I can't imagine that the shows will be available for free via the web while they're still $1.99US in the iTMS, so we'll see what happens. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Lost, Desperate Housewives, Ghost Hunters season passes
The title says it all. You are now able to buy 'season passes' for Ghost Hunters ($15.99), Desperate Housewives ($34.99), and Lost ($34.99) on the iTunes Music Store.If you aren't familiar with the iTunes Season passes, it works like this: for one price you get all the episodes of the current season that have already aired, and then iTunes automatically downloads the newest episodes the day after they air on TV.[via MacDevCenter]
Desperate Housewives to despair on PCs
If all goes according to plan, fans of the desperate housewives on Wisteria Lane will be able to live out their soap opera dreams on their PCs before the TV show's canceled.Disney (which owns the ABC television network that distributes Desperate Housewives in the States) has set its Buena Vista Games division to publish a PC-based adaptation of the sudsy Sunday-night staple this fall.While negotiations are underway to secure additional cast members to represent themselves in-game (they've only gotten the deceased housewife narrator on-board so far), we hope this license works out better than the recent video game adaptations such as 24: The Game, Alias, and Dark Angel (where the DA game actually came out after the show was canceled). The screenshots revealed seem to display more suburban architecture than gameplay, but the game will involve taking on the role of a new neighboring housewife. It has not been disclosed, however, whether you can take prisoners in your basement as of yet.[Thanks, riffgod, bandersnatch, Nick, & GunForHire; via Yahoo! & the BBC]See also: Mark Green discusses 24: The Game Metacritic metascore for 24: The Game (on the PS2): 61 out of 100 Metacritic metascore for Alias (on the PC): 55 out of 100 Metacritic metascore for Dark Angel (on the PS2): 48 out of 100
