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HDTV Listings for February 12, 2006
What we're watching: Hopefully, there aren't any issues with the Winter Olympic games HD feed tonight; last night there were some issues. The games fire up on NBC in 1080i at 7 p.m. tonight. If you missed 2002's "The Sum of All Fears", you can catch up with Jack Ryan at 9 p.m. on CBS in 1080i. Don't forget that this Jack Ryan isn't Harrison Ford; Ben Affleck was tapped for Tom Clancy's hero.
HDTV Listings for February 11, 2006
What we're watching: We're increasing our listings a smidge beyond primetime for the Winter Olympic games over the next two weeks. There's just so much HD Olympic Coverage on NBC that we don't want you to miss a thing, especially the new "Synchronized Curling" events. The highlighted events of Skiing, Speedskating and Figure Skating all kick off at 8 p.m. tonight. If warm-weather sports are more your climate, you can join me in celebrating the return of NASCAR. I know it's silly because the cars go in a circle, which is "no where" and the first car to go "no where" effectively wins, but I'm a sucker for the driver drama. Tonight is a non-points event starting at 8:30 p.m. on TNT-HD. And according to them, they know drama.
HDTV Listings for February 10, 2006
What we're watching: The Winter Olympic games are here! Well, not exactly here; they're in Turin, Italy but you catch our drift. The Opening Ceremonies are typically filled with vibrant color and vivid sounds, just perfect for high-definition television. Tonight, you can join the games at 8 p.m. on NBC in 1080i. Kick your ski-boots off tonight and catch the beginning of the games, would ya? Oh and just to squash the rumors before the games even begin, there is absolutely no truth to the story that Howie Mandel will be hosting the game show "Medal or No Medal" during the games.
Discovery HD taking a step backwards: Non-HD commercals
Has anyone noticed something a bit different about the makeup of Discovery HD Theater? It used to be that they only had HD content and nothing less. Then all of a sudden they started showing Bose commercials that were not HD. I thought to myself, "OK, this is just Bose's marketing team at it again and trying to reach a high income market. That's OK." But then again today I noticed that there was more then just Bose. Delta airlines has a non-HD commercial now too. Is Discovery HD Theater going to drop the "Theater" part? Currently they don't run any commercials throughout the entire main program then run one or two commercials, usually for themselves or Circuit City, then a "Short Topic" for about 10 minutes. Does the increase in the amount of non-HD ads indicate that they are going to start putting the normal commercial breaks into these programs?
HDTV Listings for February 8, 2006
What we're watching: With so many awards shows not in HD, we have to take advantage of 'em when we can. Tonight at 8 p.m., we'll be watching the 1080i feed of "The 48th Annual Grammy Awards" on CBS. There's apparently no single host of the show, which should make it entertaining in between the many live performances at the Staples Center in L.A. Awards shows in high def? Yeah, we've got that. Our traditional HD listings are below.
HDTV Listings for February 7, 2006
What we're watching: RPTVs may be on the way out in favor of flat-panels, but they're still worth a look in detail; besides how often can you watch an HD show about HD? Tonight's your night if you've got the high-def addiction as much as we do. Tune in to HDNet at 6:30 p.m. for the "DisplaySearch HDTV Conference 2005 - Rear Projection TVs" in 1080i. If HD shows about HD sets aren't up your alley, you can always catch Michael J. Fox later in the evening as he continues his guest role on ABC's "Boston Legal" at 10 p.m. in 720p. Continue reading for our traditional high-def listings.
HDTV Listings for February 6, 2006
What we're watching: Did you ever want to ski in the desert? Is that even possible? Of course it is, and tonight on Discovery-HD you can see for yourself in 1080i. Tonight's episode of "Extreme Engineering" focuses on the Dubai Ski Resort, which has no less than five snow covered slopes. For the geographically challenged, Dubai is a very small (but wealthy) member of the United Arab Emirates; not a place where you'd typically find snow.
HDTV Listings for February 5, 2006
What we're watching: On the off-chance that you're not watching the big game and pre-game festivities, we decided not to take the day off on our listings. Seriously, with a 130 million households watching ABC tonight, it's beyond us why the other networks even bother, hence all of the repeats on NBC and CBS. Still, we owe you the traditional nightly lineup, so we have it below. As for us, it's all Super Bowl, all day, starting at 2:30 p.m. on ABC with the pre-game show in 720p. The official ABC game coverage continues at 6 p.m., which is actually scary since the pre-game coverage might be longer than the game itself.Of secondary importance are the ever popular and very expensive commercials. Make sure you're watching the HD advertising as we're sure to ask your opinions tomorrow on which were the best.
HDTV Listings for February 4, 2006
What we're watching: How could we pass up the legendary comics of Steve Martin? With perfect timing before his remake of "The Pink Panther" hits theaters, the 60-year old Martin is tonight's guest host of Saturday Night Live on NBC. We've been watching more of SNL since it went 1080i late last year and we'll be tuning in again tonight at 11:30 p.m. Apparently other blasts from the past are trying to come back as well: tonight's musical guest was a hit-maker long before iPods hit the scene. Prince will be partying like it's 1999 on SNL; a date that sounded so futuristic when he sang about it in the mid 1980s.
HDTV Listings for February 3, 2006
What we're watching: Tom Cruise spent two years prepping for "The Last Samurai"; tonight on HBO-HD you can see if the legwork paid off. The film did score several Oscar nominations and the visual landscapes make for good use of your widescreen. Tune in at 8 p.m. for a 1080i viewing of the 2003 flick.If you've previously missed "The Fifth Element", this is about your fifth chance over the past few months to tune in on TNT-HD. Many folks swear by this one in high-def and even the movie was just so-so, we have to agree from an HD standpoint. Check it out in 1080i at 8 p.m. if you prefer Bruce Willis over Tom Cruise.
Underwater volcano captured in high-def
Is that a volcano under your bay or are you just happy to see me? That's what several scientists off the coast of Monterey are looking into; thanks to the high-def underwater cameras, you'll be able to join them. Approximately 75 miles off the California coast is an underwater volcano that rises over 7,500 feet from the ocean floor. What have the scientists captured in HD so far? How about coral that rises 12 feet tall or garage-door sized sponges? Just think: one sponge could clean up your entire Super Bowl party after-mess!The team is gathering high-def footage for an upcoming documentary called "Planet Earth". The program is expected to air in 2007, but there's no word on which network will air it. Our best guess would be Discovery-HD; let's not count the new National Geographic HD channel out of the race yet.
HDTV Listings for February 2, 2006
What we're watching: In the spirit of "Groundhog Day", we figured there would only be re-runs on tonight. Ironically, Bill Murray would be happy to know that almost every HD show has a new episode tonight. Gee, even UPN is all new! We're still going with the 1993 movie as it's only fitting today. Showtime-HD is airing "Groundhog Day" in 1080i at 6:30 p.m. and the obligatory repeat follows right after at 8:15 p.m.If you can't take a second viewing of the movie, why not join us at 9 p.m on Discovery-HD for "Day of the Groundhog" in 1080i? If you've never actually seen Punxsutawney Phil, you're really missing out. He's actually one of the more popular celebs from my Commonwealth, which is quite scary when you think about it.
HDTV Listings for February 1, 2006
What we're watching: Some of our favorite high-def shows are starting to show new episodes, so tonight we'll head to New York City on CBS for one of the best HD shows on the air. CSI: New York might not be the greatest television show in the lineup, but the 1080i presentation on CBS is always eye-popping in HD. Tune in tonight at 10 p.m. and see for yourself. Following a Valentine's Day sub-theme (yes guys, this is your early warning to shop now) there's a modern day Cupid on the loose. Unfortunately as one couple finds out, these arrows are fatal, so can our NYC heroes find the killer? [Hint: don't they always?]
HDTV Listings for January 31, 2006
What we're watching: We probably should be good little HD citizens and catch George W. in all his high-def glory at 9 p.m. on ABC. The Disney folks try to convince us that the "State of the Union Address" is no cartoon in 720p, which explains why the HD schedule is so light on the networks this evening. The two hour program provides the outlook for America as well as the high-level yearly agenda of the prez followed by the Democrats response. Of course, the Republican response to the response follows and well, it all goes down Capitol Hill from there.If you're skipping the political programming tonight, consider any of the 1080i Discovery-HD programs as there's something for everyone ranging from NASCAR reality to the natural beauty of the world. Is anyone else wondering why Discovery-HD chose to air "HD Getaways" against President Bush's time slot? Wanna get away (in HD)?
HDTV Listings: January 30, 2006
What we're watching: With so many re-runs on (except for ABC who apparently ran out of those too), we have no choice but to spend another hour with Jack Bauer on "24". Actually, when you subtract out the commercials, we only get 42 minutes of heart-pounding excitement, but that's OK, we've got a solution for that too! Get the super-secret chat location for the TV Squad live "24" chat at 8 p.m. ET right here. While you're real-time chatting up a storm, or just peepin' on what everyone else is saying about the show, tune in to Fox at 9 p.m. for the 720p presentation, also in real-time.
HDTV Listings for January 29, 2006
What we're watching: What happens when you add 49 minutes to an already gripping feature film that won two Academy Awards? You get an arguably even better vision of the director's intentions, or at least that's what Francis Ford Coppola would hope. You be the judge tonight at 8:30 p.m. with "Apocalypse Now Redux" in 1080i on HDNet Movies as we watch Martin Sheen on a mission to exterminate Marlon Brando in the Vietnam jungle. If you're really astute, you might catch Sheen's character eating a Hershey bar that has a UPC code on the wrapper; the first UPC code scanned in a retail store was in 1974, while the final U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam was 1973. After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.
HDTV Listings for January 28, 2006
What we're watching: We're always up for a little late night gore from Masters of Horror.....which usually leads us to being up a lot later with the lights on checking under the bed and inside the closet. Ah well, theres a new episode tonight, "Haeckels Tale" based on a Clive Barker story, so we'll just make sure the night light is plugged in and pop some popcorn.If thats not your thing, Coach K and the Cameron Crazies are playing host to Virginia tonight on ESPN-HD, not to mention new episodes of South Beach and Veronica Mars on the soon to be nonexistent UPN. After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.
HDTV Listings for January 27, 2006
What we're watching: This is an historic no-brainer for us, but you'll have to stay up late. How would you like to watch a high-def movie in the comfort of your own home on the day the pic debuts? We told you about this before and today is the day that "Bubble" makes its appearance on HDNet Movies at 11 p.m. in 1080i. It's also in theaters today is and supposed to be available on DVD,although Amazon is currently showing a ship date of January 31st. This is the Steven Soderbergh pic that circles around the murder of a single mother who was killed at an Ohio toy factory. Late nights, scary circumstances and 1080i: we'll take it! After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.
HDTV Listings for January 26, 2006
What we're watching: It's a rare appearance for WB on our list tonight. Or should we say CW? Anyway, the folks over at TV Squad have us all jacked up for the 100th episode of "Smallville" which takes flight tonight at 8 p.m. on WB. The 1080i presentation, called "Reckoning", promises to be a doozy and if you've got a shade over two minutes to spare and don't mind spoilers, you can cop a peek over at AOL. Just don't spoil it for Jor-El, Clark or the rest of us with any comments until AFTER the show. Deal? After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.
HDTV Listings for January 25, 2006
What we're watching: No more "American Idol", please! We're leaving "Idol" behind tonight and traveling far away (for us) to Africa at 8 p.m. instead. One of the oft-overlooked VOOM channels is EquatorHD, so it's our destination tonight. "Great Africa" is a 1080i, two-hour show that brings us stunning footage of large inhabitants from the jungles and deserts. More importantly, we'll see how lions and tigers and bears elephants (oh my!) are becoming driven from their natural habitat due to human expansion in Africa. After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.
