the office
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Battlestar Galactica (and other NBC shows) now available on the PlayStation Store
You don't need to read any further. Battlestar Galactica is now available on the PlayStation Store. Each episode will be available in SD and HD, with future episodes arriving on the Store one day after its televised broadcast.Oh, and the video store has also expanded to include other shows and movies from the NBC/Universal line-up, such as The Office, 30 Rock, Heroes, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Milk. SD content can be downloaded to both a PS3 and PSP, while HD content is for the PS3 only.
Buy Parallels, get a $25 iTunes card
Parallels must be feeling a little pressure from the big Fusion release earlier this week -- they're throwing in some music when you pick up their app. By visiting this iTunes page on their website and buying the virtualization software, which lets you run Windows or Linux virtual machines within OS X, you can nab a $25 gift card to iTunes as well.If you've been interested in trying some virtualization software (they're certainly a plucky group of devs) and haven't yet been enticed to do so, maybe some free iTunes money will do the trick. The offer expires in about a week and a half, so you've got a little time to think it over. $25 in iTunes goes a long way these days -- that's eight HD shows of The Office, or 25 Koi Ponds!Thanks Phill
NBC/Universal content available on Xbox Live today
NBC/Universal will be joining the over 10,000 movies and television shows currently available on Xbox Live Marketplace, as they're releasing content today. Television shows like Monk, The Office and Battlestar Galactica will be available on the service from NBC, and Universal will contribute films like 12 Monkeys, The Bourne Supremacy, The Mummy, The Chronicles of Riddick.
Rumor: NBC and iTunes to make up, make money
We heard it from a guy (thanks, Jeff K!) who heard it from another guy who basically speculated from comments made by two other guys that, surprise surprise, NBC and iTunes are on the road to reconciliation. Ok, so it isn't really a surprise-- the odds are really good that as long as there is NBC and iTunes, they'll eventually end up together. There's been some posturing in their past, but really, both have way more to gain together than apart. Not to mention that the NBC Direct service never quite panned out correctly. Of course, neither NBC nor iTunes is clearly hurting for one another. But there's so much benefit for both to make a deal that it's not hard to expect them back together by the time new Office episodes get back on the air.
Second Life is 8th "most effective" TV product placement
Though not in the upper echelons of the list, dominated by mega-brands like, uh, Tyson chicken and Sue Bee Honey, Second Life did manage to place eighth in The Hollywood Reporter's list of "Most effective placements on TV in 2007." How did the virtual world earn such an honorable distinction? Remember that guest appearance on NBC's popular sitcom The Office? Curiously, as pointed out by kids at Massively, Second Life made a far more prominent appearance on CSI: NY but that episode didn't earn the honor.Of course, we question how "effective" Second Life's placement really is in terms of prodding people into playing it. We're quite content with the little entertainment it provides within other forms of entertainment, thank you very much.[Via Massively]
Second Life ranked 8th Most Effective Placement on TV in 2007
According to hollywoodreporter.com, Second Life enjoys the 8th Most Effective Placement on TV this year, behind Nexxus on the show 'Shear Genius', and in front of Visa on the show 'What Not to Wear'. Interestingly, according to the graphic, this is the public's response to SL's appearance on The Office, even though said appearance was virtually 1% of the entire content of the show, as opposed to the CSI: NY episode, in which SL is the subject of the plot.Now, what this means to you and me is probably not a whole lot. As I understand it, this measures how the product is perceived by John Q. Public, and in this case, being on The Office means that SL has gained some respect by merely rubbing shoulders with that popular sitcom. Perhaps if Fury had been able to swing a mention ... nah, some things you just can't save. [Thanks, Neptune!]
The Office game is better than you'd think
When thinking of TV shows to transform into games, The Office isn't the first on the list. The show is light on the sort of sophomoric hijinx that usually passes for humor in games and pretty heavy on the talking. That said, the casual game version of NBC's hit show actual fares a bit better than one might expect, earning a four-star review from Gamezebo.If you've played Diner Dash, you're already familiar with the time management fetch-and-return gameplay of The Office, though there's an added twist of competing against another cubicle dweller. Judging from the demo we played, the writing's nowhere near as sharp as the TV show's (big surprise), but it's at least true enough to be respectful. (We do, however, take umbrage with the addition of a laugh track to some of the game. Seriously, guys? A laugh track?) We're not sure it would qualify as a necessary purchase, but fans of the show will probably find a few minutes of diversion.(Full disclosure: The author occasionally contributes to Gamezebo.)
The Bastard Machine gets a dig in at both Second Life and Fox News
Tim Goodman, television critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, is one of the few critics of any stripe that I enjoy reading. It's not so much that I agree or disagree with whatever he's saying; it's more that I love his style. On a recent post for sfgate.com, he makes a slight poke at Second Life when talking about CNN's announcement that they'd be opening an island there. Calling residents 'sexless losers who can't cope with reality' first, then retracting it impishly immediately thereafter is enough to win points from me.And then he makes a joke about Fox news being more influential than CNN which is so true it holds up in SL as well. I'd like Mr. Goodman to do a whole piece on SL, except there's no connection with television there ... oh wait, he must've said something about that CSI: NY episode. Or Law and Order? The Office? No? Anyone? Bueller?[Via sfgate.com]
The Office's Dwight takes to Second Life, hilarity ensues
As fans of NBC's hit 'The Office' are probably well aware, last Thursday's episode "The Ad" gave a fair bit of screen time to Second Life. Games don't usually get a terribly fair treatment in popular media, as writers tend to perpetuate popular stereotypes about players as unsociable, unhealthy, or both for the sake of making an easy joke.And while we have to concede that The Office's take on Second Life did focus on the escapism for which many people play the game, the punchlines were in all the right places. (See: Dwight's Second Life character playing an MMO within the MMO, to help escape further.) Check out the full episode on NBC's website, it's a good one.
Second Life featured in tonight's 'The Office'
When virtual worlds hit mainstream culture, they hit hard. First, it was a recent episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, featuring a fictional game called "Another YOUniverse" (we know, we know). Then, it was last night's CSI: New York, which had a criminal investigation taking part inside Second Life.Now, it's NBC's The Office, featuring video games prominently in an episode for the second time as the annoying beet farmer / paper salesman Dwight K. Schrute explores Second Life amidst the other office hijinks.While we're still a tad burnt out from previous bursts of Second Life hype, we're curious to see how The Office cast members interact with the world. The episode airs tonight at 9/8c on NBC. [Via SL Insider]
HDTV Listings for October 11, 2007
What we're watching: We're still not too sure about these hour long episodes of The Office, but we'll check that out after Ugly Betty at 8. Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Coming to Xbox Live Arcade: The Office?
You might have read over at Joystiq that MumboJumbo is working on a video game based on NBC's The Office. The game is set to feature the characters from the show depicted as bobblehead dolls. Players will be challenged to complete jobs and pull pranks around the office. Currently, the game is slated to appear on the DS, PSP, and PC. According to Variety, the game won't be developed for new-gen consoles because of its relative simplicity. XBLArcade begs to differ, noting that MumboJumbo's deal includes the option to create the title for Xbox Live Arcade.MumboJumbo recently released Luxor 2 on XBLA, so they definitely have experience with the platform. Whether or not The Office will actually make an appearance on Live Arcade remains only a rumor at this point.Now, if we could just get The Office to make an appearance on Video Marketplace, we'd really be getting somewhere.
The Office video game sounds easy: "That's what she said."
MumboJumbo, maker of "premium casual games" will soon be adding Michael Scott and his underlings to their roster as they develop a video game based on the NBC hit comedy The Office. According to the story in Variety, the player will have to "handle jobs and pull pranks" at Dunder-Mifflin, featuring the cast as bobblehead dolls. According to MumboJumbo VP Mike Suarez, "Because of its simplicity and low cost, "The Office" videogame won't be available for high-powered consoles like the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360." High-powered like the Wii, hee hee!The game will be on the Nintendo DS, Sony's PSP, and downloadable on PCs via the net sometime this Fall.
NBC announces full mobile versions of hit TV shows
In a first for a U.S. television studio, NBC said that it would permit customers to purchase prime-time TV shows at will and on demand to play on their cellphones, similar to Verizon's new offering. Maybe the old guard of television sees how media viewing and takeaway content is changing, eh? Anyhoo, efforts so far for viewing television and movies on cellphones screens have faltered, probably due to the limited and short-length content out in the market today. As usual in the mobile video market, NBC will be making hit shows like "The Office" and "Heroes" available through mobile multimedia pioneer MobiTV, and will allow customers to buy full-length episodes for $1.99 each up to 24 hours after the television show airs. A key feature we think here will be the on-demand ability to let consumers stop viewing and resume from the same point later on. That is, unless you can stomach all 23 minutes or so of a 30-minute sitcom on that 2 inch screen all at once.
HDTV Listings for February 24, 2007
What we're watching: Tonight the NASCAR Busch Series season continues in high definition on ESPN from Fontana, California. HBO also brings a new George Lopez comedy special live from Phoenix, before we get a look at Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office) hosting SNL.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Bond with your (American) office mates through Call of Duty
The Office 3-03 The Coup Critics say that the American version of British TV's The Office lacks the edge or brilliance of the original show, but they clearly missed this episode from the third season featuring an office ritual involving Call of Duty. While neither particularly brilliant nor particularly edgy, this particular episode redeems itself through product placement of the sort that we always welcome. To save a little time, the CoD scenes begin at timestamp 3:35. To waste a lot of time, kick back and enjoy the entire first season, second season, and third season.
Make an Office Mii to win an episode on iTunes
Just as expected, the Mii service has spread like wildfire. Everyone wants to make them, their friends, family, celebrities and more. We here at Wii Fanboy even had our own fun with it and created each of us. Now, Life in the Office is holding their own Mii contest for readers to create (dur) the members of the popular American version of The Office. Those who get their Office Mii posted get that week's episode of The Office on iTunes. The only downfall to the contest is that they are asking you use the online version of the Mii creator and not the one found on the Wii. So, some limitations apply. Still, there have been a lot of entries and some look scarily close to the stars of the show. [Thanks Brian!]
How iTunes saved NBC's 'The Office'
Our old friend Dave pointed us to a Newsday article discussing how iTunes essentially took NBC's The Office off the chopping block, where it was headed last year after disappointing Nielsen ratings, and catapulted it to "the Seinfeld of iTunes." If you're not a Seinfeld fan that might be meaningless to you, but trust me when I say It's the BEST, Jerry! The BEST!* Only recently did The Office cede the top spot to Lost as the single most downloaded program weekly, not to mention nabbing an Emmy (well-deserved, IMO) for Best Comedy. Angela Bromstead, president of NBC Universal, which owns and produces The Office had this to say: "I'm not sure that we'd still have the show on the air." The network had only ordered so many episodes, but when it went on iTunes and really started taking off, that gave us another way to see the true potential other than just Nielsen. It just kind of happened at a great time." Of course Nielsen is getting hip to the power of iTunes + iPod itself these days.Newer shows like 30 Rock and Jericho are also expected to be a big iTunes sellers when/if they hit the iTS, despite their currently poor Nielsen showings and may save their respective fates as well.The article goes on to talk about what doesn't sell well on iTunes. "Nielsen hits such as CSI: Miami or NCIS are no-shows in the top 50. The Simpsons? Nada (which is not on iTunes at all... even though Prison Break is a stalwart). What does any of this mean? Who knows - except, perhaps that serials and guy-oriented shows are the biggest beneficiaries of the iTunes effect." Personally I think iTunes is only part of this revolution. The networks themselves are getting smarter about putting their shows online, on their own websites, which may not be as convenient or trendy as iTunes, but it's certainly a start. With all the timeshifting and placeshifting going on these days anyway, Prime Time Television as we have known it for many years is going away sooner rather than later. iTunes is really only the beginning of the revolution. It's not the be all and end all.Thanks, Dave! *It's purely coincidence that I had not one, but two opportunities to reference Seinfeld today. Life is good.
NBC looks to resurrect Must-See TV with all HD lineup
NBC is shuffling its lineup and to make Thursday a "Must-see TV" night again, it is pairing two of our favorite HD comedies My Name is Earl and The Office, with returning -- and now HDTV-ready -- series Scrubs, and new show 30 Rock. There's also some show called E.R. at 10 p.m. but does anyone really watch that anymore? 30 Rock moves to Thursdays beginning November 16th as it joins with Earl and The Office in super-sized 40-minute episodes, but the block trule comes together on the 30th with the arrival of Scrubs in the 9 p.m. slot. That seems like a pretty powerful lineup to us, but it remains to be seen if easter eggs, emo hipster doctors and a british comedy transplant can bring back memories of the Seinfeld / Friends lineup of yesteryear.[Via TV Squad]
Online gaming to become MySpace?
Nielsen Media Research released their newest Active Gamer Study a few days ago, and according to the new stats more than 56% of the 117 million gamers in the U.S. spend at least five hours a week gaming socially in places like Xbox Live, World of Warcraft, and on WiFi platforms such as the PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS. Social gaming reaches more gamers every year with the addition of new hardware and games that allow people to compete or cooperate online. Last week's episode of The Office featured Jim and his coworkers playing Call of Duty, and South Park showed us the evils of WoW, which only attests to the growing popularity of both. If you've ever doubted the popularity of social gaming, you need to read about how our very own Christopher Grant got some ass within moments of hooking up his Xbox Vision Camera.Social networking in the U.S. is currently dominated by MySpace, where more than half of its 90 million U.S. users are over the age of 35. As social gaming and networking continue to grow, their areas of influence are bound to overlap. Companies would love to sink their teeth into a demographic that uses their product for more then five hours a week, and users want an online experience that puts them in touch with with old and new friends, while pimping themselves out. Don't be surprised when your gamertag turns into your MySpace page, complete with sparkling stars, unicorns, and a Ben Kweller song that starts playing at full volume immediately upon loading.You only have a few months until My SecondLifeSpace of Warcraft Live is released worldwide by Rupert Murdoch, don't tell us you weren't warned.
