Justice League Animated - Introduction

I've decided to go back to animation, and I just happened upon a great deal on Amazon for the Justice League complete series.

I previously covered Filmation's Aquaman in this blog. There were a few JL shorts during Aquaman and the New Adventures of Superman, but with the short length of the segments, you only got a few seconds with each hero. Oh, and the stories were insipid.

The 70's brought us Super-Friends (apparently, Hanna-Barbera thought Justice League was too complex a concept for kids to understand). It spawned several series into the 80's. I don't know if I can take that much Gleek and Marvin the Boy Wonder, so we'll skip that for now.

Warner Bros made a major push into doing their own television animation in the mid-80's, mostly due to their creation of Cartoon Network. Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) was introduced to capitalize on the huge success of the Tim Burton franchise, and several sequels followed. Once Superman: The Animated Series was introduced, it was only a matter of time before they would tackle the whole team. The new JL series was done in the same streamlined style that Bruce Timm introduced. Superman and Batman had already met in the continuity, but this was the first big teamup--and the first animated appearance for some of the heroes.

The initial team--we'll cover each in detail as we go:

• "The Trinity" - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman
• Flash (Wally West)
• Green Lantern (John Stewart)
• Hawkgirl
• Martian Manhunter

They really went all out on this show--impressive animation (at least at the time), great voice talent, intricate stories, and a generally somber mood--this is not your parent's Super-Friends.

We’ll cover both the JL series and Justice League Unlimited, where DC allowed WB Animation access to all the crayons in the box--the whole DC universe.

Unfortunately, Justice League is not on Netflix or Hulu, but the DVD box set is available on Amazon. 

Star Trek TNG: From Season 6 to Season 7

Let's "make it so"...

• Season 6 ends with another cliffhanger--"Descent". The Borg are back, but now they're not a collective--they are acting alone. Also, Data is exhibiting emotions--in this case, anger. The nexus for both of these events? Lore's back, and running his own Borg army. The situation is desperate enough to put Crusher in the big chair. It's a psychological drama more than a war story, with Data being swayed by the Borg and allying himself with Lore. There was also some audio problems with the episode on Netflix--sounded like a warped record.
• The cliffhanger is completed in the Season 7 premiere. Riker and Worf run into Hugh, the Borg Picard let go in an earlier episode--he's started a resistance movement against Lore. Crusher has her hands full with a Borg ship, and Data (under Lore's control) is about to experiment on LaForge. Of course, it's all resolved in the end, and Data gets the emotion chip--but doesn't want it (at least until we get to the TNG films). The two-parter includes an interesting cameo--Stephen Hawking as a hologram of himself playing poker.
• Picard on a shuttle? That never goes well. In "Liasions", the Enterprise is running an exchange program with an alien race. The shuttle taking Picard to the alien's world crashes, and a mysterious woman (Barbara Williams) saves him. Unfortunately, it turns into the TNG equivalent of "Misery", but ends up being an alien experiment. There's also a wacky B-story about how Troi and Worf handle their exchange partners on the ship. They must have needed a cheaper episode after the two parter--the planet surface is "Planet Hell", a set they rarely used in later seasons since it looks like paper-mache and styrofoam.
• Geordi is experimenting with a teleprescence probe to be used in dangerous situations, and ends up in an "Interface" with his missing mother. Is he seeing her or not? Of course, it ends up being an alien trying to return to their home. Lots of technobabble in this episode. Ben Vereen cameos as Geordi's father.

We'll continue with the final season of TNG next time. Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix.

Star Trek TNG: Even More Season 6

Let's go...

• In "Lessons", Picard falls in love with the ship's new stellar cartographer (Wendy Hughes). Most of the episode is "slice of life" until he's forced to put her in danger as part of an away mission. It's strange that we never heard of stellar cartography or who worked there until this episode--and I doubt we'll hear of it (or her) again. "No beach to walk on..."
• Picard's archaeology "hobby" is put to the test in "The Chase". His old professor shows up and is then murdered, so the Enterprise continues his mysterious mission. They find a message from an ancient civilization, including a sci-fi audition scene for young actors.
• In "Frame of Mind", Riker is in a play about being an insane murderer, then he is an insane murderer in an alien asylum, then he's back on the ship. It's like TNG meets Inception. Frakes really gets a chance to do some ACTING in this episode. Doesn't Crusher have some medical stuff to do, instead of directing plays?
• Speaking of Crusher, she gets a chance to lead an episode in "Suspicions". It's all a flashback to a murder mystery that strips her of her medical career--of course, it all turns out OK in the end. There's a lot of voiceover from McFadden in the episode. It seemed like an old fashioned TV drama--not a very modern writing technique.
• More Klingon mumbo-jumbo in "Rightful Heir". Worf has a crisis of faith in Kahless, until he meets him in person. Alan Oppenheimer plays one of the Klingons--his resume goes back to 1961, and has guested on too many series to list. He's also prolific in voiceovers--you know him as Skeletor on He-Man.
• "Because they're Rikers...identical Rikers all the way...". We've made it to the inevitable "twin" episode "Second Chances"--in this case, a transporter technobabble accident creates two Rikers, one of which was trapped on a planet for 8 years. Lt. Riker is still in love with Troi (as if Cmdr. Riker isn't). I love how the producers showed off how the RIkers could interact--no more obvious line in the background.
• Things get what The Doctor would call "timey-wimey" for Picard, LaForge, Data, and Troi in "Timescape". Time freezes, goes backward, slows down, and there's technobabble aplenty. The ship's shuttle appears to be infected by the TARDIS--it's a lot bigger on the inside than the exterior would indicate.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix--more to come!

Star Trek TNG: More Season Six

Onward...

• More holodeck hijinks in "Ship in a Bottle".  Moriarty is back--he leaves holo-London and walks on the ship. Barclay let him out--has anyone in the 24th century ever heard of passwords? The whole episode becomes a matrushka doll of holodecks within holodecks.
• We get a weird film noir / creepy alien hybrid in "Aquiel". There's been a murder on a remote station, and Geordi gets romantically involved with the main suspect (Renee Jones). The actual murderer is a blobby alien that takes the form is whatever it touches. Geordi--will you ever learn?
• Troi is in a tough spot in "Face of the Enemy"--she's been kidnapped, altered to look Romulan, and is acting as an intelligence officer on a Romulan ship. She doesn't know whom to trust. Then the Enterprise gets involved. We learn a bit more about Romulan society in the episode, but it seems to end very abruptly.
• Picard plays Quantum Leap in "Tapestry". He get a chance (via Q) to relive the event that gave him an artificial heart. The critical event surrounds a 24th century bumper pool game--I love how the designers come up with concepts like this. Picard keeps his heart, but is now a lieutenant--he ended up playing it too safe. Q lets him do a reset.
• We complete the Klingon saga with the two-part "Birthright". As always, Klingon stories are very complicated, so I won't go into detail. Basically, Worf learns that his father may be alive on a prison planet and goes there to find out. Blah-blah-blah, honor, duty, family, repeat. The more interesting story involves the first crossover with DS9 (apart from the other show's pilot). Data, Geordi, and Dr. Bashir run an experiment that accidentally causes Data to "dream", so he goes in search of its meaning. It gets really trippy--Spiner get a chance to do some real ACTING. We also get some pretty shots of the Enterprise inside and out during his "dreams'.
• Picard has quite the adventure during otherwise routine maintenance of the ship in "Starship Mine". The Enterprise is evacuated during a radiation sweep, but there's terrorists, and he's on his own. It's very much like a standard action movie--Die Hard with Earl Grey Hot! There's also a great B-story with Data outdoing an annoying official at a reception--Spiner really milks the part. 

Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix--more to come!

Hogan's Heroes - Part 25: The Conclusion

We've made it to the finish line--here are the final six episodes!

• It's "Klink for the Defense"--his first case involves a Nazi traitor with secret plans, and Hogan wants them. The opposing council is Burkhalter, so that won't go well. I noticed that Dawson's role in the final season has really been beefed up--he's getting a lot of screen time.
• Nita Talbot makes her last appearance as Russian spy Marya in "The Kamikases are Coming". She shows up with a new rocket, and wants Hogan to steal it for her. They wheel the rocket on a cart through the camp (?!?), then fire it out of the recreation hall (?!?!?!?). The actual firing looks like it came out of a HO scale train set. 
• Yet another general parachutes near Stalag 13--this time played by Johnny Haymer--and the boys have to get him out. Meanwhile, Burkhalter's sister Gertrude (Kathleen Freeman) is back, this time with a fiancee (Lee Bergere), who's going to be Klink's adjutant. There's also Klink's "girlfriend" (actually an underground agent) played by Leslie Parrish. In the end, the agent stops the wedding, the general is sent off, and "Kommandant Gertrude" is hooked up with Klink again.
• Have the Gestapo finally caught up to Hogan? A rogue officer (Malachi Throne) is convinced of Hogan's guilt, so Hogan has to throw him off the track. A party in town, a disguise, and a Field Marshall (John Hoyt) does the trick in "Hogan's Double Life".
• It's wintertime at Stalag 13, and the boys are conscripted to shovel snow. If they succeed, Nazi tanks will take out an Allied offensive. The other choice--cause an avalanche to block the pass. How? The boys have a jam session in "Look at the Pretty Snowflakes". Crane was a drummer in real life, so it seems like the episode was written around him.
• We wind up the series with "Rockets or Romance". There's a rocket launcher being stationed in Stalag 13 (again?), so Hogan partners with a beautiful agent (Marlyn Mason, in her second appearance) to take it out. They hang out at a cabin while the boys use an electromagnet to take out out the rocket.

Well, that's it--this turned into quite a slog near the end. Coming up next, we're going back to animation. 

I hope you played along! If not, the DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 24

We're close to the finish line...

• LaBeau in one of his many former lives was a fortune teller--or at least that's the scam in "The Gypsy". There's a scene in the barracks with a fake rainstorm outside--it sounds like they had to "loop" all the dialogue.
• German scientists become "The Dropouts" so they can escape to England. Semi-regulars John Stephenson and Ben Wright play the scientists. Hogan and the boys give them a hand, along with Hochstedder (unknowingly, via his car trunk). I love how the cast knows a lot about atomic bombs prior to the end of the war.
• Burkhalter gets Hogan to steal a P-51 fighter-bomber from England for $1M in "Easy Come, Easy Go". It starts with a party including Cynthia Lynn (Klink's first secretary in a cameo), and ends with the capture of Nazi spies. Klink goes along for the ride. There's a great process shot through a window--it's like they're showing The History Channel outside.
• For the five hundredth time, a spy comes into Stalag 13 as a supposed prisoner. This time, Hogan and the boys double-cross him, take his place at a big Nazi meeting, then scam him into thinking he's in Berlin, so he can divulge his contact there. There's a great bit from Dawson and Hovis playing a German family on the phone, and another where they play Hitler and his secretary. It's all in "The Meister Spy".
• An master spy for the Allies needs penicillin to save his life, so what can Hogan and the boys do? Have Newkirk dress as a woman and go to a Nazi tea party, of course. They use him as a courier to get the penicillin out--"That's No Lady, That's My Spy".  We finally get to meet Mrs. Burkhalter (Diana Chesney), while 60's TV mainstay Alice Ghostley plays another of the women.
• Ruta Lee makes her third Hogan appearance--this time as a spy. A Nazi wanting to get out of the Russian Front blackmails Hogan, so he brings her in to convince Klink to swap places, so that the boys can take a peek at secret papers. Of course, they also double-cross the Nazi. That complicated enough for you? It's "To Russia Without Love". There's a crash scene that's practically "F-Troopian". 

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

QISE Review - Day 16

The final total for hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through the Closing Ceremony - 446 hours of QISE coverage. 

• Usain Bolt looked like he had to actually push to win the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay. Previously, he seemed to coast at the end.
• What in the world is the women's modern pentathlon? Well, it's pistol shooting, fencing, freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a cross-country run. Sounds like good training for the CIA or MI6. "Modern" is relative--it was first run in 1912. The big change is that the running and shooting are done together--a snowless biathlon.
• NBC has really taken advantage of the graphic overlay tech first designed for football. An example is the Javelin--they show where the current gold/silver/bronze distances are, along with QISE/world record distances.
• Sunday seems to be rerun day--like the men's Basketball "victory"
• They also had time tonight to air a 90-minute review show prior to the Closing Ceremony, which pushes the Closing Ceremony back past 11a EST.
• Speaking of that--The Closing Ceremony has become this weird hybrid of pop concert/fashion show/moshpit/light show/Cirque de Soleil event. It's like the Super Bowl halftime show on crack.
  • I suspect I would enjoy it far more if I was on powerful hallucinogens
  • Winston Churchhill as a Laugh-In character, popping out of a building--huh
  • Batman and Robin an exploding car--double huh
  • The Pet Shop Boys, dressed like--erasers? origami? traffic cones?
  • Ladies and gentlemen--STOMP!
  • Guys in blue with light bulbs on their heads--a TARDIS tribute?
  • Russell Brand is no singer--and he's in the wrong key
  • A phrase I never thought I'd say--"Oh no, the Rolls Royce is going to back into the inflatable octopus!"
  • The worst kept secret was the Spice Girls reunion--looked like 5 soccer moms on top of taxis
  • Finally, after 16 days, the UK's greatest accomplishment: a Monty Python tribute. Eric Idle and a cast of thousands singing "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life"
  • A writhing half-naked woman screaming on stage, followed by the national anthem of Greece--sounds about right
  • After the flag handoff, we get the Rio presentation with all the Brazilian celebrities like--um--that guy and the girl with the hair. Oh, and Pele.
  • What describes the QISE spirit better than The Who singing "Teenage Wasteland"? 
• Final thoughts--
  • Overall, I think Kabletown did a decent job. I know there was a lot of criticism about the tape delays, but I'm not sure what else they could do with the time difference. If you wanted to see events live, they were all available via online/mobile (assuming you had cable). You got far more coverage than ever before, even without the online component. If I had more tuners in the DVR, I could have generated a much higher number of hours.
  • Speaking of online, the site and video quality were excellent, even on mobile. This also shows that YouTube (the actual tech behind it) is ready from a technical standpoint to provide a pseudo-cable experience (of course, the content providers won't want to annoy their cable overlords and/or actual owners, so it will never happen).
  • As always, NBC is too jingoistic with all the "USA! USA!" stuff. If you wanted a more balanced view, watch the online coverage.

That wraps it up--hope you enjoyed my comments and QISE in general.  I'll do this again for Sochi and Rio (hopefully with a better DVR setup).

QISE Review - Day 15

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Saturday--418 hours so far.

• The 4x400m relay had two big stories:
  • The US losing for the first time in 60 years, partly due to Manteo Mitchell's injury--a broken leg--during the previous round
  • Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee from South Africa, running in the final
• What's the deal with bringing Jimmy Fallon into QISE coverage, just so he can do a bit?  I don't see Leno doing Headlines in London.
• Controversy in the women's Hammer Throw--Germany's Betty Heidler was given an eighth place finish based on a faulty measurement, but was eventually given the bronze when the judge figured out the mistake. The difference was in terms of several feet--how do you make that big a mistake in front of the world stage?
• Race-walking is Britain's tribute to Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks.
• Is the penultimate night of the QISE quiet? Well, they had time to show a Tom Brokaw tribute to the British Greatest Generation. I thought I tuned into the History Channel.

The final day of QISE is yet to come.

QISE Review - Day 14

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Friday--393 hours so far. 

• If you were wondering what high tech method NBC uses to show the diving events--a guy drops a camera down a track at the same time the diver drops. 
• The BMX Cycling event is not just EXTREME, it's insane--8 bikes going down the same narrow track at once. It's like NASCAR with bicycles--you're watching it for the crashes. I assume this event will be pulled off the QISE schedule when someone is killed.
• Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show--"Explain the difference between the Triple Jump and the Long Jump". Well, I believe there are 3 jumps involved.
• Ryan Seacrest is going to co-host the Closing Ceremony with Costas? It's the battle of the midgets.
• Oh boy, the US Basketball team is going to the gold medal match. The millionaire professionals are beating the poor amateur players--they must be very proud.
• I'm glad the volleyball audience is taking the event so seriously. In attendance were Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Incredible, and a gorilla. Someone cleaned out a London costume shop.

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 13

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Thursday--370 hours so far.

• How do you make a 10 second event like the 100m hurdles last 10 minutes? Include an "up close and personal" report on the American plus an interview afterwards.
• I didn't see why there was such excitement about the beach volleyball win for Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings--the expected winners won.  Woo?
• The Synchronized Swimming team competition seems particularly silly--it's like a parody of itself. A competitor at some point decided that smiling during the routine was a good idea--now they all have to plaster ghastly grins on their faces. It's like they released Joker venom into the water.

 More to come.

QISE Review - Day 12

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Wednesday--346 hours so far.

• Finishing out gymnastics
  • The commentators noted that the Chinese in their training have their girls stand on tip toe on the Balance Beam for five minutes, and simulate the lighting at the actual event. Any reason the US can't do that, or are they too busy checking their make-up?
  • The thrill of--paperwork? Aly Raisman got the bronze on Balance Beam after an inquiry was made. I love how the coach had to beg for a pen in order to fill out the form--for lack of a nail...
  • Of course, Raisman made up for it with a gold in the Floor Exercise
• It's fun when an athlete doesn't follow the narrative NBC came up with before the games. Lolo Jones from the 100m hurdles was to follow a) athlete overcomes adversity, wins or b) athlete is gracious about losing. Instead, on the Today show, she chose c) athlete whines and cries about losing.
• It's QISE TO THE EXTREME with the BMX Cycling event--clearly trying to bring in a bit of the X-Games audience

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 11

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Tuesday--321 hours so far.

• I'm really leaning on the fast forward button to get through all the coverage--thank goodness for handball, volleyball, water polo...
• Gymnastics notes
  • I find the uneven bars event to be much more fun if you make comedy "I'm out of control" noises while they do it (whoa--WHOOA--whoo)
  • NBC, in an attempt to make the scoring more comprehensible, added "stoplights" (red/yellow/greed) next to the score. Unfortunately, they don't set them consistently, so the commentators need to explain it anyway
  • Another performance by Viktoria Komova, the "Crying Russian". When she finished an event, it looked like someone had just kicked her puppy.
  • "Boy did I get that wrong" - Tim Daggett, when Arthur Zanetti of Brazil won the rings event after he had just talked about another competitor winning in a repeat
• Kirani James is why the QISE exists. First medal winner ever from Grenada (Gold in the 400m sprint), and a class act--he traded name tags with Oscar Pistorius after their heat.
• What did TV use to fill up QISE coverage before Beach Volleyball? The "uniforms" they wear can only keep your attention for so long.

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 10

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Monday--293 hours so far.

• First off, my notes this week will most likely be truncated. I had the chance to be on a staycation last week, so I had plenty of time to review the coverage. I'm back to work now, so I'll compress my reviews into a few hours each night.
• After the nightly Tivo reboot, I finished up last night's coverage. I'm getting tired of this, as I am of the gymnastics theme they keep playing (dum-dum-dum-de-dum).
• They also dug up the "Matrix" effect so they could show the gymnastic vaults in 360 degrees
• The 4 stages of grief for NBC gymnastics - "She's absolutely going to win", "Absolutely shocking", "Stunning gold", "This truly is unbelievable"
• The Canada-US soccer match went all the way to the end of second extended time period to finish up.  I managed to see most of it, including the final score by the US.
• Mary Carillo had another fascinating background piece on England tonight--this one covered the Greenwich Meridian Line and the British observatory there. NBC News should use her--or I'm sure they need analysts for the NBC Sports Network?

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 9

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Sunday--265 hours so far.

• Another day, another Tivo overnight crash. At least I caught it earlier this time.
• Back at Track and Field--in a bit of British whimsy, a mini-Mini Cooper RC car is used to return the discuses (disci?) back to the starting point
• Clearly, the home team advantage in QISE is real--how else would you explain how Murray dismantled Federer in men's tennis?
• NBC prepped the audience for tonight's women's gymnastics with a short film on Olga Korbut. You can't overestimate how her performance in the 1972 Muinch games transformed the sport.
• I can't separate the synchronized swimming event from the SNL film with Shearer, Short, and Guest (see the video above--we'll see how long before Kabletown pulls it). NBC has added a camera trick to show the competitors above and below the water at the same time, which helps a lot.
• I'm wondering how QISE events are scheduled--in some cases, they are stacked on top of each other, while others have days between them. For example, Murray had an hour between his singles and mixed doubles gold medal tennis matches (each of which take hours to complete), while synchronized swimming has a day scheduled between their 2 1/2 minute routines.
• Prime time begins with a 30 minute interview between Costas and Phelps. Much of this was shown last night, so I'm guessing that NBC assumed the 7-8p block would be soft in terms of ratings.
• I think the whole evening is lacking for major events--perhaps why we also get a Mary Carillo report on James Bond (followed by a Skyfall ad--it's all about synergy).

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 8

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Saturday--235 hours so far.

• Speaking of the Tivo--another crash last night, about 10 minutes after I stopped for the night. Got it working again this morning, but I missed the last 90 minutes from prime time, plus late night and early NBCSN coverage. So, what did I miss?
  • The women's 800m freestyle swimming final, with 15-tear old US swimmer Ali Ledecky taking the gold. USA Today reported that NBC cut away to commercials during the 8 minute event.
  • Men's trampoline was also scheduled last night, so I'll have to go online to see it.
• Mary Carillo is doing double duty--late night host and tennis play-by-play this morning. Of course, the latter was a quick gig, based on the Willliams-Sharapova match.
• I got a chance to try out the NBC "Live Extra" app while out at a restaurant. Running a Galaxy Nexus on 4G, the video from various events was excellent, and the app response was quite snappy. 
• The Chinese gymnastics team is not doing well--their women's trampoline star screwed up at the end of her routine, giving Rosannagh Maclennan of Canada the win (Canada's first gold of the games).
• A first for the games today--Oscar Pistorius of South Africa, a double amputee, competed in the 400m sprint with his "cheetah blades", getting past the first round. There's still a debate over whether his "disability" helps or hurts him--but since the QISE committee okayed it, more power to him.
• I watched what appears to be a parody event--sprint track cycling. Two cyclists ride as slowly as they can, watching the other constantly, then pedal as fast as they can at the end--the important thing is not the time, but who wins.  Guatemalan Erick Barrondo won the silver--the first medal ever for Guatemala. 
• John McEnroe, an analyst for NBC, was sporting a wardrobe from the "Russian Mobster" collection today...
• You could tell that NBC's Track and Field analyst Ato Boldon had the phrase "The Pryce is Right" locked and loaded months ago in anticipation of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's win in the women's 100m dash
• Michael Phelps' QISE finale--hyperbolic much?

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 7

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Friday--210 hours so far.

• Ryan Lochte is not a great public speaker, if his interviews on NBC are any judge.
• So the gymnastics score goes out to a thousandth of a point, but when a tie still occurs, one person gets the medal and the other doesn't? I guess those medals are too expensive to just hand out to anyone.
• I would hate to be one of the shot put judges--you're constantly avoiding heavy objects. I guess it's better than the javelin.
• There's another apparent gaffe from NBC involving promos--although in this case someone is overreacting. Costas was talking about Gabby Douglas's win, and then a promo was shown for the upcoming "Animal Practice" series. The promo includes a monkey on gymnastics rings. I can see the potential slight, but I doubt NBC intended it.
• There hasn't been a lot to cover today--maybe that's why NBC decided to start prime time with a two-part film piece on the "Magnificent 7" gymnastics team from 1996.
• I continue to be impressed by Missy Franklin--not only for her swimming performance, but for the fact that she has rejected all endorsements so she can stay on her high school (and soon college) swim teams.

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 6

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Thursday--182 hours so far.

• Watching men's gymnastics from last night--the big difference between this and the women's event? For the girls, it's who can excel, but for the boys, it who screws up less.
• I'm finding myself fast forwarding through the swimming heats--each skip, and they're going in the other direction
• I look forward to Mary Carillo's late night coverage and reports--she is clearly having fun
• Bad form, Today Show! When Gabrielle Douglas was shown in a taped package, rap music was suddenly added
• In a story so remarkable that not even NBC could have scripted it, Kayla Harrison won Judo gold--she was sexually abused by her first coach, her new coaches got her into therapy and retrained her, she wins the gold, and now plans to be a firefighter.
• What I'm sacrificing for the blog--I decided to watch prime time live tonight, instead of whipping through it via Tivo. I'm doing it to see how well the "online companion" app works. I'm running it on my Galaxy Nexus, using my home wifi, plugged into AC power.
  • Overall, it's not bad. Biographical info on athletes competing at the time, twitters, photos, polls, quizzes...
  • The synchronization to the broadcast is fairly close--I'm wondering how much of it was already written up beforehand (since the entire primetime coverage is on tape), and how much is done on the fly.
  • It did appear to lock up at one point, forcing me to close and restart the app
  • Based on the quiz results, there was a high mark of 4300 people actively using the app (they may be splitting up the logins into multiple instances)
  • In the first hour, there were 34 entries on the app--more than one every two minutes 
  • I wouldn't mind some real time detailed stats for each ongoing event
  • Videos and photos don't always come up, especially when showing multiple pics at once. The underlying app is using Adobe tech, so it may not work great on my Android Ice Cream Sandwich device.
  • Updates to the app have come in almost every day--I assume that's to fine tune the code base
• We've made it to women's gymnastics--histrionics, HO!
  • "They could call that a step too--and if they do, she'll be punished"
  • "I know I sound like I am obnoxiously critical..."
  • "They work on...the micro-basics of the sport"
  • "Balance Beam is the great separator"
  • "They say a crowded room can be the most lonely place in the world"
• I'm starting to wonder if NBC will stage a nationwide power blackout as a publicity stunt for their upcoming "Revolution" series
• Another "instant ad" from AT&T, referencing the Rebecca Soni swimming win "just a few minutes" after the event (actually hours later--remember, it's all on tape)
• Did we just see another spoiler on a Today show ad? It trumpeted that Douglas and Lochte would be on the show tomorrow, with no reference to their rivals--neither have won or lost (at least in terms of the prime time script) when it aired around 9:45p.  Let's see what happens. Shouldn't NBC have a VP in charge of spoilers?
  • Update--Douglas gets the gold, Lochte gets a bronze and a silver--so I'd say it was a spoiler

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 5

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Wednesday--154 hours so far.

• Watching the women's Cycling Time Trials--I love that the current leaders sit in actual thrones watching the others come in
• Scandal in Badminton? Doubles teams from South Korea, China, and Indonesia threw matches in order to get a more favorable spot in later matches. From the video I saw, it wasn't subtle--they were obviously serving into the net, over and over. The other countries basically said "Well, China started it". If China jumped off a cliff, would you do it? The teams involved have been disqualified.
• Had a minor crisis before prime time--my Tivo started rebooting on it's own. I think it's fixed--fingers crossed. Today's notes may be a bit truncated.
• So why can the male swimmers wear long trunks, but the divers have to wear tiny briefs?
• We're seeing almost real-time ads tonight--Phelps winning his 19th medal in a VISA ad, and the women's gymnastic win referenced in a AT&T ad
• Also during diving, there was a dramatic music drop that seemed out of place--it was just an analyst going into technical detail, and in the background, it's DUHH-DUM-DUHH-DUHHH...
• In order to look hip, NBC brought in Ryan Seacrest to provide Facebook and Twitter stats from last night. Looks like Gabrielle Douglas is getting the majority of the "Fab 5" love.
• Danell Levya--one of the male gymnasts--has a favorite blankey, apparently    

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 4

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Tuesday--128 hours so far.

• Watching men's gymnastics from last night--apparently, the commission in charge of the sport has codified bribes to the judges. The Japanese coach filed a formal inquiry over a move on the pommel horse, and in order to do so, there's a "payment"   required. There was a bizarre shot of the coach handing the judges a wad of bills.  WTF? Well, the "payment" worked, and the Japanese got silver, pushing GB to bronze.
• In late night--why is Shaun White being interviewed at the Summer QISE? Because NBC realizes the Winter QISE is more popular.
• Great to see Community's Greendale Human Beings at the Judo event
• Moving to prime time, Bob Costas continues his anchor role. While he really doesn't spend much time onscreen, he's become the Jim McKay of the 21st century--the voice of QISE. If his Wikipedia entry is accurate, Costas turned 60 this year, but certainly doesn't look it.
• Perhaps things were quiet today--it's the only explanation I have for NBC spending over half an hour at the start of prime time on women's synchronized diving, when the US wasn't even in the finals.  That's not to say I didn't enjoy it--it's just a surprising move by the network.
• Then it's the women's gymnastics team final, so fire up the pathos!
  • Perfunctory hugs after every performance
  • Tim Daggett:
    • "That score was so, so wrong!"
    • "Not a death knell for Russia, but not good"
    • They even used his voice as parody for an animated movie ad
  • One "up close and personal" segment after the other
  • The music video played over and over
  • Lots of crying from the Russians

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 3

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Monday--97 hours so far.

• Late last night, NBC's carefully pre-written script on women's gymnastics was shredded.
  • The world champion, a member of the "Fab 5" (YOU WILL ACCEPT THIS NICKNAME) did not make the team finals
  • NBC did manage to wring every drop of pathos out of the event--at one point, one of the two US winners was interviewed while the loser was framed perfectly in the background
  • The commentators as well as ol' Bela, were incensed by this, and made their obvious bias even more clear.
• Watching Equestrian Cross Country on NBCSN--between the large crowds lining the course and the whimsical jumps, it reminded me of miniature golf writ large. Do I need to hit the ball into the clown's mouth to win?
• Double entendre of the day--while talking about getting proper footing for the horses, the commentator noted that "they needed to stud up"
• On table tennis--why do the competitors need to shag their own balls? Can't they have ball boys as in regular tennis?
• On kayaking - there was a 44-year old female competitor, and the announcers made it sound like she shouldn't have been allowed out of the nursing home (Disclosure--I'm 48)
• When they show a pool-level view of the butterfly swim, I'm reminded of Whac-a -Mole as they bob up and down
• Random gymnastics announcer statement of the night--"He just has to erase his hard disk"

More to come.