HBO Adds New Podcasts
Posted by Eric Chaloux Categories: Cable, HBO, Entourage, The Sopranos, Internet, News,
HBO is taking some of your favorite shows and putting them on your iPod. The cable powerhouse is now launching podcasts for Deadwood, Entourage, Lucky Louie and Dane Cook’s Tourgasm. When you log on you’ll find that there are a lot of extras such as behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. HBO reportedly plans on releasing new clips until the summer season wraps up in August. If you’re going through The Sopranos withdrawal, you can also get a behind-the-scenes podcast on the HBO Web site.
Read More 
| HBO
Gallery: HBO Adds New Podcasts
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HBO Ratings Musings: Entourage Up, Deadwood Down
Posted by Christina Furtado Categories: HBO, Entourage, The Sopranos, Editorial, Ratings,
Sunday night saw the third season premieres of HBO Originals Deadwood and Entourage. The former had about 2.4 million viewers, which is something of a let-down for the show. On the other hand, Entourage‘s numbers represent that shows continued steady building of an audience. By the way, that night’s premiere of Lucky Louie, the network’s first “traditional” sitcom, managed only a paltry 1.5 viewers.
With The Sopranos winding down, and with the loss in the past couple of years of hits like Sex and the City and Six Feet Under, one has to wonder if HBO is finally losing steam, artistically. Sure, Entourage and The Wire still get buzz, and Rome has a small-but-devoted following.
But the network is giving up on Deadwood after this season (though it will wrap up the story lines with two, two-hour movies), though the show is still artistically vital and exciting as ever, if Sunday’s premiere was any indication. The show’s almost baroque use of language and multi-layered plot threads perhaps make it very hard to follow for the casual viewer perhaps, but time was when HBO didn’t seem to care about that stuff so much. Heck, even the meandering, introspective (read: fewer whackings ) recent season of The Sopranos seemed to bore most viewers, though David Chase’s evolving artistic vision impressed a vocal minority even further; the ratings dipped a bit, but were still better than anything else on Pay Cable, of course.
With the financially-induced demise of Deadwood imminent, and the advent of a more traditional show like Lucky Louie (which I have not seen, but hear was nothing special), I am starting to wonder if HBO is losing some of its creative edge and becoming more, well, network-y. I also have to wonder how much they take things like repeats and On Demand into consideration when looking at their ratings, since many people now don’t see these shows right when they first air. I’d love to see some other opinions on this issue. Also, I have to tell people: if you’re not on the Deadwood bandwagon yet, it’s never too late to get on. In my humble opinion, it’s one of the best three shows on TV, period.
Read More | Zap2It
Gallery: HBO Ratings Musings: Entourage Up, Deadwood Down
The premiere picks up several months after last season’s finale. Aquaman has already been filmed and the premiere is just days away. The most important task at hand right now is figuring out which of the lovely ladies out there are premiere-ticket worthy.
Ari, of course, has other matters to worry about. His new West Hollywood digs don’t come with cleaning staff… or a working elevator… or a parking garage. His main client, Vince Chase, is coming by for his first visit and Ari is freaking out. As usual, his small staff of nine bears the brunt of his outbursts.
Although Vince seems perfectly at ease about his upcoming night, Ari is far from calm. Vince apparently doesn’t recognize the importance of the evening and Ari wants to make sure he rises to the occasion. This is Vinnie’s opportunity to show the world that is is man not a boy, and his date choice for the evening must reflect his status. Simply arriving with his usual entourage will not suffice. Vince still doesn’t seem concerned but decides that the only woman he would want to invite is his mom. AQUAMOM!. Vince’s brother, Johnny ‘Drama’, believes he would have to pull off a miracle to get her to LA… especially considering that she has never made an appearance at any of his affairs. Regardless, Vince is convinced that he can make it work.
Click to continue reading Entourage: Aquamom
Gallery: Entourage: Aquamom
What I DON’T Like About Entourage
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: HBO, Entourage, Talent, Editorial,
Okay—you’re probably wondering how I could be criticizing a show that hasn’t even started its season yet… especially since I recently praised its return.
As I mentioned before, I only started watching the show during Season 2…and I think I’ve finally figured out why. If there was one thing I could do to make this stellar show even better, it would be this: CUT ADRIEN GRENIER’S HAIR!!!
For someone who’s supposed to be the central character of the show, I have always found him extremely unappealing—and extremely unattractive. I remember back to the day when he was starring as the romantic lead opposite Sabrina the Teenage Witch in Drive Me Crazy. I couldn’t for the life of me then understand why he would drive anyone crazy. (Unless, of course, they were forced to stare at his unibrow and unruly hair).
So needless to say, I still can’t figure out why he is the money maker of the show’s entourage. How could James Cameron find him appealing enough to make him the star of Aquaman? (I’m referring to an actual storyline within the show…Lord knows when James Cameron will actually direct another movie in real life). How could Mandy Moore consider leaving her fiancee to be with him? (Of course, another storyline within the show).
I was secretly praying that his coif would improve during the show’s hiatus, but when I saw the recent ads for the premiere—all my hopes were dashed. Instead of getting shorter, his hair actually grew longer. I can’t say it enough….thank gawd for Jeremy Piven.
Gallery: What I DON’T Like About Entourage
Joseph Gannascoli plays Vito Spatafore on the Sorpranos and once praised Stacker 2 for helping him shed 140 pounds. Gannascoli and the makers of Stacker 2 aren’t the best of friends anymore. NVE Pharmaceuticals, the maker of the Stacker 2 diet pill, filed a lawsuit in New Jersey on Thursday against Gannascoli. NVE is accusing him of not doing enough to promote the diet-pill after receiving $316,000 over the last 2 1/2 years.
Gannascoli character on The Soprano’s was a closet gay mobster. Gannascoli accuses the makers of the diet-drug of hating homosexuals. He said to the New York Post that NVE stopped wanting to use him after his character was outed. “That was their problem. They were anti-gay,” Gannascoli told The Post. The diet company spoke out today in the New York Post…The president of NVE, Robert Occhifinto, strongly disagreed. He said the lawsuit had “nothing to do with the gay role,” but was launched because Gannascoli was so difficult to work with before he was ever outed on the show.
Gannascoli’s character was recently whacked on the show for being gay.
Read More 
| NY Post
Gallery: Sopranos Joseph Gannascoli in Hot Water
What makes The Sopranos great for one thing is that know how to drive in style. So, Forbes Magazine did a little research as to the most popular luxury vehicles that have appeared on the show during the last six seasons.
You find the Rolls-Royce given to Allegra Sacrimoni, daughter of Johnny Sacrimoni, for her wedding day absent from the list. Forbes.com says the car didn’t make the Top 10 list because the new bride is a minor character on the show. But Sal “BP” Bonpensiero Cadillac De Ville did.
Here’s the list:
- 2003 Cadillac Escalade ESV
- 2005 Porsche Cayenne S
- 2005 Maserati Coupe Cambiocorsa
- 2004 Cadillac Seville
- 2005 Hummer H2
- 2001 Mercedes-Benz ML430
- 1996 Cadillac DeVille
- 2006 Chevrolet Corvette
- 2003 Ford Thunderbird
- 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis
Read More | MSNBC
Gallery: The Sopranos Top 10 Wheels
Deadwood Looks Like It Really Will Bite The Dust
Posted by Eric Chaloux Categories: Cable, HBO, Cancellations, Rumors,
Season 3 of Deadwood on HBO is just days away from starting on June 11th, but a new statement from the show’s creator makes it look like season 3 maybe the nail in the coffin for the show. Deadwood creator David Milch is speaking out. “I am deeply disappointed by the way things turned out,” Milch said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
HBO revealed last month that, because of money considerations, Deadwood - one of the network’s top four original series after The Sopranos - was offered a “short-order” of 6 episodes instead of the normal 12 for season 4, but it was turned down. Looks like the efforts of Deadwood fans to save the show failed. Diehard Deads started the Web site Save Deadwood in hopes of keeping it alive for a 4th season.
Read More | TV Guide
Gallery: Deadwood Looks Like It Really Will Bite The Dust
Three Shows I’m Looking Forward To This Summer
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Prime Time, Reality, FOX, HBO, Entourage,
Yes—it’s only been about a week since the main season finales (I’m not counting the yet-to-air Apprentice finale) and I have to admit that I’m feeling a little off. With all this time on my hands, I am faced with two major questions in my life: Is there anything for me to watch this summer… and without TV, do I really have a life? If you are like me and are dreading answering the latter, I have some possible suggestions for you. While there may not a plethora of offerings to keep my summer filled, I do have a few shows that will keep a few of my nights occupied. All these shows were things that I discovered last summer, so I’m anxious to see if I can uncover a few more golden nuggets this year:
Click to continue reading Three Shows I’m Looking Forward To This Summer
Gallery: Three Shows I’m Looking Forward To This Summer
The Sopranos: The Fleshy Part of The Thigh
Posted by Christopher Stone Categories: Drama, Prime Time, Cable, HBO, The Sopranos, Features,
It’s head-spinning how rapidly highly paid television stars recover after surviving life-threatening health catastrophes on their shows. Tony on The Sopranos is a case in point. Comatose for most of last week’s episode, Tony was conscious and on his feet Sunday night. Beyond that, everyone and his brother visits Soprano to pay homage. The near death experience did nothing to cleanse Tony’s potty mouth. “Get out of my room you sick c***!” he bellows at an insurance company representative.
The episode’s best bedside visit is from two Jesus zealots who want Tony to accept Jesus Christ as his Personal Savior. Given Soprano’s “wink and nod” approach to the Catholicism in which he was raised, the attempt to see Tony Born Again is simultaneously comic and ironic.
Click to continue reading The Sopranos: The Fleshy Part of The Thigh
Gallery: The Sopranos: The Fleshy Part of The Thigh
HBO has television’s best track record with comedy specials. That’s why I’ll be watching tomorrow night at 10 PM ET, when the network premieres its latest comedy fest, Assume the Position, starring Robert Wuhl, formerly of the HBO series Arli$$.
In the special, Wuhl appears as a guest “professor” before an actual classroom of New York City College students to satirically explore the stories that made up America and the stories that America made up.
I hope he includes one of my personal favorites: After the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria landed on our shores, the ships’ crews were highly disappointed. Everything in the New World was closed in celebration of Columbus Day.
Read More | HBO’s Assume The Position
Gallery: HBO Assumes The Positon
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