HBO

I was never a fan of the HBO series Six Feet Under. While the show had a unique aesthetic I always felt the creators' attempts at unpredictable storylines and eccentric characters lacked any kind of purity. Every moment of that series felt like a cold, calculated decision, and I could never shake that feeling of manipulation when I watched it. I had exactly the same reaction to creator Alan Ball's American Beauty, another example of something that was pretty to look at but lacked any real substance, like an Easter egg filled with shit.

Nevertheless, despite my aversion to the series and my poetic use of simile to describe it, I know Six Feet Under had its fans, and I thought you'd like to know the complete series will be released on DVD November 14. That's plenty of time to put it on your holiday gift list and to convince your family and loved ones it's worth spending around $280.00 on. My parents were actually fans of the series, and I have fond memories of watching it with them and having them tell me to shut the hell up and stop complaining about it while they were trying to enjoy it. I should really visit home more often, those memories don't make themselves.

(S04E06) "Don't try this shit at home." -- Norman Wilson

The Sunday before the all-decisive primary, and the candidates are in the pews, not to mention working the congregations after the service. Meanwhile, Bodie's crew, now under Marlo's thumb, works the corner. There's no day of rest for politicians or corner boys. This is not a good week for the cops -- the Major Crimes Unit is a joke under Sgt. Hauk and the commander installed by Rawls a couple weeks back.

The very short-lived series Lucky Louie is coming to DVD in 2007, though there is no official announcement on the exact date. Creator and star Louie CK, who recently recorded audio commentary for the episodes, told fans the DVD would be released on January 30, but TVShowsOnDVD warns that celebrities aren't always accurate when it comes to such things. I don't care when it comes out, I'm just happy it is coming out. I was rather bummed when I found out one of my favorite comedians had a show on HBO, a network I don't have on my current cable package. I've heard both good and bad things about the show, but like anyone else, I'd like to see it for myself and decide. We'll see if I enjoy it as much as his stand up, or if I'll be driving to his home to bang on his door and demand a refund.

If you like Entourage, then you might be interested in the new show that Doug Ellin is developing for HBO, which is being described by the question "What if the Entourage boys grew up?"

The show will be a half hour, and will focus on the lives of fortysomething guys on Wall Street. Ellin and co-producer Stephen Levinson got the idea when they realized that friends of theirs that worked on Wall Street were making over $40 million a year. Yikes!

But the show doesn't have a title yet. Readers, any ideas? Maybe something like Entourage, only more Wall Street/NYC-ish?

[via TV Tattle]

(S04E05) "If you with us, you with us." -- Chris Partlow.

In the opener (and does any other show have such consistently clever opening scenes?) the kids are shown being kids. The four boys, who have been forced by circumstances to grow up fast, are still capable of more than half-believing in zombies like the ones they see in horror movies. Late one night they tell each other scary stories. But they're imaginings aren't that far off the mark, when they credit Marlo's enforcer Chris with making zombies. Another kind of zombie -- an addict created by the likes of Chris and Marlo -- stumbles down the alley and the boys flee in terror. The devil's hard to keep down in the hole ...

Cracked, in honor of the upcoming movie with the cumbersome but hilarious title of Borat: Culture Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, have selected their ten favorite Borat clips from HBO's Da Ali G Show. I haven't had HBO in several years, so I was never able to watch The Ali G Show, but thanks to this little site called YouTube I've seen several of Borat's appearances, and I'm convinced Sacha Baron Cohen is a comic genius. By hiding behind the facade of an out-of-his-element foreigner he's able to say some of the most outlandish and offensive things without getting the tar kicked out of him.

Tonight's episode of HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher will air live from Washington, D.C. His guests will be National security expert Richard Clarke, Robin Williams, MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Florida Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Senator Lincoln Chafee. We know they'll touch on all of the topics in the news this week (the war in Iraq, Mark Foley, next month's elections), but Maher ends the show with a special D.C.-centric set of "New Rules," his very funny (but often wise) series of observations about, well, just about everything. Check out a special preview video of Maher's D.C. rules after the jump.

My favorite line, about certain Republicans: "I know it's D.C. and I know it's hard out there for a blimp, but it's time to come to grips with the fact that there's only one woman in town who finds you two attractive, and she's banging Carville."

The fifth and sixth season sets of Seinfeld took top honors at the recent TV DVD Awards in Century City, California. Seinfeld won "Best of Show" and "Best 1990s Series." Below is a list of winners in other categories. I didn't purchase any of these DVDs, with the exception of The Simpsons. Were there any DVDs that came out between September 1, 2005 and August 31, 2006 you guys think should be on this list? I was somewhat surprised to see Dinosaurs win for Best Children's Program, not because it was a bad show, but because I considered it more of a family show than a children's show. Anyway, the list:

• Best 2000s Series: Lost: The Complete First Season
• Best 1980s Series: Remington Steele: Seasons 4 and 5
• Best 1970s Series: The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Second Season
• Best 1960s Series: The Munsters: The Complete Second Season
• Best 1950s Series: The Adventures of Superman: The Complete First Season
• Best Animated Series: The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season
• Best Children's Series: Dinosaurs: The Complete First and Second Seasons
• Best Reality Series: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
• Best Variety Series: Project Runway: The Complete Second Season
• Best One-Season Wonder: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The Complete Series
• Best Miniseries: From the Earth to the Moon
• Best British TV Series: Doctor Who: The Complete First Series
• Best TV Documentary: Ken Burns: American Lives
• Best Bonus Material: Lost: The Complete First Season

(S04E04) "No one wins. One side just loses more slowly." -- Prez

Another strong episode, one that balances out the intensity of last week's ending. City hall and police bureaucracy wins, busting up the major case unit, shutting down the wiretaps on Marlo's crew. Now Kima and Lester both land in Homicide, in the same office the McNulty was in when he started all this four years ago. All that work down the drain, but that's the game.

Man, does Bunk (Wendell Pierce) miss McNulty. Seems Bunk's the only one who's not obsessed with his job, and he longs for the old days of drinking and whoring all night with his old partner. McNutly (Dominic West) looks so damn happy still. Maybe that's the only way for him to be happy -- stay away from the politics, and the desire to do good -- or even to make good.

Reader Rod wrote to us recently asking for a comprehensive list of all the television programs that can be downloaded or streamed online. That's a pretty tall order, and I'm sure I'll forget a few, which is why I'm asking our faithful readers to fill in any gaps left due to my ignorance or plain forgetfulness. I'm going to focus purely on legitimate downloads and not such things as peer-to-peer downloads or torrents. I'm not going to list specific shows, because obviously as the television schedule changes, so do the programs.

I encourage you to add this post to your Favorites, as I'll be updating it every now and then.

(Last updated on 01/21/07)

Gabriel Byrne has been cast as the lead in the new Mark Wahlberg produced HBO series, In Treatment. The half-hour show focuses on a therapist who can't take it anymore and ends up going to see a shrink of his own. Currently, five episodes have been ordered.

I'm excited about this show because it seems like Mark Wahlberg can do no wrong lately, but does this seem like the right move for the lead? Byrne is a great actor and has had numerous roles (including the short-lived Madigan Men), but is he going to be able to pull off the part as a jovial therapist who's losing his own marbles? I realize the show is a drama, but with it's premise, it seems like humor is going to be unavoidable. Byrne always seems so serious. We'll have to wait and see if he can pull it off.

[via Hollywood Reporter]

(S04E03) "I love the first day, man. Everybody all friendly and shit." -- Namond Brice

The cast has grown so big that three episodes in an we're still catching our first glimpse this year of some major characters, (these HBO org charts really help keep everyone straight). Finally this week, one of the series' most compelling characters makes his fappearance: Omar Little (Michael K. Williams). I'll never forget his revenge on the Barksdale crew (both in and out of court) and I have to wonder what there is for him to do this year, where the focus is on Marlo's gang, with which Omar does not have any particular beef with (not yet) and political corruption on the level that doesn't interact with street characters like Omar. They'll find something, I'm sure.

A movie created through a partnership between HBO and RAI, the Italian state broadcaster about Albert Einstein may feature Sean Penn playing the role of the acclaimed physicist. Penn has apparently expressed interest in both the script and in working with Italian director Liliana Cavani. The TV movie is obviously still in the early stages, so who knows what to expect, but I can easily picture Penn playing this role. The kid's got range, I'm telling you. Hopefully he can affect a decent German accent, too, or at the very least grasp the concept of an accelerating universe. What do you folks think? Could Penn handle this role? Who else would make a good Einstein?

Entourage fans, rejoice. Lucky Louie fans, prepare to unleash your ire.

Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO Entertainment, announced today that Entourage will be returning for a fourth season. The network has ordered another 12 episode run. Along with the final eight episodes of season three that are set to begin in early 2007, that gives fans at least 20 more episodes. Over the last two years the show has garnered eight Emmy nominations, with one win for Jeremy Piven as Outstanding Supporting Actor.

Created by Doug Ellin, Entourage is the story of rising young actor Vincent Chase. The series follows the ups and downs of his career. To help him along he has his best friend/manager Eric, long time pal Turtle, and brother Johnny Drama. Doing his best to help Vince, while serving his own needs, is agent Ari Gold. At the current break, the audience was left hanging as Vince is without a job, and has just fired Ari for bungling the Ramones movie deal.

When I first heard this, my initial reaction was 'Good grief, not another behind the scenes of entertainment show.' Thankfully, that's not the case here. Along with his producing partner Adam McKay, Will Ferrell has sold a new series called P.E. to HBO. According to those mysterious 'sources', this is one of HBO's richest development deals to date.

The story is of a burnt out major league pitcher who returns to his hometown to work as a P.E. teacher. Along with the struggles of dealing with his new life out of the limelight, he also has to face up to those people he turned his back on when he became successful. P.E. will be written by Jody Hill, Ben Best, and Danny McBride who were discovered after their indy film, The Foot Fist Way, screened at Sundance.

[ via Netscape ]