July 2010 Archives

GOOD SPORTS: Saturday '30 for 30' marathon on ESPN Classic

July 29, 2010 8:59 PM

Though I'm a huge sports fan, there are still athletes and events I don't know anything about -- until I see films about them in ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series.

The Birth of Big Air just premiered in conjunction with the current X Games, and now I'm fascinated by high-flying BMX innovator Mat Hoffman, who reached astonishing heights in his Oklahoma backyard, but at astonishing cost.

Intimate gems like this are ESPN's gift to us for its 30th anniversary, distinctive documentaries from smart directors with a passion for subjects both small and epic, and this weekend offers a great chance to catch up. A five-hour 30 for 30 marathon Saturday on ESPN Classic showcases the range and idiosyncrasy of these films, which often tell us as much about other aspects of life as they do about the games people play.

(The Birth of Big Air isn't part of the marathon, but has its own repeat airings Friday night at 3 a.m. ET and Saturday at noon ET on ESPN2, plus Saturday at 1 p.m. ET and Sunday at 8 a.m. on ESPN U.)

Here's Saturday's 30 for 30 marathon, July 31 on ESPN Classic (all times ET):

12 noon -- Run Ricky Run, a preconception-challenging portrait of NFL running back, pothead and independent thinker Ricky Williams.
1 p.m. -- Guru of Go, recalling how coach Paul Westhead perfected a new run-and-gun offensive system with ill-fated college star Hank Gathers.
2 p.m. -- June 17th, 1994, a look back at a confluence of sports and society the night of O.J. Simpson's infamous "slow speed chase."
3 p.m. -- Straight Outta L.A., where director Ice Cube examines the intersection of the NFL Raiders' 1980s move to Los Angeles and the burgeoning of hip hop culture.
4 p.m. -- Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, tracing how the Indiana Pacers star turned into NYC's greatest sports villain.

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DVD UPDATE: Out of nowhere, 'The Mothers-in-Law'

July 29, 2010 11:43 AM

How great is it when DVD resurrects TV shows that you'd forgotten even existed? That's what happens this week with The Mothers-in-Law, the 1960s sitcom pairing Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard as the title neighbors, normally warring yet suddenly stuck together by their progeny's surprise elopement.

It's even better when the forgotten show arrives on disc with extras galore, to place it in context of time, tone and personnel as sharply as The Mothers-in-Law DVD does. Never mind forgetting the show itself -- who remembers that its long-lost laughs were produced by sitcom innovator Desi Arnaz and written by his I Love Lucy scripting mainstays Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis?

This history is brought out in the gleeful new 8-disc DVD set from the MPI folks, who've also been releasing such other Arnaz properties as Here's Lucy and Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie. These two NBC seasons totaling 56 color episodes (1967-69) have all the hallmarks of Lucy-style comedy -- simple yet effective setups, old-pro execution, and nicely miked audience laughter not much more raucous than that emanating from your own couch. There's plenty of physical comedy, and also social humor of the "crazy Cuban" kind, this time assigned to Ballard's uber-Italian "loudmouth" as she bumps heads with Arden's prim next-door WASP.

Their kids are negligible (one-time Gidget and beach-flick girl Deborah Walley, with who's-he hubby Jerry Fogel). But there's fun from husbands Roger C. Carmel -- yes, Star Trek's Harry Mudd -- and Herbert Rudley (married to Ballard and Arden, respectively). The extras tell us that after a promised raise was not forthcoming, Carmel quit, to be replaced during the show's final season by the less-than-ideal Richard Deacon (The Dick Van Dyke Show).

Ballard explains it all, in new featurettes and interviews, and she's boisterously sublime, as fans who's seen her since in anything from The Ritz to Due South can attest. But that's only the start of the bonus features. MPI adds the original unaired Mothers-in-Law pilot (with a different daughter), plus vintage behind-the-scenes footage (with commentary from Ballard, writer Davis and production exec Dann Cahn), cast commercials, promo spots, Ballard and Arden performances from vintage variety shows, and coolest of all, two unsold pilots produced by Arnaz around the same time.

The Carol Channing Show (1966) is a real sitcom curio, with the stage star mugging like mad as a hick invading New York to make it big in showbiz. It's from the same writing/production team as Mothers-in-Law (and even features Deacon), which is odd, considering how slowly and awkwardly it moves. But mostly its broad-playing star just isn't comfortable in this close-up medium.

The other show, Land's End (1968), was an hour adventure pilot shot in Baja California, with star Rory Calhoun rescuing a shipwreck survivor played by Martin Milner. But it's presented on disc in a truncated half-hour format once aired by NBC to burn off the pilot footage. Let's just say the hour adventure genre doesn't seem to have been Arnaz' forte. (If you can't spot the villain in about 10 seconds, you've never watched television before.) Nice scenery, though. And this oddity even includes its original commercials (Secret deodorant, Cameo soap and Prell shampoo "in the unbreakable tube!").

In other words, The Mothers-in-Law DVD set is a fine archive of a worthy show, its makers and its time -- an unsung gem that's well worth picking up at a bargain discount. While MPI's list price is $40, Amazon has it for $19 (as of July 28).

What other vintage shows are out there, just waiting to be rediscovered?

Also out this week:

Sgt. Bilko - The Phil Silvers Show: First Season -- Silvers' classic Army base scheming has previously hit DVD in best-of format, but let's hope this complete season launches a continuing season-set release pattern. Buyers of the previous best-of set will recognize commentaries, the unaired pilot (featuring Jack Warden), cast cigarette ads, and a color Lucy Show episode with Silvers among the extras.

Other new arrivals:

Stephen Fry in America -- On both DVD and Blu-ray, Hugh Laurie's old comedy partner (A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves & Wooster) tours the 50 states in London's traditional black taxi. He doesn't necessarily hit the highlights in these six hour shows, instead going lobstering in Maine, learning about witches in Salem, watching Oscars cast in Chicago, meeting Hmong in Minnesota, and encountering other beneath-the-surface Americana.

Being Human: Season 1 -- They're just your average modern-day British twentysomething roommates, except they're a hunky-guy vampire, a shy-guy werewolf, and a cute girl ghost (all of whom wish they weren't). This set includes the first 6 episodes, but not the earlier pilot movie with some different actors, so this BBC America show hits the ground running a bit too fast. On both DVD and BD. (Being Human is currently being "reimagined" for Syfy with a Boston setting featuring Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington and Mark Pellegrino.)

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FALL PREMIERES: On cable, too

July 26, 2010 5:04 PM

Cable is pulling out some big guns this year to run head-to-head with the networks' traditional fall premieres. Established faves like Dexter and Sons of Anarchy return, joined by promising newcomers like Boardwalk Empire and Terriers.

Cable even has a late-night talk show featuring some Irish comic named Conan.

Here's a look at just a few of the cable arrivals announced for fall (and a couple coming early).

AUG. 1

Rubicon (AMC) -- James Badge Dale (The Pacific) stars in this conspiracy thriller as an intelligence analyst who gets too close to some uncomfortable truths.

AUG. 16

Weeds (Showtime) -- Sixth season of Mary-Louise Parker's suburban pot comedy adds Richard Dreyfuss to the mix.

The Big C (Showtime) -- Laura Linney copes with cancer in this comedy costarring Oliver Platt, Idris Elba, Gabourey Sidibe and Cynthia Nixon.

SEPT. 7

Sons of Anarchy (FX) -- Third season of ex-Shield mainstay Kurt Sutter's California motorcycle mob tale.

SEPT. 8

Terriers (FX) -- The Shield creator Shawn Ryan teams with Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven) for this comedy-drama starring Donal Logue as a shaggy ex-cop who starts an unlicensed private eye business.

SEPT. 16

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX) -- Sixth season with the rowdy Philly barflies.

SEPT. 19

Boardwalk Empire (HBO) -- Martin Scorsese directed the pilot of this lavish drama about Atlantic City "at the dawn of Prohibition," written by Sopranos scribe Terence Winter. Stars include Steve Buscemi, Dabney Coleman and Gretchen Mol.

SEPT. 26

Dexter (Showtime) -- Fifth season with Michael C. Hall's Miami police blood-spatter analyst/serial killer of serial killers. Key guest stars this season include Julia Stiles, Peter Weller, Jonny Lee Miller, Shawn Hatosy and Maria Doyle Kennedy.

Bored to Death (HBO) -- Second season of Jason Schwarzman as a Brookyn writer turned private eye. With Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis.

Eastboard & Down (HBO) -- Second season with Danny McBride's no-role-model ex-baseball player.

SEPT. 27

Faces of a Vanishing World (Ovation) -- Docuseries follows 19-year-old New York photographer Joey Lawrence as he shoots disappearing cultures around the world.

OCT. 2

Iconoclasts (Sundance) -- Fifth season of celebs interviewing celebs, including Charlize Theron with primatologist Jane Goodall and Cate Blanchett with climate change scientist Tim Flannery.

OCTOBER

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC) -- David Cross created and stars in the "misadventures of an American pathological liar as he bluffs his way into a senior sales job in the London office" of a new energy drink. Fellow Arrested Development alum Will Arnett plays his "hard-ass, foul-mouthed boss."

The Walking Dead (AMC) -- Frank Darabont is behind this post-apocalyptic zombie tale, from Robert Kirkman's graphic novels. With Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Laurie Holden, Sarah Wayne Callies.

NOVEMBER

Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood (TCM) -- Seven hourlong documentaries focus on crucial eras of American film history, starting with the invention of motion pictures.

NOV. 8

Conan O'Brien (TBS) -- He's back, late-nights at 11 p.m. ET. George Lopez' current talkfest moves back to midnight.

NOV. 29

Men of a Certain Age (TNT) -- Second season of Ray Romano's smart midlife crisis saga with pals Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula.

Undetermined fall premiere date

Top Gear (History) -- Based on the UK hit taking witty spins in high-tech vehicles.

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FALL PREMIERES: Mark your calendar

July 23, 2010 6:30 PM

If you love TV and you've got plans to do something else the week of Sept. 20, change 'em. The broadcast networks are loading up a "fall premiere week" like they haven't done in ages.

A whopping 68 shows will either debut or return for new seasons the week of Sept. 20-27. That Thursday night alone, there are 14 series/season premieres across the five major networks (ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC).

If you love TV and you don't have a DVR, get one.

(And we haven't even factored in cable yet.)

Here's a handy chronological list compiled from the networks' official fall-lineup announcements. As always, be prepared for last-minute shuffles, adds, deletions and other competitive changes.

New shows in CAPS. All times ET.

FALL 2010-11 NETWORK TV PREMIERE DATES

WED., SEPT. 8

8 p.m. - America's Next Top Model (CW)
9 p.m. - HELLCATS (CW)

THURS., SEPT. 9

8 p.m. - The Vampire Diaries (CW)
9 p.m. - NIKITA (CW)

SAT., SEPT. 11

8 and 8:30 p.m. - Cops
9 p.m. - America's Most Wanted

MON., SEPT. 13

8 p.m. - 90210 (CW)
9 p.m. - Gossip Girl (CW)

TUES., SEPT. 14

8 p.m. - One Tree Hill (CW)
9 p.m. - Life Unexpected (CW)

WED., SEPT. 15

8 p.m. - Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS)

MON., SEPT. 20

8 p.m. - Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
8 p.m. - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
8 p.m. - House (Fox)
8 p.m. - Chuck (NBC)
8:30 p.m. - Rules of Engagement (CBS)
9 p.m. - Two and a Half Men (CBS)
9 p.m. - LONE STAR (Fox)
9 p.m. - THE EVENT (NBC)
9:30 p.m. - MIKE & MOLLY (CBS)
10 p.m. - Castle (ABC)
10 p.m. - HAWAII FIVE-0 (CBS)
10 p.m. - CHASE (NBC)

TUES., SEPT. 21

8 p.m. - Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
10 p.m. - DETROIT 1-8-7 (ABC)
8 p.m. - NCIS (CBS)
9 p.m. - NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
8 p.m. - Glee (Fox)
9 p.m. - RAISING HOPE (Fox)
9:30 p.m. - RUNNING WILDE (Fox)
8 p.m. - The Biggest Loser (NBC)
10 p.m. - Parenthood (NBC)

WED., SEPT. 22

8 p.m. - The Middle (ABC)
8 p.m. - Hell's Kitchen (Fox)
8 p.m. - UNDERCOVERS (NBC)
8:30 p.m. - BETTER WITH YOU (ABC)
9 p.m. - Modern Family (ABC)
9 p.m. - Criminal Minds (CBS)
9 p.m. - Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
9:30 p.m. - Cougar Town (ABC)
10 p.m. - THE WHOLE TRUTH (ABC)
10 p.m. - THE DEFENDERS (CBS)
10 p.m. - Law & Order LA (NBC)

THURS., SEPT. 23

8 p.m. - MY GENERATION (ABC)
8 p.m. - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
8 p.m. - Bones (Fox)
8 p.m. - Community (NBC)
8:30 p.m. - $#*! MY DAD SAYS (CBS)
8:30 p.m. - 30 Rock (NBC)
9 p.m. - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
9 p.m. - CSI (CBS)
9 p.m. - Fringe (Fox)
9 p.m. - The Office (NBC)
9:30 p.m. - OUTSOURCED (NBC)
10 p.m. - Private Practice (ABC)
10 p.m. - The Mentalist (CBS)
10 p.m. - The Apprentice (NBC)

FRI., SEPT. 24

8 p.m. - 20/20 (ABC)
8 p.m. - Medium (CBS)
8 p.m. - Smallville (CW)
8 p.m. - Human Target (Fox)
8 p.m. - SCHOOL PRIDE (NBC)
9 p.m. - CSI: NY (CBS)
9 p.m. - Supernatural (CW)
9 p.m. - The Good Guys (Fox)
9 p.m. - Dateline (NBC)
10 p.m. - BLUE BLOODS (CBS)
10 p.m. - OUTLAW (NBC)

SAT., SEPT. 25

10 p.m. - 48 Hours Mystery (CBS)

SUN., SEPT. 26

7 p.m. - America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
7:30 p.m. - 60 Minutes (CBS)
8 p.m. - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC)
8 p.m. - The Simpsons (Fox)
8:30 p.m. - The Amazing Race (CBS)
8:30 p.m. - The Cleveland Show (Fox)
9 p.m. - Desperate Housewives (ABC)
9 p.m. - Family Guy (Fox)
10 p.m. - Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
10 p.m. - Undercover Boss (CBS)

TUES., SEPT. 28

8 p.m. - NO ORDINARY FAMILY (ABC)
9 p.m. - Dancing With the Stars results show (ABC)
10 p.m. - The Good Wife (CBS)

SUN., OCT. 3

9:30 p.m. - American Dad (Fox)
10 p.m. - CSI: Miami (CBS)

WED., NOV. 10

8 p.m. - Lie to Me (Fox)
9 p.m. - Hell's Kitchen (Fox)

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NEWS: Daniel Schorr tribute

July 23, 2010 3:00 PM

In honor of longtime CBS newsman and recent NPR commentary stalwart Daniel Schorr, who died Friday morning at 93, National Public Radio will air an hourlong tribute hosted by Robert Siegel on Friday night.

It runs at 8 p.m. ET on WNYC, WHYY and many other NPR stations (plus online streams; check local listings).

Schorr's obituary at NPR's web site details his 65-year career, from his post-World War II print writing to his CBS days as one of "Murrow's boys" starting in 1953, on through a stop at CNN on the way to NPR. It's a fascinating story, highlighted by his wrangles with the Nixon administration during the Watergate scandal.

Also included -- links to his radio commentaries and video of Schorr through the years.

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FLICK PICKS: Silent epic from India

July 21, 2010 6:56 PM

As so many cable channels morph to new formats that abandon their original fans, it's nice to see Turner Classic Movies getting even deeper into "classic" mode.

This weekend's Silent Sunday Nights presentation is a rarity for a showcase that tends to rely on pre-talkie standbys like Buster Keaton and D.W. Griffith. It's a 1929 epic from India, A Throw of the Dice (late July 25 at 12:30 a.m. ET on TCM), adapted from the Sanskrit poem The Mahabharata and featuring everything from a tiger hunt to death by cobra-in-bed.

Rival royals in love with the same woman bet everything on the title game of chance, as German import Franz Osten directs an Indian cast on location in the exotic land that was then still controlled by the British.

And it was the British Film Institute that restored this influential title in 2006, providing a new score by Nitin Sawhney that combines Indian and western music styles. As A Throw of Dice, the restoration subsequently played only film festivals and a couple of big cities in this country, where even cinephiles know little more of the world's largest film industry than Satyajit Ray and Bollywood.

A must-see.

For comparison's sake, here's The New York Times' original 1930 review and TCM's retrospective essay on this rare gem.

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NEWS FLASH: 'Damages' moves to DirecTV

July 19, 2010 10:08 PM

Channel worth watching? That's what DIrecTV seems to be creating in its original programming channel The 101. Not content with grabbing the first run of Friday Night Lights from NBC, they're now adding Damages, after FX balked at continuing Glenn Close's costly legal thriller when ratings lagged.

DirecTV and producing studio Sony announced late Monday that they've agreed to debut 20 new episodes of Damages exclusively on satellite for the next two seasons, with production starting early next year. They'll also be encoring previously produced Seasons 1-3.

The 101 started making noise a few years ago by picking up the final season of NBC's canceled soap Passions. Then DirecTV took over the original run of Friday Night Lights in its third season, with episodes subsequently being broadcast on NBC (currently Friday at 8 p.m. ET).

The channel does imports, too, offering the American debut of the Australian crime drama Underbelly (Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET).

They've made viewers without premium cable happy by offering encores of acclaimed series like HBO's Baltimore urban drama The Wire (currently Sunday at 9 p.m. ET) and Showtime's Boston politics/crime family tale Brotherhood (Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET). Other goodies have included Showtime's much lauded terrorist saga Sleeper Cell and HBO's gritty western Deadwood and prison drama Oz.

And they're dug deep to premiere unaired episodes of gone-too-soon network series like ABC's mental hospital drama Wonderland and sleuth saga Eyes, along with CBS' crime hour Smith.

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COMEDY: 'Scrubs' on TV, 'Daily Show' in Central Park

July 19, 2010 12:15 PM

Comedy Central provides summer laughs all over the place this week. The cable channel is airing mini-marathons of Scrubs (Tuesday-Friday 6-8 p.m. ET, Saturday-Sunday 3-5 p.m. ET).

And they're sponsoring a live performance from The Daily Show in Manhattan's Central Park on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

"The Daily Show & Friends" features comedy from John Oliver [photo at right], Rob Riggle, Rory Albanese, Adam Lowitt and Wyatt Cenac, with "a special performance" by Lewis Black -- and it's free. (Gates open at 7 p.m., rain or shine.)

This is the fourth annual Comedy Central Park show in the city's weeks-long Summerstage series. (Click Summerstage for info.)

Details on the week's Scrubs episodes here.

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DVD DEAL: Complete 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' at half-price

July 15, 2010 5:21 PM

Sorry for noticing this so late, but Thursday's Amazon deal of the day is the complete series box of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. That's all four seasons for $85, which is also a savings of $85 from Amazon's previous price of $170 (off a list price of $200).

This is the cool attache-case cardboard box with a handle, holding four separate season sets -- one of which contains liner notes written by our own David Bianculli.

NBC's 1960s spy capers with Robert Vaughn and David McCallum look fab. More serious Season 1 was shot in black-and-white, with the other 3 increasingly wacky seasons filmed in color on the MGM lot.

Click here to learn more.

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DVD THIS WEEK: 'White Collar,' 'Dark Blue,' British detectives

July 13, 2010 11:12 AM

For somebody I had pretty much never heard of before, Matt Bomer instantly became one of my most anticipated TV sightings last year on White Collar. As soon as I saw this USA romp's slick and witty pilot, I was hooked, and not only because Bomer's such a looker. He's also supremely effective in a tough role -- his cop-helping con man is supposed to be an irresistible charmer. Which is essentially the same as waving a "kick me" sign in front of a critic.

But Bomer nails it, embodying what series creator Jeff Eastin talks about in the show's new first-season DVD/Blu-ray set's bonus features. Where most TV characters aim to fade into a show's dramatic "reality," Eastin wanted Bomer's Neal Caffrey to be the guy who makes heads turn when he walks in the room. Not as easy as it sounds. Most characters like that are way too obvious, to the point of cloying or annoying, if not utterly implausible. Bomer, on the other hand, seems to naturally radiate sizzle. Yet he registers relatable and sympathetic, for both women and men. He's slick yet sensitive, wearing his soul as plainly as his designer suits.

(To be fair, though, Bomer wasn't exactly an unknown before I woke up to White Collar. I must have seen him in guest arcs on Chuck or Tru Calling, and I know I saw his first lead series, ABC's short-lived Traveler -- but somehow he just didn't compute then.)

As TV's second season of White Collar starts up tonight (at 10 p.m. ET on USA), the first-season discs are hitting shelves. These initial 14 episodes include 5 commentaries, which are rare for including the creator with all four series stars, whose warm affinity here helps explain their relaxed rapport on-screen. The other bonus features do their job of exploring the show's creation, fashion sense, and FBI authenticity. What's missing is a featurette on the show's smartly used New York City locations (though the commentaries touch on some of that).

Other new releases worth watching:

Life on Mars: Complete Collection and Touching Evil: Complete Collection -- Both are inventively brooding tales of damaged investigators, and both were "adapted" from these dynamic British hits into namby-pamby American failures. Watch these originals to see where we Yanks went wrong. Both boxes are repackagings of previous separate volumes. But if you don't already have those, these are the place to start (and they're cheaper, too). Life on Mars is packed with the same bonus features found on previous volumes.

Dragnet 1968: Season 2 -- There is no earthly reason for me to be obsessed with watching this paint-by-numbers police saga, but Lord help me, I can't stop. Jack Webb's rat-a-tat dialogue, his ping-pong editing from cop question to prevaricator answer, the pinch-penny drab sets, the pompous moral lecturing of straw-man suspects -- I just can't get enough. The episodes aren't even all that different, really, whether Webb's plainclothes L.A. detective Joe Friday and Harry Morgan's partner Bill Gannon are screening police academy applicants or trying to disarm angry Jan Michael Vincent of a live grenade at a swingin' teen party (as swingin' as these '60s squares can make it). Extras in this first Shout Factory release are what should have been on another distributor's Season 1 set -- the 1966 pilot movie in which Webb resurrected his '50s series for color TV and hippie takedowns, plus a marvelous Webb bio-featurette with testimony from friends and ex-wives. Just the facts, man.

Dark Blue: Season 1 -- Dylan McDermott's TNT drama isn't on store shelves, but can be ordered direct from Warner Archive. Though the widescreen episodes come in retail packaging, they're recorded on 4 purple-surface DVD-R discs. (They're designed for standard DVD players. Some play fine in my laptop drive, some don't.) The only extra is a promo for Season 2, starting Aug. 4 on TNT.

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ON SALE: Roku streams to your TV for Netflix and more

July 8, 2010 2:45 PM

Here's one to grab fast -- the Roku HD-XR player, the astonishingly easy gateway to streaming video/audio on your TV from Netflix, Amazon On Demand, NASA, NPR, the BBC World Service, MLB.tv, Revision3, Flickr and three dozen other cool sources.

As Thursday's deal of the day at Amazon.com, it's just $100, down from the usual $130 for the simplest little electronic gadget you will ever use. Guaranteed. This puppy takes less than two minutes to hook up to your TV set -- seriously -- and just a few seconds to link to your Netflix account or other channel set-ups.

We've used an earlier Roku model for 2 years now, and it saved my life after surgery last year when I loaded up my Netflex instant-view queue with hours of HD viewing. I couldn't walk to the DVD player to change discs, but all I had to do with Roku was click a couple of buttons to watch all kinds of on-demand (commercial-free) goodies for hours on end.

Even my tech-averse mother could ace this device. The Roku box itself has no buttons at all, and its compact remote is a basic forward-reverse model with directional buttons and a home base cleverly labeled with a house icon. No numbers, no inputs to choose from, no fancy stuff here.

What you do need, however, is a wireless router with a broadband connection to stream the signal through. (Your video quality depends on connection speed, but we've watched very pretty high-def through our Comcast router.) Roku comes with its own built-in wireless to pick up the signal, and the HD-XR model is the zippier N standard. You also need a computer to register with Roku, Netflix and other channels, and to pay for the ones that cost money. But Netlix has now enabled search through Roku (formerly, queue set-up could be done only by computer), so you can even add to your instant queue directly through the remote.

Once things are set up, you can watch away more easily than even your cable on-demand service with its endless menu stacks. If grandma or grandpa can't cope with that button-laden cable zapper, try setting up Roku for them, then handing over that friendly little remote.

Better yet, grab one for yourself. Even if all you do is watch Netflix, which is what we've been doing the past two years, it's more than worth it. You can downgrade your Netflix subscription to as little as $9 per month, yet watch hundreds of movies/shows online anytime. The instant-watch selection of thousands still isn't as extensive as the DVD library, but it has included things you can't get on disc -- like recent weeks' episodes of TV shows like Heroes, Party Down, Spartacus and NCIS. Even cooler -- entire shows that aren't out on DVD, including short-runs like the ex-WB dramas Hidden Palms and Jack and Bobby, plus unreleased later seasons of shows like Kojak and Maverick.

Besides Netflix, Roku now has more than 40 channels catering to distinct interests. Movie-lovers can add Cowboy Classics ($1.99/month for two-dozen vintage flicks) or Drive-In Theater ($3/year for cheese like The Atomic Brain and cult items like Carnival of Souls). Geeks can watch free NASA content, or learn Photoshop via Revision3's free PixelPerfect (160 lessons!). Roku Newscaster connects you to web content from a couple dozen sources like CNET, ESPN, the BBC World Service and NPR. (Listen to Bianculli on Fresh Air over your TV.) You can get Indian TV and sports like UFC.

Roku's wide-variety Channel Store can in fact be a little too tempting, since it fails to list prices on-screen. You do have to go through your computer to sign up for pay channels like Cowboy Classics, though, so you'll find out eventually. (Have your PayPal account ready.)

Pretty spiffy for a gadget that's smaller than a cigar box. Yeah, I know, who wants another electronic box -- but this one is so tiny and so inexpensive that it's the perfect treat for that bedroom TV set, if not the living room itself.

Click here to buy at Wednesday's special Amazon discount. Truly, Roku is worth it even at the usual price.

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FLICK PICKS: Revolutionary directors, and more

July 5, 2010 6:13 PM

July's hottest movie event comes from an unlikely source -- the up-and-coming Ovation channel.

As it's being launched on more cable systems around the country, Ovation has been heating things up with special festivals saluting great photographers, gay portrayals, and other arts/culture/design topics.

This month, Ovation spotlights American Revolutionaries: The Directors, with nightly prime time blocks like Monday night's must-see -- Mel Brooks' 1968 inspiration The Producers (July 5 at 8 and 11 p.m. ET), bookending a couple of Hollywood's Best Film DIrectors half-hours on William Friedkin (10 p.m. ET) and Francis Ford Coppola (10:30 p.m. ET).

Or this Tuesday lineup -- Roger Corman's 1960 original The Little Shop of Horrors (July 6 at 8 and 11 p.m. ET), his infamously cannibalistic B-movie featuring a very young Jack Nicholson, plus Hollywood's Best Film DIrectors half-hours on Michael Mann (10 p.m. ET) and Brett Ratner (10:30 p.m. ET).

Wednesday, it's Hal Ashby's unforgettably buoyant 1971 teen guy/80-year-old woman love story Harold and Maude (July 7 at 8 and 11 p.m. ET) -- just try getting Cat Stevens' song score out of your head -- with another installment of Hollywood's Best Film Directors, about George Lucas (10:30 p.m. ET).

Other upcoming Ovation festival features include Terry Gilliam's delirious Time Bandits (Thursday, July 8 at 8 and 11:30 p.m. ET; photo at top), Peter Bogdanovich's sweet-and-sour Paper Moon (Friday, July 9 at 8 and 11 p.m. ET), and all-day marathons like Saturday's Harold and Maude, Little Shop of Horrors, Lost Highway and Wall Street (July 10, noon-11 p.m. ET), or Sunday's Little Shop of Horrors, Harold and Maude, The Conversation and The Virgin Suicides (July 11, 12:30-10:30 p.m. ET).

Keep watching Ovation prime-time later in July for Reservoir Dogs, Sweet and Lowdown, Down by Law, Duel, Titus, All That Jazz, The Producers and more. Full schedule here.

Encore is getting ambitious, too. Among its suite of channels, you'll find July events built around Nicolas Cage (July 15, five films on Encore), rock 'n' roll movies (July 23, four films on Encore Drama), Paul Newman (July 24, five films on Encore Westerns), and spaghetti westerns (July 31, six titles on Encore Westerns).

Turner Classic Movies is hard pressed to keep up. Its July salutes honor actor Gregory Peck (Monday nights) and teen movies (Thursday nights). One-offs collect those bloated mid-century all-star adventure extravaganzas like It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and The Great Race (July 6), films about Abraham Lincoln (July 9), circus-set cinema (July 16), black-cast titles (July 24), and my eye-candy pick, five John Ford westerns filmed in Monument Valley (Saturday, July 10, starting at 8 p.m. ET with My Darling Clementine).

Harry Potter fans get a whole Harry weekend on ABC Family July 8-11, with film screenings that start single, then go double-feature, then finally triple, and more.

Here's an Ovation taste of Jack Nicholson in Little Shop of Horrors:

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THIS MONTH: July TV highlights

July 1, 2010 5:07 PM

Our planned summer preview was sidetracked by work on our TV Worth Watching site redesign. But we'd like to play at least partial catch-up by highlighting a few key July dates when popular series return, new shows debut, and special events take place.

Here's a teaser: White Collar. Mad Men. The Wire. The Closer. Psych. Eureka. Doctor Who. Jimmy Buffett. Merle Haggard. And more.

Some dates for your calendar:

July 1 -- HBO Sports summer documentary festivals begins weekly airings with Joe Louis: America's Hero, Betrayed (6:30 p.m. ET). Other titles include Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team (July 8), Reverse of the Curse of the Bambino (July 15), the John Wooden story The UCLA Dynasty (July 22), and Ted Williams (July 29).

July 6 -- Warehouse 13 (Syfy, 9 p.m. ET) starts its second season (following a 3-9 p.m. catchup marathon).

July 7 -- David Suchet on the Orient Express (PBS, check local times) is a documentary pegged to the start of more Poirot cases July 11 on Masterpiece Mystery!

July 9 -- Eureka (Syfy, 9 p.m. ET) returns, and Haven (Syfy, 10 p.m. ET) premieres, inspired by a Stephen King novella.

July 9 -- Live From the Artists Den (PBS, check local times) launches a new season with a Metropolitan Museum of Art performance by Ringo Starr, Ben Harper and Joan Osborne.

July 10 -- The Bridge (CBS, 8 p.m. ET) is another Canadian import, this time about a police union leader played by Battlestar Galactica stalwart Aaron Douglas.

July 11 -- The Glades (A&E, 10 p.m. ET) stars Matt Passmore as a Chicago cop exiled to small-town Florida, with Kiele Sanchez and Carlos Gomez.

July 11 -- Jimmy Buffett & Friends: Live From the Gulf Coast (CMT, 7 p.m. ET), the all-star benefit show for Gulf Coast residents affected by the oil spill, has been pushed back from July 1 due to weather fears.

July 12 -- Turmoil and Triumph: The George Schulz Years (PBS, check local times, weekly through July 26) looks inside the highest levels of American government, through the career of Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State. Interviews include Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Mikhail Gorbachev and more.

July 12 -- The Closer (TNT, 9 p.m. ET) returns for its sixth season, leading in to Rizzoli & Isles (TNT, 10 p.m. ET), a new cop hour set in Boston with Angie Harmon.

July 13 -- White Collar (USA, 9 p.m. ET) is finally back for its second season of con-man charm, followed by the new Covert Affairs (USA, 10 p.m. ET), starring Piper Perabo as a CIA trainee suddenly elevated over her head. Cool cast also includes Christopher Gorham, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Peter Gallagher, Kari Matchett and Anne Dudek. (Catch up to White Collar with Monday, July 12 marathon, 6 a.m.-5 p.m. ET).

July 14 -- Psych (USA, 10 p.m. ET) returns as USA's flagship Friday series. (Catch up with July 14 marathon, 6 a.m.-1 p.m. ET.)

July 17 -- Doctor Who (BBC America, 9 p.m. ET) starts a two-parter concluding its first season with new doctor Matt Smith.

July 18 -- The Wire (DirecTV, 9 p.m. ET) starts weekly encores on The 101.

July 21 -- Merle Haggard: Learning to Live With Myself (PBS, check local times) is a new American Masters profile of the Okie From Muskogee country music legend.

July 24 -- Being Human (BBC America, 10 p.m. ET) launches its second season of hunky young vampires, werewolves and ghosts. (First season encores July 18, 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m.; July 23, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., all times ET.)

July 25 -- Mad Men (AMC, 10 p.m. ET) begins its fourth season of ad industry secrets and lies. (Catch up first with Monday overnight marathons starting July 5, 8 p.m.-6 a.m. ET).

July 25 -- My Boys (TBS) brings back Jordana Spiro and her Chicago circle of guy pals.

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