Mon, September 24

It's Not Going to Watch Itself

It's not an auspicious start to the fall season, but then this season looks to be pretty light on auspicion all around. We might best pack up our remaining auspice and hold it in reserve. (Read more.)

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What The?!—2:19 AM

Direct all your joyous praise (and/or wrathful fury) regarding the design changes here. I'm going to bed now.

(Feel free to post your petty technical grievances as well, but no fair griping until you've hit "Reload" 2 or 3 times. Some browsers cache "style sheets" more aggressively than others – and style sheets are what I've spent the last few sleepless nights fucking around with.)

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Mon, September 17

All the world's a stage...—5:56 PM

Just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's As You Like It on HBO. Bryce Dallas Howard is truly a vision, and damn talented.

There's a part in the middle, where she's really doing her Ganymede thing, when she bears a striking resemblance to Kristen Bell. Her mannerisms and snappy delivery as well as her bright eyes and broad smile.

Think about it, CW. You still need to prove yourselves with a narrative show that anyone will actually watch. Team these two up as badass crime-fighting sisters, and watch the ratings soar.

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Lighting Crime—12:02 PM

Bruce Schneier, promoter of the phrase "security theater," has a blog about security that I've linked you to from time to time. Today I read a short piece about light and crime which was very interesting.

In it, he excerpts a passage from a New Yorker story about light pollution, which explains that keeping an area brightly lit does not necessarily reduce vandalism or other property crimes. This fascinated me, because on the way to the airport Friday before dawn, I was noticing all the industrial parks and self-storage buildings we passed, and how they were covered with bright lights that stayed on all night.

Which got me thinking about how wasteful that is, but I figured they did it to prevent theft. Which made me wonder if someone had optimized the placement of the lights – using only as many as were absolutely necessary to deter crime. It turns out, no. The truly optimal placement would be no light at all in most situations. Something to think about.

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You're Welcome!—12:01 AM

Proving once again that Emmys dare to go where ratings fear to tread, tonight 30 Rock picked up the Best Comedy Series award it so rightly deserved. In her charming acceptance speech Tina Fey – creator, writer, and star – thanked the shows "dozens and dozens of viewers." Speaking as one of that number, thank you Tina! And Tracy and Scott and Judah and Jack, and most of all Alec!

Mr. Baldwin, like the newly single Ms. Fischer, was robbed of a well deserved statuette. But bless him for showing up anyway. For that matter, I was amazed that out of ten comedy-guest-performance slots, only one nomination went to 30 Rock, which had top-notch guest stars all year. I'm proud that Elaine Strich won for portraying Jack's mum – and she made a delicious spectacle of herself – but Isabella Rossellini, Rip Torn, Sean Hayes, Nathan Lane, Wayne Brady, and Emily Mortimer all did fantastic work, too.

Still, if I could only care about one Emmy, it would be the Comedy Series win for 30 Rock, so I'm glad they pulled it off. I remain hopeful that it can do for them what it never could for Arrrested Development: pave the way for longer-term success.

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Thu, September 13

Facing the Gauntlet

The primetime TV season begins next week. As Sam Jackson said, "I've had it with these motherfuckin'"– wait. No, it was: "Hold onto your butts." (Read more.)

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