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Comedy

VOD Spotlight: “Yogi Bear”

The original Yogi Bear cartoon of the 1960s had Yogi and pal Boo Boo interacting with human campers. They were all animated, but technology has come a long way since then. In the film Yogi Bear, Yogi (voiced by Dan Aykroyd) and Boo Boo (voiced by Justin Timberlake) are created with special effects, and the rest of the cast are real people, but the story of the two picnic basket thieves was carefully rendered to maintain the irreverence and personalities of the two bears — a notion that set well with the two stars of the film. “Every Wednesday afternoon […]

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Drama

ABC offers finale details for “No Ordinary Family” and “Off the Map”

By Lori Acken Though their renewal status’ is still up in the air — and not too terribly far up there, as Family‘s Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz are already signed on to upcoming CBS pilots — ABC  offered up “season finale” details for No Ordinary Family and Off the Map today. According to network releases, Off the Map will sign off April 6 with “There’s a Lot to Miss About the Jungle” in which the country’s Holy Week festivities take a chaotic turn when a truck float crashes, and Ben (Martin Henderson) makes a difficult call as Ryan’s (Rachelle Lefevre) health deteriorates. Meanwhile, Lily […]

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Animation

VOD Spotlight: The compassionate supervillain of “Megamind”

All superheroes have their supervillains, but the title character in Megamind examines life from the perspective of the “bad guy.” Megamind is a cuddly blue alien baby who fell to Earth and landed in a prison where he was raised by convicts. Now an adult, Megamind believes it is his destiny to be evil and fight the “good” alien, Metro Man. But Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt) may not be as good as Megamind or the public believes. Conversely, Megamind may not be so evil.

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Awards Shows

Academy Awards: Winners and Losers

By Tom Comi Since the Academy Awards is all about who does and doesn’t walk away with the coveted Oscar, we decided to look at the evening from a TV-watching experience and declare who we thought stepped up and who didn’t. Red Carpet Winner: Robin Roberts was a pro at handling the live interviews, and she showed a great knowledge of the nominated movies and the nominees. You would think that would be a prerequisite for working the red carpet, but sadly that has not been the case over the years. Red Carpet Loser: We adore Tim Gunn and greatly […]

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Drama

“Friday Night Lights” is the gift that keeps on giving

By Tom Comi Fans of Friday Night Lights have been sad for some time knowing that the final season is wrapping up on NBC this spring. But the recent announcement that cast member Adrianne Palicki will star in a forthcoming remake of Wonder Woman on the same network is just one of many examples of how the actors of the show will be with us for many years to come. Although the program about a high school football team was never a big enough hit to justify another extension, Friday Night Lights always had a loyal following and received critical […]

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Comedy

Billy Ray Cyrus says he regrets “Hannah Montana”

By Tom Comi Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana brought smiles to children and parents around the world, but it apparently destroyed the very family that made it so popular. At least that’s the theory of Billy Ray Cyrus, who co-starred in the show with daughter Miley Cyrus and — in a very ironic twist — is best known for the 1982 mega-hit song “Achy Breaky Heart.” It’s hard to believe that a kiddy show full of laughs and music could lead to a topic so heavy, but Billy Ray said the program that premiered in 2006 was the beginning of the […]

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Family

The Killers play “Yo Gabba Gabba!”

The Killers, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Jack McBrayer are among the stars featured in new episodes of the hit series Yo Gabba Gabba! from Feb. 7-10 at 1pm ET/PT on Nickelodeon: Feb. 7: “Adventure” — Muno and friends go on an Indiana Jones-style adventure. They travel through a jungle under Gabbaland and find a golden treasure. The Killers perform “Spaceship Adventure,” and Mark Mothersbaugh is featured in his “Mark’s Magic Pictures” segment. An encore of this episode airs Feb. 11. Feb. 8: “Nature” — Toodee gets everyone to go camping. They hike, roast s’mores and tell campfire stories. They meet […]

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Family

Royalty Check: TLC Married To Wedding Coverage

By Tom Comi You have to give the folks at TLC some credit. Knowing full well how enamored (read: obsessed) Americans are with all things Royal, TLC has cleverly decided to devote a week of coverage to capitalize on the April 29th wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Cha-ching!

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Animation

VOD Spotlight: Valuable “Despicable Me” time

By Mike Frey Who says bad guys never win? Pitted against the latest installments from Disney/Pixar’s and DreamWorks Animation’s signature series this summer, Universal’s Despicable Me held its own, finishing between Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After in domestic gross. The film performed well enough that a sequel is already in the works. While the movie was a box-office triumph, it was no small victory for parents looking for a decent movie to watch with their kids, either.

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Family

R.L. Stine offers family frights in “The Haunting Hour”

By Stacey Harrison Back when R.L. Stine was known as Jovial Bob Stine and writing joke books for a living, not many people could have foreseen that he would one day revolutionize the young-adult horror genre. Not that there really was much of a young-adult horror genre before he wrote Blind Date back in 1986. One day an editor friend of Stine’s took him to lunch and told him she needed a horror novel for teens. Though he’d always been a fan of the genre, he’d never considered writing it himself, so he researched what was out there and came […]