The Office premiere... kinda disappointing

Also, I'll be in Italy for the next two weeks. Feel free to swing by my desk and swipe all the TV DVD's.

Knight Rider!

I didn't get an advance copy of NBC's "Knight Rider" remake. And I'm glad. I'm glad that I got to share this moment with all of you.

This was so completely, awesomely terrible. My platinum standard of terrible has always been the 1992 Fox show "Woops!" Which was a sitcom. Set in a post-apocalyptic future immediately following a nuclear war. That was deliberately modeled on "Gilligan's Island."

That, needless to say, set a very, very high bar for awfulness.

But I am thrilled, tickled and delighted to say that the new "Knight Rider" has ascended to the top of the list.

The car that turns into a pickup truck. Or catches on fire, requiring the hero and heroines to take off their clothes or be incinerated. Or the fact that the entire cast appears to have been selected based on some kind of heretofore theoretical negative acting ability. Or that Val Kilmer recorded his dialogue during a barbituate-induced suicide attempt. Or that the dialogue was written by Mrs. Kennsington's third-grade English class at Decatur Elementary in Peshtigo, Wis. Or when the hero pauses during a car chase to update his MySpace page. Or that the car chases were filed using Matchbox cars and a diorama created by the aforementioned Peshtigo third-graders.

I mean, "Heroes" is sometimes so bad it's good. "The A-Team" was often so bad it was good. "Woops!" was so bad it was pure, unadulterated genius.

"Knight Rider" is like Feynman to "Woops'" Brian Greene. Mozart to "Woops'" Salieri. Lio to "Woops'" Garfield.

It was a transcendent experience. And I shall relish the five episodes it will get before being canceled.

Bears!

Colorado Springs bear (and I think the word is cryptozoologist) expert Matt Bille is on the History Channel’s “MonsterQuest” tonight at 7 p.m., talking about bear evolution and the search for rare bears. The History Channel flew him up to Canada to film his spots and he filed this pretty funny travelogue about the experience (long, so click this link).

There's good stretching and then there's this

Don't try this at home. The New York Times attempts to analogize the "Heroes" season premiere to the current fiscal crisis.

I think "Heroes" season 2 was really a prescient examination of the likely reemergence of Sino-Russian power in a post-Communist world economy where producing states are in perpetual conflict with regional powers whose economies are based on resource extraction.

Discuss.

UPDATE: Can't believe I blew two hours watching that "Heroes" premiere. It's amazing how something so dumb can be so compelling. This year, I'm breaking the habit, though. I swear.

This seems about right...

Emmy ratings stink.

I actually don't have any major bitches about the winners this year, but come on, you can't blame people for watching Green Bay-Dallas instead, can you?

KXRM takes KXTU under its digital wing

On Monday, KXRM/Channel 21 replaced the Retro Television Network (RTN) with KXTU/Channel 57 on its digital subchannel, 21.2 (which can also be seen on Comcast digital cable on Channel 142).

KXRM needed to find a home on the digital band for KXTU, a low-power UHF station that’s a CW affiliate, said KXRM general manager Steve Dant.

All TV stations are required to turn off their analog signals and broadcast solely in digital beginning in February, 2009.

Dant said the switch will keep KXTU on the air through the transition, and that the station will likely be upgraded to high-definition in Spring, 2009.

There’s no word on whether RTN will be picked up by another station or cable operator.

Carson soldier gets the Couric treatment

That doesn't sound right... I don't really know what the Couric treament means and apparently it's Lara Logan doing the pieces. Anyway, here's the heads-up from CBS news:

Green Beret Master Sergeant Tim Brigham, a Colorado Springs native, will be interviewed as part of the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC’S new signature franchise, “Where They Stand.” In 2005, Master Sergeant Brigham nearly died when his spine was shattered by enemy fire, but two years later her returned for his third tour of duty with the 10th special forces group out of Ft. Carson, Colorado. His story will be told on Thursday (11), as part of Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lara Logan’s focus on each presidential candidate’s Iraq strategy.

KOAA cuts 4 p.m. and goes to "9 at 9"

If you're a fan of KOAA's 4 p.m. News First Now newscast (and the Gazette spots on it), you better watch today - it's the last one.

The station is cutting the 4 p.m. and cutting back the 9 p.m. News First Now newscast to 9 minutes. Or, "9 minutes at 9 p.m. on Comcast channel 9" as KOAA put it. What's the numerical equivalent of alliteration?

Laura Rojas and Mike Madson will still helm the mini-cast. Rojas will add health and wellness reporting to her anchor duties. Madson will be... I'm not sure, but presumably not twiddling his thumbs 7 hours and 51 minutes a day.

I think what everyone really wants to know is, "What happens to the Gazette news update at 4:13 p.m.?" Won't someone please think of the children?

McCain event will be broadcast live on News First Now

John McCain and Sarah Palin's stop in the Springs at 11 a.m. Saturday will be carried live on KOAA's News First Now.

KKTV and KRDO will carry the appearance live on www.kktv.com and www.krdo.com, respectively.

Peyton blogger gets some Colbert love

Peyton 21-year-old Adam Brickley, who started the http://www.palinforvp.blogspot.com/ a year ago and helped put the Alaskan governor on the vice-presidential short list, appeard on Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report” last night.

What was unusual is that Colbert actually showed Brickley a little respect - he seemed genuinely impressed by the idea that an ordinary person’s voice had been heard.