'Big Brother 8' RealPlayer Superpass Now Available

Oh, no... no feeds yet, but Real.com has the information for ordering the SuperPass with Big Brother 8 in mind. (You can always get the SuperPass -- I didn't cancel last year because I've been taking advantage of the Music Store free monthly downloads from Rhapsody which are tied to the account, as well as some other content. The music credit alone pretty much equals what I pay for the SuperPass.)

As always, they have some special deals for the Big Brother season -

• The three-month season for only $29.99
• The six month special for $44.99
• Monthly for $12.99 a month

The prices listed are what they're quoting as "Early Bird" specials, are available if you sign up before July 4, and come with a free three-day trial period.

Heh -- I see they have a disclaimer on the bottom of their page which includes "The live and on-demand content (the "Content") may contain elements offensive to some users and inappropriate for users under 21. Certain Content may be delayed, edited and/or blacked out at various times at our sole discretion."

Heck, we're Big Brother fans. We know it can be offensive! We need someone we can love to hate! Unfortunately, we all too well also know about the black-outs when the houseguests sing or talk about someone who hasn't signed a release. I hope they bring back the Fish Cam this season instead of the abrupt loud BB theme music and angry clouds.

I haven't really checked too much into the Big Brother After Dark feeds show which will air nightly on ShoToo, a sister station of the Showtime network. I know it will be on nightly from 12 AM - 3 AM here on the East Coast and will be one live feed. I don't get that station and I'm not about to increase my overly-expensive cable bill just to get it as I will have all four feeds 24/7, not one for three hours a night. If you already have the station, you should check out the feed once it starts. If you don't have it, weigh the costs against getting the SuperPass. Real.com may be cheaper and you have it all... or what they allow us to see.

Since I have my spiffy new computer, I plan on getting the BBReloader this season and posting some videos to YouTube as the season goes on. This will be in addition to the Live Feed Reports, screen caps, live-blogging on show nights in East Coast time, etc.

I can't wait!

TV Newsy Bits - Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Uh-oh. Regular readers may be wondering where my On The Lot report is tonight. Oops. I got watching America's Got Talent in its entirety and recorded On The Lot. I'll have to get back to you on it. But there's something about America's Got Talent that just draws me in. Tonight was the Chicago auditions and I'm looking forward to next week in New York!

In other real TV Newsy Bits:

• There's still no new news on the upcoming Big Brother 8 show. There are some articles out there which may interest you -- Reality TV Calendar has an All About the Competitions article and a pre-season primer, Everything You Want to Know About Big Brother.
• Actor John Cryer of Two and a Half Men got married in Mexico over the weekend.
• The estate of Dr. Seuss wouldn't allow ABC to use the name Sam I Am for a scheduled fall series, so it's been changed to Samantha Be Good. Of course, we all know Sam I Am from Green Eggs and Ham. No, I don't like them either, Sam I Am.
• The third season premiere of The Closer did very well. TNT sent me this same press release, but I found it online at the Futon Critic, too.

Yikes, thunderstorms are rolling in here... gotta go!

'Hell's Kitchen' - A Quick Take on Episode 3

Say it ain't so! Some of the things I saw the "chefs" doing tonight shocked me! I may never eat in a restaurant again. Eep.

The first part of the episode gave Julia a chance to shine and show that she can be a leader. Remember, she's the one who's maligned because she comes from a Waffle House instead of a fancy-schmancy "real" restaurant.

The task was to serve breakfast to the military. Well, not the whole military, of course! The Red Team (women) had to serve to 50 Army soldiers while the Blue Team (men) had to serve to 50 Navy sailors. Julia was in her element and her team actually took well to her lead, but the guys fell apart.

Gordon Ramsay even called Julia's efforts exceptional. I thought lightning could very well strike him, didn't you? The women went off for a day on the Midway with Ramsay. The men stayed behind to do KP duty -- peel over a ton of onions and potatoes... fun, fun, fun! Heck, they couldn't even agree who would chop the ends off of the onions, silly men.

As we all could have guessed, the ambulance shown in the promos carted Aaron away. He fainted, apparently at the thought of the KP as I don't think he had done any actual work. He was removed from the show with a "serious illness" not disclosed to us. The guys, mainly Josh and Brad, decided that Brad would be the leader of their team as Ramsay said someone had to lead. Rock wasn't too keen on that, but said he'd go along... and told us he'd just have to out-think them down the line.

Then there was the dinner service or lack thereof. Both teams were horrible. Joanna thought she'd shine on the appetizers and Ramsay ended up kicking her off that station. Brad burned his Wellington and tried scraping off the burnt bottom when Ramsay caught him. Joanna tried to serve some crab dish with rancid crabs.

But the worst of all was Jen. She threw what she thought was excess pasta in the trash bin. Almost immediately there was a need for pasta. So she took it out of the trash and boiled it to "kill any bacteria." ACK! To me, that was an unthinkable sin in the kitchen. Yeah, Joanna somehow didn't notice the smell of the crabs, but we didn't see any deliberate move on her part. (And I don't like her, but I'm talking pasta from the trash here!)

Ramsay ended up closing down the kitchen early with almost all of the patrons not served. He said there were no winners. There weren't, really... no winners here! He thought the Blue Team was the worst and told them to decide who would be chosen to stand before him.

Now, in this bit I almost found myself liking Joanna as she stuck up for Julia against the ones who think she's out of her league. Joanna admitted she herself should be selected. When Jen started on the Julia kick, Julia told them about the garbage bin pasta incident. Still, the women chose Julia and Joanna.

But upon facing Ramsay, Jen put her name in the ring of fire with Julia and Joanna. Thankfully, Ramsay told Julia to go back with her team. Then he chose Joanna to leave Hell's Kitchen. He mentioned that both should go home. I think he should have stuck with that thought.

You do NOT take food out of the trash to serve folks at a restaurant! You just don't!

There was a promo for a new Gordon Ramsay FOX fall show -- Kitchen Nightmares. No, it's not going to be a show about my personal kitchen. Sheesh! Ramsay is going to go to restaurants and shape up their kitchens.

No, he's not welcome here. Before the show, I made a fine dinner of salmon loaf, Trader Joe's Garlic Mashed Potatoes (mmm!), and cauliflower. And I timed it so all was ready at the same time, plus I didn't take any food out of the trash. So there, Gordon Ramsay!

Sneak Peek: TNT's New Medical Drama 'Heartland'

Tomorrow night, after the season premiere of The Closer, will be the debut of Heartland.

What's that, you ask?

Heartland is the latest entry into original drama series for TNT, the network who knows drama. I've watched the first two episodes and, although I'm not a huge medical drama buff, I found them intriguing.

First off, the star of the show is Treat Williams. I've always liked him and he's been scarce for a number of years. So, I can forget that they even sent me a pair of nifty Heartland scub pants and just declare it a Treat of my own, eh?

Although a heart-rate increasing medical drama about organ transplants, the show is just as much about its lead characters -- Treat Williams as Dr. Nathaniel Grant (an organ transplant surgeon who's willing to take risks to give his patients a "second chance"), Kari Matchett as his ex-wife who has to work with him in her capacity of an organ donor coordinator. their teenaged daughter, his latest dating experiences (or are they experiments?), and the doctors, staff, and hierarchy of the hospital itself.

The organ donor angle is a story which needs to be told. And medical dramas often snag the interest of audiences. I think that folks who like a good medical drama, well-written, good characters, and not of the ilk where if you miss one show you're lost... Heartland may be just the show for you. The main storyline each episode wraps up (for good or bad) at the end of each hour and it's easy to get involved with watching.

Oh... did I mention it has Treat Williams?

Check it out tomorrow night - Monday, July 18 at 10 PM ET/PT on TNT.

'Big Brother 8' - Still in Anticipation

There isn't much new news to share about the upcoming season. Someone put in a Wikipedia entry that Rob Mariano (Boston Rob) was going to be on the show, but that's what happens when anyone can update an entry on Wikipedia. I strongly doubt that he'll be on the show.

Over at the Hamster Watch site run by my favorite That Dingo, it's mentioned that something is actually coming across on the live feeds link. So, I checked it out as my SuperPass is active. Yep... a sign of things to come! "I'm sorry. The Big Brother 8 live stream you're trying to access isn't available at this time. Please try later." Ohhh... white words on a black background! But, hey... it's a step in the right direction!