Saturday, August 06, 2011

TV Premieres, Finales & Specials This Week 8/6/2011

The month of August is a month of summer TV season wind-down and these next two weeks are mostly packed with season finale’s for the summer shows.  I’ve been working on the 2011 Fall TV Season premieres list which should be coming in by the end of this month on GeekTonic.  For now read on for the GeekTonic weekly TV update highlighting all the new premieres, finales and specials coming up this week. 

NOTE: All Times are Listed for EST – TV schedules subject to change

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                            Falling Skies 2-hour finale airs Sunday

 

Sunday, August 7

Teen Spirit (7m on ABC Family) New made-for-TV movie

Teen Choice 2011 (8pm on Fox) The 2011 Teen Choice Awards

Curiosity (8pm on Discovery) New science/documentary series

Falling Skies (10pm oon TNT) Season 1 2-hour finale.  Yes it was picked up for a second season.  While some sci-fi fans have been complaining of too much character background stories and not enough aliens and action, this series had cable TV’s top series launch in terms of viewers so far in 2012.

Hillbilly Handfishin’ (10pm on Animal Planet) New animal/nature series where people from around the world travel to Oklahoma to try noodling, where they go into deep, murky waters to catch catfish with their bare hands and feet.

In Plain Sight (10pm on USA) Season 4 finale

Watch What Happens: Live (11pm on Bravo) Season 4 finale

 

Monday, August 8

Bachelor Pad (8pm on ABC) Season 2 premiere

Switched at Birth (9pm on Family) Season 1 finale

Tia & Tamera (9pm on Style) New reality series

Sugar High (10:30pm on Food) New cooking/travel series about sweets

 

Tuesday, August 9

Auction Kings (9pm on Discovery) Season 2 premiere

I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks (9pm on Investigation Discovery) New series

White Collar (9pm on USA) Season 3 finale

Covert Affairs (10pm on USA) Season 2 finale

Aftermath With William Shatner (10pm on Bio) Season 2 finale

Dirty Money (10pm on Discovery) New reality series

Top Shot (10pm on History) Season 3 premiere

Big Law: Deputy Butterbean (10pm on Investigation Discovery) New series

 

Wednesday, August 10

Hard Knocks ‘11 (10pm on HBO) Season 7 premiere

 

Thursday, August 11

So You Think You Can Dance (8pm on Fox) Season 8 finale

Russian Dolls (10:32pm on Lifetime) New reality series

 

Friday, August 12

Karaoke Battle USA (9pm on ABC) New reality/contest series hosted by Joey Fatone

Whale Wars (9pm on Animal Planet) Season 4 finale

Strike Back (10pm on Cinemax) New drama/action series where an American, ex-Delta Force operative works with the British military to stop terrorists.

 

Sunday, August 14

The Exorcist Files (9pm on Discovery) New reality series where exorcists share their stories.  *sigh*

In the Flow with Affion Crockett (9pm on Fox) New comedy by executive producer Jamie Foxx.  Hosted (and starring) by Affion Crockett this is a sketch comedy series featuring spoofs of pop culture, movie trailers, commercials, TV shows, music videos and celebrities.  This premiere episode guest stars Snoop Dogg, Russell Simmons, Chris Brown and more.

Food Network Star (9pm on Food) Season 7 finale

The Great Food Truck Race (10pm on Food) Season 2 premiere

High Stakes Sweepers (10pm on TLC) New reality series

Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals (10pm on Oprah) Season 1 finale

 

Monday, August 15

The Lying Game (9pm on ABC Family) new family drama/sitcom series by the author of “Pretty Little Liars”.  This one is about identical twin sisters separated at birth, one wealthy and the other poor.  One finds out she has a twin and….

The Millionaire Matchmaker (9pm on Bravo) Season 5 premiere

Most Eligible Dallas (10pm on Bravo) New reality series

Teen Wolf (10pm on MTV) Season 1 finale

Hair Battle Spectacular (10pm on on Oxygen) Season 2 premiere

 

Tuesday, August 16

MasterChef (8pm on Fox) Season 2 finale

The Nine Lives of Chloe King (9pm on ABC Family) Season 1 finale

Memphis Beat (9pm on TNT) Season 2 finale

What Not to Wear (9pm on TLC) Season 10 premiere

Downsized (9pm on WE) Season 2 premiere

HawthoRNe (10pm on TNT) Season 3 finale

 

Wednesday, August 17

Ton of Cash (9pm on VH1) New game show series

Animals Say the Wildest Things (9pm on National Geographic Wild) New animal/entertainment series

Ghost Hunters International (9pm on Syfy) Season 3 finale

State of Georgia (9:30pm on ABC Family) Season 1 finale

Rocco’s Dinner Party (10pm on Bravo) Season 1 finale

Love in the Wild (10pm on NBC) Season 1 finale

Legend Quest (10pm on Syfy) Season finale

Rocco’s Dinner Party (10pm on Bravo) Season 1 finale

Law & Order: UK (9pm on BBC America) Season 5 premiere

Outrageous Kid Parties (10pm on TLC) Season 2 premiere

Happily Divorced (10:30pm on TVLand) Season 1 finale

If you follow GeekTonic for the TV Premieres and news, you’ll want to click here if you would like to get a regular e-mail for GeekTonic TV Premieres & News

Monday, August 01, 2011

SageTV App for Boxee Progressing

Boxee is about to get some SageTV goodness.  Since GoogleTV “stole” away the SageTV team to work on their fledgling GoogleTV the SageTV user group – many of whom tend to lean towards the developer-crowd has been trying to find ways to make the most of the situation.  A group of these developers recently started a project to make a SageTV for Boxee app that will at least help the situation.

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Sample Logo pictured above was created by Karl Ricker – one of many possible logos to be used in the final app.

I’ve been following the discussion of this project since July 19th when a thread about making a SageTV for Roku app evolved into this Boxee app discussion.  Two of the big issues with Google’s purchase of SageTV – at least for SageTV owners include:

1. No new licenses – You can’t purchase a new license for SageTV.  This means no new users, and no expanding to additional computers beyond what you already have licenses for.  They did offer free upgrades to the latest version of SageTV if you already owned an older version however.

2. No new extenders – SageTV sold their own awesome SageTV extender/media player devices which was one of the appeals of SageTV.  But the moment Google purchased the company, those extenders were no longer for sale.

One of SageTV’s strengths is it’s DVR functionality.  It would just so happen that one of Boxeee’s weaknesses is the inability to “do DVR.”  In just a matter of days, a fairly large number of developers who have worked on various SageTV 3rd party apps have joined together to build a SageTV for Boxee app.  They even have a proof of concept version of this app available to download!  This boxee app should work on both the Boxee computer software version AND the Boxee Box!

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The proof of concept already has the standard SageTV UI which bodes well for getting the awesome 3rd party add-ons (Phoenix and Diamond anyone?) on Boxee.  Some video playback works great already, but the Boxee box is more limited in playback capability compared to the SageTV HD300.  Longer-term they plan/hope to get LiveTV working as well.  It’s not as good as seeing SageTV HD300’s go up for sale again, but it’s pretty good news for most of us using SageTV still.  Plus you get the online video awesomeness of Boxee as well.  This is just one example of how devoted and talented the SageTV community is.  I hope Google recognizes this is part of what they were getting when they purchased SageTV – whether they realized it at first or not!

Recordings Screenshot of next update:

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Where to find out more:

Sunday, July 31, 2011

TV Premieres, Finales & Specials This Week 7/31/2011

Hello August!  We’re winding down the summer TV season these next two weeks leading up to the Fall Season premieres coming soon.  Read on for the GeekTonic weekly TV update highlighting all the new premieres, finales and specials coming up.

 

NOTE: All Times are Listed for EST – TV schedules subject to change

Sunday, July 31

American Ninja Warrior (9pm on G4) Season 3 premiere

Against the Wall (10pm on Lifetime) New police drama series where a 32-year-old cop accepts a detective position with Internal Affairs, causing a rift with her family of cops.  Starring Treat Williams, Rachael Carpani & Kathy Baker.

The Real L Word (10pm on Showtime) Season 2 finale

 

Monday, August 1

The Bachelorette (8pm on ABC) Season 7 finale

The Bad Girls Club (9pm on Oxygen) Season 7 premiere

 

Tuesday, August 2

Billy the Exterminator (9pm on A&E) Season 4 premiere

Take the Money and Run (9pm on ABC) New reality series by executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer & Bertram Van Munster who did the Amazing Race.  It goes like this:  In San Francisco, brothers look to hide a suitcase containing one hundred thousand dollars from local police detectives. If the detectives do not find the money in a set amount of time, the brothers get to keep the money.

Picker Sisters (10pm on Lifetime) New reality series

Born to Dance: Laurieann Gibson (10pmon BET) New dance reality series

 

Wednesday, August 3

Scream If You Know the Answer (7pm on Travel) A new game show “borrowed” from Britain

Dumbest Stuff on Wheels (8pm on Speed) A new Auto/Reality series

Franklin & Bash (9pm on TNT) Season 1 finale

Wonders of the Universe with Brian Cox (9pm on Science) New science series

My Ride Rules (9pm on Speed) New auto/reality series

CafĂ© Racer (9pm on HD Theater) Season premiere

Truck Stop Missouri (10pm on Travel) New reality/travel docu-series.  Really glad to see my state represented on TV, but did it HAVE to be this????

Locked Up Abroad (10pm on National Geographic) Season 5 finale

 

Thursday, August 4

Detroit in Overdrive (8pm on Planet Green) New reality series

Jersey Shore (10pm on MTV) Season 4 premiere with Snooki and gang in Italy

 

Friday, August 5

Iron Chef America (6pm on Food) Season 9 finale

Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (8pm on Disney) A kids cartoon series that sounds a little “Fringe”-like.

Friends With Benefits (8pm on NBC) New romantic sitcom with the 30-minute pilot followed by a second 30 minute episode.  Two best friends carry on a casual physical relationship as they search for love.

Whisker Wars (11pm on IFC) New reality/fashion series

 

Sunday, August 7

Curiosity (8pm on Discovery) New science/documentary series

Hillbilly Handfishin’ (10pm on Animal Planet) New animal/nature series where people from around the world travel to Oklahoma to try noodling, where they go into deep, murky waters to catch catfish with their bare hands and feet.

In Plain Sight (10pm on USA) Season 4 finale

Watch What Happens: Live (11pm on Bravo) Season 4 finale

 

Monday, August 8

Bachelor Pad (8pm on ABC) Season 2 premiere

Switched at Birth (9pm on Family) Season 1 finale

Tia & Tamera (9pm on Style) New reality series

Sugar High (10:30pm on Food) New cooking/travel series about sweets

 

Tuesday, August 9

Auction Kings (9pm on Discovery) Season 2 premiere

I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks (9pm on Investigation Discovery) New series

White Collar (9pm on USA) Season 3 finale

Covert Affairs (10pm on USA) Season 2 finale

Aftermath With William Shatner (10pm on Bio) Season 2 finale

Dirty Money (10pm on Discovery) New reality series

Top Shot (10pm on History) Season 3 premiere

Big Law: Deputy Butterbean (10pm on Investigation Discovery) New series

 

Wednesday, August 10

Hard Knocks ‘11 (10pm on HBO) Season 7 premiere

 

Thursday, August 11

So You Think You Can Dance (8pm on Fox) Season 8 finale

Russian Dolls (10:32pm on Lifetime) New reality series

 

If you follow GeekTonic for the TV Premieres and news, you’ll want to click here if you would like to get a regular e-mail for GeekTonic TV Premieres & News