Free Republic

Hypocrisy knows no bounds on the airwaves of National Public Radio, as their Minnesota-based star Garrison Keillor led off his latest edition of “A Prairie Home Companion” by mocking the GOP frontrunners as “the Mormon running against the polygamist.” This is a rich dig coming from Keillor, since he has been married three times – just as many times as Newt Gingrich. This was within three minutes of the program starting, just a little partisan liberal boilerplate before the folksy singers get started. Keillor mocked conservatives like Romney and Gingrich for believing "the solution to our current dilemma is to...

Premiers April 1st.

“SOME like it hot,” Tony Curtis told Marilyn Monroe in the 1959 movie of the same name, referring to music. Since then, Americans have grown to like something else — food — even hotter, as evidenced by the popularization of spicy fare like Buffalo chicken wings, made with cayenne pepper hot sauce. Now, a hot sauce war has broken out in time for the Super Bowl, perhaps the most snack-centric day of the year. According to a survey from the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, consumers who plan to watch Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday will spend $11 billion on...

Because I know that FReepers are smart and ingenious I am coming to you for assistance and insight in being able to get unplugged from DirecTV. They are raising our rates again. We currently use Netflix, but are also considering adding HuluPlus. Hubby streams from his PS3 in his game room, and in the living room we stream via BlueRay. Hubby and I are trying to get details on unplugging without losing our ability to watch our favorite (cable) show. I've read numerous articles how people are doing this same thing but have not found a step-by-step instruction in what...

Link only as per posting guidelines: USA Today Gist of article: Ratings for title game down 8 percent from last year; barely (by 0.3 percent) above all time low; all BCS games down 12 percent from last year

US Shock Jock Glenn Beck’s Internet-only network is launching a series aimed at showing people how to move off-grid. GBTV, which the conservative firebrand launched as he was exiting Fox News this past spring, is prepping Independence U.S.A.The series follows the Belcastro family as they try to live “off the grid” in a post-apocalyptic America. That’s near identical to the History Channel’s Apocalypse, PA, in which the same heavily-mustachioed lead character Frank Belcastro introduced himself by declaring: “My name is Frank and I’m not crazy. I know the world’s not ending anytime soon. But just in case, I want to...

Today on The Five, the gang discussed Sarah Palin’s talk of possible third party candidates and focused on Ron Paul. After Eric Bolling joked that Paul’s fans may be “too stoned” to make it to the polls, the topic of conversation turned to a recent ad for Paul which featured a number of liberal commentators. The hosts questioned whether it would be effective or simply a turn off. The ad, entitled “Believe,” will be airing in New Hampshire and Boston and features Ron Paul supporters talking up the candidate’s strengths and ideals. Amongst them are quotes and sound bites taken...

Eco-friendly singer Jewel is a bright green celebrity. As a clean water advocate, she has been helping improve living conditions around the world and in her home state of Alaska. As a famous humanitarian and eco-friendly celebrity, she’s also knocked gun-toting Republican guru Sarah Palin out of the top spot as a reality television star. Will Jewel use her star power wisely with her own family’s new reality TV show special feature on the Discovery channel about living a more sustainable lifestyle off the grid and being Alaskan? You can bet your caribou on it. Even though she lives in...

It’s a great time to buy a television, and Ram Lall, a television salesman, isn’t happy about it. In a basement showroom of J&R, the huge electronics store in Lower Manhattan, Mr. Lall says the days of making big money from televisions are in the past. Pointing to a top-of-the line, 55-inch Sony television, Mr. Lall said it would have sold for $6,000 a few years ago. The current price? $2,599. “We are making less money because the company is forcing us to slash prices,” ..Televisions have become so inexpensive that the profits have largely been squeezed out of them,...

In a bid to streamline its unprofitable television business, Sony said Monday that it would sell its stake in its flat-panel screen venture with Samsung Electronics, cutting its production capacity at a time when outsourcing has become the norm for manufacturers. Sony, which makes the Bravia liquid-crystal-display televisions, said in a statement that it would sell its stake of nearly 50 percent in the jointly owned manufacturer, S-LCD, to Samsung, of South Korea, for 1.08 trillion won, or $935 million. Sony’s exit from the joint venture, which was set up in Tangjeong, South Korea, in April 2004, will let it...

When Fox News and Glenn Beck broke up in June, the network’s chairman, Roger Ailes, knew he could not put any single man or woman in that 5 p.m. time slot, lest he or she be compared to Mr. Beck or be pummeled in the press if the ratings tumbled. So, about a week and a half before Mr. Beck signed off, Mr. Ailes wrote the words “The Five” on a piece of paper. Looking to the ABC talk show “The View” and to the time of day as inspiration, he pictured five co-hosts who could argue about the day’s...

She used to hide her Caribbean accent - Viewers were shocked on the top nine show when this soft-spoken singer out of nowhere morphed into a totally different person.... She was denied an "X Factor" fast-pass - Not only did Melanie almost get sent home before the live shows, she almost didn't make it to her audition at all. "I wanted to get a Fast Pass at the local Fox news in Florida, and they told me, 'No, we didn't enjoy you very much,'" she says, incredibly. "So I waited in line with all the thousands of people." Guess it...

One of Barack Obama's favorite shows is about a secret Muslim who runs for office with a possible eye toward harming America from within -- which is exactly what the president's more paranoid critics accuse him of being. Obama has explained, again and again, that he isn't a Muslim and was born in the U.S. He even produced his birth certificate, partly to swat down insinuations that he's a sort of Manchurian candidate with plans to undermine the U.S. -- after establishing his cover, of course, by ordering the death of Osama bin Laden. (Never mind the idiocy of assuming...

Once upon a time, women were considered the "fairer sex," the "better half." Stewardesses were talented and beautiful. Wives were softer and gentler. Men fought for their honor. Feminism crushed all of that. It is a testimony to their movement that in today's post-feminist entertainment media, part of what makes television so corrosive and sour is just how piggish the women have become. The latest study from the Parents Television Council drives this concept home by going to the ugly center of pop culture: MTV "reality" programming. After studying entire seasons of four MTV shows, the PTC concludes: "Females talked...

gmc World Premiere Movie: Christmas with a Capital CChristmas will never be Christmas again if Lawyer Mitch Bright has his way. The Townsfolk of Trapper Falls, Alaska face their toughest challenge as the battle of removing the nativity from the town square tears at the traditional and spiritual fabric of this joyous season. This is more than just a legality or separation of church and state; it is a knife that cuts through the heart of peace and good will towards all men.

Republicans don’t watch MTV’s Jersey Shore. But they dig ABC’s Castle. Democrats don’t like Discovery’s Deadliest Catch. But they swoon for NBC’s Parks and Recreation. ... In the findings, “sarcastic” media-savvy comedies and morally murky antiheroes tend to draw Dems. While serious work-centered shows (both reality shows and stylized scripted procedurals), along with reality competitions, tend to draw conservatives... LIBERAL-DEMOCRAT FAVORITES: – The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report (Comedy Central): As you might expect. – 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation (NBC): Literate media-savvy comedies score high among Dems in general, notes Experian-Simmons senior marketing manager...

Republican businessman, beau of "Modern Family" star entering raceRepublican businessman Nick Loeb will have a little star power at his side when he announces he's running for U.S. Senate in Miami Beach Thursday afternoon. Loeb is expected to be joined by TV star girlfriend Sofia Vergara when he makes the announcement at a 2 p.m. press conference at the Sagamore Hotel. The Emmy-nominated "Modern Family" star is in town to be with her beau and attend the 5th anniversary celebration of the non-profit group BeLive at the Ritz Carlton on South Beach Thursday night. Loeb, 36, is the son of...

Sony Corp. is considering launching an Internet-based alternative to cable-TV service, people familiar with the situation said, posing the latest threat to the cable and satellite operators that dominate pay TV. The Japanese electronics and entertainment company has approached several big media companies to negotiate the rights to offer their TV channels over the Web in the U.S., the people said. Sony is proposing to beam the channels over Internet connections to Sony-made devices, including PlayStation gaming consoles, TV sets and Blu-ray players, the people said. Sony has sold about 18.1 million PlayStation 3 consoles in the U.S. alone, according...

Yes, you read that right. Bill Maher, after the mention of Herman Cain’s lead over Romney, says Romney is the only thing standing between us and the rise of the apes. This comment was made during an interview given by George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s Good Morning America, Monday morning. If this doesn’t make the headlines tomorrow, and if this isn’t one of the top stories on the MSM news programs, we will all know for certainty the double-standard hypocrisy of the Leftists. From Newsbusters, via Weasel Zippers. STEPHANOPOULOS: Yet, he’s, he’s still leading the field. Still is. I mean, he’s...

Older women who got more exercise and less television time were the least likely to be diagnosed with depression, according to a U.S. study of thousands of women -- with physical activity having the biggest impact. According to findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers found that women who reported exercising the most in recent years were about 20 percent less likely to get depression than those who rarely exercised. On the other hand, the more hours they spent watching TV each week, the more their risk of depression crept up. "Higher levels of physical activity were associated...

When not busy going after Herman Cain, the media bombards us nonstop with unwanted sexual inuendo, banter, and other forms of lasciviousness. Here we go again. A powerful, intelligent and charismatic conservative black man seeks high office in the United States of America, and is subject to the scurrilous slings and arrows that are always deflected from their liberal counterparts by the shields of the mainstream media. In our nation, where the election of Barack Obama might have signaled the end of endless claims of racism, the oldest stereotype of black men has once again reared its ugly head: it...

If it seemed at times as though Andy Rooney was old enough to have been—God help us!—the Father of His Country, well, you can be forgiven for that. He seemed at least to have been old enough to have been the father of CBS, if William S. Paley hadn’t already done the job. For a decent amount of time, he may have been America’s favourite grouse. For an indecent amount of time, he may have seemed just like a grouse with an air-tight contract. For once upon a time, he might have been the model for a certain one among...

An episode of the original Star Trek series in which Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock dress up as Nazis to infiltrate a far-right alien regime is to be aired on public television in Germany for the first time ever Friday night. State broadcaster ZDFneo has evidently decided that German viewers are now ready for the episode “Patterns of Force,” 43 years after it was first broadcast in the United States in 1968. The episode, part of the second season of the immensely popular science fiction franchise, sees the Starship Enterprise visit the planet Ekos in the M34 Alpha System to...

Atlanta, Ga., Nov 3, 2011 / 03:31 am (CNA).- Catholics Come Home has announced a major prime time evangelization initiative set to air on American TV networks beginning in mid-Advent and ending after Christmas.The initiative’s advertising campaign aims to reach 250 million television viewers in over 10,000 U.S. cities and in every U.S. diocese.“These inspiring messages are sponsored by 30,000 Catholic families who want to invite neighbors, relatives, and co-workers to the largest family reunion in modern history,” said Catholics Come Home founder Tom Peterson.The ad used in the campaign notes the beauty and history of the Catholic Church....

Known since the 1950s the "televangelists" American Christians these preachers capable of attracting millions of followers with their fiery sermons, made ​​for television. The Economist this week recounts the rise of their Muslim counterparts, especially in Egypt and Indonesia. An example: Moez Masoud, a young and beautiful Egyptian preacher with a shaved head, which brought together recently in Cairo "hordes of teenage girls," the British magazine, one enthused, "shortness of breath, 'I can see, I can see 'through the gate of her niqab. " Like all his colleagues, Moez Masoud did not receive a traditional religious training, which disturbs the...

High quality global journalism requires investment. Cablevision, the cable operator servicing New York and the north-east US, reported a loss of pay-television customers but a gain in high-speed internet customers, mirroring Thursday’s results from competitor Time Warner Cable. Revenues were up 8 per cent from a year earlier at $1.67bn, but organic growth was nearly flat. Revenues from pay-television services were up despite a loss in subscribers in the past three months. Cablevision added new internet customers, generating revenues from the segment with the addition of a new broadband operator. “Broadband results, increasingly the cornerstone service for all cable operators,...

Rosie O’Donnell is not exactly the savior Oprah Winfrey’s OWN cable network was hoping for. Despite appearing on the cover of Winfrey’s O magazine and constant promotion on the Discovery Channel network, the October 10 premiere of “The Rosie Show” on OWN produced less than half a million viewers, while “Oprah’s Lifeclass” did even worse, attracting just 333,000 viewers. And both shows lost viewers the night after their premieres, with “The Rosie Show” dropping more than 36 percent, to 317,000 viewers the following Tuesday, while “Oprah’s Lifeclass,” also dropped to just 279,000 viewers. But even with the lackluster ratings, OWN...

The Peacock is looking like a bedraggled starling at the start of its first fall TV season in Comcast's nest. Three weeks in, overall viewership, according to the Nielsen Co., is up at CBS and Fox, and down less than 1 percent at ABC, vs. year-ago numbers. But at NBC, it's down 6 percent. More ominous: Despite a new entertainment boss and a large bump in spending on program development, NBC has seen the average viewership of its five new series drop a stunning 28 percent from levels achieved by last year's five new series in the first three weeks...

In our collective consciousness, the French have a reputation for scent. Cut into a wheel of Roquefort, uncork a vintage bottle of Petrus or a flacon of Parisian perfume and you'll smell what I mean. So, it should come as no surprise that French company, Olf-Action, has developed SMELLIT, a device designed to aromatically enhance the video games and movies of your home entertainment system. A cluster of what look like six miniature jet turbines affixed to a stand presumably will blast out synchronized odors that correspond with onscreen activity. SMELLIT hasn't officially been released yet, but it's due for...

Country music star Hank Williams Jr is the victim of double standard after being dumped by ESPN for comparing President Obama to Hitler, Fox News analyst Sarah Palin said Thursday. "Hank Williams and what he is going through now, I think it's a very clear illustration of a greater societal problem and that is the hypocrisy on the left -- the liberals who can throw these stones at a conservative and they knowing that they're not going to be held accountable," Palin told Fox colleague Sean Hannity on his radio show Thursday. Williams, the son of country music legend Hank...

The actor, who was known for tough-guy roles, also appeared in "Philadelphia," "Silence of the Lambs" and "Rambo: First Blood II." Charles Napier, an actor who was known for his tough-guy roles in movies like Blues Brothers, died Wednesday afternoon at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, according to reports. He was 75. The actor was reportedly found sometime Tuesday morning in his Bakersfield home after having collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where he was put on life support in the intensive care unit. Around 1 p.m. Wednesday, he was taken off life support. The cause of death is unclear, but...

The world's biggest food company Nestle is seeking to conquer the dog food market with special advertising targeted at men's best friend. "Nestle Purina has created the first-ever television commercial especially for dogs," it said in a statement. "The TV commercial to be screened on Austrian television uses different sounds -- including a high frequency tone -- to capture the attention of four-legged friends and their owners," it added.

(edit) Things turned nasty when their relationship broke down and there was a long-running dispute over shared items from their home. Finally, Dicken went to Miss Kift's mother's home in nearby Llandudno, snatched the TV from the hallway and loaded it into the back of his Jaguar.Miss Kift was having none of it, her sister Josie told Llandudno Magistates Court. She got into the driver's seat in a vain attempt to stop him driving away.Dicken dragged her out of the car and threw her to the ground. But when he saw what he described as a group of angry people chasing after him,...

Viacom employees have been hit with a round of layoffs, Adweek has learned. Pink slips were handed down Thursday afternoon. A Viacom spokesperson confirmed the cuts, and said that the downsizing primarily took place within the media conglomerate’s music group, which includes MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo. A number of departments within the music group were affected, including digital, consumer marketing, and on-air promotions. Outside of the music group, cuts were made in affiliate marketing, an area that supports BET Networks and Viacom Media Networks, which counts Comedy Central and Nickelodeon among its holdings. The downsizing took place the same...

Fan voting in hugely popular "Super Girl" singing competition seen as promoting democracyIt turns out the Chinese are hellbent on voting… for their favorite singer on an American Idol-style show called "Super Girl." Perhaps they enjoy voting a bit too much. According to the Financial Time, the wildly popular televised singing competition has been cancelled, "following government pressure on a programme that some officials saw as subversive because the audience voting too closely represented Western-style democracy." Anyone with a mobile phone in China can nudge their favorite "Super Girl" towards victory with a text message. The show was viewed by...

A suspect in a Monday morning double homicide was at the crime scene. In fact, he spoke exclusively to Tulsa's Channel 8. Darren Price was watching police conduct their investigation as Tulsa's Channel 8 approached him. Price was eager to talk on camera, even grabbing the mic at one point. "I think it's real crazy. I bring my kids out here to play. It raises a question, is it safe to even walk around this town, people just dying and stuff like this," he told Tulsa Channel 8. Tulsa police arrested 19 year old Price and 21 year Jirao Davis...

A chilling look inside the minds of female prisoners unfolds on Thursday with the première of the new TLC show, Prison Diaries. The first episode of the series focuses on Emilia Carr, one of just 63 women on death row in the U.S. Carr is seen in ankle chains and handcuffs, led by a burly, fully-armed female guard as she leaves her cell. She wears bright orange overalls and trainers, her long, dark hair allowed to fall around her hunched shoulders.

Anyone experiencing outage on their Dish Network?

'Palestinian Authority' Television, which is controlled by 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen, has once again honored Ahlam Tamimi, who drove the suicide bomber to Sbarro's in Jerusalem ten years ago, and then calmly went and broadcast the whole story on 'Palestinian' television. Palestinian Authority TV has chosen to honor two more terrorists serving multiple life sentences for murder in its continuous glorification of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Terrorist Ahlam Tamimi drove a suicide bomber to the Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem in August 2001. 15 people were murdered in the attack, 7 of them children. Muhammad Wael Daghlas...

For all its alleged Internet acumen, Team Obama struggling with media With this week's skirmish over whether President Obama or a debate among the GOP presidential candidates would dominate prime time Wednesday night, a couple of observations seem impossible to ignore... --snip-- But here's the other observation: Not only isn't Obama the gifted TV performer he seemed to be during the 2008 campaign, TV is now one of his worst enemies. --snip-- But as I looked at the screen, I couldn't help thinking how diminished Obama looked and how thin his voice sounded. I wondered if there actually was something...

"Dancing With the Stars" aims for provocative casts, and Chaz Bono's addition to the show has already yielded strong reaction -- some of it ugly. Bono, the only child of Sonny Bono and Cher, was born a woman but legally changed his gender and name last year. The announcement Monday that he would join the highly rated ABC dance competition immediately made him one of the highest-profile transgendered people in the world. It also brought to the surface prejudices about Bono and others who have changed their gender, judging from the "Dancing With the Stars" message board. In hundreds of...

The 13-episode fifth season that was ordered last year, which includes a holiday special, is going to be the final season of Eureka. Here’s a statement from Syfy: “After painstaking consideration, we have had to make the difficult business decision to not order a season six of Eureka. But Eureka is not over yet. There is a new holiday episode this December and 12 stellar episodes set to debut next year, marking its fifth season and six memorable years on Syfy. The 2012 episodes are some of the best we’ve seen, and will bring this great series to a satisfying...

Petrol bombs were thrown, shops looted and eight officers injured during violent riots in Tottenham following a protest over the fatal shooting of a man by police. A crowd of around 300 set fire to buildings, bins and vehicles, while missiles and petrol bombs were thrown in Tottenham High Road on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Eight police officers were taken to hospital and at least one suffered head injuries. By the early hours of Sunday, many protesters had moved to nearby Tottenham Hale retail park, where some were spotted looting PC World and JJB Sports. Sky's Simon Newton,...

In a bright-pink tank top, a light-haired girl crosses the student parking lot of West Beverly Hills High School. She walks past a Bentley and a blue mini-cooper before she stops suddenly as she spots a friend nervously entering his SUV. "Oh my (goodness), there's Ethan," she says. She checks out her reflection in a nearby car window, and from the way she fusses with her hair, it's clear she wants to impress him. Smiling broadly, she begins walking toward the teenager's car. Ethan, however, is in no position to say hello. His attention is focused on another teenage girl,...

LifeSiteNews.com) - The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has released its new listing of TV networks rated according to “quantity, quality, and diversity� of pro-homosexual propaganda shown during primetime programming. “Primetime programming on the five broadcast networks was evaluated as well as original primetime programming on 10 major cable networks,� says GLAAD in introducing their latest “Network Responsibility Index.� According to the report, The CW network leads the five major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, and NBC) in primetime programming hours containing either homosexual characters or the discussion of homosexuality, with 33% of its primetime programming...

Just two months ago, she accused her mother of horrific abuse in an emotional outpouring on American TV. Her late mother, Susan Barrantes, regularly beat her, the Duchess of York alleged during her reality show Finding Sarah. 'When she used to hit me because I didn't sit on my potty or wouldn't eat, a little vein would come up on the centre of my head near my red hair,' she said, adding that her mother called it the 'sign of the devil' and would shout, 'I'm going to beat that devil out!'

A new report estimates about 4.5 million, or 4%, of U.S. homes will have only over-the-top delivery of video service by the end of this year. That figure, according to SNL Kagan, is projected to rise to 12.1 million over the ensuing four years, which would be about 10% of homes. They would rely on Netflix and Amazon for content. Kagan says over-the-top consumers "impacted the subscriber counts for multichannel service providers in 2010." They are expected to "exert competitive pressure going forward." Executives at cable providers say there is scant evidence of cord-cutting, and reductions in subscriber rolls are...

The parent company of Fox News — News Corp. — paid the U.S. government $4.8 billion in taxes over the last four tax years (2007-2010). GE, which owned most of MSNBC until late last year, paid zero taxes in 2010.In fact, GE received a $3.2 billion welfare check from Uncle Sam.From Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston: (Reuters) — Readers, I apologize. The premise of my debut column for Reuters, on News Corp’s taxes, was wrong, 100 percent dead wrong.Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp did not get a $4.8 billion tax refund for the past four years, as I reported. Instead,...

Although it has not quite recaptured the magic of "The Sopranos," there is no denying that HBO is once again in full stride. With Emmy-winning movies, a panoply of well-done documentaries, successful comedies and dramatic hits both popular — "True Blood" — and critical — "Boardwalk Empire," "Treme" — the premium network bursts with so much justified confidence that it took on the perilous realm of fantasy with the well-received "Game of Thrones." So maybe it's time to tone down the tits. I write the word knowing it is going to render my editors and readers apoplectic — why not...

Internet-connected television sets have been growing fast, and by the end of the year -- for the first time -- there will be more connected TVs than videogame consoles. By the end of 2011, some 52 million connected TV sets will be sold globally -- from Samsung, LG and Sony versus 37 game consoles in the market from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony --Xbox, PlayStation and Wii respectively. This is according to U.K.-base Informa Telecoms & Media. "Until now, many online video services were launched primarily with the game console in mind, mainly because console users innately understand how to connect...