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What To Watch On New Year’s Eve?

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Firework display

I have no set plans for New Year’s Eve, do you? I am looking at going out of town to celebrate at some strange place. An alternative would be to go to one of those New Year countdown parties in the city. Another alternative would be to go home to my parents again (as we did for Christmas). I really do not know which option we are going to take but we might very well end up staying at home and having our own little party and if that is the case, we would probably tuned in to one – or two, or three – televised countdown parties. In the event that like me, you end up watching the tube on New Year’s Eve, here are some shows that you can look out for, courtesy of The Associated Press:

The granddaddy of New Year’s Eve entertainment is “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009,” the title made even more torturous by the baton-passing between the two entertainment utility players. The show has a prime-time hour at 10 p.m. ET, breaks for news, then returns with Swift, the Jonas Brothers and Lionel Richie in Times Square. Fergie will host a Hollywood segment with the Pussycat Dolls and others.

Carson Daly is hosting his fifth New Year’s Eve special on NBC, with the same format: an hour in prime-time, a break for news, and a longer party. T.I., Ludacris, Katy Perry, the Ting Tings and Elton John all join Daly.

Daughtry and Scott Weiland are featured players on Fox’s late-night special, with Spike Feresten and Mark Thompson as hosts. It airs at 11 p.m. ET.

One recent trend is partying news networks: if you want to jam with Anderson Cooper or Bill Hemmer, you can. Cooper, teamed with comic Kathy Griffin, is in Times Square for CNN, which boasts a surprisingly cool lineup of Lil Wayne, My Morning Jacket and Hinder. Fox’s “U Party 2009” has LoCash Cowboys and Chuck Hicks.

The hardest workers of the night? Try the classic rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd — they’re booked on both CNN and the Fox broadcast network.

Do stay away from CBS as they are resting that night. Instead of a full blown New Year’s Eve telecast (or even half blown, mind you) they are airing reruns of the Late Show with David Letterman.

SAG poised to strike?

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Hollywood may have to gear up for another debilitating strike as negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers bogged down once more. The SAG is now asking for authorization to strike from its members. It needs 75% approval from its members to go ahead with the strike.

I can just imagine what the repercussions of this will be especially with the US economy doing so poorly.

Moral Issues Spark Debate Over TV Shows

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Showtime's

Lines such as “everyone’s favorite serial killer” would not have been uttered by the average person a few years ago. However, with the popularity that Dexter has reached, this tag line is well known all over the world. This has sparked a certain amount of interest in those who believe that there is a correlation between real life happenings and what is portrayed in TV shows.

Dexter is not a lone ranger in the recent trend of dark heroes on TV. We have Jack Bauer, who has gotten himself into every sort of tangle possible. We also have Dr. Gregory House, a “distinguished” doctor addicted to Vicodin. There are countless TV heroes today who, contrary to the traditional perception of heroes, cannot be labeled as good or bad. In fact, they fall in the various shades of gray that we encounter in our daily lives.

This is what people who have issues with the moral impact of TV are bringing up. These people, in spite of the fact that they are fictional, may have a way of impacting how the real person thinks and perceives things. But how real is that danger? Will a person act on his immoral tendencies because of what he sees on TV? Will the average guy go out and kill “bad” people because of watching Dexter? Will the clean guy try and get some Vicodin because House does?

Maybe. Maybe not. One thing I can say – these shows are darned good but I am not about to go out and kill all the scum I see on the streets every day.

Actors Not United In Strike Action

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60th Primetime Emmy Awards - Arrivals

Talk about a strike by the Screen Actors Guild has been going on for a while now. The two parties – the SAG and the studios have met a couple of times for negotiations but it seems that neither wants to back down. The potential result is a strike carried out by the SAG. As you may know, Hollywood was practically crippled by a strike carried out by writers sometime around last year. The result of that strike was catastrophic to the industry. Can you just imagine what a strike by the SAG will do?

There is a big difference between the writers’ strike and the looming SAG strike, however. While the former pulled together everyone involved, the SAG is divided as to what course of action to take. Some high profile Hollywood celebrities have spoken out in full support of the strike while others, who are just as popular, oppose the strike.

The Guardian is running a story today:

On one side stand Hollywood liberals such as George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Helen Mirren and Kevin Spacey, who are opposed to staging a strike over royalties during the current economic downturn. Opposing them stand another group of well-known Hollywood liberals, including Martin Sheen, Holly Hunter, Mel Gibson and Ed Harris.

In a letter to the union’s membership, the group including Clooney and Hanks urged their fellow thespians to “take the high road”, saying: “We feel very strongly that SAG [Screen Actors Guild]members should not vote to authorise a strike at this time.”

With such strong-willed and powerful people on both sides of one camp, who knows what will happen in the next few weeks?

Seth Rogen comedy being developed

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Comedian/writer Seth Rogen along with his production partner Evan Goldberg are in the midst of developing a new TV project — a comedy that will be aired in Showtime.

The proposed series revolves around three friends in their twenties who run a porn shop. The series, as yet untitled will be executive produced by both Rogen and Goldberg. The two are also currently working a on a new movie Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse.