The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #90

Lately I just haven't had much time to post on here... sorry about that! Seems like all my time lately is spent trying to keep our Primetime News Page updated!

We have a lot of great new volunteers writing daily soap opera updates and more. We also have a new Volunteer Manager, Sammie, who is going to help us keep track of everything. Very helpful!  All of our volunteers are great. You can check out all the new stuff put up on our What's New Page.

The other two things keeping me so busy are interviewing TV actors for our Articles Page and reviewing DVD's and new TV shows for our Primetime TV Review Page.  These are also great perks, of course, for me, to talk to actors that I love and get free DVD's!  But it takes up a lot of time. ...the site is so big and there's always too much to do!  We always need more volunteers...

TV has been great this season, at least for primetime. Daytime is suffering badly. It's very sad that the networks don't seem to recognize the value of daytime soaps any more (if they ever did).  They can blame the falling ratings on lots of things, but the plain truth is that, back in the 90's when the ratings started falling, they did nothing to improve the quality of the shows (and in fact, did the opposite). You can't just continue to underestimate your viewers with crappy writing and bad cliches, and hope that things will turn around. For some reason, soap operas keep hiring the same writers that got fired from other shows! What other industry does that? It's ridiculous. If they got fired because the ratings went down on their shows from bad writing, why hire them again?? It makes no sense.  And they are so afraid of taking any chances. They just recycle the same old boring stories over and over again, instead of making fresh new stories that make more sense in today's world. People want good drama that intrigues and surprises them, whether you're talking soap operas, science fiction, cop shows, or anything else. If it's all predictable and boring, of course people will tune out.  The top people at the networks either don't want to bother spending the money to get better writers, or they just think that soap viewers will put up with anything, so they don't need to bother improving the shows.

The laws are the same for TV shows as they are for people - you must progress, or die.  In TV terms, progress means improving by getting better writing and acting (although this does not really hold true for reality shows or other "trash tv").   If you watch most shows from the past, the writing is not only not quite as good as today's shows, but the dramas today are far more complex. Even if you look at a show like Law & Order, the earlier episodes are much simpler than the more recent ones.  People expect more now from TV. The competition is much more fierce.  While it's true the ratings of all TV are falling, not just daytime soaps, and people are finding other things to do that they like better (like the internet or playing video games, or watching DVD's), that means TV has to get even better to compete for our attention and to avoid cancellation.  Unfortunately, cable seems to have the upper hand in quality shows compared to network TV.  It helps that they produce far fewer episodes per year than network TV, I'm sure.

The viewer is the one that wins in all this (at least while TV is still around). We are the ones that get the better shows to watch. This fall season I had a hard time sticking to my "only one new show per season" rule. I'm afraid that "Ringer" was not enough. I have to keep up with "Once Upon a Time", "Secret Circle", "American Horror Story" and "Terra Nova" as well. I have also occasionally been watching "Person of Interest". These are all very good shows.  But, you know, I'm a TV junkie :)  You can read a list of all the shows I watch.  I'm always very sad when they cancel my favorite shows. Right now I am bummed about the end of Men of a Certain Age, Memphis Beat, The Protector, and soon, Eureka. That is the only problem with being a TV fan. Eventually, everything gets canceled (some a lot sooner than you'd want).

It will be interesting to see what the future holds with TV. We already have the technology to stream the net from TV's, and they show many TV shows on the net, so you can watch not only "regular" TV on your TV but net TV as well. We have a lot of TV on demand. The question is where it will go from here. We had all hoped that the company Prospect Park would come through on their promise to move All My Children and One Life to Live to the internet, but they couldn't get the funding. I think they handled it very poorly and were very short-sighted.  One has to wonder why ABC didn't try to do that first, but we all figure they would have messed it up, anyway.  Eventually, network TV is either going to have to find a way to get more internet advertising dollars or go all on-demand, or they will die.

There are lots of reruns on TV right now due to the holiday. For me it's a good thing. Since I'm always behind, it's a good way to catch up! But I do miss my favorite shows, like The Mentalist and Supernatural...

Happy Holidays, everyone!

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #89

I hope everyone is enjoying the end of spring, the start of summer....

We have all been really busy at The TV MegaSite putting so much news and other stuff up, that I just haven't had any time to blog! Way too much to do and not enough time or volunteers.

We now have recaps of the TV show "Vampire Diaries". Katya is writing them, and she is an excellent writer. She has been starting with the first season so far...we still have writers who are catching up on episodes of "The O.C." and "24".
We can always use more recap writers!!

We are still building the pages for newer shows like The Mentalist, Dexter, Mad Men, and much more. Jacques and I have been working on that whenever we have the time.

Of course we are all deeply shocked and saddened by the cancellation of "All My Children" and "One Life to Live". I have been putting up a list of all of their sponsors and contact information so that you can write to the show and their sponsors to protest. Other fan protest pages and information is found on our AMC Links Page. There are a lot of rumors that General Hospital is next on the chopping block, so make sure to write your letter to the show to tell them not to cancel it!

Of course, as long as there are soaps, we will be keeping up our pages with transcripts, updates, short recaps, and best lines!

Nowadays I tend to post any TV-related stuff that's important to me on our new TV Facebook page, so please check it out!

This time of year is tough because the TV networks announce which of our favorite shows are not returning. Personally, I am still upset that Stargate Universe, Capricorn, Medium, Terriers, and Lights Out are not coming back, but now I also have to add Human Target to the list. I'm not really shocked, but still upset.
I am very relieved, though, that Fringe was not canceled. I hope that CSI: NY, V, and Brothers and Sisters will return...

This week is the series finale of Smallville, and that is very sad for me. Even though the show can sometimes be really stupid, most of the time I love it, and I will really miss it. I love all sorts of Superman shows and movies, and I never missed an episode of this show.

Which of your favorite shows have gone or are staying? Let me know!

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #88

Happy New Year to all TV fans!

It doesn't really feel like a new year yet, since we have so many reruns!

If you are on Facebook, come by and chat about TV at our Fans of The TV MegaSite Group.

Things have been so hectic! It's always something. We still have tons of stuff going up on our site every single day, thanks to our wonderful volunteers. You can find out what's new on our site every day on our What's New page.

I get so much news now from the TV networks that I don't have time for it at all, but I am doing my best to keep up. I get a lot that has to be edited, and I forward it to Danielle to put up our Primetime Forum. I put a lot of it (smaller versions of it, anyway) on our Primetime News Page. You can see info about all the upcoming TV shows, DVD's and more!

We have add tons of new primetime show pages for current shows like Castle and American Idol! Eric has been building those, and I am helping when I can.

We also have new recaps of episodes of The O.C., Charmed transcripts and more! Lots of interviews with TV stars, too!

If you like daytime TV, we have tons of daily updates (detailed summaries), as well as short recaps, and transcripts-- each update has screencaps as well! Lots of stuff to have fun with, as well, with games, polls, articles, spoilers, news, and more.

I have to apologize because our Days of Our Lives and Y&R transcripts have not been a day ahead lately. Eric in Canada usually does those for us, but his machine died, and he is having a hard time getting everything replaced properly. The technology we use for the transcripts is kind of out of date. It uses a TV tuner that grabs the closed captioning from the TV. Apparently the new tv tuners don't do that (they just let you watch TV on your computer). The old ones, made by ATI, which is now owned by AMD, won't work on newer versions of Windows. What a pain in the you-know-what! So he is working on trying to fix that. We hope it won't be much longer!

A lot of our transcripts have been late, and those have been my fault because I have had a lot of things interfering with them. Sucks when real life gets in the way! First I was sick, and then my own computer with ATI was crashing a lot. I think it's fixed now, though, and I am mostly caught up on the transcripts. Cross your fingers!

We always need more volunteers, so please email me if you have a few hours a week and would like to help out! Thanks!

TV has had lots of reruns on the "major networks" since November. I hope you have managed to catch some good cables shows that were not reruns. I sure enjoyed the holiday episodes of "Warehouse 13" and "Eureka", as well as the return of "Burn Notice" and "Men of a Certain Age" and "Leverage". All great shows. Thank you, cable nets, for realizing that there are TV fans who want to watch good TV fiction 12 months a year!! Of course, there are always the daytime soaps; they almost never take a break, so I guess I should thank the TV networks for that, too.

This next week, most of the shows are returning, so that will be great. Me, I'm still catching up on stuff on my DVR. You should really get a DVR if you don't already have one. You will wonder how you lived without it. Not only is it much easier to record stuff to watch, but it is so great for pausing TV and for rewinding and fast-forwarding live TV. I have two of them, so I always have stuff to watch! Too much, in fact...

I get lots of DVD's sent to me, to review for our site, so I always have lots of DVD's to watch, too. It's an amazing age we live in when TV shows are so abundant and convenient to watch. Stop complaining that you are bored and there is "nothing on", tsk tsk! :) Right now I am watching a great show from 1996, "Dark Skies". I saw it back then, but amazingly, I had forgotten most of it. I remembered that it was Scifi and that I loved it, but nothing else. Getting old...

Have a great time! Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, too, this weekend!!

Suzanne

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #87

Things have been very hectic lately on our site! We have some new writers and things are going great. Right now, so far, we have all the soaps covered for daily detailed updates (summaries), more or less. Check it out if you are a soap fan. Our DOOL and Y&R updates are a day ahead of the U.S., so you won't find that in very many places. Most sites either have really short or badly-written recaps, or they are not a day ahead.

I guess everyone is getting ready for Christmas right now. I am almost done with my shopping! Got to take advantage of those Thanksgiving sales, especially with the economy the way it is. Anyway, if you haven't done your shopping, you might want to check out our Holiday Guide for TV fans. If you need a DVD, calendar, or TV-related book, etc. you may find what you're looking for. We have all the latest. I put a lot of work into that calendar page!

I am doing so many interviews this week, it's not even funny. Normally I have one or two at most, but I have SIX this week, and I had to turn down two because of conflicts. That has never happened. I'm not complaining, really, because it is certainly awesome getting to talk to TV celebrities. Monday I spoke with Jason Lee, star of "Memphis Beat" on TNT. Most people know him from his movies or his NBC show "My Name Is Earl". He is guest-starring tonight on "Raising Hope" and it is very funny. He was such a nice guy to talk to. Unfortunately it meant I couldn't talk to Lucy Liu, who is starring in the Lifetime movie "Marry Me" Sunday, Dec. 12. I will be reviewing the movie, though, on our site.

Today I got to speak with Alyssa Milano, one of my favorite actresses!! She is so great and what a thoughtful and intelligent person, too. She should have her own talk show. I think all of us on her conference call learned something today. She should be the next Oprah, definitely. She is starring in the Lifetime Movie "Sundays at Tiffany's", which is based on James Patterson's book. What a great story, and a very good movie. "Charmed" fans should definitely watch as it has some fantasy elements. It is a really great romantic movie with some Christmas stuff in it. Stockard Channing, Ivan Sergei, and Eric Winter are all great in it, too. I have to say it is probably Eric Winter's best role to date. That movie airs this coming Monday, Dec. 6 on Lifetime.

I also spoke with Daphne Zuniga today. I haven't written up these last two yet. I recorded them and hope to type them up tomorrow. She was very nice. Her movie is very good, a fun family Christmas movie with some feminist overtones. "On Strike for Christmas" airs Sunday, December 5 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT on Lifetime Movie Network. I laughed quite a few times when I watched it, which doesn't happy all that often for a cable Christmas movie.

I can't wait until tomorrow when I speak to Timothy Hutton and Beth Riesgraf of "Leverage" on TNT. That is such a fun show to watch, anyway. I have always loved Timothy Hutton. Funny thing, I had a huge crush on his father, Jim, who played Ellery Queen on TV when I was around 12. I just loved him on that show. Then his son is so cute and wins and Oscar, and what a ton of great movies he has done since. And now he is on this great adventure/comedy show, that is so much fun and has all these geek-related jokes and comments. Kind of like Burn Notice but more fun sometimes. And Riesgraf is so awesome as Parker, too. It will be fun to talk to them.

Then on Thursday I get to speak to country singer Trace Adkins, who is hosting the American Country Awards on FOX, Monday, Dec. 6. I am not a big country music fan, but I like some of his songs and have them on my iTunes. That should be interesting, since he's not your average TV star, and I love singing so I should have some good questions to ask him.

I also get to speak to Eddie McClintock and Saul Rubinek from "Warehouse 13" on Thursday, and that is such an enjoyable show...one of my favorite scifi shows. They are really good actors, too, and that should be a hilarious call. Sometimes the people on the call are more entertaining than the show itself.

It looks like there will be Emily Deschanel on Friday, as well. I guess they are trying to get them all in one last time before the holidays. I had to turn down "Fringe" producers, and Ashley Benson of "Pretty Little Liars", this week, as well. It is horrible not to be able to do ones I want. If only I had a second person to help me out. So far I don't. I will have to look into that, for sure.

I have been enjoying the shows this fall...nice to have a little break, though, to catch up on all my DVD's and my secondary shows. I am SO bummed that they are canceling Medium, although I can kind of understand it because the show is not as good as it was a few years ago. I don't know how anyone can put up with them still questioning Allison after all this time. When her boss or husband question whether her dreams really mean anything or not, she should just say, "Well, they meant something all the other hundreds of times!" LOL!! But she doesn't, so it's stupid. And they shouldn't have let the daughter go off to college...she is so pretty, I'm sure that meant losing male viewers. I really love the actor who plays Joe, so I hope we see him in something else soon!

There have been so many new DVD's coming out, and so many TV shows, and I have been reviewing most of them, so please check out our Reviews Page.
If you're wondering what to watch on TV, check out our Primetime News Page. It has info about every single network, and most cable, shows. Updated daily!

What is your favorite Christmas movie? Leave a comment! Mine is Miracle on 34th Street, although I also love the Grinch and Rudolph, and the musical Scrooge.

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #86

I hope everyone had a nice Halloween! I can't believe it's already November, even though it's getting cold outside.

The site is doing fine, just like always. We could make more money, and I could get some more volunteers....but otherwise we're doing fine. I have all of our great volunteers to thank!

It is taking me a long time to put the site's new design on all the pages, and I apologize for that. There are just so many things to do and not enough time to do them all! I try to concentrate more on content than design.

In the new design, which is the one you see on our main page (aqua, yellow and orange), I use these buttons instead of the drop down menu. I was trying to make our pages faster to load and easier to use. I'm not sure if I accomplished that or not. I don't mean to make excuses, but I am not a professional web designer in any way that matters, and I have to get by on my very limited skills.

We have lots of ads, and I hate to have them, but they pay for the site's basic costs, so they are necessary. They pay less and less, unfortunately...we are all hoping that the economy gets better, aren't we!

One of the best advertising networks I use is Kontera. They have text-linked ads, so they are not intrusive and slow-to-load like so many others. They don't even take up any extra room on my page. The technology on my end is so simple. I just have to put in a little coding in the pages, and that's it. I wish they paid me more, but they don't pay too badly compared to the others. I am glad I signed up with them. If you have a good website, you should sign up with them, too. Visit their website. If you are on our site, please make sure you click on all of the ads because they make money for our site! The more money we have, the more I can pay the bills and keep bringing you great TV stuff.

I was thinking the other day about "success". Many people measure success by money, and that's a fair thing to do. Right now I have other types of success on my site, even though money is not something I am successful with, in most ways. For instance, the TV networks and companies send me tons of free stuff, especially DVD's. They do this so I can review them on our site and give them away in our monthly contest. I get a big kick out of this. Heck, who doesn't like getting free stuff? And I am a big DVD collector, big TV and movie watcher, so it is great getting DVD's I would have paid for anyway.

I was very happy this past month to get free copies of the entire Monk set and the entire Nip/Tuck series, among many others. FX and Lifetime have been sending me a lot of DVD's of their upcoming shows and movies to watch. I got hooked on Terriers on FX because of this, in fact! Great show! FOX and USA let me watch shows in advance right on their websites. It's so cool. As a TV geek, it really thrills me.

Another big perk to my site is that I get lots of interviews with TV celebrities. I was so thrilled last week to get to talk to the stars of "Men of a Certain Age", especially Scott Bakula. I have been a big fan of his for many years and watched all of Quantum Leap when it aired, as well as his other shows. I even have some of his singing on my iTunes. This month I also get to talk to Patty Duke, and the stars of "Psych", and Sean Bean, to name just a few! It's just awesome to get to talk to TV celebrities, as well as use their interviews for my site. New content is always awesome to have!

Also, the networks send me tons of emails with information for their shows, so we put it up on our primetime forum and our news page every single day. I get more and more all the time, plus I do go to thefutoncritic.com and also to the networks' press release pages, and our volunteer Danielle scours the web for still more news.

Then again, there is a drawback to all these things because it means I have to spend time watching tons of DVD's, doing interviews, and putting up news. And being a night person, it is not always easy to set my alarm and get up early to have a phone call, even if it is to a famous person! And this means I have less time to spend on writing other things for my site (or putting the new design on the pages).

So it's funny because in some ways it means the site is very successful, but then again I'm getting less money as I used to, since the site relies on ads. And as fewer and fewer people watch TV, that means fewer visitors to my site, too. So you be the judge, am I successful or not? LOL!!!

I have been really trying to prioritize lately and write the daily soap updates as we need them. It just takes so much work, energy, and time to do these. Of course we also have shorter recaps that our volunteers write, and some of them also write the updates, not just me.

Sometimes we are more successful (there's that word again) than others. I will keep trying! I know people love to read our detailed soap updates.

I am still enjoying Outlaw on the weekends...such a shame that NBC canceled it. My favorite show is still "Dexter", loving it!! That one, and Men of a Certain Age, and Smallville....all my favorites. I don't really know how I will live next year without Smallville and Supernatural. Both shows have just been on fire this year.

I haven't had a lot of time to watch the other shows, but I try to keep up...Brothers and Sisters is always good. Not sure if they have jumped the shark yet or not. I don't like all the changes.

South Park has long ago jumped the shark. What were they thinking with this new three part episode with Coon & Friends? It is so bad, not funny at all. I love the Kenny aspect but...it's a comedy, guys, it needs to be funny!

Check out my weekly Daytime Articles about why the soaps need better writing...

Please click "like" on Facebook, on my comment and link on this page and I might win $100! http://tinyurl.com/36jrdju The money goes to the site, not me....thanks!

Later!

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #85

Things have going about the same with our site...we have a couple of new volunteers that will hopefully help us improve some of our sections. It's so hard to find enough people to help. I have been trying to write some of the daily soap updates, but it's been hard. The Fall allergies have been killing me, making me just want to sleep all the time. Ugh!

As most of you know, I watch a lot of TV. I love TV. I like characters, and good writing, and drama, and laughing, and good acting, and action. With a movie, it is over in two hours, and I don't know if I will love it or hate it. If I love it, it's over, and that's disappointing. With a good TV show, I know it may come back next week. Having a show week after week also means there is a lot of time for them to work on character development and have long stories that are complex.

There is so much good TV out there now, and so many channels, that it's impossible for me to keep up with them all (that's sad). Some shows I know I would probably love if I watched them, like Desperate Housewives. I hope to one day catch up with them on DVD, but the likelihood of doing that is not very good. I already have tons of DVD's that I don't have time to watch!

Every year, they come out with more shows I like. Some I like more than others, of course, so I try to only pick one or two of the best ones. I am a sucker for anything having to do with superheroes or science fiction, especially.

This summer I watched a lot of great shows on cable. There are still some great ones out there, like Terriers on FX. This one I have to watch online because DISH Network no longer shows FX (bummer). It is really good, though, so I will go out of my way to watch it.

I really love this year's Outlaw, but unfortunately, it looks like they are canceling it. This does not make me want to watch more NBC shows, even though I do like Law & Order: LA and The Event. I am still upset about last year's shows that got canceled, like Dollhouse and Heroes and the original Law & Order. I try not to hold a grudge, but it's hard. Blue Bloods on CBS is also good, as is Detroit 1-8-7 on ABC. I also like Nikita and $#*! My Dad Says, among others. I still have my old faves like Medium, Bones, Fringe, Glee, Supernatural, Brothers and Siseters, et al.

I tend to watch shows with actors I like, even though sometimes the shows are not so good. I really like that actor who stars in Hawaii 5-0, but his show didn't wow me. It is a good solid drama, but I watch a lot of those already. Same with Rob Morrow, whom I love-- not loving his new show "Whole Truth". But please judge it on your own. I only saw the first episodes of these shows.

I don't know why I still watch Criminal Minds. I started watching it for Shemar Moore, so I guess that's why I still watch it. I really miss Mandy Patinkin, though. The show really hasn't been as good since he left (well, in truth, it started sucking before that). I don't know, it just seems to revel in the violence and grossness, and it makes me feel like taking a shower sometimes. I think people watch it for voyeurism reasons (same with SVU). I did laugh out loud at the episode a few weeks ago when they had the serial killer whose son took over his murdering to jog his memory since he had Alzheimer's. I think it was supposed to be sad, not funny, but it was hilarious to me, especially when he peed his pants. Some things are so bad they're funny.

Same with NCIS--it is really mediocre. Sometimes it makes me laugh. I like the characters, and the actors. I am a big fan of hunky actors Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, and David McCallum. That's why I don't watch the other NCIS. It is ok, but the people on there just don't grab me the same way. I do like all of the CSI shows, and the writing on them is solid. Even though, the original CSI is not the same without Grissom.

I wonder how many of these shows I would still watch if I didn't have a DVR? I remember the old days when I had to actually choose each hour which show to watch or tape. Or even before I could tape. If you went out, you missed your show. Yikes! I'm sure the networks would like to go back to those days because they don't want you to record their shows. They want you to watch them live. I wonder if they don't realize that even before that, we used to go to the bathroom during commercials, or get a snack, or talk, or just plain tuned them out? I know that I sure couldn't sit still during a TV show nowadays and watch the commercials. For the most part, I can't even just sit and watch a TV show, I have to be doing something else, like surfing the web or looking through a catalog, or playing with the dog-- something! Most of them are not so good that they hold me rapt with attention.

Family Guy, American Dad, South Park, The Simpsons - none of these shows are as funny as they used to be. The Simpsons and Family Guy have their moments. House is not as good, either, but still worth watching. I will watch as long as he is still funny. I do think that there some good comedies, like Two and a Half Men and 30 Rock. Humor is something that you can't really define and it's hard to imagine why some people think something is funny and someone else doesn't. I didn't laugh at Community or How I Met Your Mother or The Office or Modern Family, but they all have lots of fans. I guess I am somewhat pickier when it comes to comedies because I wouldn't sit through one that was as mediocre as some of the dramas I watch. I have to laugh, or what's the point?

My favorite show is still Dexter. I am loving that, as always. I wonder why all TV shows can't be as well-written as that one? Smallville is another one of my favorites. I can't help that - anything to do with Superman is my favorite. It's been really great this season. I am thrilled every time I see him fly (or attempt to fly) or bring out the costume, or anything like that. Last week's episode was great, especially at the end when he and Lois were dancing and he flew a little. I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of this Lois, but I am resigned to her now. I tried watching Ordinary Heroes but it does not really grab me. I do really love The Mentalist...that one is great!!

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #84

In case you're wondering, here is mostly what I do on my site (in my job).

The networks TV send me tons of stuff. They send me news and info every day, and some I get on other websites. I forward a lot of it to my volunteer Danielle, who posts it on our Primetime Forum.

I condense it a little and put it on our Primetime News Page. You'd be surprised how much time this all takes.

We have lots of soap opera daily summaries, and we never have enough people to write them, so if I have time, I write them myself.

We have daily transcripts for all the soaps, so I run a lot of those on my computer (it grabs the closed-captioning from the shows):

I also do emails and stuff dealing with volunteers and other things.

Warner Brothers, Universal, and various networks send me tons of DVD's to review, so when I have time (Ha!) I watch those and write reviews.
I also try to watch all the new shows at least once (not reality shows for the most part) and post the reviews there, too.

On Sunday nights, I usually collect news and spoilers for the soaps and post it in various newsletters on Yahoo groups (that people have signed up for) and on our forums.

Also on the weekend, I go to a page that lists all the talk show appearances for the week and look for actors I recognize so I can post that info on our site. Like for instance if William Shatner were appearing on Jay Leno, I'd post that on our Star Trek Appearances Page. I also look for appearances in other places like press releases, magazines, and Twitter.

Once a month, I choose winners for our DVD giveaway and also add any new DVD's they send me when I have extras.

Sometimes the networks offer me interviews with the actors or producers, and so I have to come up with questions, and write it up. I put those up on our Primetime Articles Page.

I have other stuff I do, too, whenever I can fit it in, but that is the most of it.

Oh, and every time I work on our site, I post it on the What's New Page so people can see what the latest stuff is:

This is why I'm always way too busy :)

Of course, the site has other volunteers who run transcripts, write updates or articles, or write interviews or reviews, too. Most of them do not do it full time like I do, though. Only Gisele, who helps me run the site. She works on all the daytime stuff. I don't know what I'd do without her!

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #83

I hope you have enjoyed your summer! I can't believe the new fall TV season is already here.

We have all still been working on our site and trying to make it good. Even with a good economy, it's tough to find people willing to donate much time to the site! And we get less and less ad revenue - but I guess that's just the Web in general right now. Well, don't worry because either way, we will continue to work on the site. It started out as a hobby, so even if I never make any money on it again, I will still keep going on it. You have my word on that! Unless I get bored, but I doubt that will happen, ha ha!! The site has been around, in some form or another, since 1996, so if I haven't lost interest by now...

We have some new volunteers writing our episode guides for The OC and some other shows (some new ones to come).

Even though As The World Turns is almost over, we still have volunteers working on that section of our site. I know a lot of people are very sad that it's ending.

Soaps are dying, and it's due in part to the bad writing. The people in charge (or The Idiots in Charge, TIIC for short, as some fans call them) have not done a thing to improve the writing. I guess they think soap fans are stupid and will watch whatever crap they throw up there. It's very sad that an entire genre has to die because of their short-sightedness. They may claim that it's because of low budgets, or housewives working, or whatever their latest excuse is, but the proof that they are wrong is cable TV. People tune in to watch shows like "Mad Men", even though they never watched that network before. People watch that and other shows on iTunes. That's because they are GOOD SHOWS! They have great writing and acting. If soaps were that good, people would go out of their way to watch, too.

Even the worst primetime or cable drama is better than ANY daytime soap right now. It's very sad. Everything on soaps is completely predictable, boring, or stupid. You can't have constant violence, or people acting dumb, or doing things that no normal adult would do, and use the same tried plot devices over and over for 20 years, and expect people to keep tuning in! It's a crime that the people in charge of daytime or these shows even still have jobs. So don't believe what you read - the people killing the soaps are the executives in charge of daytime, and the executive producers of each show, and their writers - not the viewers.

One reason that people like soap operas, besides the romance or whatever, is that they are CONTINUING dramas. Even now, they rarely get canceled. That is why we keep watching, even when the shows get very bad. We are hooked on them. So imagine how horrific it is to watch them slowly wither and die.

On to a lighter note...summer TV is fantastic this year. You know, it used to be, back in the "olden days" (20 years ago and more) that in the summer they would have mostly reruns, and maybe the occasional variety show. I guess they thought people were out doing stuff instead of watching TV. That hasn't been the case for a while, and now the summer brings TONS of new programming, on both regular and cable TV. There is so much of it that it's hard to keep track! They don't have a nice neat "summer season" with a schedule like they do for the fall.

In fact, I tried to find out about the various shows at the start of the summer, and it took a good deal of research! I hope they fix that in the coming years. I know people like to complain that there isn't anything to watch in the summer, but that just isn't true.

This summer I watched Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Memphis Beat, Rizzoli and Isles, Dark Blue, Eureka, Haven, True Blood, Mad Men, Covert Affairs, The Gates, Being Human and White Collar...and there were certainly many other fiction shows you could watch, not to mention non-fiction! And not to mention daytime TV, if you are a fan.

I have to admit that I have also been catching up on some of the shows from the Spring...I tend to fall behind. Right now, as I type this, I'm watching episodes of "Happy Town". I enjoy this show, but I have a feeling that it won't be back (I have the same feeling about "The Gates", but I hope I'm wrong on both counts!).

Nowadays it doesn't pay to get too attached to shows because they don't seem to last long. Even the soaps!

What show's return are you looking forward to this season?

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #82

Yikes, I can't believe it has been almost 4 months since I posted! So sorry.

In my defense, we are moving soon, so I've had a lot to do!

I have been putting the new design up on our pages. It is tedious work but has to be done. I am starting with current shows. I just finished Bold & Beautiful and have started on Days of Our Lives. Then later I will come back and finish the shows that are no longer on the air, and all the sub-pages.

There is always too much to do! We have about 50 volunteers on our site, so they work hard every day.

Recently I added a lot of pages for current primetime TV shows. So far most of them just have one single page, but I am gradually adding more. I hope you enjoy them!

Lately I have been watching the soaps a little more. I had to take a break from them for a while. I just had too much primetime to watch and not enough time for everything. I'm sure every TV fan feels the same way.

I have seen a few episodes of All My Children, One Life to Live, Bold & Beautiful, and Young & The Restless. They are ok. My favorite is still General Hospital. God knows why! :) I do love Dante, though. Most of them I have watched so I can write updates for our site, General Hospital I have just been watching for fun.

It's sad that the daytime soaps are dying. I mean, all of TV is not doing so well, except maybe cable. If only they would get better and more creative writers, I think they could really save the soaps, or at least some of them. In fact, if one of the networks were smart, they would wait until almost all of the soaps were dead and then come out with a brand new one that totally breaks the mold and is innovative, fun, and great, yet still has the things we like about soaps. All of the soap fans longing for their old soaps would probably love it.

We really need more updates writers for the shows...I have been lazy about posting for more help, too. I need to get on that! I sure can't write them all myself.

Some of my favorite shows had their characters all break up at the end of the season. They are similar shows: Bones, Castle and The Mentalist. Too sad!

I really didn't like the CSI season finale. I hope that Ray survives. It was a very good episode, though. I just don't think he would have turned his back on the guy, that close to the bars...he's not stupid!

CSI Miami has been great this season. I wasn't really surprised, though, that the Stetler guy was the thief (was ANYONE surprised by that??). The most shocking ending, though, came from CSI: NY. I sure hope they don't kill off either Danny or Lindsay.

Criminal Minds also had a shocker of an ending. They created some great characters, which seemed like a good episode for a spin-off, then they killed one of them off! Eric Close is great, so I hated to see that. If they make him survive somehow, it will be kind of unbelievable since he was shot point blank. Tim Curry was awesome as always. I hope Eric Close gets a new show to star in. I miss him!

I am very bummed that they canceled some of my favorite shows, especially Heroes and FlashForward. Heroes was flawed, but I still always enjoyed it. The CW should buy it and pair it with Smallville. That would be awesome. I wish they hadn't canceled Trauma, Cold Case, Numb3rs, and the forgotten, either. Dollhouse they canceled a ways back, but that one was most heart-breaking for me. Great show. Too good for TV, I guess. They should have put it on FX instead of FOX. They could have been a lot more daring on there with it.

I was really shocked that they canceled Ghost Whisperer but kept Medium. Grateful, though. I think some of these cancellations have to do with big salaries, but who knows.

Now they have a Summer TV season, which is great for us TV addicts. USA is showing Burn Notice and Royal Pains again, and they have a bunch of other new shows coming up as well. Drop Dead Diva returned tonight on Lifetime. I didn't use to watch that, but I have been catching up with it online. It's a great show, especially for women. Fun legal comedy/fantasy, a little like Ally McBeal.

Doctor Who is back, with a new doctor. I still watch and enjoy the show, but the writing is not as good as it was, and I don't like the new doctor nearly as much as David Tennant. He was awesomely good.

I can't wait for the return of True Blood and Mad Men!

I am still catching up on many primetime shows from this spring, including Glee, Flashforward, V, Vampire Diaries and much more.

Stargate Universe has been great! A much better show than it started out to be.

Enjoy your summer, but don't forget to check out all the great new shows!

The TV MegaSite's Blog Post #81

Our site really needs more volunteers! Please email me if you are interested in helping out. It used to be much easier to get them...I don't know why! No help is too small...as long as you are polite and reliable :)

We have a lot of great news, interviews, recaps...so much stuff I can't even begin to mention it. You can see the latest on our What's New page. We list the past week or so on there.

I have been putting our new design on our All My Children Pages. Almost finished with that section!

Check us out on Twitter!

Lately has been crazy, I've had like 4-5 TV celebrity interviews every week. That is not normal for me. It's been so great! I was so nervous last week when I got to interview Ben McKenzie, who stars in Southland. He also starred on The OC and is of course so gorgeous! Southland is an awesome show on TNT. It was on NBC last spring and they did renew it...but then when they decided to put on five nights of Jay Leno (what a great idea that was!), they canceled it, even though they had already produced 6 new episodes. Luckily, TNT grabbed it and are showing them. Watch it and you won't be sorry. It's a very realistic and exciting cop show. Ben was very nice, so quiet and not at all conceited.

We have had the interviews through FOX for a while, but now I'm getting them from a lot of the cable nets as well, and a few from CBS, and possible one this week from ABC...cross your fingers for me! This week I get to speak with Simon from American Idol. What should I ask? I have no clue. Also the creators of Burn Notice and White Notice, and possibly two of the contestants from The Bachlor. So exciting!

The nets also send me tons of news in email, plus I get some from their sites. I have been trying to be good about remembering to put them up right away and also sending them to Danielle to put up on our Primetime Forum. She puts up the full story, and I just put a blurb on our news page and then link to the forum. She puts tons and tons of other TV news on there as well.

Juanita has been tireless in putting up screencaps for each of our daytime soaps. It is really easy to do but she needs more help!

Carrie has been really good about writing our 24 recaps for this season!

All of our writers are awesome. We just need more!

I was out of town last week, so when we got home on Sunday, I had to catch up on watching my primetime shows. So many great shows last week. CSI: New York had a bunch of good guest stars, many from soaps like Antonio Sabato Jr. It was racetrack-theme, so Danica Patrick was also a guest-star. She's about as good of an actress as she is a driver. It was fun seeing Stella and Mac in cars at the end!

Of course Supernatural is one of my favorite shows, and it was so good...I love it when Dean was faced with Famine and he said, "So basically you just make people coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs?" LOL. Even when the show is at its darkest, they always make good jokes. I don't like episodes where someone is eating in a gross way, though, and this episode had lots of that!

The Mentalist - awesome as ever. Great to see Cho go all Rambo on everyone.

Smallville is just on fire this year. This week's episode was no different. Nice to see Chloe having a good time, poor, sweet, Chloe. Then she gets her heart crushed again. That kid they cast as the adult version of the superhero was great. He was kind of cute and also creepy, reminded me of that guy Charlie X on Star Trek years ago. So cool that Clark got his costumed designed at the end. Maybe they will use it regularly next year!! Please please please! And flying!

And yes, both Supernatural and Smallville will be back next year, so I am in BLISS!

Family Guy was so hilarious this past Sunday...it still shocks me some of the things they say on there...but of course it also makes me laugh. American Dad is always so-so (but we did laugh at the Canadian/Mexican accent on the Stan Cyborg). We stopped watching the Cleveland Show, it just wasn't funny. Simpsons is okay...

I have so many other shows to catch up on, like Past Life on FOX!

Until next time!