The BBC had said earlier this year that they were not going to do its traditional TOTP Christmas special but instead doing several smaller TOTP2 specials throughout the Christmas season.

But the Corporation announced that they were going to bring it back for two mega specials on Christmas Day and New Years Eve.

It comes after X Factor judge and music supremo Simon Cowell said that he wanted to make a bid for Top of the Pops and bring it to ITV for Christmas.

BBC One controller Jay Hunt said that the shows “will form the centre piece of a massive musical offering during the festive season that we hope viewers are really going to enjoy.”

This did not mean, however, that the show is coming back, which Hunt also made clear also adding that the show is ‘not up for sale’.

Glad they changed their mind, but part of it was possibly due to Simon Cowell sniffing around looking to take it back. Not saying that’s a bad thing at all, because I’d probably do the same thing. And anyway, it’s tradition. Why not do it anyway?

I’ve already discussed the return issue but if they do have plans to do it, don’t determine it from how many people watch these specials because It’s the Christmas Season so it’s not the usual viewer habits of the nation. Talk to the fans, get their view and then see if the time is right. There is a case for it not coming back and a case for it to come back. Use those more then just the random ‘Come back! It was great years ago’ nostalgia stuff.

I’ll start with a quick note on my highlights of last week. The Devil’s Whore was not what I made it out to be. It just wasn’t good. Pity for John Simm, not a good follow up to Life on Mars.

We’ll dive straight into the deep end then with our first highlight this week, that being the coverage of the latest round of Rugby Union Autumn Internationals. England will have their sternest test against the World Champions South Africa and Wales will have to be at their best to compete with the All Blacks. Look out for Devon Armitage for England and Leigh Halfpenny for Wales as they have impressed in their first season in international colours.

David Tennant looks to be in another stunning drama, starring as the scientist and philosopher who aided Albert Einstein in establishing the theory of relativity, Arthur Stanley Eddington in Eddington and Einstein. If this carries on Tennant’s success how long can it be before he makes the step up to Hollywood?

Our Film highlight for the week is the excellently considered comedy drama written by, directed by and starring Zach Braff, The Garden State. Shining in his role as a disillusioned TV actor who’s life is changed by a love affair, Zach Braff set himself on the way to becoming the Woody Allen of the 21st Century.

Mark Lawson’s series of one on one interviews on BBC4 is next on our list of highlights as Rolf Harris’ recent publicity continues in Mark Lawson speaks to Rolf Harris. With the revelations about his family’s past developing from his appearance on Who do you Think you are? and the newly added significance of his famously moving song Two Little Boys, this is certain to be an enthralling insight.

I was very much torn about where to put this next choice. I’m not a fan of 24 at all, but 24: Redemption, filling in the gap between the sixth and seventh series is a definate must watch for all fans of the franchise, and will likely be a huge ratings winner for Sky One, making it a highlight in my book.

The Untouchable promises to be an excellent documentary insight into the life of Leroy ‘Nicky’ Barnes, the infamous drug lord. Most will remember his story from the Cuba Gooding JR protrayal of the character in the film American Gangster, but anyone wanting a non-hollywood look at his life will be wanting to catch this.

Our final highlight for the week is another documentary, this time on the ‘voice of a generation’s angst’ Joe Strummer, in Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. Admiring celebrity fans and archive footage look to combine for an interesting account of an interesting person.

Onto our lowlights for the week, and once again we’re fortunate not to have too many!

Divas II, while for a definate good cause will be, rather like Children in Need and other appeals, a cyncial attempt to squeeze money out of people in exchange for a night of questionable entertainment. One to avoid unless you like guilt trips.

Survivors is another one I was torn over where to place. While the premise is an interesting one, looking at the remains of a society that has been ravaged by a terrible virus, and the cast is good with Freema Agyeman who was Martha in Dr Who, but having been soured on remakes over the last few years with the poor efforts coming from Hollywood, it remains to be seen if this can capture the sense of drama and isolation that made the original 1970s series so intriguing.

With this next choice I will nail my colours to the mast early on. I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and as such have a strong faith in God and the Bible. I believe in intelligent design and not in chaos theory or evolution, but I respect others’ rights to believe whatever they choose as we all have free will. What I don’t like however is a programme that completely neglects and infact, casts aside any alternative theories. Catastophe, presented by the increasingly irritating Tony Robinson, promises to be a one-eyed and arrogant look at how life got here.

Hollyoaks Later is our next lowlight. An average at best soap opera, that has in very Phil Redmond fashion, long jumped the shark, put in a different setting. No thank you.

Onto our final lowlight for the week, a show that really bothers me, Combat Chefs. War is not fun. The army is not fun. Cooking for an army at war is vital and not fun. “Hey! Let’s make an entertainment show based around it!”. A very poorly thought out concept.

That’s me for the week, check out all the excellent articles on the site, and my views on the John Sergeant situation. We’re crying out for writers here in the TV department, so please email me if you feel like contributing any news or opinion columns at chris@entertainmentnewsline.com. Take it easy people and stay safe.

Think Being John Malkovich but swap Spike Jonze for Kevin Smith, replace Malkovich with porn and you now have, Being a Dirty-Minded Teenage Boy’s Wet Dream, which pretty much sums up Zack and Miri Make a Porno to a tea. That is if the literalness of the title didn’t already give the game away.

The film sees long-time friends and room mates Zack and Miri commuting within dead-end lives. After their less than glittering ten-year high school reunion, which ends with them mulling the state of their financial woes, the pair decide the only solution out of their debacle is to make a skin flick… drum roll please… and not just any skin flick, oh no, I give you Star Whores (It wouldn’t be a Kevin Smith movie if it didn’t have some sort of Star Wars reference in it, now would it?)

Though mildly entertaining, it’s littered with comic interludes the story is largely tired and frustratingly predictable. What with its telegraphed jokes and uneven mood; a message to Kevin Smith, you can’t jump from XXX to PG13 rom-com territory and back again within the same sequence. It just doesn’t work my friend.

Fortunately for the good graces of Seth Rogen’s goofy but love able charm and Elizabeth Banks comic sensibility the film isn’t completely unbearable, however, one can’t help but long for the days when Kevin Smith made films like, Clerks and Dogma. Zack and Miri Make a Porno is evidence that Smith still hasn’t been able to rid himself of that potent turkey Gigli scent.

Shock! Horror! Stop the presses! The beloved political broadcaster and comedy performer John Sergeant has quit the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing only 4 days after once again being saved from victory by the general public in a phone vote. Sergeant opted to step out, stating “the joke was wearing thin”, and that there was a danger he would win the competition.

Although Strictly is a dance competition and after clearing the dead wood out of the competition Sergeant was comfortably the worst dancer left, as indicated by the votes of the expert panel, phone votes in response to the sometime barbed remarks from the judges and out of sympathy for the immensely approachable 64 year old kept him from even chance of elimination via the dance off. “I didn’t want a bittersweet victory” he stated, which it undoubtedly would have been had he won the competition ahead of much superior dancers, some of whom had already begun to be sacrificed in favour of him.

Which leads us to the larger issue, that of sympathy voting in talent competitions in general. ITV’s The X-Factor is of course in full swing at the moment and has itself been at the forefront of the debate. The furore over the departure of Laura on that show after she was in the bottom two of the public vote and was chosen by 3 out of the 4 judges to be sent home was frankly ridiculous. People have petitioned the show’s producers to reinstate her, despite the fact it was their votes that put her in that position. The judges merely chose on the basis of what they saw in front of them. The man many felt should have gone a long time ago, and finally departed this previous weekend, Daniel was another case of cynical sympathy voting.

Despite clearly being the weakest competitor since the start of the live competition, in the wake of negative comments by the judges, met by boos from the live audience, rallied people to vote for him, and it seems only when someone who was genuinely more talented and better liked than him was voted off that people came to their senses.

This isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened. GMTV presenter Kate Garraway was kept on a celebrity singing competition despite the fact she was tone deaf, simply due to people turning on the judges for deserved criticism. The mixture of plastic and wood that is Linda Lusardi was kept on the last series of Dancing on Ice despite being dreadful in comparison to the other competitors for the same reason.

Have we as a television audience honestly reached the point where we favour who we feel sorry for, or who makes us smile, rather than the most talented person in an arena some form of talent is the vital component?

Perhaps it’s taken a man much more sensible and intelligent than perhaps all of us to show us the way. Congratulations John Sergeant, we enjoyed your run, but you definitely made the right move and saved people from themselves.

The top ten was still dominated by Marvel with 7th issue of the controversial Hulk series coming 3rd beating out Grant Morrison’s Batman R.I.P storyline continuation in Batman #680. Amazing Spider Man, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Astonishing X-Men and Uncanny X-Men wrapped up the top ten in the Marvel front. Justice League of America was DC’s other representation in the top ten.

Below that, big name Final Crisis tie ins like Rage of the Red Lanterns and Legion of Three Worlds and Justice Society of America, all written by Geoff Johns, came 13th, 23rd and 15th respectively fighting off a sea of Marvel titles, including Amazing Spider Man, Warren Ellis’ Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes and Thor. Detective Comics also did well for DC, ranking at 20th.

The highest ranking Independent titles were GI Joe A New Beginning #0 and Angel: After the Fall #13, both from IDW and both coming in at 65th and 66th. The next highest was Dark Horse’s Alex Ross backed Project Superheroes Volume 02 Supremacy #0.

In the graphic novel front, DC beat out Marvel with Joker by Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo outselling Marvel Zombies. Independent titles, though, were doing very well too in the Graphic Novel front in Boys, Serenity: Better Days and The Savage Sword of Conan selling well for Dynamite and Dark Horse respectively.

Marvel’s domination was restricted compared to the month of September taking a smaller share of the market compared to DC. They also lost momentum in the Dollar Share with DC competing more with Marvel in the rankings, only losing out by about 8% compared to September.

To see a full rundown of the estimates, you can click here.

Once it’s finally over and you have allowed yourself to go through the six stages of loss: tears, anger, depression, grieving, trying to get back together and finally acceptance. Once the hurt of being single again and the pain of seeing him happy or with another girl have passed and you are at last content, then the seeds of friendship between you and the ex can grow like the poppies in the fields.

But unlike those poppies the seeds of friendship sometimes don’t symbolise the end of a horrible struggle, friendship with the ex can symbolise the start of an oh so confusing time.

3 months ago I broke-up with the guy I’d been dating since I was 17. We’d survived college together, the good times and the bad. In fact we even managed to get though the first year of being at to separate unis. After all this, things just fell apart. We ended it in a horrible and insensitive way, which made it hard for me to even think his name without the anger of the last few months bubbling up inside me. Not only did he humiliate me in front of my closest friends but he went on over the next few months to destroy everything I had believed to be true and sacred in our relationship. To add insult to injury he got with a girl I knew, only 5 days after we ended our 2 years together. Though it is hypocritical of me to be so angry at him for this, as I got together with someone only two days after it ended, I cant help but feel so bitter as his lack of consideration for me during this time. He cut me out completely, told people he was over me, didn’t bother to hide his new girl from me and, well, overall was a complete arse.

It has taken me these few months to stop going on to the girl he is seeing Facebook, comparing myself to her. She is skinnier than me, but she’s ginger….so 1 all. She is younger than me but is really quiet..2 all. And I happen to know from a reliable source that’s she’s a bit of a slag, so I’d call that 3 –2 to me. Yet even with these scorings in my favour it has taken me a long time to shake her from my thoughts. However, finally I have got there and feel no resentment towards the evil stick figure with no soul, I decided to reach an olive branch out to the ex.

We arranged to meet at a pub in Brighton. Driving there I got caught in traffic and running forty minutes late text to tell him so. Of course the stupid ex having left his phone at home never got that text. Thus in a typically dramatic fashion as I ran from the car rushing up the steps to meet him, he was rushing down the other side thinking he had been stood up. If I had been two minutes later he would have been gone, I would have thought he never showed up and he would have thought the very same of me. We probably would have never spoken again. Odd how sometimes timing is everything.

Standing on the stairs it came to me that this was the longest we had been apart in two years but here we were looking at each other like strangers. The next hour was awkward and certainly not helped by the fact that he was pretty mad with how late I was considering I had told him to be on time. Yet here we were, two people who had shared almost all there is to share with each other, two people who spent the last two years in each other’s arms, two people who up until 3 months ago had said ‘I love you’ everyday. The wooden table stretched between us like an ocean. The gaps in conversation lasted what felt like forever. This huge void had opened between us and yet I still felt so close to him. So much had changed, so much I hated about him, nevertheless here he was sitting across from me with his same dumb hair cut, the silly smile I knew so well, his hands fidgeting in that familiar fashion. I knew ever hair on his head; he knew every freckle on my face. The separate togetherness is an unbearable side affect of trying to be friend with an ex. Maybe we just tried to meet too soon after. Maybe the wounds hadn’t healed properly. Either way it felt like the poppies were trying to grow with a battle raging around them.

Driving him home we were silent most of the way. I guess too much had been said already. I admit I had spat some pretty angry sentiments at him as we sat in the bar. There had also been some heartfelt and painfully true things said, things I had worked so hard to ignore. He had said he still loved me, I had said there were days I hated him. The drive wasn’t long but the distance between felt massive. Dropping him off, I knew that it could be the last time I see him. He hugged me then kissed me on the cheek. I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. I know it was foolish but I couldn’t help it but the way I felt when I touched his lips for the first time in a long time let me know there was still something there. Still something between us. I don’t know if I want something to still be between us, I don’t know what I can possibly want from him. We are so over that we need a new word for over yet. I just don’t know. I wish I hadn’t tried to plant the seeds of friendship. I wish I just let the poppies grow in their own time.

Alright so last time… however long ago that was, I had to struggle a little to find the goods worth talking about. This time however, oh yes, this is going to be a cakewalk. Hey I’m not one to kick a man while his down, but if that man repeatedly said something stupid, let his ego get the best of him, and stupidly tried to cash in solely on past success. Then you know what? I think that calls for a people’s elbow… if you smell what I’m cookin’.

Now Sony has done many many many many MANY stupid things in the last couple of years, so narrowing it down to just one thing to make fun of certainly is a challenge. In between the giant crabs and their weak points for massive damage, RIDGE RACER, and paying people 1200 dollars to find available units of their readily available system. There is one which happens to coincide with the holiday season which is quickly approaching. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, are you in for a comedy treat.

When Sony released the PSP back in March of 2005 they only had one goal, take down Nintendo and it’s only real source of income at the time, the Game Boy. However after early success people began to see the system’s flaws. Short battery life, no real killer games until Lumines, and a solo analog stick… nub thing which wasn’t the most percise. So the system began to struggle behind the might of Nintendo and their brand spankin’ new Nintendo DS. So what was the company to do? Admit defeat and just try to garner a profit from the system and move on? HELLS NAW it’s Sony dammit! The company which came out of nowhere to kick ass while also chew bubble gum back in the late 90’s. So after a number of lackluster years Sony came up with an idea, an idea… which would grow to become one of the stupidest marketing ploys of all time.

The internet has been going though a phase known as viral marketing. A system where the company uses already made social networks to promote the product. When it’s gone right it convinces those in the know that they get it as well, which can boost sales. When it’s done badly however… well Sony was about to learn that the hard way. Right before the holiday season of 2007 a new website popped up with screamed attention. It was a blog site called alliwantforxmasisapsp. It featured two ‘young and hip’ bloggers who were pleading to anyone that cared to make sure their Christmas present a Sony PSP. Right away things were fishy about the site. First off the ‘young and hip’ bloggers looked nothing young or hip-like. They looked like they were 35 years old, and I’m being generous with that number. Secondly there’s obsession with a desire, and then there’s what these freaks were doing. They had everything on the site including a fake PSP you can print out and pretend to play on while daddy drinks and yells at mommy for being ‘that stupid bitch’.

(Warning: Said ideal of drinking and calling people ‘that stupid bitch’ is not encouraged by Drew or anyone else at Entertainment Newsline. …Unless you’re just kidding, then it’s hilarious.)

Worst of all however… was the lingo. See the words the website had up were complete sentances no doubt about it. However what they put together wasn’t exactly a complete thought. I shall now quote some lines from the site…

“don’t just wear it - pwn it!!1!”

“our boy Cousin Pete ‘rapped up these crazy beatz and rhymes & put them under our tree! much luv and thx, pete.”

“so we started clowning with sum not-so-subtle hints to j’s parents that a psp would be teh perfect gift.”

“you advertize. they recognize!”

“stick this ad in your girl’s vogue cosmo people who live real simple or your dad’s national maxim geographic sports for men. whoever, they’ll get the point.”

“now brace yourself 4 the metal madness!”

“This original “alliwantforxmasisapsp” jam is bound to be a cla$$ic!”

All of these lines were real… real retarded. It’s one thing to assume that a lot of people wouldn’t know the english language if you smacked them around with it. It’s another to assume that only gamers would have such a horrible idea of word structure and grammar.

Finally, the coup de grace of this sad journey was of course… a rap video. Because when you want something for Christmas, what better way to show it then by chugging down a 40 oz and bustin’ them phat rhymes! (Editor: Drew, you’re not a rapper…Stop with the gangster talk! -Eoin)

Yep, and here I thought Soulja Boy had no street cred, this poor bastard’s street cred is now in the negatives. Closely behind Carrot Top, and well… me.

Eventually someone became wise and decided to look into the domain’s register, and you’ll never guess what. Turns out the site wasn’t made by cool, hip people after all! The site was registered to a company called Zipatoni, a marketing company which prided itself on such rouge tactics. Eventually Sony confessed that indeed, no stupid people were actually trying to demand a PSP for Christmas though sheer horrible rapping. Closing down the site and trying to make sure it was long forgotten. Of course this being the internet, where people become famous by lip synching weird germen techno songs. The thought of the website disappearing will likely never happen.

In the end Sony was left with even more egg on it’s face, and even it’s own fanbase had to be at least a tad bit offended. It’s own loyal company, the very thing they live off of for their entertainment. Just made them look like ‘Uneducated little dorks who can’t spell or do anything else correctly. If you want to or already own a PSP you must be stupid too!’ Needless to say it didn’t help PSP’s holiday sales, as the system is now clearly holding on by mere willpower from Sony.

Hey, at least they didn’t try making the Playstation 3 at it’s original $599 (£403) price tag out to be like that’s cheap or anything…

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/17/kutaragi-playstation-3-is-too-cheap/

…F–K!

It’s back and jampacked! Entertainment Newsline’s preview of the good, bad and downright upsetting in UK TV returns after a two week hiatus.

Firstly I need to issue an apology to all the readers of this column for missing the last two weeks. Last week I dropped everything and went on holiday for the weekend at short notice, and the week before, well…frankly there was NOTHING to preview.

Fortunately, that is not the case this week.

We begin our highlights for the coming week with one of quite a few new shows debuting in the schedule, in the shape of Channel 4’s 101 Challenges. The show follows a year in the life of brothers Lee and Lindsay, as they jetset over the world undertaking challenges set out before them by members of the public via their website www.101challenges.com. The conditions are simple, basically the lads will do anything as long as;

1) A Challenge is not illegal
2) A Challenge is not immoral
3) A Challenge will not cause death (Broken bones are acceptable).

A glance at their site reveals the challenges range from the interesting to the ludicrous, and is almost guaranteeing thoroughly enjoyable television. A ‘Boy’s own’ adventure for the Jackass age you might say.

Our next highlight is a much more genteel addition to the schedule, as Outnumbered returns to the BBC for a third series. In recent times there has been a complete dearth of traditional sitcoms, and while this series doesn’t set the world alight with laughter, it is versatile enough to warrant a watch. Hugh Dennis’ chameleonic abilities are never more evident it seems.

A kid’s TV series makes the highlights this week too. It’s not hardcore, extreme or aggressive. It is however cute, informative and enjoyable, as Roar returns to our screens. Visiting wildlife parks and seeing the interaction of the animals is always entertaining, and as often happens, your average viewer will learn far more about nature than from forcing themselves to sit through ‘Badger stalking with the least funny Goodie’.

Lifeproof TV is set to deal with some quite thorny modern issues in what seems to be a different and innovative fasion. Not reactionary and well balanced, Channel 4 could well have another winner here.

This next item is one that will particuarly please Eoin here at EN, as Lauren Laverne and Mark Kermode return with a new series of The Culture Show. Always fair, never patronising and incredibly varied in it’s content, this show remains throughly underappreaciated on television.

Another BBC offering is next, in the shape of Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe. Whereas they definately could have thought of a less vomit inducing title for the show, this promises to be a self-analytical broadcast from the BBC, as the first show tackles the Brand/Ross debacle, and could be the BBC’s next breakout from it’s digital channels to BBC One or Two. Entertainment Newsline’s roundtable discussion of the Brand/Ross situation and it’s aftermath will also be coming soon, and it’s chaired by me, so keep an eye out for that too.

So Sharpe has finished. For good this time as well. Where will we get our period war drama fix from now? Look no further than The Devil’s Whore. Again, a much more tasteful title could have been used, but this dramatisation of the English civil war looks slick, fast paced and pleasingly authentic.

Onto our lowlights for the week then, and we start with ANOTHER cash in on the current economic problems. How to Survive the Property Crisis is pretty self explanatory through it’s title. I’m inclined to think the actual show might be a little less practical than ‘tighten your belt and don’t make any stupid investments’ though.

KNTV Sex looks to be a thoroughly disgusting addition to the schedule, as it promises an ‘animated novel approach to sex education’. Really Channel 4? Can’t you just show Eurotrash reruns if you need something lewd?

Clone looks like another lacklustre comedy offering from BBC 3. For a channel that is supposed to showcase the best in new comedies, we haven’t really had a big hit for a while have we?

Turning Japanese with Kelly Osbourne returns this week. I like Miss Osbourne actually, and feel she could be much better utilised by ITV than this shallow, cheap attempt at shock TV. In the previous series, you got the distinct impression Kelly was disappointed with the show as she made it, I wonder if this will be any different.

Finally, our movie lowlight of the week…none other than The Beverly Hillbillies, a 1993 TV movie based on the massively popular 1960s sitcom. It’s as good as it sounds.

That just about wraps me up….

“WAIT!” I hear you cry!. What about I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here!?. Well that is deserving of it’s own special section. To some a highlight, and to others a lowlight, the reality show returns for better or worse this weekend on ITV. EN writer Ant Heald will have his own preview of the show coming soon to the site, in the meantime I will say this. I loathe shows like this, but Dolph Lundgren on TV????? More of this please!! Editor’s Note: Forget that, They got George Takei on the show…MR SULU!!!

That does in fact wrap me up for this week. Keep your eyes peeled for the roundtable, for Ant’s article, and for more news gems from across the pond thanks to Mr C.C. Also upcoming will be your chance to vote for Entertainment Newsline’s own Television awards. Any feedback is good feedback, so drop me a line. Stay safe.

The list contains a range of films from critically acclaimed films such as Wall-E and Waltz with Bashir, box office successes such as Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Horton Hears a Who and soon to be released animation like Bolt.

The award, the youngest Oscar only starting in 2001, has gone to Pixar films three times (Ratatouille, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo), Dreamworks twice (Shrek and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit), Warner Bros once (Happy Feet) and Studio Ghibli once, being the first winners of the award, with Spirited Away.

The real nominations will be announced January 22nd 2009 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater and the actual awards will be held a month later, February 22nd 2009 at the Kodak Theatre both in Hollywood, California.

So out of this list…who do I think is going to get there? The award always has a bit of a reputation to surprise people with who they put in the main nomination and also who gets the nod. I mean, who expected Happy Feet to beat Persepolis? Who even expected Surfs Up to get nominated?

But the nomination list shows that this year is a very good year for Animation, with some well received films getting given nominations by the academy so it will be really competitive. At the same time, you’ll always get that one film that you don’t expect to get even a glimmer of Oscar hope.

So, with this in mind, this is my picks to get nominated.

Wall-E

Waltz with Bashir

Horton Hears a Who

Crazy? Most definitely. Would I like to be proven wrong? Very much so.

In a conference call to discuss Discovery Communications’ third quarter earnings, CEO David Zaslav said that Winfrey will not renew her talk show contract when it expires in September 2011, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Instead, Oprah will team up with the Discovery Communications to develop a new cable network.

“The expectation is that after that, her show will go off of ABC in syndication and she will come to OWN [Oprah Winfrey Network],” Zaslav said, also according to the Chicago Tribune.

“We’re talking now about what the presence will be and what kind of programming she would be involved in directly. But this is her Chapter 2, and building the OWN brand online and on-air is … a core mission for her.”

Oprah Winfrey’s production company has stated that nothing is official at this point in time.

“While David Zaslav’s comments are true that Oprah’s current contract to produce “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will expire in 2011, she has not made a final decision as to whether she will continue her show in syndication after her contract expires in 2011,” Lisa Halliday, chief spokeswoman for Winfrey’s Harpo Productions said.

Harpo has stated that Orpah hasn’t made any official decisions regarding whether the 2010-11 season would be her last.  The 2010-11 season marks the 25th year of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Winfrey’s current contract with CBS Television Distribution to do “The Oprah Winfrey Show” does in fact expire in 2011 after her 25th season on national TV. But Halliday cast Zaslav’s remark as premature.

“She has not made a final decision as to whether she will continue her show in syndication beyond that,” Halliday said in a statement.

CBS Television Distribution, in its own statement, said it “would certainly welcome and hope that ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ would continue in syndication beyond [2011], but that is a decision only Ms. Winfrey will be making.”

In the past Oprah has thought about canceling her show.  Although she has had a “change of heart.”

Alistair on the Sun UK website said: “Smart and savvy as always Miss Winfrey!!!  Move to your own channel which people will subscribe…”

One Chicago Tribune website comment poster says: “So what!!!  She is nothing more than a media queen for this generation.  She will follow the likes of Gloria Graham, Mike Douglas, and Dinah Shore into oblivion because the next generation of viewers will neither know of her or nor care that she ever existed.”

A second Chicago Tribune website comment poster says: “This is news?  Oprah is not royalty any more than Obama is The Messiah.

There are far more important things facing Americans than Oprah retiring her show.”

It does ring true that Americans are facing important issues at this time.  But one thing is true the amount of fans and non-fans watching this story all have their thoughts and comments.

Even with the negative comments and falling ratings over the past year, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” continues to be successful overall.  But some have said that her off-camera contributions to the Barack Obama’s campaign to become president have helped the ratings decrease.  While others have attributed it t to changing overall media consumption patterns coupled with the challenge of remaining so dominant for so long.

Discovery Health which is one of the channels in Discovery Communications network of television stations will be replaced by OWN.  The launch of OWN is said to be sometime in the second quarter of 2009 in around 70 million homes with Oprah as its chairman.  She will also have editorial control.  Any roles she might have on camera has yet to be determined.  However her syndication deal limits her ability even to put reruns of her daytime show on the channel.

Winfrey has floated the notion of ending the show that originates from her Harpo compound on Chicago’s Near West Side before only to reconsider and embrace a lucrative new renewal deal.

It happened in 1997 before she signed a renewal through 2002. When she re-signed in 2002, she said her 20th season in 2006 would be the end. By 2004, she changed her mind again and extended the deal yet once more. She only recently informed CBS that she was picking up the option on the final 2010-11 season of the current deal.

Winfrey has explained she sees OWN as not merely an opportunity to expand her media empire, which already includes O magazine, the “Oprah & Friends” satellite radio channel and a movie and television production company. It is a way to extend her legacy and that of the show that catapulted her to prominence.

Oprah has commented by the saying the following:

“The truth of the matter is one day the show has to end. That may be 2011 and that may be after 2011,” Winfrey told reporters in January. “This is an evolution of what I’ve been able to do every day. I will now have the opportunity to do that 24 hours a day on a platform that goes on forever.

“This network isn’t just about me,” she said. “It’s using the voice and the brand and the vision, but it really is about creating possibilities for any number of people… to extend the vision in a way that obviously I cannot 24 hours a day.”

Whether or not this is a good move for Winfrey has yet to be determined.  But we might see sooner rather than later.

It’s not exactly new to call yourself a puzzle mystery game if you’re making a DS game. The genre is full of titles like Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk: Room 215 but those two alone make it a very popular genre to cover. Especially in the week in games we’ve had so far, you’re going to have to pull off something huge to get noticed by the general public.

My concern when I first got the game, as interested as I was in getting it, was the demographic it was appealing to. I mean, from first impressions, it looks to be a quirky puzzler for kids that doesn’t really do much with ridiculously easy puzzles that almost insult your intellegence. So basically, I was basically a game that tried to tweak around with the formula done before and tried to pass it off as their own. Especially since this title has been in Japan and America for so long before hitting UK shores.

Thankfully, this is a game I recommend all DS owners get and it’s up there in DS mainstays with the likes of Mario Kart DS.

The first thing that strikes you is how crafted it is and that will come when you see the animated cutscenes. To say they are superb would be underestimating it. They bring you into the senarios shown in the game and are just beautiful to look at, especially for a game not developed fully by Nintendo. I can go as far as saying I would love to see the game made into an animated feature made entirely of this style. I’d certainly buy that if it came out on DVD.

But the puzzles are the real bread and butter of the game and they certainly vary from extreamly easy to ‘melt your brain to non existance’ hard and can be told by the amount of ‘Picarats’ you’ll be rewarded for completing the puzzle if you get it right the first time. Unless you are the smartest person on the planet and are able to steamroll your way through the game, it’ll most certainly take you a long time to complete the game’s 120+ puzzles. And that’s before you download puzzles. Like I said, it’s not something you can barrel through in a couple of hours which might put people off, but if you are dedicated enough, you can reap the rewards of accomplishing that puzzle that you never thought you’d be able to work out.

The game’s real charm lies in the characters and story. You travel with Layton and his assistant Luke as you travel to the city of St Mystere (Yes, I see what they did there…) where they have to find Lady Dahlia find the lost heirloom of her passed away husband Baron Reinhold, the Golden Apple. Whilst that happens, though, many other mishaps happen, which leads Layton to believe that all this craziness must be linked together in some way. When I was experiencing the game, it reminded me of something along the lines of ‘Around the World with Willy Fog‘ in how it was drawn and how the overall story flowed. Luke is voiced by someone appearing to use an old Victorian English accent (’Cor Blimey, Govna’ without the ‘Cor Blimey, Govna’), but it isn’t done in a forceful way to remind you this is, in fact, based in England. Layton’s character, too, reminds you of what would happen if Inspector Frost looked younger and had a better hat. The supporting cast are varied between the weird screaming man and the old woman who always wants you to predict your future. All of the had some fanciable charm to them. They’re an isolated community but as you look throughout the game, it’s the situation they are in rather then the people who inhabit the town that is definatly weird about it.

What I could say against it is that it won’t be for everyone. For people who don’t like puzzle games and for people who get easily annoyed by kids with English accents, it’s definatly not for you. But if you appeciate a game you can take your time with and fully embrace the effort it puts in to keep you amused and the varied difficulty of the puzzles, you’ll pretty much see it as a worthy edition to your DS collection.

Firstly you have to learn to love the weather. This means re-evaluating your definition of a beautiful day. As it rains roughly 160 days a year, you have to grow to love the rain. You also have to love overcast skies, drizzle and biting winds. Doing this is no easy feat and has taken me years to master.

In fact, I realised for the first time this morning that I have become British because of this. As I walked my dog the wind was so fierce that my poor pet’s fir was whipped to one side making it look like he had a rather bad comb over. The sky was a mask of cloud and a light rain penetrated my coat. Yet as I walked stomping through the mud I found myself thinking what a lovely day it was.

The next fact you will have to accept in order to love this fair country is the cost of living. It’s ridiculous, we pay more for petrol than most other countries, we have absurd heating bills as it is freezing here, and food prices soar by the day. We have hosepipe bans and water cost increases, even though it rained all summer and don’t even get me started on taxes. However, to love Britain you must love its cost and well, on the upside, at least they not charging us for the cost of oxygen. Yet.

If you can overcome those two huge factors and you can get your mind round being America’s lap dog, then you are well on your way to loving Britain. Though I hate to break it to you at this stage, I feel it is necessary to note that loving Britain is pointless as we are renowned for our unpatriotic nature. The national anthem is only sung at football matches, the poor Queen has no real power and to be honest the royal family have become a bit of a laughing stock. Between Harry dressed as a Nazi and Prince Charles’s new wife - the royals are starting to give England a bad name.

To be frank with you, I have worked for most of my life to distance myself from Britain and clung to the hope that one day I will be able to again move abroad. But at some point I have let England win, faced the facts and said, “’I'm proud to be British”. And that moment came for me this morning as rain trickled down the back of my neck and mud worked its way inside my boots.

As with millions of others, EN’s, Scarlett Smith, tuned in in the early hours of Thursday morning to watch Barack Obama win American presidency - but what does this mean for America? Scarlett explores its history and how in 2008, Obama has achieved something that 30 years ago would have been the unthinkable…

“It’s been a long time coming, but tonight change has come to America.” Obama’s words echoed around a packed stadium in Chicago as he accepted presidency of the United States.

After twenty-two long months on the campaign trail, Obama has captured the hearts and minds of much of America and looks set to go down in history not only as America’s first black president, but as someone who changes what it means to be an American.

BBC correspondent Justin Webb suggested yesterday that much of the support for Obama comes from the fact that Americans want to “slam the door shut on the country’s racial past.”

Nearly 50 years after Black people gained the vote in America, the country is now being run by its first black president. Barack’s mother was a white woman from Kansas, his father a black Kenyan, so he knows all too well the struggle for identity.

Since he began his campaign, Obama has gained worldwide goodwill, much of which is because of his ability to encapsulate the crowd and assure them of an optimistic future for an America, which many Americans have entirely lost faith in. In effect, he is closing the door on a darker chapter in America’s heritage.

Barack pledges to bring together a fractured society so that young and old, black and white, rich and poor, and gay and straight, all work together with a sense of common purpose, but with his inheritance of a budget deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars, a national debt reaching $11 trillion, and two wars overseas to contend with, will his campaign promises be easy to keep?

Cut taxes for over 95% of Americans, improve healthcare for the 45 million people without insurance in America, bring in an army of new teachers with better salaries to improve the schooling system in America. These are just some of the promises Obama has made to the people, all of which will cost America huge amounts of money that they just don’t have.

So Barack Obama’s in-tray is overflowing with a stack of problems waiting for resolution. Are the expectations we have all put on this new-style president impossibly high?

As with most prospects, time will tell.

In the years that will follow, many fans will tell the story of how Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton clinched his first world title.

Sunday 2^nd November 2008, and after a season that saw many highs and lows between the Briton and his title rivals, Felipe Massa is set to take the driver’s title at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after taking the chequered flag. Hamilton, having lost his all-important fifth place to Sebastian Vettel of Toro Rosso because of lack of grip in his intermediate tyres, appears to have lost a championship that he had led for most of the season.

Back in the UK, Lewis’ fans watch and wait in disbelief as history repeats itself for the second year in a row.

Then enter Timo Glock, the young German driver in a Toyota, the man who has now officially become Britain’s number two sporting hero. As the rain pours down onto the track, Glock starts to lose pace; his slick tyres just don’t have any grip left in them, it’s too wet, and Lewis who has been busy hunting down Vettel has started to close in on the Toyota on the final lap. Lewis is on the penultimate corner, Massa, his only title rival has already won his home Grand Prix; the Ferrari team and Massa family are prematurely celebrating what started out as the nearly impossible, their man is champion… Then in the words of Martin Brundle, “is that Glock, is that Glock? It is! That’s Glock!”, and Hamilton is back in that all-important position again. The McLaren garage goes wild, Lewis’ father Anthony and brother Nic are on their feet, the Ferrari team and Massa family have realised, and over the radio Massa is told, “he has passed Glock.”

The chequered flag has drawn an end to the 2008 season, it is over, Felipe Massa has won the Brazilian Grand Prix and the world title; and then in the last 20-odd seconds of Lewis’ race, he steals it back in what is likely to be the most memorable, nail-biting season finale ever.

The Brazilian fans in the grandstands, who seconds earlier were on their feet to cheer their man home to victory, are now booing at the man who has just taken it away from him; the man who could not quite make it stick twelve months before.

But boy didn’t he deserve it.

OK, so Hamilton has made some big mistakes in his championship year, but then again, was Michael Schumacher ever squeaky clean in his seven winning years?

Some might say that the bad luck Hamilton has had this year, with no less than six penalties from the F1 governing body, the FIA, makes him less worthy of the title; but then again, Massa has made his share of mistakes this season too. Think of that Singapore pit lane incident, for example.

In years to come Hamilton fans will look back on their man’s first world championship and remember the day when he left them hanging, waiting until the very last opportunity to celebrate. Needless to say, many fans were left teetered on the edge of their seats, praying for that all-important fifth place; not to mention losing their voices from the sheer determination that screaming at the television was going to give them what they had been dying to see for a whole year.

But now lays the question of what is next for the British number one? With new and tougher regulations expected for 2009, a Ferrari team determined to claim back their number one car, and a Spanish man going by the name of Fernando Alonso, the question is can Lewis defend his title? Let it be known he is determined to succeed, in fact McLaren boss Ron Dennis has promised the 23 year old, that if he makes it a hat-trick of titles, the McLaren driver is destined to get his hands on one of only five McLaren F1 LM supercars that is currently on display at the team’s HQ in Woking. Now if that is not an incentive to defend his title, then what is?

Not to mention the possibility of Hamilton becoming the UK’s highest paid sportstar in years to come, being tipped to be paid more than David Beckham.

It has to be said it was sad to see the many Massa fans boo the champion, in a fashion that showed little sportsmanship, that even Massa himself did not possess at the end of a competitive season. What is even sadder is the amount of racist abuse the young driver has endured this season even after the title had been decided. Yet, he doesn’t let it faze him.

Right now Lewis is at an all-time high, he is champion, and he has set some records. He is the youngest ever Formula One Champion, beating his 2007 team mate Fernando Alonso by four months. He is also the sport’s first black champion.

But who is he really? He is Lewis Hamilton from Stevenage, and whether he goes on to win more championships, or maybe even smash Schumi’s record of seven titles, the world will always know, he is destined to be a sporting legend that only dreams are made of.

So what’s next for Britain’s new hero? Next season of course, when he’ll be back in the driver’s seat to defend his title against the Felipe’s and Kimi Raikkonen’s and even the Vettel’s of the grid.

Lewis Hamilton, Formula One World Champion 2008- has a nice ring to it don’t you think!?

It might be an evening short of the weekend and the weather outside might be grim and gloomy, but for a near sell-out crowd it was time for a party. Hot Chip have had one of the most successful years of their career so far - they’ve released their brilliant third album, Made In The Dark, impressed many on the festival circuit and seen their popularity soar even further with hit single Ready For The Floor. They’ve even made Wiley look cool (the band teamed up with him at Glastonbury to cover Wearing My Rolex).

After the crazy electronic noise-fest that is support act Max Tundra, whose erratic dancing was just as attention grabbing as his music, the Brighton troupe entered the stage, assisted by a newly acquired dummer, and pushed straight into One Pure Thought. From there on in, the rave that started refused to stop. The band stormed their way through a set mainly of songs from Made In The Dark. Some will argue that they played too many songs from it but when they sound so good live you find it hard to care. Out At The Pictures is a fun and frantic burst of electronica, whilst Shake A Fist is an avalanche of mass drumming and techno wizardry.

There are many highlights - the balloons released during main set closer Ready For The Floor (some even remain indestructible right up to the end), lasers, the mass craziness that ensued during Over And Over, a cool sounding new song called Alleycats, and perhaps most brilliant and heartwarming of all, after all the energy and excitement of the previous eighty minutes, the last hurrah - the tender and soft In The Privacy Of Our Love, but with an intro of Nothing Compares 2 U that has the masses swaying their arms aloft. Hot Chip don’t need lasers and balloons, though it doesn’t hurt, because they are good enough on their own. A must see band.

Setlist:

One Pure Thought
Bendable Posable
Shake A Fist
And I Was A Boy From School
Hold On
Down With Prince
Over and Over
At The Pictures
Alleycats
Wrestlers
Ready For The Floor
Made In The Dark
The Warning
No Fit State
Nothing Compares 2 U/In The Privacy Of Our Love

If you want to read more from Max, also check out The Musical Chairs, his music blog.

Co Founder and CEO Jerry Yang told a standing room conference that the company would be very open to negotiate a deal with the computer giant.

This despite the failure of the move back in May to come through which Yang says was down to Microsoft. “At the end of the day, they withdrew and they have since been clear about not wanting to buy the company,” Yang told the crowd in a rare public appearance.

But Yang said that there was ‘no new news’ concerning future negociations between Yahoo and Microsoft.

It has not been an easy time for the search giant. On Wednesday, an agreement between Google and Yahoo that would allow Yahoo searches to contain Google ads was called off because of concerns of the world’s two biggest search engines tying a deal together. The US Department of Justice were a major organisation concerned of the deal and called for a relegation on it. The deal would have given Yahoo $800m (£494m) a year.

Yahoo also had to endure rebellion from its shareholders in August because of the lack of buzz coming from the Microsoft deal and also a drop in its net income and a 10% cut in its workforce. Despite this, the board won relection.

So what next? The best hope for Yahoo would be an acquisition from Microsoft because there is a real concern that Yahoo may not be able to last for another couple of years. Microsoft isn’t the only solution, only a couple of months ago, there were more targets, but they were the only one to make a firm offer. Will it happen? Well, Microsoft weren’t able to get a deal before so even with the comments of Yang, it doesn’t mean that they would be able to get a firm offer straight away.

Either way, it wouldn’t effect Microsoft that much. They’ve just announced plans to give start up businesses free software so it’s not like they can’t afford to pay whatever Yahoo wants it to. On the other hand, MSN is a pretty highly used search engine as well so if Yahoo goes out of business, it’ll only be good for them so for this, it would only be Win/Win for Microsoft.

I was always the fat kid at school who waddled rather than ran. I hated P.E. and sport for me consisted of walking between the fridge and the TV. My appetite was notoriously big and at the age of eight I’d eat five course breakfasts on holiday in Florida. Yes, a five course breakfast is possible. And yes, I was on a free child place. My mum certainly got her money’s worth that week.

So for me, the prospect of no food for a whole week is terrifying and I now find myself on the verge of giving up my love in favour of vanity. Wait I hear you cry, food is a necessity not just a passion. But here’s the fact – a human being can survive for up to six weeks without eating. Without water, give it twenty four hours. Let me introduce you to the lemon detox diet.

For a recommended five to seven days, you replace all solids with a concoction of maple syrup, lemon juice, fresh ginger and water. Drink a glass of the stuff 7 times a day alongside your two litres of water and that’s it. It’s the diet that famously led Beyoncé to drop over a stone and a half and this Easter I was shocked to see how stunning my housemate Nikki looked after she followed the plan. So after indulging slightly too much on holiday in Ibiza, the idea suddenly seemed amazing. Nikki and our other housemate Milly were also up for the fast and as a joint effort it seemed much more realistic. Here’s what happened…

THE LAST SUPPER

This was it – the last chance we had to munch. To make the most of it, we decided to head to the corner shop and buy all the goodies we’ve ever craved in our lives – toffee popcorn, chocolate, milkshake, coke, you name- it we bought it. I didn’t particularly want any of it, let alone all of it but it seemed a shame to waste this wonderful opportunity. We snuggled up in front of Desperate Housewives and scoffed the lot. Boy did I feel sick.

DAY ONE

I woke up feeling both nervous and excited. What would this stuff taste like? What happens if I don’t like it? It certainly didn’t sound very appetising and looked like even more liquidised diarrhoea so it was with great hesitancy that I took my first sip. The verdict? It was alright - nice enough, but to drink two litres of the stuff every day for a week could be interesting. My housemates kindly decided to get the nicest looking Chinese takeaway ever for dinner. It was painful knowing that I couldn’t dig in but I oddly enjoyed watching them eat it.  Strangely, I didn’t get hungry today and I started to feel positive. I could actually do this.

DAY TWO

Today was horrible. After literally dragging myself out of bed, breakfast (if you could call it that) was a disturbing experience. This drink was definitely not made to be drunk at such an early hour – almost like alcohol the morning after a big bender. It made me feel sick and set the tone for the rest of the day.

Being a detox, the diet not only helps you to lose weight but also gets rid of all the bad toxins floating around your body. Milly’s tongue was the leaving site of hers and it had turned a lovely colour of white. Mine however, came out in the form of bad PMT. I felt like rubbish and had to force the drink down.

DAY THREE

Getting up was a problem again this morning. I would have done anything to sleep all day and forget about having to drink that vile juice. But despite that, my first dose this morning was not as traumatic as I expected and I started to feel better about this ordeal.

Hunger wasn’t a problem until today. All I could think about was food and my drink wasn’t satisfying me in the slightest. But I soon found a weird and wonderful solution to this dilemma. At first I thought it was just me, sitting in my room like “Oooh someone’s cooking, I’ll go smell it and watch them eat,” but within seconds of running downstairs, Milly would also be at their side. And it was like this that we quickly became known as “food perverts”.

DAY FOUR

I continued to battle on, taking great pleasure from my new voyeuristic hobby. Strange as it sounds, it actually felt like I had consumed some decent nutrition from observing everyone else. I was also spurred on by the fact that I was now about halfway through and the end began to come into sight. I felt a lot more alert and it seemed as though this diet was actually turning out worthwhile. My stomach started to look flatter too – an all round good day! Well for me anyway.

“Nikki’s ate a pie!” It sounded so shocking when the news broke to my ears but hilarious at the same time. Why a pie out of all things? The poor girl had nearly fainted at work and ran straight into the chip shop on the way home scoffing the only thing they had left. So now it was just me and Milly, united in our determination to make the end of the week.

DAY FIVE

Today posed possibly the biggest challenge so far. It was a big night out on the town for all of our friends and the detox forbids alcohol. Probably a good idea in all honesty, I’m not known for taking alcohol well in normal circumstances let alone on a five day long empty stomach. But I surprised myself by having a really fun time and proved to myself that you don’t need to be drunk to have a good night.

DAY SIX

I woke up really proud of myself for my sober efforts the night before. I had gotten so used to the taste of my drink that breakfast didn’t even bother me that much. But the thought was in the back of my mind that I had made the minimum five days and when it came to the second glass of the day, I caved. All it took was for Nikki to say “anyone want to come to the supermarket?” and I was the first one to say yes. One look at the drink and I decided that I couldn’t do it anymore. My stomach was flat enough for me now and I just wanted to eat.

It was so tempting to buy everything just because I could but it would have made the whole week pointless. On top of this, I would have to treat my digestive system carefully otherwise I’d be spending the rest of the day on the toilet. Or on the other hand, I could end up taking laxatives which I really didn’t fancy. I came back with a bag full of veg and soup and have honestly never enjoyed broccoli as much in my life.
My rebellion didn’t stray Milly though and she fought on till the end.

The diet probably wasn’t the most sensible thing I have ever done and I faced a lot of criticism from friends who thought the whole thing was ridiculous. But I am proud to say that I made five days – more of a willpower thing than anything. I admit there are better ways to lose weight than going to this extreme but as a quick fix it was good. Will I do it again? I’d like to say no but the thought will always be there that I’ve done it once and I could do it again if I ever wanted to. But I’d rather not resort to becoming a food pervert ever again.

Reported in MCV and The Wall Street Journal, Disney seems to be pointed as a suitor for the second largest games company in the world. One of the reasons stated was EA’s ‘continued growth in video game sales, the potential for cross-fertilisation with TV and film storylines, and advertisers’ interest in buying space in games’ for the acquisition.

EA announced earlier this week that they were set to cut 500 jobs, 6% of their workforce, after the disappointing losses recorded by the company of $310m so far this year. These are down from the losses of $454m last year, but that may be the last thing the company have on their minds right now.

They aren’t the only company to be effected, though. THQ are also closing studios and are set to close more in what seems to be the biggest shakeup in the company’s history. Juice Games, one of the company’s studios has only recently laid off a third of its workforce.

To say this acquisition would be big would be lying. If this gets pulled off, it could be one of the biggest bombshells dropped on the game industry in years for several reasons. One is the fact that, right now, Disney could buy EA for cheap, which means they would have access to some of the biggest titles going right now including sports franchises like FIFA and Madden as well as titles like Spore, Skate and The Sims 2. All of these titles have marketing potential, especially since Disney owned ESPN not only has some NFL rights to its name, it’s also had an interest in buying some FA Premier League rights also held by Sky and Setanta. Along with that, it’ll save them $200m a year in Disney’s games development. When you have loads of studios making your games, why would you want to produce your own?

Also right now, the company hasn’t been cheaper. The Wall Street Journal also mentioned about how Disney have outperformed EA in terms of profit and how the company would only cost $7.7bn, $3m less then how much the company brought Pixar for back in 2006. Disney haven’t made a big impact purchase since then.

Now, will it actually happen? It would definatly be a move that would have to be thought about, then thought about again and again and again considering the economic climate we are in right now. But if Disney do make the plunge then it might make people more aware that you can still make big purchases and might open the floodgates for other moves, especially considering most businesses are getting cheaper by the month.

It’s also rather ironic. EA have spent half of the year trying to buy Take Two and getting a piece of GTA and the Blitz series…and now they’re being linked with a buyout of them by one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world. Karma, anyone?

Television shows in this day and age are known to last six, eight, even ten seasons or more.  They have been watched by people for years whether in their original run or in syndication in re-runs and beloved by many generations.  When a television show goes off the air many wonder why.

Such is the case with Fox animated sitcom hit “King of the Hill.”  It has been recently announced that Fox is cancelling the long running show.

Gary Newman, co-chairman of 20th Century Fox TV has stated that renewals for “American Dad” and “The Simpsons” were imminent, but he wasn’t so sure about “King of the Hill.”

“It’s probably time (for Fox to make a decision),” Newman said. “I don’t know if the network will be ordering more seasons or not. That show has had its last rites read to it several times, and keeps rearing its head again.”

“It blows because Hank (Hill) was always threatening someone,” says James “MJ” Edwards

A NoHomers.net member says: “Wouldn’t you guys want it to end while it was still good anyway? Especially after 13 seasons.”

Another NoHomers.net member echoed the previous setiments by saying: “My thoughts exactly. Everyone seems to think that the show is worse now than ever, so what’s the problem? Are you not unsatisfied with the series in it’s current state? Do you think it will improve?”

A third NoHomers.net member said: “‘King of the Hill’ bores me to tears, so I am pretty indifferent to this.”

Some have said that “King of the Hill” has improved with each season unlike fellow Fox shows like “Family Guy” which steadily has became worse with each passing season.

“Aww… oh well.  2010 will be a good year to end it.  13 years is pretty good.  But still won’t match the 20 (years) for ‘The Simpsons,” says Mike B.

Now in its 13th year, Fox will air the final of the half-hour episodes during the 2009-2010 season Fox said Friday.  The network recently ordered 13 new episodes and animated series have a long production schedule.

“King of the Hill” chronicles the life of blue-collar family man Hank Hill of Texas and his family and friends. Hank is voiced by series co-creator and executive producer Mike Judge. Others in the cast include Kathy Najimy, Brittany Murphy and Stephen Root

Taking the spot of “King Of The Hill” is “American Dad” another Sunday night animated sitcom on Fox.  “American Dad” has been renewed for a fifth season.

“American Dad” is about Stan Smith, a dedicated conservative, and his oddball family in Langley, Va. Series co-creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane voices Stan in the series, which also features the voices of Wendy Schaal, Rachael MacFarlane and Scott Grimes.

“American Dad” is one of three animated series from Seth McFarlane to be on Fox on Sundays.

A TVSquad.com commenter has said: “I LOVE KING OF THE HILL!!!! However 13 seasons for any show is enough. I think that with “The Cleveland Show” that Seth will become over-saturated and I really am un-interested in the show’s premise. I also think that (contrary to what I have read) “American Dad” is the superior show. I really would not miss Family Guy (due to it’s incessant repeats in syndication) if it were canceled; so if Cleveland replaced it, I think that would be cool. How about this, since “The Simpsons” won’t seem to die, why don’t they actually try to do something other than sitcoms with animation?”

Many other fans around the world are just as outraged that Fox would cancel the show that has touted as “consistently good.”

While “King of the Hill” hasn’t been tops in the ratings, the show was nearly cancelled in 2005.  But after the show surged in the Nielsen ratings it saved it from being cancelled.  The ratings for “King of the Hill” have been less expected so far this season.

According to one TV.com member 7.098 million viewers tuned in to see the “King of the Hill” season premire while another said that “The Simpsons” got 9.3 and “Family Guy” 9.2 respectively.  Although a lot of the priemiers for the 2008-2009 season were up due to

In comparisson to other networks Fox had season high ratings: “The Simpsons” (8.1 million, 3.8/10), “King of the Hill” (7.3 million, 3.5/8), “Family Guy” (9.1 million, 4.7/10) and “American Dad” (6.6 million, 3.3/7). “King of the Hill” and “Family Guy” both hit season high numbers and placed second in their respective time periods.

With advancement in techology and DVRs (digital video recorders) becoming immensley popular, King of the Hill has benefited the least in its respective time slot after the jump through DVR recordings.  But that is not necessarily the reason they are cancelling the show.

Being consistent in the ratings looks to be one of the main contributing factors.  The show is up and down in the ratings, again almost being cancelled in 2005.

In classic Hank Hill fashion but with twist a towards Fox and our puzzlement… “What the HELL Fox?”

EXTRA: King of the Hill jumping to ABC?

The Hollywood Reporter reported that ABC is possibly interested in giving the show a new home after a Fox TV Producer said that ‘another network is interested’ in taking the show.

ABC aren’t strangers to taking shows to new homes as they are the new home for ‘Scrubs’ after NBC didn’t show any interest in keeping it and are also rumoured to be sniffing around CBS for sitcom ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine’.

Jade says…Hell yes!

The first cut is definitely the deepest. When you break up with the love of your life the pain can be unbearable. Whether you were 16 or 26, there’s no denying that you can feel like your heart is literally breaking. You can’t eat, sleep, you can’t even function like a normal human being. Ok, it might not be THAT bad, but it’s pretty heart wrenching.

If you are still pining for your first love remember this: if it was meant to be it was meant to be. Just because you still think of, care for or feel for your old flame, it doesn’t mean you should be WITH them. Look back on the good times with fond memories but follow your head not your heart. If your relationship was so perfect, why did you break up? Whatever the reason, there was one. Maybe you both wanted different things, maybe you loved each other but you weren’t IN love.

There is more than one person for everyone. First love has a lot to do with it being a brand new experience. My flatmate was in a relationship for two years before going to University. It was her first serious boyfriend, she thought he was the only person for her and wouldn’t have even contemplated looking at anyone else. Two weeks into uni and she fell in love with someone else. Her and her boyfriend split up and she got together with Dan, a year later and they are still together. She says she feels like she is experiencing her first love all over again.

You might always carry a torch for your first love but you have to remind yourself that they are no longer a part of your life, accept that you made the right decision to walk away and look ahead to the doors that are opening in front of you, rather than the one you closed behind.

Michelle says…No No and No!

I’m not seeking to depress the female race this fortnight, but when it comes to my philosophy on the ‘first love’ it may certainly do just that.

FACT: First love…is always going to be on that pedestal above all other men you date after him. Naturally you are thinking new boyfriend/ new start and can correct from all the mistakes you felt went wrong with the first relationship. But inevitably you will compare him to the first, even unconsciously… ‘James would never do that!’/ ‘I remember that night with James’. No one wants to settle for second best! Of course I understand, relationships don’t work out for reasons and by no means this is not a sermon about fighting back for you first love, but woman often move on to the next relationship and feel happy but feel themselves pining for that one! Take the real-life scenario…a friend, she was with her first boyfriend for two and half years, complete love of her life and took ages to get over it when it ended. Her new boyfriend is equally as lovely and good-looking, but often two or three glasses of Blossom Hill chucked down her neck, she rants about the one and cardinal sin…sends a drunken text! The point? It’s not uncommon to feel this way, but now you are probably thinking what the bloody hell do I do?

Second chance sucker…Okay this is not for the hard-hearted! After kissing a few frogs, you realize that he is the only one for you, you are telling me that you will resist it? Aren’t things worth a second chance if he is equally as game? I know that a relationships ends for a reason Jade, but it may not have worked out the first time because as many first love’s are too young. With years, wisdom and maturity (or so you would like to think) now in your favor, things could actually work out perfect. The reverse side of the coin as hard as it is, you will have to get over him. I wish there was some secret remedy from Boots that helped you to do this, because if so, I would be stocking up for a yearly prescription - but sadly there is not. Although chocolate, soppy films and wine are good remedies, the greatest gift of time…time’s a great healer and has worked for me before.

It also depends on situations. Sometimes it is a lot easier to forget about your first love when he isn’t around…on the contrary some stupidly are still friends with them and carry this heavy heart of regret and ache every time you are together (but that’s a whole other love story!) On a serious note though, I do believe in out of sight and out of mind.

Remember the saying ‘It is better to have loved and lost…then never to have loved at all’? I am not a great advocator of this saying…I get the context of what it means, that it’s better to have the feelings, memories and good times of that first relationship as a memory, but doesn’t that just prove my point that it will always be a permanent reminder of something you cannot ever erase…your first love?

There is something almost epic about Danny Boyle’s latest film Slumdog Millionaire. Both engaging and richly textured, Slumdog unfolds like one would expect an urban fairytale. It tells the story of 18 year-old Mumbai slum kid, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who is close to winning 20 million rupees on Indian’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? However, when the show breaks for the night, to commence the following day, Malik is arrested on suspicion of cheating. “What the hell can a slum boy possibly know?” the cops scorn as they attempt to beat a confession out of him. In order to prove his innocence Malik must recount how each question is linked to his heart-rending past.

Written by Full Monty‘s Simon Beaufoy, the film is an adaptation of Vikas Swarup’s incredibly potent novel, Q&A. I must say that I am nine times out of ten disappointed with the translation between a work of literature and the medium of film. Nonetheless together with Anthony Dod Mantle’s visually arresting shots and Beaufoy’s script that is both warm and witty yet bristling with trenchant observation of life as a slum kid in this climate, Slumdog Millionaire does not on any level disappoint.

At the very heart of the movie is a touching love story between Malik and his childhood friend Latika (Freida Pinto). The pair struggle the vicissitudes of love despite their shattering circumstances and the miles between them that keep them apart.

It would have been easy for Boyle to slip into that all too common of trap of being blinded by ethnographic detail and thus reaching for the accessible clichés. Condescending both the east and western cultures by making an eastern film that is easily consumed by the west. Luckily for us Boyle instead opts for a fluid and earthy approach by drawing all the visual, ambient and tonal richness from the locale and his own unique eye.