As any horror fan will tell you, there are just some directors who make movies that always stick with you. No matter how many times you’ve seen the movie, no matter if you can quote chapter and verse the dialog even before it comes out of the actor’s mouth, you will still stop, drop everything and plop down in front of the TV if a film by one of your favorite filmmakers comes on.
For me, my shortlist would include John Carpenter and “Halloween,” Sam Raimi and “The Evil Dead,” John Landis and “An American Werewolf in London,” Joe Dante and “The Howling” and George A. Romero and “Dawn of the Dead.” Each of the movies, and more importantly, the directors, touched on something that resonated with me. Whether it was the circumstances surrounding how I got to see their films (My wonderful, poor father who was forced to sit through hours of gore because I was underage), how I heard about their next projects or learned the wonderfully icky makeup techniques employed (Thank you, Fangoria magazine) or just the rush of primal fear that the images caused to surge through my body, I still vividly remember the first time I saw each of those five movies.
Being a horror fan first, and a film critic purely by luck, I’d never had the chance to actually speak to any of those, my top five directors from my childhood. That is, until now.
Hot on the heels of the successful “Diary of the Dead,” Romero is back with the latest chapter in his unstoppable living dead series, “Survival of the Dead.”
BVB: Blood, Violence and Babes got to speak to George by phone from his home in Toronto, Canada, and the conversation was, simply put, a dream come true.
Here is Part One of BVB’s two-part interview with Mr. Romero, the granddaddy of zombie movies, the legend of the living dead, and an all around pretty awesome guy to talk to for 20 minutes on the phone.
BVB: Your films for horror fans have really defined great chunks of our growing up. I’m in my 40s now, but I can still remember the first time seeing “Night,” seeing “Dawn,” seeing “Day,” and they’ve just had such an impact and I want to start out just asking: Did you ever think, 42 years ago, back in 1968, that you would still be fascinated by and making movies about the living dead?
GR: (Laughs) No! (Laughs) I don’t know if fascinated is the right word. I’m more fascinated with human behaviors. My stories are about the humans and how they address the problem, fail to address the problem, address it stupidly. I can’t imagine a zombie film without a bunch of stupid humans running around.
BVB: Is it more about how humans react to certain situations? Is that what fuels your creativity?
GR: Yeah, you know, it has been from the pop. Here’s a situation, which is, you know, basically a game changer, even in the first film. And when I made the first one I wasn’t thinking at all there would ever be another one. We just all wanted to be filmmakers and we went ahead and we had a little production company making industrial films and beer commercials and we had the equipment and we just went ahead and said let’s make a movie. Even in that first film, I hadn’t developed yet this idea that I could write social criticism or satire and do it in this format.
The first film I thought of as a one-off. It wasn’t until people started to write about it as if it was some sort of essential American cinema, and I resisted for years making another film until I socially knew the people who were developing that big shopping mall, Monroeville Mall, and it was one of the first indoor sort of temples to consumerism that any of us had ever seen and I went out before it was even open and I said wow, here’s an idea and I decided that well, maybe this can be my shtick. I can bring the zombies out of the closet whenever I have an idea, something I’d like to write about. And that’s when it happened.
BVB: Just out of curiosity, in the first film, the last scene…a lot has been made of that, that you were making a statement about race relations because here’s the one black guy who comes out of the house and gets killed because they assume he’s a monster. So that wasn’t really what you were going for? It was just ironic that he happened to come out and get shot?
GR: Exactly. That script was written the same before Duane [Jones] agreed to play the part. Duane was just the best actor from among our friends. The script was the same. In our minds, he was a white guy. The script was the same, he still got shot. It was all about the irony…We weren’t so focused on that. Duane was much more concerned about it while we were shooting. He said you want me to hit this white woman? Do you know what’s going to happen to me outside the theater? I’m going to get attacked by people. We thought we were being very hip by not changing the script.
BVB: You had mentioned that back then, it took you a while before you figured out you could use these films to kind of put the sly and sometimes not so subtle social commentary in. What is it with “Survival of the Dead”? What are you hoping people will draw from that? What is your eye trained on now?
GR: Well, you know, it’s not trained on anything specifically in the news. When I made “Land of the Dead,” that was big box, it was Universal, it was a really difficult, grueling shoot and it was somewhat disappointing, the way they distributed it. And I felt that I had sort of strayed from the roots. I said you know, I can do these things without movie stars and on very low box, and while we were shooting “Land,” I was starting to noodle on a script. I wanted to do something about emerging media, citizen journalism, and all that, so I got the idea for “Diary of the Dead.” And I knew we could make it for under $3 million, and we found this financing company, Artfire, they said they would be willing to finance it 100 percent and give me creative control, so I jumped on that, made “Diary” and figured again this was a one-off as far as sort of taking a little sidebar from the rest of the series. And because we made it so inexpensively and it wound up having a limited release, it ended up making a fortune. So everybody said, OK, let’s, we want another one right away.
Un-oh. So it was the first time that had happened to me. So I said, OK, I’ll take just a universal theme about war, about enemies that don’t die, conflicts that I don’t even know what started it, all I know is you’re my enemy. You can think of that as Northern Ireland or the Middle East or even the Senate these days. Anger management, I think we all could use a course in anger management these days. So that’s what it’s about.
And I also had the idea that I could use characters from “Diary.” I actually developed three story ideas. I don’t know if the others will happen. It depends on, if this film goes out and makes a lot of money, they’re going to want another one again and I’m ready. I’ve got two more story ideas that all base around characters from “Diary of the Dead.” It’s also the first time that I’ve been able to do that because all the earlier films are controlled and owned by different people. I’ve never been able to bring characters back or use story points so I’m sort of enamored by that idea.
As a publicity stunt to promote it’s new cheerleading series “Hellcats,” The CW network will try to set a new record to get in the Guinness Book of World Records.
On Saturday, hundreds of cheerleaders wil gather at the Frisco Memorial Stadium in Frisco, TX, to perform a 5-minute choreographed “Hellcats” dance in an attempt to set a new record for “Largest Cheerleading Dance” at a single venue. The current record is 297.
The network is giving away $4,000 to the squad who brings the most participants and it appears more than 2,400 could show up.
“Hellcats” debuts Sept. 8 at 9 p.m.
Check out the promo:
(Anberlin plays an in-store concert at 7 p.m. tonight (Friday, Sept. 3) at Vinyl Fever, 4110 Henderson Blvd., Tampa. Admission is free but limited because the store only holds so many people, people. Pre-ordering Anberlin’s new album will earn a spot toward the front of the line. Call (813) 289-8399 or go to www.vinylfevertampa.com for more details.)
In fact, the band, whose members hail from the Tampa and Lakeland area, planned their latest album, “Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place,” as a complete work from the get-go.
The album will be released Tuesday, Sept. 7.
“We sat down and said here’s the direction we want to go in,” Christian says by telephone from his home in Nashville, where he has lived for about a year.
“The main thing is we want people to be moved by this record,” Christian says, “not just by a pop sensibility or choruses that get stuck in your head, but by the entire record.
“We wanted to make an album that fits together, a record that people will listen to in 25 years,“ Christians says.
Not that the band has abandoned pop sensibility or catchy choruses, as first single “Impossible” proves.
But the music, Christian says, is “more dark and heavy, not just from distortion, just from the weight of the music.”
The lyrics, in contrast, are more positive, and the combination is reflected in the album’s title, taken from poet Dylan Thomas’ “Poem on His Birthday.”
“It’s almost like this perfect contradiction that only Dylan Thomas could describe in such eloquently perfect words,” Christian says.
The band began playing the Tampa and Lakeland area in the late ‘90s as SaGoh 24/7 before changing its name to Anberlin and releasing its debut album, “Blueprints for the Black Market,” in 2002.
“Never Take Friendship Personal” and “Cities” followed in 2005 and 2007, respectively, before the band signed with major-label Universal for 2008’s “New Surrender.”
That album brought Anberlin its first major radio hit with “Feel Good Drag,” a re-recorded version of a song from “Never Take Friendship Personal.” The success was hard earned.
“The last record was quite stressful,” Christian says. “We got on new label, got a new producer, a new member (Christian McAlhaney replaced Nathan Strayer). It was a very stressful record to write.”
“Dark Is the Way” was a far more pleasant experience, Christian says, due in part to the presence of producer Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC).
“He perfectly understood that we were trying to make a timeless record,” Christian says.
To the band’s amazement, O’Brien sought them out, “which was shocking,” Christian says.
“We’re on our bus in Atlanta and knocking on the door was Brendan O’Brien saying he wanted to do the rest of our records from here on out,” Christian says.
“Our decision was clear,” Christian says. “He’s a genius. He’s taken out band to the next level.”
Anberlin also features lead guitarist Joseph Milligan, bassist Deon Rexroat and drummer Nathan Young.
What’s new in stores and on video shelves this week:
The Vampire Diaries
Genre: TV/Horror
Created by: Kevin Williamson
Run time: 935 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Format: Blu-Ray
The Lowdown: Kevin Williamson can be very hit or miss. He scored two early critical and fan favorites with “Scream,” the Wes craven-directed revitalization of the horror slasher genre, and “Dawson’s Creek,” a television series that took equal parts “90210” and “The Wonder Years” and mashed them together in a frothy high school mix. Then Williamson stumbled with “Cursed,” a failed 2005 effort to do for werewolves what Ghost Face did for serial slayers, and “Hidden Palms,” a soapy who-dun-it for TV that never found an audience.
Now Williamson has scored big again with “The Vampire Diaries,” an adaptation of the young adult series by L.J. Smith.
“The Vampire Diaries” focuses on the brothers Salvatore. There’s the brooding but mostly good Stefan (Paul Wesley) and the bad boy Damon (an intense and electric Ian Somerhalder). The brothers, both ancient vampires, are equally interested in Elena Gilbert, a high school senior whose parents both died tragically. This love triangle forges the emotional core of the show.
But with the best of Williamson’s projects, the true core of the show is its sharp writing, wickedly funny pop culture references and perceptive understanding of how young adults think and speak and act.
The whole vampire thing, yeah it’s cool, but the characters are actually interesting enough that they take center stage for good chunks of each episode so that when the well-done horror elements do surface, they’re much more effective.
Living in the age of “Twilight” and “True Blood” and even the wonderful import “Let the Right One In,” vampires continue to enthrall audiences, whether cheesily presented, ala Team Cullen, or shown having sex as much as drinking blood, God bless you “True Blood,” or actually being scary as the diminutive but lethal Eli proves in “Let the Right One In.”
The Salvatore brothers are actually a welcome addition to the overstuffed cast of iconic blood-drinking characters that saturate today’s market. They’re sexy, smart, appropriately menacing and tough enough for guys to appreciate and romance-novel cheesy enough to make the women swoon.
The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Yes.
Nudity – No.
Gore – Yes.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – Do vampires count if they only feed to survive?
Buy/Rent – Buy it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – The following features are spread out over the entire multi-disc set: Audio commentary with writer/producer Kevin Williamson; deleted scenes; gag reel; Audiobook of L.J. Smith’s “The Awakening,” the first volume of “The Vampire Diaries” series; multiple featurettes, including “Into Mystic Falls,” “A New Breed of Vampires,” “When Vampires Don’t Suck!” and “A Darker Truth” webisodes.
On the Web – http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries
Thriller: The Complete Series (Image, 3,354 minutes, Unrated, DVD): It’s the granddaddy of horror anthology shows, the precursor to the Cryptkeeper, to the spooky opening voiceover narration of “Tales from the Darkside,” even the uber-serious, but could be kidding, delivery of Henry Rollins on “Night Visions.”
Boris Karloff, the man who was both Frankenstein’s Monster and the Mummy, hosted “Thriller” for both seasons of its brief network run from 1960 to 1962 on NBC. The show aired immediately after “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” but “Thriller” took a decidedly darker turn. Karloff set the tone in his original introduction, walking out to the camera and welcoming audiences like a stately, but creepy, patriarch ushering extended family to the dining room for dinner. You’re not quite sure you can, or should, trust him, which is exactly how such hosts on such shows should be regarded.
Then there was the content, which pulled from classic horror and thriller authors like Robert Bloch, Edger Allan Poe, Robert E. Howard, and others, to present an at times gruesome array of zombies, ghouls, ghosts, even Richard Kiel as a sort-of Frankenstein. Presented in black and white, with an amazing score provided by such composers as the legendary Jerry Goldsmith, the show effectively ratcheted up tension by emphasizing the heavy shadows lurking just off-frame, the unknown, unseen dangers skulking about.
The revolving-door cast was a Who’s Who of A-list and rising films and TV stars: Rip Torn, Robert Vaughn, Mary Tyler Moore, Leslie Nielsen, Ursula Andress, Cloris Leachman and Shatner, William Shatner.
The show has never been compiled before in its entirety, and this incredible boxed set features all 67 original episodes on 14 discs with a whopping 24 hours worth of audio commentaries accompanying the episodes and more than 30 hours of isolated score, music and audio effects.
“Tales from the Crypt” was campy and fun. “Tales from the Darkside” was a low-budget hoot at times. “The Twilight Zone” remains iconic to this day. But “Thriller” is a true original, well-made and actually intense one-off stories told with respect to the material by actors drawn to the work, not desperate for a paying gig to stay relevant. This one you need in your collection. It’s the real deal.
The Evil Dead (Anchor Bay, 85 minutes, NC-17, Blu-Ray): There’s not much that hasn’t been said about “The Evil Dead,” one of cinema’s most respected and revered independent films of all time. Nearly 30 years after its release, the film, its director, Sam Raimi, and breakout star Bruce Campbell still entertain. That’s why it’s so refreshing to find that despite being an iconic horror movie that’s been praised and debated to death for years, the high-definition, Blu-Ray release still manages to surprise. That’s because the special features rock, starting with the 54-minute, in-depth documentary “One by One, We Will Take You: The Untold Saga of The Evil Dead”; there’s also the hour-long gift basket of raw alternate takes and cut footage, “Treasures from the Cutting Room Floor”; the 30-minute interview round-table, “The Ladies of The Evil Dead Meet Bruce Campbell”; a 30-minute Q&A panel/cast reunion from the 2005 Flashback Weekend Horror Convention; and much more. The hours of extras alone justify this double-triple-hell, maybe quadruple dip, but it’s money well spent. Longtime fans won’t be disappointed, and new fans will get a Master’s level course in why this movie remains the standard by which most low-budget horror films are judged.
Red Riding Trilogy (IFC, 308 minutes, Unrated, DVD): This five-hour British import, told in three parts, each titled after the year in which they’re set, 1974, 1980 and 1983, presents a haunting who-done-it focusing on police corruption and a serial killer on the loose in Britain. The cast, featuring such well-knowns as Sean Bean and up-and-comers as Andrew Garfield, the next big-screen Peter Parker/Spiderman, is spot on. Each installment is helmed by a different director, Anand Tucker, James Marsh, Julian Jarrold, but all three men manage to keep the tone consistent, the plot urgent and the tension high.
Harry Brown (Sony, 103 minutes, R, Blu-Ray): Michael Caine goes Charlie Bronson by way of Clint Eastwood in “Harry Brown,” a vigilante thriller about an aging ex-military soldier who can’t help but take a stand when his neighborhood becomes overrun with young thugs. Vigilante films have come a long way from Bronson’s “Death Wish.” The underappreciated “Death Sentence” starring Kevin Bacon was like vigilantism on crack, a violent opus of life spiraling out of control. Eastwood’s own “Gran Torino” was a thoughtful meditation on forgiveness, honor and self-worth. “Harry Brown” is a more measured affair, allowing Caine to be both bad-##### and introspective as he embarks on his bloody path.
Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 (Fox, 595 minutes, Unrated, Blu-Ray): The bad-##### Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original Chapter bikers of Charming, CA, return for a second season that one-ups the inaugural season with some of the best acting on TV, particularly Adam Arkin as a vicious white separatist leader, and Katey Sagal as the gang’s maternal anchor, whose Season 2 story arc is profound and brutal.
NCIS: Los Angeles – The First Season (Paramount, 1,080 minutes, Unrated, Blu-Ray): Spin-off fever hits “NCIS” as the white-hot CBS show launches a West Coast counterpart and provides work for LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell. It’s a formula that has worked wonders for “CSI” and “Law and Order,” two other popular police procedurals, and “NCIS: LA” was one of the top new shows after its debut. The first season gets the ficw-disc boxed set treatment with all 24 episodes just weeks before the new season premiere.
House M.D.: Season 6 (Universal, 967 minutes, Unrated, Blu-Ray): Paging Dr. Cranky. Television’s most lovable narcissistic physician, the foul-tempered, razor-tongued Dr. Gregory House, returns in season six of the long-running Fox TV show. “House” is one of those shows that, improbably, continues to mine medical mysteries well past its expected shelf life. Very few shows of this kind can sustain both creativity and popularity. “E.R.” was the exception. “House” is fast proving to be one too. Despite multiple cast changes and crazy story arcs, the show somehow manages to retain its soul, which is a fascinating character study of an incredibly flawed genius trying to make peace with himself and his place in the world.
Beatdown (Lionsgate, 90 minutes, R, Blu-Ray): Can’t get enough MMA? That’s Mixed Martial Arts, to the uninitiated. Well, if it’s a new month that means TapOut must have another fight fest for hungry octagon aficionados. This one is actually a little better than recent releases, if only because it has a bit more story and the awesomely awesome Danny Trejo. Just don’t expect Bobby Lashley to be able to act any better than he did when he was with the WWE and you won’t be disappointed.
OSS 117: Lost in Rio (Music Box Films, 97 minutes, Unrated, DVD): Since MGM can’t seem to get their finances straight, and the James Bond franchise dangles in the balance, its fate uncertain, fans of suave super-spies who always get the girl and the bad guys can satiate their thirst for action by…laughing? “OSS 117: Lost in Rio” follows the comic misadventures of French Intelligence officer Hubert Bonisseur (think Inspector Clouseau, but with a hip ‘60s vibe) as he tries to keep the peace while solving a mystery that includes Nazis, a sexy Mossad agent and more.
Legends of the Canyon (Image, 110 minutes, Unrated, DVD): Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills was a cultural mecca in the 1960s, spawning some of rock music’s most iconic acts whose creative voices helped define a generation torn apart by war, racial strife and a seismic shift in the nation’s history. This DVD celebrates many of those, including Crosby, Stills and Nash, the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, America and Buffalo Springfield.
Brothers and Sisters: The Complete Fourth Season (Disney, 1,032 minutes, Unrated, DVD): The Walker clan returns with laughter, tears and a pretty remarkable cast for TV – Sally Field, Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe and more. Season Four is memorable for the “wedding no one will ever forget” and Lowe’s departure from yet another popular series near the peak of its vibe.
TV icon Geraldo Rivera is marking his 40th year on television. He recently took Fox News on a tour of his home in New Jersey:
ABC announced the “Dancing With the Stars” cast on Monday and today the pairings for Season 11 were revealed.
Sarah Palin’s daughter: Bristol, billed by ABC as “teen advocate and Alaska’s first daughter,” teams up with two-time champ Mark Ballas. He is back for his seventh season.
Also, singer Brandy gets Maksim Chmerkovsky who was teamed with Tampa’s Erin Andrews last time.
In alphabetical order, and with their professional partners, the other stars making their dancing debut are:
Michael Bolton, Grammy Award-winning singer, teams up with Chelsie Hightower, who returns for her fourth season.
Margaret Cho, comedienne and actress, partners with Louis Van Amstel, who returns for his seventh season.
Rick Fox, former NBA champion, teams up with two-time champ Cheryl Burke, who is back for her 10th season.
Jennifer Grey, beloved film and television actress, joins two-time mirror ball champion Derek Hough for his seventh season.
David Hasselhoff, international superstar, teams up with Season 9 champion Kym Johnson, who returns to “Dancing with the Stars” for her eighth season.
Florence Henderson, America’s favorite mom, joins Corky Ballas for his second season on the show.
Kyle Massey, television teen star, partners up with Lacey Schwimmer, who is back for her third season.
Audrina Patridge, MTV reality star, joins Tony Dovolani, who is back for his 10th season.
Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino, Jersey Shore ab-man, teams up with Karina Smirnoff, who returns for her eighth season of “Dancing with the Stars.”
Kurt Warner, former pro-NFL quarterback, joins Anna Trebunskaya, who returns for her sixth season.
All 12 teams will showcase their footwork for the first time on Sept. at 8 p.m. The first elimination will take place in week one with a two-hour show, Sept. 21 on the season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show.”
Santana and rock band Daughtry are set to perform.
The preschoolers cable network SPROUT is coming to the Westfield Countryside mall in Clearwater on Sept. 17 looking for pint-sized weather forecasters for “The Sunny Side Up Show,” a popular preschool program.
Officials from SPROUT also will be bringing Barney the big purple dinosaur and “Sunny Side Up Show” hosts Chica the Chicken and Kelly.
The event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. is for kids ages 2 to 5 and it’s called “Barney’s™ Sprouterrific Playdate.”
“The Sunny Side Up Show” is a fun morning show where children and their families can interact live with the hosts, share birthdays, greetings, ideas, crafts and weather reports from all across the country.
At the Countryside event children will have their picture taken with Barney, Chica and Kelly and also get an opportunity to step into Sprout’s Sunshine Barn and give a fun weather report with the help of The Sunny Side Up Show cast and crew.
All families will receive a backstage pass to SproutPlease.com where they can download their pictures and special weather reporter video. One lucky winner will be chosen from one of the eight cities on the Barney’s Sprouterrific Playdate tour to appear in a segment on Sprout as a guest weather reporter. Go to SproutPlease.com for rules and regulations.
The Westfield Countryside mall is on 2700 U.S. 19 North. The event will be in the Sears Court, Lower Level.
When the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and other stars of Disney Channel’s “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” come to the Tampa area next week for a concert, they also will tape an event that promotes cleaning up the Gulf coast beaches.
On the morning of Sept. 8, they will visit a Pinellas County location to kick off an International Coastal Cleanup in the Gulf. The event will not be open to the public. But fans can see it later on The Disney Channel.
The young musicians/actors will be promoting Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green (http://www.disney.com/projectgreen) – a movement that helps kids help the planet. Radio Disney and other media will also be on site. The event will shine a light on the Gulf region and draw attention to the importance of keeping the world’s waterways clean.
Disney’s Friends for Change also will honor 11-year Olivia Bouler, ayoung artist from New York whose creative work to help the affected wildlife in the Gulf has garnered national attention. Highlights of the event will be featured this month on Disney Channel and the Disney’s Friends for Change web site (http://www.disney.com/projectgreen) to inspire kids to participate in International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 25.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup which engages people to remove trash and debris from the world’s beaches and waterways, identify the sources of debris, and change the behaviors that cause marine debris in the first place.
The Hollywood insider Web site RadarOnline.com is reporting that former “Days of Our Lives” star Deidre Hall is suing a woman who ran her fan club and Web site.
Hall says Cathleen J. Paradis refuses to give her control of deidrehall.com, and other Internet sites set up when Paradis was working with the soap star.
Hall, 62, said in legal papers filed in federal court on Tuesday that Paradis “refused, and continues to refuse to surrender the domain name deidrehall.com and other domain names on behalf of Hall, unless Hall pays her thousands of dollars.”
Hall is looking “to recover damages for Paradis’ unauthorized exploitation” of her likeness, and to gain control of the Web sites. She also said in the papers that she wants Paradis to give back personal property she believes Paradis possesses, such as photos, clothing, footage and other mementos.
Nat and Kat are in The Race. Both are Doctors.
CBS this morning announced the 11 new teams that competed in the next installment of “The Amazing Race” which premieres with a special 90-minute debut on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 8:30 p.m.
There is one team from Ft. Lauderdale but none from Tampa. This season’s cast will trek over 32,000 miles, covering four continents and 30 cities, with first-time visits to Bangladesh, Ghana and the Arctic Circle. Additionally, for the first time, the Team to finish in first place during the premiere episode will be awarded a surprise, game-changing advantage.
The new season features teams from all walks of life, including a pair of Home Shopping hosts (from the Jewelry Network), newly dating couples, an Internet entertainer, Ivy League a cappella singers and a birth mother/daughter team who were recently reunited after the mother gave her newborn daughter up for adoption over 20 years ago.
Following are the 11 teams, listed in no particular order:
Brook & Claire
Brook Roberts
Age: 27
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Occupation: Home Shopping Host
Claire Champlin
Age: 30
Hometown: Reno, Nev.
Occupation: Home Shopping Host
Relationship: Home Shopping Hosts
Nick DeCarlo
Age: 26
Hometown: Henderson, Nev.
Occupation: Bartender
Vicki Casciola
Age: 26
Hometown: Henderson, Nev.
Occupation: Hair Stylist
Relationship: Dating
Ron and Tony
Ron Kellum
Age: 45
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Occupation: Director/Choreographer
Tony Stovall
Age: 42
Hometown: Tucson, Ariz.
Occupation: Doctoral Student (University of
Arizona)
Relationship: Best Friends
Michael Wu
Age: 58
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Occupation: Software Consultant and Content Creator
Kevin Wu
Age: 20
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Occupation: Student/Internet Entertainer
Relationship: Father/Son
Chad & Stephanie
Chad Waltrip
Age: 26
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Occupation: Operations Manager
Stephanie Smith
Age: 23
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Occupation: Hair Stylist
Relationship: Newly Dating
Nat Strand
Age: 31
Hometown: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Occupation: Doctor
Kat Chang
Age: 35
Hometown: Santa Monica, Calif.
Occupation: Doctor
Relationship: Doctors/Friends
Gary & Mallory
Gary Ervin
Age: 53
Hometown: Morganfield, Ky.
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Mallory Ervin
Age: 24
Hometown: Lexington, Ky.
Occupation: Miss Kentucky 2009
Relationship: Father/Daughter
Connor Diemand-Yauman
Age: 22
Hometown: Chesterland, Ohio
Occupation: Student (Princeton)
Jonathan Schwartz
Age: 22
Hometown: Cranford, N.J.
Occupation: Student (Princeton)
Relationship: Ivy League A Cappella Singers
Jill Haney
Age: 27
Hometown: Marina Del Ray, Calif.
Occupation: Hair Stylist
Thomas Wolfard
Age: 30
Hometown: Marina Del Ray, Calif.
Occupation: Ad Sales Director
Relationship: Dating
Andie & Jenna
Andie DeKroon
Age: 43
Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.
Occupation: Stay-at-Home Mom
Jenna Sykes
Age: 21
Hometown: Athens, Ga.
Occupation: Student (University of Georgia)
Relationship: Birth Mother/Daughter
Katie and Rachel
Katie Seamon
Age: 23
Hometown: Rahway, N.J.
Occupation: Beach Volleyball Player
Rachel Johnston
Age: 24
Hometown: Moorestown, N.J
Occupation: Beach Volleyball Player
Relationship: Beach Volleyball Partners
Survival of the Dead
Genre: Horror/Sequel
Directed by: George A. Romero
Run time: 90 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Format: Blu-Ray
The Lowdown: We’re 42 years removed from the original “Night of the Living Dead,” and guess what, director George A. Romero is still making zombie movies.
Normally, that would be cause to rejoice for fans of the shambling flesh-eaters.
But “Survival of the Dead,” Romero’s sixth entry in his undying franchise, and third since 2005, shows serious signs of decomposition. The plot is ragged, the acting is ragged, even the zombies seem tired, or maybe it’s just that no one really seems afraid of them anymore.
As with many Romero movies, the first two criticisms don’t really count. You watch, and enjoy, a Romero movie for many reasons, namely it’s a Romero movie, it’s usually got some great gore and he’s like family by this point . Hell, most fans have practically grown up watching each of his films at pivotal points in their lives. But you don’t expect to get Oscar-caliber acting or a plot that produces many surprises.
But this whole notion of not very scary zombies might be a deal breaker. Even in “Land of the Dead” and “Diary of the Dead,” which for the record, I think I liked “Diary” more than “Land,” even if neither of them lived up to “Night,” “Dawn” or “Day,” the zombies were scary, man. They were aggressive in their appetite for flesh. They still shuffled around like drunks stranded in the town square, but they got real mean and vicious real quick when someone with a pulse wandered nearby.
In “Survival,” people don’t even flinch when a zombie approaches. They shrug their shoulders, pull out a gun, or a flare, or whatever is nearby, and casually kill the living dead as if this was an everyday occurrence that had become almost an inconvenience.
I want to be afraid of the zombies. I want the characters on screen to be afraid of the zombies too. That’s the whole point, right?
But the zombies are no longer scary in “Survival,” it’s the people you have to watch out for. While that’s not an uncommon issue in a Romero film, “Survival” bears a striking resemblance to “Day of the Dead” in that very few, if any, of the characters are likable. You don’t really have anyone to root for.
There’s the smug, cocksure military commando, Sarge “Nicotine” Crockett, who has gone AWOL with his troops. He’s good for a quip, has a cheesy porn ‘stache and looks like trouble, but he’s completely untrustworthy. There’s his squad of soldiers, which includes a brassy lesbian and an oversexed single guy that you know isn’t long for the world. [Fun fact: The commando, Alan Van Sprang, is the first official carry-over character in a Romero Dead movie.]
There’s the kid, barely 21, who just shows up in the woods with no explanation after the soldiers kill off a gaggle of rednecks. That the kid gets asked to tag along makes no sense for a roving, renegade band of mercenaries.
Then there’s the O’Flynn’s and the Muldoons, two rival families who have co-existed for years on Plum Island, living like its 1810 instead of 2010. One family is convinced that a cure to the sickness causing people to turn dead will be found. The other family is convinced that dead is dead and anyone bitten or killed must be destroyed.
The patriarchs of the two families are both unlikable guys who think that their way or the highway is the only way.
What would have been a more interesting, and probably entertaining premise, and one that would have mirrored Romero’s title, would have been one family on the island trying to protect its members who had fallen victim to the dead from the other family intent on destroying them. The irony of fighting to keep them un-alive, if you will, against an oppressive force would have pulled more readily from recent events, particularly in these post-9/11, terrorists in our midst, often erroneous profiling times that we find ourselves.
For what it is, “Survival” is neither an abysmal failure or a bonafide classic. It’s a mildly enjoyable zombie romp from the grandfather of zombie romps in an age when younger, sometimes more daring, filmmakers are adding their own stamp to the zombie genre, and a film that exposes Romero’s style for what it is – a consistent shamble forward, much like the dragging footsteps of his beloved living dead, that doesn’t waiver or ever change.
The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Yes.
Nudity – Brief.
Gore – Yes.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – As with most of Romero’s catalog, it’s a toss-up between the zombies and the people trying to survive as to who is really worse.
Buy/Rent – Hardcore fans, buy it. Everyone else, rent it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – This is a definite case of the extras trying to compensate for a lackluster feature. There’s the requisite audio commentary, but with Romero, it’s actually OK; the very thorough, 76-minute documentary, “Walking After Midnight”; the short film, “Sarge”; a collection of 13 brief interviews, clips, etc., called “A Minute of Your Time”; a nine-minute interview with Romero; a 22-minute Fangoria interview with Romero; a two-minute introduction to the film by Romero (which I actually really enjoyed); storyboard comparisons; short “How to Create Your Own Zombie Bite” featurette; and a four-minute HDNet preview for “Survival.”
On the Web – http://www.magnetreleasing.com/survivalofthedead/
Release Date – Aug. 24, 2010
Reporters sometimes have a hard time judging crowd size. I know because I have tried to do it a few times myself.
But being off by 400,000 seems a bit much. So how many people really attended Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Saturday? Organizers estimated the crowd size at 500,000. But a CBS analysis of the crowd puts it at about 80,000 to 90,000.
CBS News commissioned an estimate by AirPhotosLive.com, a company that uses aerial photography to judge crowd sizes. Based on the detailed photos AirPhotosLive put the attendance at 87,000.
AirPhotosLive.com has a margin of error of about 9,000. That would translate to between 78,000 and 96,000 at the rally. The photos used to make the estimate were taken at noon Saturday (when the company estimated was the rally’s high point).
AirPhotoslive uses cameras on tethered balloons to produce high-resolution aerial photos. This apparently is more accurate than eyeballing the crowd and guessing how many are there.
Beck himself had estimated he would draw about 100,000 and that would be close to the CBS figure. Even 100,000 would be an impressive number.
An off-air NBC News political reporter tweeted that a National Parks Service official had estimated the crowd at 300,000 to 325,000. Citing the NBC source, the New York Times reported 300,000 were “stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.” The figure was used by the Drudge Report. Fox News reported “thousands in attendance” and ran a banner putting the crowd at “over 500,000.”
NBC’s “Nightly News” hedged with “tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands.” ABC put the number at “more than 100,000.’
Of course, the CBS report is coming under fire from Beck supporters. Attendance results can be controversial. The organizers of an event often inflate the numbers while their opponents deflate the numbers.
“We are humbled that you are here,” Beck told the crowd. “The reflecting pool holds about 200,000 people. This field back here holds about 250 to 300,000 people. They are not only full here, they’re full in that field, they’re full behind me, and they are now across the street approaching the Washington Monument.”
Forbidden World
Genre: Horror
Directed by: Allan Holzman
Run time: 82 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Format: Blu-Ray
The Lowdown: “Forbidden World,” the 1982 horror/sci-fi schlockfest, also released as “Mutant,” proves several points early and often in its brief 82 minute runtime:
A good, Goblin-esque synth-heavy score can overcome anything, even scenes that repetitively use the same hallway for characters to run screaming through. Fun fact: According to IMDB, composer Susan Justin was director Allan Holzman’s girlfriend.
If you can’t afford an entire monster, just focus on the head, and make sure it is a pitch black head and has plenty of giant dagger-like teeth. The creature effects in “Forbidden” are pretty laughable. Subject 20, the mutant hybrid between alien spore and human flesh, is never shown in much light, and its facial features are covered with gooky slime and shadows for much of the flick, minimizing the possibility that viewers can point out its flaws. Fun Fact: Special effects maestro John Carl Buechler actually provides some solid, icky effects for decomposing bodies and mutant pod pools of viscous slime. He would go on to provide gory goodness for such great B-classics as “Troll,” “Ghoulies,” “From Beyond” and both the “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th” franchises.
When in doubt, boobs. Proving that even in space, during a crisis, earth girls are easy, “Forbidden” has not one, but two ridiculously hot lead actresses, both of whom have no problem taking off their clothes at completely inopportune times. There’s Dr. Barbara Glaser (June Chadwick), a skankilicious blonde astrophysicist, or something equally as improbable, who immediately comes on to intergalactic bounty hunter/soldier of fortune Mike Colby (the so-wooden-that-termites-are-a-threat Jesse Vint), beds him, lets him go get busy with equally skanktastic research assistant Tracy (Dawn Dunlap) so they can share some full frontal love in a space shower just before the monster attacks, and then Dr. Boobs, er Barbara, and Tracy both get naked in the shower together before putting on terrycloth robes and stripper heels (no joke) and go try to communicate with the monster and its tentacles.
Can’t come up with an original robot character? Just take bits and pieces from other movies and TV shows and cobble them together. SAM-104, the robotic companion of space stud Mike, is like a mash-up of Twiki from “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” and a Cylon from “Battlestar Galactica.”
Overall, “Forbidden World” is a hoot and a half. It was played seriously enough that you can’t tell if the cast and crew thought they were making a good movie. But given that it’s one of Shout! Factory’s awesomely awesome Roger Corman’s Cult Classics, and it was released by New Line Cinema, you know that somewhere, off-camera, a tongue was planted firmly in cheek.
The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – June Chadwick and Dawn Dunlap, who says you can’t wear stripper heels in space?
Nudity – Gratuitous
Gore – Yes
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – Subject 20.
Buy/Rent – Buy it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Collectible 12-page color booklet with production photos, a discussion on the film and an essay “How to Make an Alien in 20 Days”; Reversible cover art featuring the original, alternate title “Mutant”; the half-hour documentary, “The Making of Forbidden World”; an interview with Roger Corman; interview with John Carl Buechler; drawings, conception art and posters for the film; trailers for three other Roger Corman Cult Classics; a second disc with the director’s cut of “Mutant” and an audio commentary from director Allan Holzman.
Release Date – July 20, 2010
What’s new in stores and on video shelves this week:
Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season
Genre: TV/Sci-Fi/Action
Created by: J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof
Run time: 714 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Format: Blu-Ray
The Lowdown: I don’t care if you weren’t appropriately wowed by the finale. I don’t care if Damon and Carlton didn’t answer every question you ever had about polar bears, Tunisia, what was special about Walt and who built the statue. I don’t care if you thought they were all dead all along, because they weren’t.
The sixth and final season of “Lost” may not have been everything to everyone that they wanted, but damn if it wasn’t a fine last act to TV’s greatest show. Ever.
The writers and creative team ended it how they wanted. They took a wild gamble and introduced a storytelling device, the flash sideways, that polarized fans. They showed true care in trying to tie up many loose ends with characters that they clearly loved as much as every one of us who consider ourselves true fans.
And you know what, I’m OK with that. “Lost” was never about the finale, it was about the journey. It was about a show that didn’t dumb itself down in order to entertain. It was about giving viewers so many meaty issues to chew on that the overall meal would always be remembered as the best they ever had, even if they never could quite figure out that last little ingredient that made the special seasoning so special.
Never in the history of television has a fictional show probed such deep and challenging waters as theology, psychology, physics, personal responsibility, love, loss and parental relationships in such a thought-provoking, intelligent way.
I will always remember “Lost” not for its final season, but for the experience over six years that captivated me, forced me to want to seek out obscure literature and dust off textbooks to try to understand subtle hints and helped me renew my faith in a medium that has long existed like candy for the eyes but corrosive acid for the brain.
In the end, it’s not about the final episode, or even the final episodes. It’s about what you gained individually, about your own personal theories, about how you reconciled the questions that “Lost” opened your own two eyes to.
Lots of people can point to the final episode of “St. Elsewhere” and say ‘Snow globe,” or the finale of “Newhart” and say ‘It was all a dream,’ but how many of those people remember more than a handful, if that many, of specific moments from those shows?
“Lost” gave us more than just an iconic ending, it gave us six years of iconic moments from that two-hour premiere that hooked us solid to The Hatch to The Others to The Constant to “We have to go back, Kate” to “Not Penny’s Boat” to Jeremy Bentham and more. So many amazing episodes, each with its own special resonance, that to try and remember “Lost” for one season or one moment is simply short-sighted.
This is and was the best that TV can do, and I only pray we have another show this good someday. Thank you “Lost.” I’m so glad I found you, and stuck with you, for six wonderful years.
The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Yes.
Nudity – No.
Gore – Minor.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – MIB, that’s Man in Black to you.
Buy/Rent – Buy it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Exclusive: BD-Live LOST University: Master’s Program (allowing fans to learn more about the island, its story and the people brought there); SeasonPlay. Additional: “The New Man in Charge,” a 12-minute addendum to the series finale featuring Hurley and Ben’s first actions as the new Jacob and Richard, respectively; “The END: Crafting A Final Season” documentary; “A Hero’s Journey” featurette; “See You in Another Life, Brotha” featurette on the flash-sideways world; “LOST on Location” behind the scenes footage and interviews; LOST in 8:15; Bloopers, deleted scenes, audio commentaries.
The Square (Sony, 106 minutes, R, Blu-Ray): It’s an edgy film indeed that asks you to sympathize with a cheating husband who gets swept up into a scheme to rob the criminal miscreant husband of his lover in order to escape his dull life with a good woman who loves him. It’s an even edgier film that asks you to root for him to escape unscathed after the plan goes to Hell, someone gets killed and he gets away with one crime only to face an even worse fate. Australian director Nash Edgerton’s debut may feel familiar at parts, but it’s a deep, dark, dreary journey to the blackest pit of human nature. Thankfully, his lead, David Roberts, as caddish philanderer Raymond Yale, gives a startlingly raw performance of a man whose life unravels through his fingers despite his every effort to hold on to the rails. Mesmerizing, unflinching and impressive. A must see for fans of classic noir.
Abandoned (Anchor Bay, 88 minutes, PG-13, Blu-Ray): What is it about hospitals that creeps us out so much? And why is it that very few thrillers, or horror movies, for that matter, set inside hospitals manage to be very good? And “Abandoned” is definitely not very good, which is unfortunate, as it serves as Brittany Murphy’s last headlining role before her sudden death in 2009. Murphy doesn’t look very good at all in this final role. She appears gaunt and, at times, unrecognizable from the bubbly, curvy babe who first broke onto the scene in “Clueless.” Murphy actually looked better playing a junkie in “Spun” than she does here. And the film itself, which also features Direct-to-DVD Dean Cain and a slumming Mimi Rogers (still hot after all these years), is a lurching, plodding exercise in not-very-frantic paranoia that culminates with a ridiculous twist and some very uninspired action.
Dorian Gray (E1, 112 minutes, R, DVD): I have to confess, I’m not big on period pieces. I enjoyed the recent update of “The Wolfman,” and I wasn’t fazed by its Victorian London setting, but typically it’s just not my bag. “Dorian Gray,” the latest update of Oscar Wilde’s classic tale, is a period piece. It’s also a very familiar story. In order to try to distinguish itself, the 2010 version heaps on the hotness, opting for the distractive nature of gratuitous guy-on-girl and guy-on-guy action to keep people from thinking too much about its pedestrian approach to the material. And honestly, this isn’t a movie that you’re going to rush out and recommend to your friends. But it’s also not a film that you would adamantly object to them renting on a slow weeknight. The ‘horror’ elements are kept to a minimum, the CGI doesn’t come in until the last 15 minutes, and it’s pretty weak, and the overall emotional arc of the proceeding gets muddied up pretty good by a rather bland lead turn. Thankfully, Colin Firth is on hand, surprisingly, I must say, to class up the picture with a strong supporting part that gives the material much more respect than it deserves.
Addicted to Her Love (E1, 98 minutes, R, DVD): I’m not sure this lives up to its DVD box billing as “Fast Times at Ridgemont High meets Kids,” as it’s neither funny enough to rival “Ridgemont” or shocking enough to come close to the drugs and casual sex of “Kids,” but that’s OK. “Addicted to Her Love” has one really good thing going for it, the smoking hot Lizzy Caplan, who shines whenever the camera fixates on her devilish eyes and sultry pout. The problem with coming-of-age stories these days, particularly those set in upper-crust society with silver spoon debutantes who grow up driving high-end luxury cars and who spend more time with servants than parents, is that there is very little left that could be totally shocking in a film like this other than the four leads going on a drug-fueled killing spree and having hardcore sex in public amid a litter of victims. Instead, what you get is the requisite ‘get high, get it on, get rejected, get wasted, get enlightened’ teen angst.
Time Bandits (Image, 116 minutes, PG, Blu-Ray): Why doesn’t Terry Gilliam make movies like this anymore? For that matter, why don’t other directors make movies like this anymore? “Time Bandits” is a wholly original tale of time-surfing little people who hop-scotch through history, stealing what they can, avoiding certain death at every turn and coming face to face with gods, monsters and Napoleon. The humor is entirely British, but Gilliam’s 1981 breakout feature has aged well and still remains a wonderfully irreverent experience with creative special effects and that subversive Monty Pythonesque view of the world.
The Simpsons: The Thirteenth Season (Fox, 491 minutes, Unrated, Blu-Ray): All 22 episodes of the 13th season are included with audio commentary on every episode, deleted scenes, a sketch gallery and more.
Machine Gun McCain (Blue Underground, 96 minutes, Unrated, Blu-Ray): John Cassevetes stars as Hank McCain, a convicted armed robber who goes on a trail of bloody vengeance, in this obscure 1969 Italian gangster flick. Britt Ekland, Gena Rowlands and Peter Faulk co-star in this former Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
Red vs Blue: Recreation Season 7 (New Video, 101 minutes, Unrated, DVD): Inspired by the video game sensation “Halo,” this continuation of the hit Internet series finds the Reds and Blues going deep underground to solve a mystery that threatens their very existence in “Recreation: Season 7.”
Private (New Video, 100 minutes, Unrated, DVD): Based on the book series by Kate Brian, this upper-crust, high society girls academy thriller comes from one of the executive producers of “Gossip Girl” and “The Vampire Diaries.” You’ve been warned.
The Age of Stupid (Docurama Films, 89 minutes, Unrated, DVD): Pete “I’m in every movie” Postlethwaite stars in this very subversive documentary chronicling the many ways that societies around the world are bringing about our own downfall. Required viewing for anyone who can hogtie a Republican to a chair and force their eyes open for nearly 90 minutes. Frying pan to beat some sense into them not included.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever (Paramount, 73 minutes, Unrated, DVD): This animated Nickelodeon movie finds the four turtles, Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Donatello, crossing time and space to meet up with their alternate selves, and having to combat longtime arch rivals like the Foot Soldiers, BeBop and Rocksteady.
The Back-up Plan (Sony, 104 minutes, PG-13, Blu-Ray): Appropriately titled, as J-Lo of late has needed another gig besides singing, this predictable Rom-Com finds Jenny from the Block Lopez with a ticking biological clock and a need to breed. In one of those ‘Only in the Movies’ moments, she meets Mr. Right minutes after undergoing in vitro fertilization and comic mayhem ensues. Not really. Is anyone really renting or buying these movies anymore? If so, stop. For the love of God, please stop.
Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season (Warner Bros., 930 minutes, Unrated, DVD): The best thing about “Gossip Girl,” the hit CW show about privileged teen-agers in New York City, was Taylor Momsen’s Jenny Humphrey. Now that she has bid the show adieu and launched a promising music career as the half-naked front woman of The Pretty Reckless, those precocious spoiled rich kids from the Upper East Side just got a lot less interesting. All 22 episodes of Season Three are contained on this five-disc boxed set.
Pawn Stars (New Video, 704 minutes, Unrated, DVD): The History Channel’s unlikely hit series “Pawn Stars” brings all 32 episodes of its second season set inside the Las Vegas, family-owned pawn shop to DVD. Who knew the once-seedy world of pawn stores could seem so appealing?
City Island (Anchor Bay, 104 minutes, PG-13, Blu-Ray): Andy Garcia returns to leading man status, and we welcome him back. It’s been far too long since “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead,” or maybe I’m still the only person who liked that flick. Here he stars as a corrections officer with the acting itch and he’s surrounded by a killer supporting cast including Julianna Marguiles and Alan Arkin.
$5 A Day (Image, 98 minutes, PG-13, Blu-Ray): Pop quiz – what do the names Christopher Walken, Sharon Stone and Amanda Peet do for you? They should conjure memories of more memorable films than “$5 A Day,” a direct-to-DVD (and it features Dean Cain, go figure) dramedy about a con-man with a heart of gold (are there any other kinds?) who gets diagnosed with a terminal illness (I’m not giving anything away, it says so on the box art) and tries to reconnect with his estranged son. I’m pretty sure any movie that has a “Sweet ‘N Low Coupon Inside” sticker should be avoided.
The number of TV households in America has hit a new high, according to Nielsen Media Research. And while there were some changes in the rankings of the top 20 TV markets, the Tampa-St. Petersburg TV market remains at 14th place.
Nielsen adjusts the household numbers each year before the beginning of the TV season. The numbers are used for ratings. At one point, the Tampa St. Petersburg market had climbed to 12th place but it has been surpassed in recent years.
For the 2010-2011 broadcast season, Nielsen estimates the total number of TV households in the U.S. is up to 115.9 million, an increase of one million homes from last year.
Nielsen also estimates an increase of more than two million persons age two and older (P2+) in U.S. TV households, for a total of 294,650,000 people.
Here are the top markets:
Top 20 U.S. TV Markets (2010-11 Season Estimates)
2010-11 Rank 2009-10 Rank Market
1 1 New York
2 2 Los Angeles
3 3 Chicago
4 4 Philadelphia
5 5 Dallas-Ft. Worth
6 6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose
7 7 Boston (Manchester)
8 8 Atlanta
9 9 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn)
10 10 Houston
11 11 Detroit
12 12 Phoenix (Prescott)
13 13 Seattle-Tacoma
14 14 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)
15 15 Minneapolis-St. Paul
16 17 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
17 16 Denver
18 18 Cleveland-Akron (Canton)
19 19 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn
20 20 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto
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