TVSquad

If you're like me, you raced out to your local book merchant last Tuesday and got yourself a copy of Neal Stephenson's latest book, Anathem. Then, more than likely, you tore through it before you realized, "Crap, it's going to be another five years before there is another one." But this isn't Book Squad, so what am I on about?

You might recall a January 2007 post by Kevin about Stephenson's earlier novel, The Diamond Age, being adapted for the Sci Fi Channel. As a longtime fan, I was thrilled to hear the news. But then, months and months passed with no real updates. I make periodic runs through IMDB, the official Neal Stephenson site, Smokehouse Productions, the Sci Fi Wire, wikipedia... Nobody has any information on just what the heck is going on with the adaptation. Given the nature of TV and movies, I was starting to worry that it had all just been back burnered. Or worse, they spent all that Diamond Age cash on Painkiller Jane. Not so fast...

(S05E08) On paper, "The Queen" looked to have a lot of potential. The team was back together and off on an adventure. Even better, this wasn't some standalone excursion to an unknown planet that we wouldn't be seeing again. The story was set to tie the research that was recently discovered in Michael's lab in with the ongoing story of Todd. For the most part, all of that added up to a very good episode.

Gallery: Stargate Atlantis: Season 5

Over at the L.A. Times, Tom O'Neil has put together two teams to predict the Emmys. One consists of writers who cover TV, including our pal from AOL, Maggie Furlong. The other is filled with award nuts, like O'Neil. The teams found a lot of common ground, with overwhelming agreement on Mad Men for Best Drama and 30 Rock for Best Comedy. They also seem pretty set on Glenn Close (Damages) for Best Actress, Drama and Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) for Best Actor, Comedy.

Those all sound like reasonably safe bets. Things get a little more interesting when you look at some of the other categories. Best Actor, Drama looks to be a three way race between Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Hugh Laurie (House), and James Spader (Boston Legal). All solid choices, to be sure, but the most surprising part of the category is that Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), who should win, only garnered one vote. Read on past the jump for more of the categories.

If you were wondering just what that extra dollar buys you when you upgrade to HD in the iTunes store, you can get a free look. Our pals over at TUAW made note of a number of shows that have free episodes available, in HD. The files are large, with the HD versions clocking in at right around 1.5GB, so it will take a bit to download. Something that isn't helped by the fact that iTunes downloads the SD version as well.

I've been taking a look at them and I grabbed screenshots from Heroes, Life, and Battlestar Galactica to give you an idea of the difference in the picture. It's fairly dramatic. Those captures, and the full list of free episodes, with the iTunes links, are after the jump.

If you have been playing along with the home game, you'll no doubt remember last August when Apple and NBC had a little squabble over pricing. That led to NBC content being removed from the iTunes store, and lots of he said/she said over who was at fault. It would appear that time, and potential revenue, really does heal all wounds. NBC is returning to iTunes, and an HD option is being added.

The new deal was announced at the "Let's Rock" event, where Apple unveiled updated iPods. You'll also find shows from ABC, Showtime, USA, and Sci Fi in the HD mix. The shows are already available and have returned at the $1.99 per episode price for SD. The new HD option comes in at $2.99 per episode. Prices for seasons are a little less consistent. Upgrading to HD for season two of Heroes will cost you an extra $10. $12 more for season four of Lost. And apparently, medical shows are really awesome in HD, as Grey's Anatomy adds $15 to the season four price, and season four of House jumps $16 to $47.84.

You could make a case for Fringe being the biggest premiere of the fall season. Through the involvement of J.J. Abrams, and a boatload of promotion from the network, the show has generated an incredible amount of buzz. The thing about buzz though, is that it's often fleeting. At some point the show will have to back it up. There are still many weeks to go before we'll have a good idea of the result of the Fringe experiment, but where's the fun in waiting for the numbers? I ask you, TV Squad readers, to put on your ratings analysis caps and make the call. How will Fringe fare?

It's a complicated question. The biggest sticking point for me is the "serialized drama" question. The producers seem to be going out of their way to make sure everyone knows that this isn't like Lost. The LA Times quotes Abrams as saying that Fringe will be "a show that people can watch as frequently and as infrequently as they want to." That's all well and good to say, but in the same article he refers to "a larger mythology." In addition, lead actress Anna Torv says that what she loves about the show is the conspiracy. That's not the stuff of easily accessible procedurals.

(S04E09) It would appear that summer really is coming to an end. The Closer will wrap up its run next week with the big, explosive, finale. And with the end of the season in sight, "Tijuana Brass" started wrapping up the major ongoing story. The infamous Ramos article was finally published, and the the effects were many and varied. It couldn't have come at a worse time either, as Priority Homicide found themselves in the middle of a very delicate case.

Gallery: The Closer: Season Four

That line between web content and traditional television just continues to get blurrier. ABC has ordered 13 episodes of In The Motherhood. In case you missed it, the show didn't start out with the traditional pilot formula. It's a web-based show starring Jenny McCarthy, Leah Remini, and Chelsea Handler. The three of them play girlfriends and the stories told come from real stories submitted by mothers from across the country. Or, people pretending to be mothers. You can watch it at the show's site, if you're curious.

(S05E07) This week the Atlantis team sets out to prove that just because you make a sci fi show set in another galaxy, it doesn't mean you can't have an old fashioned zombie story. If that wasn't enough, this was also the much talked about episode with the all female team. That team included Nicole de Boer, and the returning Leela Savasta. How successful it was depends on how you feel about zombie movies to start with. For me, it was rather hit and miss. Some nice show mythology, mixed up with a monster of the week, and some bits that just fell flat. We'll get into it all, after the jump.

Gallery: Stargate Atlantis: Season 5

We talked about this when they announced that Jerry Seinfeld had signed on to promote Windows for Microsoft. If you were watching the big NFL kickoff Thursday night, you might have seen what that looked like. If you missed it, it's embedded after the jump. I've watched the commercial a few times now, and I'm torn. I agreed with Brad's take in the original post, that Seinfeld may be a few years past the point of ideal pitchman.

That being said, the first half of the commercial is quirky, and pretty funny. The idea of stumbling on Bill Gates in a discount shoe shop is an amusing place to start. And Gates does a good job as the straight man for Seinfeld. I really like the odd cut to the family watching through the glass. "They run tight." It all pays off nicely with that familiar image of Gates on his Platinum Shoe Circus Clown Club card. It loses steam when they leave the mall. A moist and chewy cake computer? I think the writers got tripped up by the iffy tag. The future. Delicious.