Amazing. All those voice actors. Still Funny. Homer!

From Fox (the release):
“BEST. NEWS. EVER.”

FOX RENEWS HIT ANIMATED SERIES “THE SIMPSONS”
FOR TWO ADDITIONAL SEASONS

FOX has ordered two additional seasons of THE SIMPSONS, which will bring the longest-running series in primetime television history through its 22nd season. The 44-episode pickup ensures the series will reach an astounding 493 episodes. THE SIMPSONS airs Sundays (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Since its debut on January 14, 1990, THE SIMPSONS immediately struck a chord with viewers across the country as it poked fun of itself and everything in its wake. With its subversive humor and delightful wit, the series has made an indelible imprint on American pop culture and has become one of television’s most iconic families.

“Best. 20 Years. Ever.,” a year-long global celebration honoring all things THE SIMPSONS, launched in January 2009 and will culminate on January 14, 2010, the 20th anniversary of the series’ debut.

The February sweeps period starts March 5.

Oh, yeah. March Sweeps: March 5 - April 1. That's because of the digital transition set for mid-Feburary, which was then postponed. So if you start seeing wild news reports about bras, strippers and Internet predators, you'll know why.

Conan, Andy to reunite on new show

From NBC:
Conan O'Brien will have a familiar face when he begins his new "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" on NBC where he will reunite with Andy Richter ("Late Night with Conan O'Brien") -- for the first time on a daily basis in almost nine years -- as the network announced that Richter will return to its late-night lineup as the announcer for the new show that begins June 1.

Top innovations of last 30 years

From publicist, and results will be reported on tonight's broadcast:

PBS’ Nightly Business Report teamed up with Knowledge@Wharton, the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to select the 30 most important innovations from the last 30 years.

Link: http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/features/special/top-30-innovations_home/

Some results:

30. Anti retroviral treatment for AIDS Health Care
29. SRAM flash memory Electronics
27. ATMs Finance
23. RFID and applications (e.g. EZpass) Electronics
22. Digital photography/videography Electronics
20. Social networking via internet Media
16. Media file compression (e.g., jpeg, mpeg, mp3) Computer Science
15. Online shopping/ecommerce/auctions (e.g., eBay) Information Technology
14. GPS Systems Electronics
13. Liquid Crystal Displays Electronics
10. Non-invasive laser/robotic surgery (laparoscopy) Health Care
8. Fiber optics Telecommunications
7. Microprocessors Computer Science
6. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Biotechnology
5. DNA testing and sequencing/Human genome mapping Biotechnology
4. E-mail Computer Science
3. Mobile phones Telecommunications
2. PC/laptop computers Computer Science
1. Internet/broadband/WWW (browser and HTML) Telecommunications

TV news items, a digital tornado

There's a lot happening these days. The February sweeps were pushed to March because of the February transition to digital, and then the whole thing got postponed to June.

WTNH and WCTX in New Haven were going to be exceptions to the June delay, but at the last minute its officials decided to go ahead with the delay anyway.

From NBC: CAROL BURNETT TO GUEST STAR ON NBC'S "LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT" TUESDAY, MARCH 17 ... as a former dancer caught up in the murder of a young couple, in the episode titled "Ballerina."

From TWC: Storm Stories Returns to The Weather Channel with an Outbreak of New Episodes Beginning Feb. 22
New Season Kicks Off Tornado Week; TWC Asks Viewers to Submit Stories to be Featured in a Upcoming Storm Stories Episode
The Feb. 22 premiere episode features the May 2008 “Windsor Tornado” that touched down in northern Colorado, destroying much in its path, threatening a campground and a news crew, and ultimately hitting a daycare center. The Weather Channel will premiere four additional new Storm Stories episodes each night during Tornado Week at 8 p.m. ET from Feb. 22-26, including:
Monday – the “Parkersburg, IA, Tornado” on May 25, 2008, killed seven people and demolished the southern half of the town; first-hand accounts are given by residents.
Tuesday – the “Greensburg, KS, Tornado” on May 4, 2007, wiped out the entire town. The story is told through the experiences of next-door neighbors who saved a mother and her baby from the rubble.
Wednesday – “Super Tuesday” tornadoes cut a swath over a wide area Feb. 5, 2008; touching stories come from people that were affected in Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Thursday – the “Boy Scouts Tornado” hit the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in western Iowa last June, catching everyone off guard. The surviving scouts are forced to put their training to use in the midst of a terrifying situation to help keep injured scouts alive in the aftermath.

From NGC:
Starting Monday, February 23, 2009, at 9 PM ET/PT, National Geographic Channel’s new series HARD TIME takes viewers inside the battleground of Georgia’s paramilitary correctional system. Throughout the course of a year, cameras follow both those who work and those who serve time — from nonviolent first-time offenders in a military-style boot camp to repeat criminals in “Hi-Max,” the most extreme disciplinary environment allowed — tracking the hazy line between control and chaos.

Each episode of this six-part series examines Georgia’s paramilitary approach to discipline and control. The idea: treat prisoners like well-disciplined soldiers and they will stop acting like criminals.

Most viewed Super Bowl

Some headlines called Sunday's Super Bowl the highest-rated ever. Not true, it did a fairly average number. It's just that the viewing universe has expanded (and maybe the counting method), so the total number of viewers is high. You could call it the "most-viewed Super Bowl," but as a Giants fan, I question that number, too.
NBC says: Super Bowl XLIII is now the most viewed television program in U.S. history with a total audience of 151.6 million viewers, according to official national ratings data released today by Nielsen Media Research. They're counting anyone who laid eyes on it, and I still think there were as many watching last year's.
At first officials said it was No. 2; then it was suddenly No. 1. Get used to such claims in the future. When all the journalists go away (as newspapers are in free-fall), there will no one left to check the claims made by power brokers and big companies.

SNL jokes from Saturday night

SNL is no longer red hot (Palin/Fey) but there were these amusing lines during "Weekend Update":

MEYERS - "NBC which is broadcasting the game, has rejected a Super Bowl ad from the animal rights organization PETA because it depicts sexy, lingerie-clad models being "intimate" with a vegetable. So, sort of like 'The Girls Next Door.'"

MEYERS - "A number of angry mothers who had their breast-feeding pictures removed from their Facebook pages by the company, have formed a new protest group called "Hey Facebook, breast-feeding is not obscene," which now has more than 160,000 members. Dozens of whom are women."

MEYERS - "In a sign of just how bad the television advertising market has become, several of the major networks have been running infomercials during prime time. While CBS has gone so far as to develop a new spin-off series, 'C.S.I.: Sham Wow.'"

TV notes for a February day

Two news specials on the financial meltdown should be on our radar: CNBC's two-hour "House of Cards" on Feb. 11 and "Inside the Meltdown" on PBS's "Frontline" Feb. 17. The latter looks at "what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke didn’t see, couldn’t stop and haven’t been able to fix."

TNT’s LEVERAGE will be back for a second season, according to an announcement by Michael Wright, network official. TNT has ordered 15 new episodes of the show, which stars Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane and Aldis Hodge.

The New York Yankees will be on WCTX MyTV9 this coming season. MyTV9 will show 21 games of the 2009 season in high definition where available, including June 9 vs. Boston and June 26 vs. the Mets.