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Who knows TV better than us? As America's largest online DISH Network dealer, we've got the inside dirt on the channels, shows, and events that keep you tuned in.
 Living in New York, you learn that everything is possible and none of it should be surprising. 1977, especially, was one of those wild and crazy years that New Yorkers learned to expect the worst. From blackouts and riots, to colossal heat waves, it seemed like it couldn’t get worse for the city. It did, if you added a drawn-out bitter race for the Mayor’s office between the political heavyweights, Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch. To top it all off, the city was introduced to one of the most prolific serial killers in history, David Berkowitz. Berkowitz, better known as Son of Sam, claimed he took his instructions from a barking dog when he stalked young woman at night, with his weapon of choice in hand. By the time the police was led to Berkowitz, 13 people had been shot, six killed, and his only response, “What took you so long?” This recipe for mayhem even stretched out onto the New York Yankees baseball field, or as it was known then, the Bronx zoo.
Mirroring the city, the Yankees were in turmoil. They began the year in one of the most disappointing fashions. Not only were they fighting to stay out of last place, but they exposed themselves to a daily dose of media coverage highlighting the tug of war between the three biggest egos and the strongest wills to ever wear the famous pinstripes. It was a season long soap opera between the owner George Steinbrenner, Manager Billy Martin, and their superstar outfielder Reggie Jackson.
When Reggie Jackson was traded to the Yankees, no one but Steinbrenner was satisfied. Martin didn’t feel Jackson quite fit the team’s mold, and felt snubbed when the Boss took him in anyway. Reigning MVP, Thurman Munson, as well as against the trade because he was promised he would always be the highest paid Yankee. And so the three-ring circus began, as Jackson not only added an outsized contract, and an even bigger ego, but added enough skill to take the limping Yankees to the World Series.
Inspired by the best-selling novel written by Jonathon Mahler, ESPN takes this drama, set to the background of NYC mayhem, and puts on the big screen. The Bronx is Burning, in an 8-episode mini-series, captures every details of the fiery 1977 Yankees season. Catch the latest episode every Tuesday at 10pm. (Don’t worry, if you missed the first few episodes, ESPN has weekly reruns.) (Channel 140/Available in Americas Top 100 and higher) The mini-series is just as seducing as the characters, as the superb acting mixed with an interesting non-fiction storyline, is enough to stimulate anyone, even if you’re not a big baseball fan.
While the Bronx is Burning takes you back in time, witness how players this sensational season are writing history. For instance, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants broke the home run record, surpassing legend Hank Aaron, with over 755 home runs. Mr. Hotshot himself, Alex Rodriguez of the infamous New York Yankees, as well became the youngest player thus far (a few days older than 32) to hit 500 home runs. At the rate he’s going, he will without a doubt knockdown Bonds to the snatch the Home Run King title. To add to this season’s baseball milestones, Tom Glavine of the New York Mets, won his 300th game as a pitcher. Not only have a handful of left-handed pitchers been able to accomplish this outstanding achievement, but it seems that Glavine might be the last to this for many years.
The Yankees, as well, can’t seem to get out of the spotlight as they made the most impressing jump to the top. They began the season losing game after game, reaching rock bottom. Distraught fans watched as their team lagged behind 13 games behind the Red Sox, looking as if they will never make the playoffs. Now the men in pinstripes crawled their way back to the top, inching closer and closer to making the playoffs.
You can catch all this excitement on ESPN or Dish Network's special programming in MLB Extra Innings – all the action your home stations don’t cover and up to 60 regular-season games per week!
 I’m not an advocate of watching a movie based off a novel I’ve read. Let’s take one of my favorites, the Shopaholic series by Sophia Kinsella. I have a vivid picture of Becky Bloomwood, her voice, her appearance and even her walk. It would be troubling for me to see her character played out in any way other than what’s pictured in my head. I either read a book or watch the movie, not both. In the case of The Devil Wears Prada, I skipped the book and headed straight to my home cinema to catch the 2006 film that is now showing on HBO (DISH Network channels 300-309, in HD on channel 9440). Loosely based on the book by Lauren Weisberger, this cute yet smart and edgy drama takes a walk, and at many times a run, through the life of Andy Sachs. A young, inexperienced assistant to the publisher of a topnotch fashion magazine, she is struggling to inch her way up the career ladder. Played by Anne Hathaway, Andy comes to New York City in hopes of being a journalist. Instead, she ends up in the world of fashion with no fashion sense. It’s amusing because she starts out being the “ugly duckling” and with a touch of makeup, a different hairstyle and more tightly fitting, stylish clothes, becomes a fashion icon who quickly moves to first assistant. The most profound character, played by the legendary Meryl Streep, is Andy’s boss, Miranda Priestly. The editor of this high profile New York fashion magazine, fictionally titled Runway, Miranda is ruthless and cruel and makes Andy’s hopes of becoming a journalist a complete nightmare. Don’t think you’re going to get through this flick without a love story. Although it doesn’t take over the plot, Andy’s boyfriend, Nate, played by Entourage’s Adrian Grenier, is left behind as her career advances. There is also a love interest from the industry, Christian Thompson, played by Simon Baker. Andy becomes preoccupied with her image and career and in the end, has to make decisions about who she really is and where she wants to be in life. I recommend this film for its effortless humor and simplistic storyline.
Channel: MTV
DISH Network channel number: 160 (available in America's Top 100 or higher and DishLatino or higher)
The DISH: MTV revolutionized the music world, playing the first music video on television in 1981. The channel was an instantaneous sensation among teens and young adults everywhere, becoming the IT channel for music.
But now, we wonder what happened to the days when music channels actually played music videos? If we turn on MTV today, we get a bratty fifteen year old planning an over the top sweet sixteen, celebrities getting duped by Ashton Kutcher in Punk’d, and two exes get down and dirty in a private bungalow while their current significant others watch. Hmm, what do these shows have to do with the music industry again? Perhaps the tide of our obsession with reality television has over swept our interest in music. Out of a 12 hour primetime showing on MTV, possibly 2 hours are devoted to music and 10 hours are devoted to reality television.
As much as I keep ranting, I’m guilty as charged, as I tend to indulge in the occasional rerun of the Real World. Most of the shows aren’t all that bad, abiding to a serving of a pinch of inspiration, main course of drama, and side dish of kookiness. So here’s what’s on the menu:
MTV loves cooking up an array of dating shows with a not so average concept, and a ton of drama to spice it up. Take for instance, Parental Control that has parents, who apparently hate the person their child is dating, set their kid up on two dates while they watch with the current beau. If that’s not enough to break a couple apart, then MTV has really stripped themselves of their morals with their latest new show, The X Effect. They bring together two exes and have them stay in a luxury resort in the honeymoon suite, while, get this, their current loves secretly watches everything that happens from a spy cam in a nearby bungalow. They watch in misery as their boy/girlfriends throw themselves as their exes and rekindle their love. Hm, doesn’t this violate some television ethics code?
The master chef on MTV, of course, does not fail to provide a main course of inspiration. For instance, a stint like MADE coaches a lucky teen to become whatever they wish to be. True Life also takes a sneak peek at a group of individuals, who live a not so normal life. There’s a mountain of other reality television like Road Rules, Engaged and Underaged, and My Super Sweet 16. Believe me, the list goes on.
What about the music you say? I introduce to you the MTV house special: TRL, or a pathetic attempt to squish in an afternoon run of two minute glimpses of videos, and 90 minutes of screaming teen fans. It’s just enough to whet your appetite for music, then on to more reality shows.
So how could a music channel not play music? MTV, clearly realizing that they have a reputation to uphold, created a new channel, MTV2 (Channel 161, available in America's Top 100 and higher) that played music videos, old and new, throughout the day, with an occasional re-run of a show.
If you enjoy listening to music, and MTV just doesn’t do it for you, then Dish Network offers over 100 SIRIUS music channels to satisfy any of your moods. These channels play all types of music 24/7, ranging from an Elvis station, to a Hawaiian station.
So MTV, please put some music on! Best said by Jennifer Lopez in her song, Play: “DJ, play that song, just play my favorite song.”
 It's no coincidence that HBO's now-famous channel identification begins with the hum of static. One of its first successful shows, Dream On, started with just this view: an old TV set, static, and the promise of something new and interesting. The fledgling premium cable channel had actually been on air for over ten years at that point, but Dream On was the beginning of something - HBO's first wave of programming, inventive, playful, and distinctly HBO. In the late '80s and early '90s, the channel gave shows to many of today's mainstays: Garry Shandling (The Larry Sanders Show), Dennis Miller (Dennis Miller Live), Bob Odenkirk + David Cross (Mr. Show), Tracey Ullman (Tracey Takes On...), and Jim Henson (Fraggle Rock and The Storyteller).
Then, inexplicably, things quieted down - the Arli$$ years, when these classic shows waned into their fifth and sixth seasons. In 1997, Oz hit, and the network was reinvigorated. No longer focused on developing its lineup around personalities, HBO instead became the premiere storytelling network, gathering acclaim for Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, Entourage, Deadwood, and Clooney + Soderbergh's Unscripted - all pieces with solid ensemble casts, engaging narratives, and, in many case, a cinematic approach to television.
But now the capo has fallen, and these classics are all wrapped, with the exception of Entourage (Sundays at 10pm EST) and Curb (new season beginning September 9). HBO is hitting another trough, and nothing confirms that more than this season's two cornerstones (back-to-back on Sunday nights), John from Cincinnati and Flight of the Conchords. Both have the aimless feel of first drafts, a stab at something new that hasn't been refined enough yet to be successful.
Of the two, John from Cincinnati feels more like HBO's previous fare, likely because it's a product of Deadwood creator David Milch. In it, the epic battles of surfing - man against nature, will against circumstance, spirit against status quo - are illustrated at their least glamorous, with drug dealers in dilapidated beach houses, uninspired party kids, and hapless suits caught between the worlds. While we might glean some enlightenment from these uncomfortable truths, Milch skews the world away, adding a disconcerting out-of-towner with a heady metaphysical name (the titular John Monad), a quirky retired policeman who knows more than he lets on (Bill Jacks), and a Greek chorus of comic failures (Ramon Gaviota, Meyer Dickstein, Barry Cunningham). The names, like much else on the show, feel Important, and the show's big success lies in reassuring the viewer that more will become clear as the season goes on. However, paper-thin characters and irritating narrative arc - these people seem intent on driving their lives into the ground, becoming worse people with no redemption in sight - do little to inspire return viewing. John does a great job of ratcheting up the rich symbolism that set shows like Sopranos and Six Feet Under apart, but fails without the focus on story of these precursors.
Flight of the Conchords - made up New Zealanders Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, both sporting an amazing deadpan - is a very talented, funny musical comedy duo. Unfortunately, their hipster humor is lost in a show that tries to concoct elaborate situations in which their songs - about robots, second-rate models, and the absurdity of David Bowie - fit naturally. The show's aesthetic seems to try to combine the richness of The Royal Tenenbaums with the low-fi randomness of Lazy Sunday, without achieving either. Ultimately, television's disenfranchised - the hip bespectacled intelligensia who can't stomach more CSI spin-offs - are flocking to the show because it provides just a taste of the offbeat humor they want, a light release from Tony Soprano's enveloping opera buffa. But in a time when low-budget shows like The Burg are starting to be able to compete, HBO will need to refine its formula on shows like Flight.
HBO's surprise saving grace? Big Love (Mondays at 9pm EST). The show by an alternative couple (Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer) about another lifestyle alternative - religious polygamy - is not revolutionary in style, but is in its extreme even-handedness and complexity. Big Love applies the Tony Soprano technique to its entire cast of characters - viewers are both proud and wary, feeling kinship with characters who they also mildly dislike for their very human foibles. Everything about this show is right on - the casting continues to be a delight, the acting is solid, and writing has improved dramatically into the third season - and it remains as one of the best examples of HBO's second wave of programming. It may have several more good years to come, but what happens next?
(HBO can be found on DISH channels 300-309, and comes free for 3 months when you sign up as a new customer.)
When we think about relationships, we stir up the image of falling in love, and living a perfect life with the person who’s the reason you wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night. Unfortunately, this perfect image lasts a split second, until we open our eyes and see the ugly side of relationships. The tears, the heart-aches and the fights. We’ve all been there and we’ve seen our vase-like relationship slowly cracking to it reaches the brinking point and shatters into pieces.
In case your forgot a thing or two about my melodramatic description of a good relationship gone bad, just take a quick peek at last year’s hit movie, “The Break Up,” starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston (HBO, Channel 300, Available in Dish Premium Package). The two play a couple, (on-screen and off-screen, as a matter of fact), who have been living together for three years and seem destined to wed soon. However, Vince’s failure to think about anyone but himself, and to bring the twelve lemons she asked for, leads this relationship down to the breaking point. The bad gets ugly, when the duo does anything in their power to get under each others’ skin and to test each other’s resolve and lingering feelings.
The movie also looks at the miscommunication between the sexes, with scenes that were probably taken from a page of “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.” The dialogue was also right on target, especially when Jennifer asks Vince to the dishes, and when he finally caves in, she complains that he should want to the dishes.
Although the movie provokes a few laughs, it’s hard to call it a comedy. It was sufficiently poignant, as it became not that much to watch these two characters break up. The inconclusive, Soprano-like ending, is unexpected, and leaves you in a break down wondering the fate of these characters that you spent 90 minutes watching.
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