The Kid Dogg Show

from BBC

Matt Smith has been named as the actor who will take over from David Tennant in Doctor Who - making him the youngest actor to take on the role.

At 26, Smith is three years younger than Peter Davison when he signed up to play the fifth Doctor in 1981.

Smith will first appear on TV screens as the 11th Doctor in 2010.

He was cast over Christmas and will begin filming for the fifth series of Doctor Who in the summer. Tennant is filming four specials in 2009.

Smith was named as Tennant’s replacement in Saturday’s edition of Doctor Who Confidential on BBC One.

He said: “I’ve got this wonderful journey in front of me where I’ve got this six months to build this Time Lord - and that’s such an exciting prospect.”

Piers Wenger, head of drama at BBC Wales, said that as soon as he had seen Smith’s audition he “knew he was the one”.

“It was abundantly clear that he had that ‘Doctor-ness’ about him,” he said. “You are either the Doctor or you are not.”

Wenger said a broad range of people had been auditioned, but they had not set out to cast the youngest Doctor.

Smith’s TV debut was in the 2006 adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Ruby in the Smoke, which starred former Doctor Who companion Billie Piper as Sally Lockhart.

He has also acted opposite Piper in the follow-up, The Shadow in the North, and in ITV2’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

In 2007, he had a leading role in BBC Two’s political drama Party Animals, in which he played a parliamentary researcher.

Smith’s stage work has included stints with theatre companies such as the Royal Court and National Theatre. His West End debut was in Swimming With Sharks opposite Christian Slater.

He was born in Northampton in 1982 and studied drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia.

Creative team

Tennant said in October that he would stand down from the show after filming four special episodes in 2009.

The star is due to begin shooting the first special this month, just weeks after surgery on his back forced him to pull out of a London run of Hamlet.

The last of these special episodes is expected to run in early 2010.

With a new creative team in place for the 2010 series led by executive producers Steven Moffat and Piers Wenger, the casting of the Doctor was the first job to be completed before scripts could be finalised.

Doctor Who began in 1963, and seven actors played the Doctor before the show was dropped in 1989.

After a TV movie in 1996 - starring Paul McGann - the TV series returned in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the lead role. Tennant took over the same year.

from Los Angeles Times

Time Warner Cable subscribers could lose “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Dora the Explorer” and Jon Stewart at midnight tonight if the cable company fails to agree on a new contract with one of its biggest suppliers.

Viacom Inc. has threatened to pull its programming in a high-stakes showdown over pricing. Nearly 2 million homes in the Los Angeles area that are customers of Time Warner Cable Inc. could lose such Viacom channels as Nickelodeon, MTV, VH-1, Comedy Central, Spike, TV Land and BET.

Viacom blamed the cable company for the stalemate.

“We’ve been attempting to negotiate in good faith but they seem to have taken it to the brink. Unfortunately, we are now at an impasse,” said Philippe Dauman, chief executive of Viacom. The company’s two-year contract with Time Warner, the nation’s second-largest cable company, which provides service to 12.3 million homes, expires at midnight.

The two sides could still resolve their dispute today, allowing Time Warner customers on New Year’s Day to see “Engaged & Underage: The Bridal Bowl” on MTV or an episode of “iCarly” called “iCarly Saves Television” on Nickelodeon.

On Tuesday, however, both sides appeared to be dug in to their positions, with Viacom placing newspaper ads and TV spots utilizing characters such as Dora the Explorer to encourage viewers to call Time Warner and complain. The media giant used similar tactics in a dispute with satellite broadcaster EchoStar Communications nearly five years ago.

“It rarely comes to this,” said television consultant Larry Gerbrandt of Media Valuation Partners in Beverly Hills. “If they go off the air, no one wins. Customers will get upset at Time Warner and they could lose subscribers, and Viacom will lose important advertising revenue.”

For its part, Time Warner said Viacom’s demands for higher fees were “egregious,” particularly at a time when the country is in the throes of an economic recession and subscribers are sensitive to costly cable bills.

“We are being put in an awkward spot,” Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley said. “Advertising revenue stinks so they are looking to stick our customers for the difference. We have to hold the line for our customers.”

SNL Kagan cable analyst Derek Baine said, “It’s a really bad time to be squeezing people for a rate increase.”

Viacom, however, said it was asking for only a modest increase of about 25 cents a month, or $3 a year, per subscriber for its package of 20 channels.

Time Warner countered that consenting to such an increase could encourage other cable networks also to demand higher fees, a scenario that could lead to $30 a year in increased charges for cable subscribers.

Viacom’s strategy is complicated because ratings for its signature MTV, VH-1 and BET channels have been down this year, which means that advertising revenue has been lower than expected. Nickelodeon, meanwhile, has increased its audience with “Dora the Explorer,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “iCarly” and a stronger Nick at Night lineup.

“They are holding our customers hostage for a bunch of networks with sagging ratings and only one or two good channels,” Dudley said.

There will probably be more such disputes in the new year as companies struggle amid a sour economy, predicted SNL Kagan’s Baine. In recent months, a tussle between Time Warner and broadcaster LIN TV resulted in a monthlong blackout of 17 LIN television stations from Time Warner’s cable system.

Viacom has gone to the mat before. In 2004, its cable channels disappeared from EchoStar’s Dish Network for two days while the two sides quarreled over the terms of a new contract. And 12 years ago, the cable company Tele-Communications Inc. removed MTV and VH-1 from its lineup in a dispute with Viacom.

Viacom has been aggressive in its pricing, Baine said. Although far from the stratospheric levels of sports channel ESPN, which receives nearly $4 per cable subscriber per month, MTV collects about 32 cents a month per cable subscriber, Baine said. Nickelodeon fetches about 45 cents a month per subscriber.

Cable operators such as Time Warner are also miffed that Viacom and other companies have made some of their most popular programming available for free on the Internet. That’s where many fans of Comedy Central’s Stewart and Stephen Colbert catch their shows.

“They are not charging people more for that,” Time Warner’s Dudley said. “We will just tell our customers how to hook up their PCs to their television sets so they can watch it online for free.”

Still, the move is not without risk for Time Warner, which has been facing increased competition from satellite television providers such as Dish Network and DirecTV and telephone companies such as Verizon and AT&T, which now offer television service.

“This is really about who is going to blink first,” Gerbrandt said.

Author Terry Pratchett, jazz star Courtney Pine and singer Robert Plant are among the entertainment figures in the New Year Honours list.
Sir Terry, 60, said he was “flabbergasted” to be knighted for his services to literature.

Saxophonist Pine becomes a CBE, as does Led Zeppelin frontman Plant.

Frost/Nixon actor Michael Sheen becomes an OBE, actress Liz Smith is appointed an MBE, and Jenny Abramsky, former head of BBC radio, is made a dame.

‘Delighted’

Sir Terry , 60, best known for his hugely popular Discworld series of comic fantasy novels, has sold more than 55 million books worldwide.

He said: “There are times when phrases such as ‘totally astonished’ just don’t do the job.

“I am of course delighted and honoured and, needless to say, flabbergasted.”

Last year Sir Terry was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and has since campaigned to raise awareness of the condition. Read the rest of this entry »

from nytimes.com

LOS ANGELES — In a surprise ruling, a federal judge in Los Angeles said he intended to grant 20th Century Fox’s claim that it owns a copyright interest in the “Watchmen,” a movie shot by Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures and set for release in March.

The decision was disclosed in a five-page written order issued on Wednesday. Gary A. Feess, a judge in the United States District Court for Central California, said he would provide a more detailed order soon.

Fox has been seeking to prevent Warner from releasing the film. The superhero adventure, based on the “Watchmen” graphic novel, is being directed by Zack Snyder (who also directed “300”) and has shaped up as one of most eagerly anticipated releases for next year.

A Warner spokesman, Scott Rowe, declined to comment on the ruling and the studio’s plans.

At an earlier hearing, the judge said he believed that issues in the case could be settled only at a trial, which was scheduled for late January. On Wednesday, however, Judge Feess said he had reconsidered and concluded that Fox should prevail on crucial issues.

“Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the ‘Watchmen’ motion picture,” the ruling said.

Fox acquired rights to the “Watchmen” graphic novel in the late 1980s for the producer Lawrence Gordon, but eventually dropped its own plan to make a movie from its story, about the underside of life for superbeings.

Mr. Gordon later pursued the project with Universal Pictures, and then with Paramount Pictures, before shooting it with Warner and Legendary under an arrangement that allows Paramount to distribute the film abroad.

In ruling on Wednesday, Judge Feess advised both Fox and Warner to look toward a settlement or an appeal.

“The parties may wish to turn their efforts from preparing for trial to negotiating a resolution of this dispute or positioning the case for review,” he said.

Christmas has come and gone but the KDS Christmas show is here. We bring you over 2 hours of some of the best podsafe music from the internet, in-between we have guest’s talking about there Christmas memories. So sit back and relax enjoy possibly the best KDS Christmas show ever.

Guest

Mongo Kid Dogg Show

Mindwipe Mindwipe studios

Monkeychunk UK Sanctuary4gamers

Pherlonzo Dad of four

Music Guest’s

1. Alyssa Hendrix - Sudden slant Of light
2. Corey TuT - So What
3. Alun Parry - Coming Home
4. Little Thorn - Merry little Christmas
5. Dust Rhinos - New York Girls
6. Allison Crowe – Midnight
7. Dust Rhinos - Road Trip
8. Amee Chapman - wishing well
9. 27 years - Angel by my side
10. Skylong - Summer calling
11. Blaggards - Rocky Road to Dublin
12. Amy Fox - Do it again
13. 3 blind mice - There you are
14. Crush - Soulful Battle
15. Dust Rhinos - Perfect World
16. Adrenaline Factor – Ride
17. Anthony Fiumano - Lucky numbers
18. Pilfa Confession Box - Razorblades And Mirrors
19. Bubble – Deadender
20. A Rex - So Hard
21. Lacuna Coil - Heaven’s a Lie
22. 2am - I See You
23. Brobdingnagian Bards - Beer,Beer,Beer
24. Mark Emmins – The Boys Are Back In Town
25. Skid Row - Jingle Bells

from imdb.com

Feeling the economic squeeze, Disney announced Tuesday that it will not exercise its option to co-produce and co-finance The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with Walden Media. The film was reportedly already in preproduction with a May 2010 release planned. The previous two Narnia film were costly to produce, each of them budgeted at around $200 million. But while the first film, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, took in $745 million worldwide, the second film, Prince Caspian, earned just $419 million. Walden said that it would seek another production partner.

from 2000ADonline.com

Rebellion and 2000 AD are proud to announce that Judge Dredd is coming to a cinema near you soon!

Together with DNA Films, the movie production company behind such great sci-fi movies such as Sunshine and 28 Weeks Later, Judge Dredd will go into production in 2009.

Jason Kingsley, CEO and Creative Director said, ‘We can’t give away too many details at this point, but we’re looking forward to working with DNA Films to bring Judge Dredd back to the big screen.’

We’ll keep you up to date with breaking news as it happens!

Hey Loyal KDS fans.

We’re back to close out the year and get ready our favorite holiday, New Years.

On this week’s show we started talking by geeking out about computer building and related topics.

1st Musical Break: “Exclamations” By The Brobdingian Bards

Next we delve into a favorite subject: Women. First by ridiculing Mr. Fusspots’ (Spy101, Co-host of Gaming Unlimited) fascination with Emma Watson, and then with Chickipedia.

2nd Musical Break: “Jedi Drinking Song LIVE” By The Brobdingian Bards.

After that we have some TV talk about Battlestar Galactica new webisodes and the spin off series Caprica. Which starts a new discussion about TV and Genre conventions.

3rd Musical Break: “Christmas Time in Texas” By The Brobdingian Bards. I promise this the last of the Brobdingian Bards for awhile.

Then we had some more news about the Jonah Hex movie. And to save Kid from the wrath of the FDO, we talk about the new novel, “Contagion”. 

And we end with the never ending saga of Kid’s attempts to make friends and influence people.

And on a personal note, on behalf of us here at KDS/Total Gamer/Gaming Unlimited, I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We look forward to ‘infecting’ your mp3 with our madness in the comming year.

Mongobaer

from IGN.com

Frank Miller is now signed on to direct a big-screen update of classic sci-fi comic serial Buck Rogers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

IGN previously broke the story that the comic book-artist-turned-filmmaker was mulling over the project, but now it seems confirmed that Miller will make the film with Odd Lot, the production company behind the helmer’s latest effort The Spirit.

Miller is also set to write the adaptation, and has apparently already begun to sketch ideas for what the trades claim will be a “darker take,” with many of Miller’s signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption.

We can safely say that Frank Miller’s Buck Rogers wont look like this.

Apparently he may begin making the project before he gets cracking on Sin City 2.

Although Buck Rogers began life in as a comic strip in the 1920s, most will be familiar with the character due to the 1979 TV series, which starred Gil Gerard as the spaceman transported to the 25th century.

from comingsoon.net

First reported by ShockTillYouDrop.com two weeks ago, Dimension Films has confirmed that Rob Zombie will direct the Halloween sequel and he’s racing to bring the film to theaters in October.

Zombie will write and direct H2, the sequel to his 2007 reinvention of the John Carpenter horror classic. Production will begin in March.

The new film picks up right as the first remake ended, following the aftermath of Michael Myers’ murderous rampage through the eyes of the sister he hunted.

Zombie said it won’t resemble the original second installment, as the House of 1000 Corpses helmer continues to take the franchise in different directions.