State of the Blog: summer break

I'm on a week's break from today (24-31 July), so blogging may be intermittent during that period. There's a chance you won't notice a difference, because I'm not covering many shows right now, so I might be able to keep my regular reviews going. Let's play it by ear, but if a few days slip by with few updates, you know why...

Summer hasn't bitten as hard as it did last year because I've make an effort to alter my workload recently. I'm sticking to the core shows I care about, or have something to say about most weeks. I could be squeezing out half-hearted reviews of Wilfred, Louis and Alphas, but I'd rather just watch them. As I've mentioned before, I think quality can suffer if I'm covering too much, and blogging can start to feel like a burden if half of what I'm writing doesn't receive any feedback. I think it's best to stick to the shows I feel passionate about (Breaking Bad), enjoy ridiculing when it's deserved (True Blood, Torchwood), or don't mind writing about to fill some time (Falling Skies).

Considering the slowdown over the past month or so, I'm pleased to see that hasn't impacted page-hits and comments too badly. I constantly worry a change in the quantity of weekly posts will be detrimental to DMD (as it's been ticking away at quite a furious pace for a one-man operation), so it's a relief to see I'm probably worrying about nothing. Readers seem happy to just receive whatever's offered, when it's offered. So thank you, everyone. That really helps my sanity.

Oh, just a quick thing, but do you subscribe to my RSS feed? If so, I've noticed there are actually TWO feeds pointing to the same content. Don't ask me how that happened! Anyway, the most popular feed is this one, so I advise you to use it, if you're not already. There's no difference between that feed and this other one, but if you have a few seconds to amend your RSS settings, please do. And if you DON'T subscribe to either of those RSS feeds—well, why not? It's by far the easiest and quickest way to read content. Of course, I still advise you check the actual blog from time to time, as there are links in the sidebar that may be of interest, and it helps me financially if you click a few adverts sometimes. Pleeease remember to click some ads occasionally! But other than that, I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't recommend RSS.

As always, if you have anything to discuss, or a question to ask, this is the best place to do it!

State of the Blog: drop-down

For any newcomers reading, State of the Blog is an irregular feature where I recount changes/improvements to the blog, and announced plans for DMD's content and development. For readers, it's also a good place to leave comments that are off-topic, or just ask questions that don't fit anywhere else on the blog.

I haven't posted a State of the Blog for awhile, but there's actually been quite a few changes around here. The navigation bar now has snazzy drop-down menus, which means it’s much easier for readers to access particular areas of DMD, rather than relying on the cluttered Label Cloud (which has itself been trimmed down to only display recent/active TV shows). Another big thank you to Alan Woodward for creating said drop-downs, because they're a brilliant addition. Labels within posts have also returned (having been lost in the change to "DMD3" in January), which should make it easier to access relevant archival posts.

You may also have noticed the quantity of posts has decreased lately. This is mainly because there isn't as much to review during summer, but it's also a conscious effort to ease off my workload. I'm more comfortable doing fewer posts of higher quality, than busting a gut trying to ensure there's more content—that's not always up to scratch. And some of the posts that are relatively easy for me to do (Talking Points, Polls, etc) have proven quite popular, so I'm satisfied that readers aren't purely here to read reviews all the time.

In light of my Jump the Blast feature coming to an end after six-months and 21 editions, I'm also open to suggestions for another recurring feature. I have a few ideas I can trial and see what's popular with readers. I may revive Short Film Saturday, too, for those who remember that feature from 2008. Other suggestions welcome!

Having upgraded to a HTC Wildfire phone recently, I can now reply to Disqus comments using a GMail app, so that's handy. Just don't expect extensive replies during working hours (as my texting speed is pitiable compared to my typing speed!), but at least I'll be able to respond, briefly, to any pressing comments during the day.

Posts will continue to go up after 5PM GMT because Blogger isn't compatible with IE6 now, but occasionally one will be written beforehand and auto-posted for the next morning. So please don't think DMD is always devoid of new content until after 5. That's not always true. It's a shame I'm restricted like this now, because there are times when breaking news I’d usually pounce on has to wait for hours, but it's out of my control. On the plus side, this new schedule has actually given me extra time to write reviews (a whole day, not just a morning!), which helps keep the quality good.

Also, a quick reminder than you can donate money to DMD by clicking the PayPal button at the top of the sidebar. I know money's tight for many people nowadays, but if you're a regular reader of DMD and have enjoyed the content over the past 5 years, I'd appreciate whatever you can afford by way of a one-off thank you. And thanks to those who have already donated some money, I really appreciate your kindness.

A quick bit of self-promotion! I'm on Twitter. Did you know? If you join and follow me you get DMD blogging alerts there, plus I try to be funny. I sometimes even succeed. Just lately I spent a few days posting various Amy Poehler puns. See, funny. I didn't lose as many of my 759 followers as I expected to, either. Come join the fun, even if you have a weird aversion to social networking. I was exactly like you once, but I've really enjoyed my two years on Twitter: it's a genuinely helpful tool for writing/blogging purposes, for making contact with important/influential people (plus the odd celebrity), and just very enjoyable on a personal level. It's the ideal place to tweet a brief thought or joke that would ordinary just sit in your head, or make a handful of friends laugh in a pub.

There are people who comment here that aren't on Twitter, and I feel they're missing out. So please, give it a whirl. You can always cancel your account after a few months, if it's really not for you. It does take a few months to really "get it", I'd say.

And finally, I assume everyone's aware of my TV Calendar now? There you'll find the premiere dates for new/returning TV shows from the UK and US. These are primarily shows that interest me, or appeal to the blog's readership. I'm sure it's a handy resource for people, if you want to bookmark it. It gets updated very regularly, but I don't call attention to that fact very often. Well worth revisiting for the latest updates.

That's it!

As I said above, this is a good place to ask questions or discuss something off-topic--so if you want to do that, have at it below! I'll reply to anything directed at me when I can.

State of the Blog: template, auto pagination, OWF & TV Calendar

Before we start, let me just say that I'm going to be very busy with "real world" matters today, so updates will be affected—beyond this post, of course. Anyway... the eagle-eyed may have noticed a few more blog improvements, courtesy of Alan Woodward, who's been tinkering away and doing a brilliant job tightening DMD's aesthetic and ironing out some kinks.

The latest changes:

• The blue Facebook "like box" beneath blog titles when you open individual pages has been erased. This always looked like a waste of space and a redundant feature, so now each post's header image is tucked directly under the title—conserving space.
• The floating social button bar (to the left of what you're reading right now) has been updated. You can now 'Google +1' a post you like, and send a link through to a Tumblr. This is in addition to the existing social networking buttons: Facebook "shares", Twitter "re-tweets" and StumbleUpon.
• Every post on the main page has a time-stamp, not just the latest post of each day! Also, individual posts have a time-stamp under the title!
• Next to the time-stamp on each individual post, there are now Labels—so you can quickly navigate through to other posts without relying so much on the Label Cloud and "In Review" boxes.

You may also have noticed that DMD's front page now only displays 9 blog posts, instead of the usual 15. This is apparently auto pagination that Blogger's been rolling out since 2010—which means they're trying to boost the load times of blogs by forcing bloggers to show less content on their main pages. I have no idea why they've decided to limit me to 9 posts (is it calculated by filesizes?), but there you have it! It's also strange that it's taken over a year for this initiative to affect DMD, but there you have it!

Oh, and it also makes no sense that Blogger have this kind of control, as it should be down to authors to decide how their blog looks! I'm very upset about this uncalled for interference. I hope this isn't the start of Blogger imposing further "rules" on their customers.

It's particularly annoying because I've had to delete a few widgets from my sidebar, to ensure the sidebar's the same length as the reduced length blogging column. This includes my Twitter window and an advert box. How ridiculous that Blogger are even making me cut my own revenue stream because of this! How unfair is that?! I may have to rethink my "In Review" box, by shrinking the graphics there, so I have room for more important things.

Hopefully you visit DMD daily, so the above won't really matter, because you're always aware what the latest blog updates are. But if not, I encourage you to check out the "older pages" and archive, as posts will drop off the main page much quicker now (3-4 days).

I've stepped down from writing for Obsessed With Film, for the time being. It's an amicable "separation", purely because of financial reasons, so maybe I'll return at some point in the future. But in the meantime, all reviews of TV premieres will no longer be exclusive to OWF and will instead be posted at DMD once more.

Finally, to answer a long-standing argument, some people seem to think my TV Calendar should be organized according to premiere date (chronologically), not show title (alphabetically). I disagree, because I think people want to know when a TV show returns, not what's on in any given month.

But what do YOU think? Vote in the poll below to have your say. I promise to obey the result. It closes on 10 June @5PM GMT.



P.S: I'm actually very busy today with "the real world", so there won't be further updates until later on Thursday. I have Primeval and The Killing reviews lined up, and MTV's Teen Wolf perhaps following on Friday.

State of the Blog: underlining & IT

This week: coding, IT at work, Twilight Zone

First, I'd like to openly thank longtime reader Alan Woodward, who helped me fix a long-running problem with DMD this week: the inability to underline links in blog posts. It's a minor thing, yes, but a tougher challenge than it would appear to be. Alan kindly spent a number of days re-coding DMD's template and, after some trial and error, I'm very pleased that links are now underlined in posts.

Alan also worked out why DMD's re-tweet buttons weren't displaying the full title of posts. For some reason the code hates the inclusion of apostrophes! Maybe we'll be able to fix that soon, but in the meantime I've ditched using apostrophes wherever possible in post titles.

So thank you, Alan! I'm very grateful for your time, effort and kindness this past week or so. *round of applause*

In other news, my IT problems have abated slightly, as I can now use the internet at work, but there's unfortunately no chance of Blogger and Disqus working for me. I'm stuck with IE6, which doesn't work with Blogger very well now, and the network people have blocked any access to Disqus. So you'll have to get used to most weekday updates being posted after 5pm GMT, although I'm trying to auto-post stuff from the night before (TV Picks, Jump the Blast, etc) just to tide things over. It's a shame--as there's less chance of me being first with a few UK TV news pieces, but that's how it goes.

I'm still planning to review episodes of The Twilight Zone in bite-sized form, remember. I've watched six episodes so far, and aim to release my first review of seven episodes later this week. It will primarily be a way to take up some slack here, as most US network shows go off-air. However, I'm not falling into the trap of assuming summer equals a TV drought--what with Breaking Bad, True Blood, Torchwood and many others airing new seasons. There will be plenty to be getting on with.

As always, this is the place to ask any questions, discuss something off-topic, bring something to my attention, or start a conversation about anything you like. Over to you!

State of the Blog: IT hates me

My workplace underwent a big IT upgrade last week, but the results haven't meant a huge improvement--well, at the moment. For instance, I'm still lumbered with Internet Explorer 6, so the inability to read or leave comments with Disqus won't improve. Even worse, there have been a number of glitches in the system, so I'm not actually able to browse the internet at work, or send/receive e-mails to external contacts.

Subsequently, my usual method of blogging (uploading content during tea breaks, perhaps filling some time by writing the occasional review) is currently impossible. This means DMD is going to be restricted for awhile--in the sense that content will have to be written at home, and perhaps uploaded later in the evening, or auto-posted for the following day. Hopefully it won't be an insurmountable issue, but you'll have to excuse any peculiar delays or things being uploaded at funny times of the day.

There's really nothing I can do until they fix the internet. There have been signs that e-mail could be repaired soon, which will definitely help matters. So I just ask for your patience and understanding.

To leave you on a positive, this has actually forced me to tinker with my Firefly review more often than usual, so there's a very good chance that could finally be posted in the near-future!

Every cloud has a silver lining...

State of the Blog: updates & Thrones

My Blogger/IE6/Disqus issues are back in force, so just don't expect many updates or replies to your comments until after 5pm on weekdays. There will be a few instances when I can auto-post things from the day before (TV Picks, Jump the Blast's, Polls), but in general DMD won't be updating until late-afternoon now. It's all beyond my control, but could be fixed by May when my workplace finally upgrade IE. I'll keep you informed!

"Am I reviewing Game Of Thrones?" I hear you all cry. Well, a few of you. The answer is: um, no. I had every intention to make Thrones a weekly review after my pilot appraisal at OWF, but after watching episode 2 it dawned on me that I'm not enthused enough to bother. I quite like the show and enjoyed episode 1 (more for its potential than content therein), but it's not something I feel passionate enough about to wade through in next-day reviews.

If I was being paid, there would be no problem. I'd happily sit through each episode a few times, make extensive notes and research the material. But I don't get paid. I blog for fun and a desire to communicate, and Thrones isn't speaking to the passion necessary for that. As I sat down at my laptop, facing a blank Word page, trying to distill my thoughts on "The Kingsroad", I realized that writing 800-1000 words on that episode would just be a drain on me.

My apologies if you were looking forward to regular Thrones reviews here, but my state-of-mind takes priority. I'll still be watching the show, so there's an outside chance I'll find away to chime in with a quick mini-review of an episode that speaks to me more, but don't bank on it.

In a similar vein, my reviews of Camelot and The Killing are still on shaky ground, owing to low comments/page-hits since they started. As I've said before, there's no point stealing time away from reviews of shows people DO care about to cover ones most people DON'T. Of course, those shows are on US cable channels, currently not being shown in the UK, so it's possible the core audience for these reviews just aren't in sync with me. That's always the risk you take with reviewing brand new US cable shows.

Finally, owing to the fact I have quite a few unfinished reviews/articles scattered about, I may put those all together for a special post soon. This will include: an aborted Being Human Series 1-3 DVD review, a short review of Dexter Season 4's DVD, an episode of Caprica, and a partial review of Dollhouse's Season 2 DVD.

By popular demand, what are my favourite shows right now? In descending order of greatness:

Doctor Who (S6)
Fringe (S3)
The Good Wife (S2)
Justified (S2)
Arrested Development (S2)
Community (S2)
The Killing (S1)
Game Of Thrones (S1)
Camelot (S1)
The Event (S1)
Chuck (S4)
The Ricky Gervais Show (S2)
Rubicon (S1)
Glee (S2)
Nurse Jackie (S2)
Campus (S1)

State of the Blog: Easter break

I'm off on another jaunt from today until Easter Monday (which includes seeing Derren Brown live -- woohoo!), so blog updates will be less frequent. This week's reviews of Rubicon, Fringe and Camelot will be delayed, but I'll do my best to ensure Doctor Who gets reviewed for Sunday (but no promises.) My review of Justified's season 2 premiere will go up tomorrow. You know the drill by now: there won't be a total blackout, but don't expect "normal service" until next Tuesday.

As for the future; I've decided to review Doctor Who, Torchwood, Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad, True Blood, Camelot, The Killing and Psychoville every week this spring/summer. The Borgias didn't appear popular enough to justify investing time writing reviews, although I'll keep watching it. Mildred Pierce will probably only get a premiere review at OWF, if that, owing to low enthusiasm and weak reviews from the US. Falling Skies is more likely to find a place on my weekly schedule, if it's good.

So that's 8 or 9 shows being covered over the next few months, with the possibility of a few more being added to the mix. As always, comments, links, and page-hits will help me determine the long-term prospects of some reviews. Right now, I'm unconvinced the audience who voted for Camelot are fully engaged with the show, so it's on the wobble here already. The Killing has also elicited far less feedback than I expected, but we'll see how it goes... for now.

Remember: if you appreciate a review here, please leave the occasional comment. It's the only way I know if something's truly popular and worth persevering with.

My problem accessing Blogger at work appears to have cleared (maybe it wasn't an incompatibility with IE6 after all), but the situation with Disqus has worsened. I wasn't able to leave comments, but now I can't even read comments! It looks like my workplace have blocked access to Disqus itself. Great. Consequently, I'm in the dark about what comments are being left on DMD until I get home. Please continue to leave them, but just know won't be reading/replying until later -- sorry!

On a related note, for anyone wanting to create a Disqus profile and upload an avatar, here is the process to follow:

If you're NOT already registered with Disqus, click "subscribe by e-mail" or "subscribe by RSS" under the 'Add New Comment' box. A pop-up window will appear, where you must then enter your email or RSS option in it. It's THAT easy! Once done, visit www.disqus.com, enter your details to access your profile, and upload an avatar. Et voila!

Sounds like hard work? Okay, fine, let's disagree. But it's worth it because many sites/blogs use Disqus now. Once you're signed up, you may be surprised by how many places you visit online that now has your avatar preloaded into the comments area. And if you're a regular commenter here, why not seal the deal by signing up properly?

Finally, by popular demand, I've created a TV pilot/premiere calendar. The calendar is readily accessible on the main page's sidebar, just underneath the "In Review" widget (formerly "On The Box".) I hope you'll bookmark it and, if you can, help maintain it by e-mailing me about amendments. Its design may change, as I try to find the best, easiest way to make the information clear.

Let me know your thoughts, if you have any!

Patience, Blogger problems

I suspect Blogger are upgrading their system, which means I'm unable to access my dashboard with Internet Explorer 6 at times. It's an outdated browser, I know -- but that's what I'm forced to use at work. Consequently, I'm sometimes unable to post anything from my work computer, although the matter currently seems to be restricted to just the mornings!

I'll try and "auto-post" a few things the evening before (like these very words you're reading now), but if there's a suspicious lack of updates... well, you know why now. Worse case scenario is that a day's updates will go up in a batch around 5pm.

All this in addition to the fact Disqus have updated their coding in 2011, which has meant I can't reply to comments from work with IE6, either! Oh well, can't be helped. On the plus side, I hear that my workplace will be upgrading Internet Explorer in May, so hopefully this problem's not going to last much longer than a month or so. It may even sort itself out from Blogger's end soon, if they're actually the ones to blame.

In the meantime, please be patient. My reviews of TV pilots/premieres at OWF will not be affected by this, obviously -- but I won't be able to immediately alert you to their existence at DMD. If you're pretty sure a premiere review's due one day, I suggest you check OWF directly.

Thank you.

State of the Blog: 10 Questions

It's question time again! Every so often I like to ask everyone 10 questions regarding DMD and its output, to keep me aware of changing opinion and expectations of the readership here. A blog's nothing without happy, engaged readers.

1. The polls appear to be popular. I sometimes squeeze two into a week (mainly to fill gaps), but do you prefer one per week? And as follow-up questions: would you like instant, real-time results, or is a separate "Poll Result" post more fun? Also, should polls run for longer than 5-7 days?

2. Would you like less or more TV news? Or is the balance right, where I tend to only post news that's relevant to the shows I watch?

3. Are there any current TV shows you wish I'd cover? In particular, I'm in two-minds about reviewing The Borgias, Rubicon and The Killing every week -- would you be up for that?

4. I've made an effort to do more TV Ratings this year. Are those posts appreciated, or don't you care about them? I don't expect many comments, but do you read them?

5. Would you like a permanent, regularly updated page that lists return/premiere dates of TV shows in the US and UK?

6. What's the general feeling about weekly comedy reviews? Pointless because "what's funny is funny", so they don't need to be critiqued so much? I only ask because some people were confused I reviewed Friday Night Dinner's first episode, but ignored everything since.

7. State of the Blog posts like this one: are they still worth doing? Could they be improved in some way? Irregular? Fortnightly? Monthly? Is weekly too often?

8. How many updates do you expect to see every day? Would it matter if updates were less frequent (sometimes NONE) if the benefit was more in-depth reviews, or the chance to cover entire box-sets?

9. Are there any long-running TV reviews you think should be dropped here, as I've done with Glee recently?

10. Talking Points thrived during February/March, but some were more popular than others. What works best about them? What makes a great Talking Point? Topicality, a la the Midsomer Murders and racism post? An unusual question?

State of the Blog: record-breaking

There was a great response to my post about a campaign to get BBC2's Whites back on TV, but that paled into insignificance compared to the deluge of hits my interview with writer Ben Richards (Outcasts) had last week. The comments are still trickling in, approaching the 200 mark!

I think that breaks records for DMD, which is great, for a few reasons:

• It all helps promote DMD online in various forums.
• I genuinely believe more UK TV talent should engage with their audience in this manner (ideally before their show airs, too.)
• It draws a large number of newbies to DMD, so hopefully a percentage will stick around. It's always great to shake things up and get some new opinions and perspectives here.

From reading the interview's many comments, people clearly appreciated Ben Richards answering a few early questions himself, and it was certainly a surprise to see that the vast majority of commenters loved (nay, adored) the show.

Cutbacks!

You may have noticed I've stopped reviewing some shows in recent months. Being Human USA was an understandable case, as it was recycling so much of the original for my taste (although I did a catch-up review); The Event has been on the precipice for ages, but its limp relaunch pushed it into an abyss; but Glee was a bigger surprise because it's in the throes of a second season. Usually, if I've stuck with a show for a whole year, I'll continue until its dying breath (just ask ABC's V.) But things are a-changing, folks, and I'll be ditching shows quicker from now on.

This is partly because (a) I'm growing tired of a few established shows in their middle-age, (b) I need to make room for new shows that are premiering this year, and (c) I get the feeling people appreciate the extra news or feature-based content I don't often have time to do with so many reviews. For example: many of the recent Talking Point posts have received 40+ comments, my pieces on Whites and Outcasts practically went viral, my recent "10 Ways To Improve 10 O'Clock Live" post received a notable amount of page-hits, and a few videos about greenscreens were surprisingly popular. There's clearly an appetite for variety here, so I'll keep that in mind.

However, DMD's a TV review blog at heart. That won't ever change. It's the driving force behind what I've always wanted to do here. Diversifying more will just help keep me fresh, so the surviving reviews are better.

Lack of content

We're at that funny time of the year where many shows have reached (or are about to reach) their end, but new shows for spring/summer aren't seamlessly taking over. If you look at my "On The Box" widget in the sidebar, I'm down to 3 shows being reviewed weekly. It was closer to a dozen in February!

To compensate, I may start reviewing a few shows I wouldn't ordinarily write about. Or do some special one-off reviews. I may also return to a few shows I've dropped, just to fill gaps occasionally. But more likely, I'll use the free time to post things that aren't so expected; like more Talking Points (which have gone down a treat in 2011), a weekly Poll, continue the Jump The Blast meme, and maybe a few other unique features. As always, your suggestions are welcome for ways to take up the slack, before new shows like Doctor Who and Camelot start up in April.

Ideas for features, thoughts on the blog, opinions on recent output, suggestions for future reviews, off-topic questions? The floor is yours...

(P.S - I'm unable to comment here during working hours again, as Disqus have done something to their coding that prevents older browsers from working properly. As always, I DO read every comment, but any response from myself will be delayed.)

State of the Blog: social, donators, commenters, etc.

Social spread

I'm pleased to see people re-tweeting posts on Twitter, as that's a great way to spread DMD's content to people who may not otherwise find it. In particular, @BeingHuman3 has been very supportive of my Being Human reviews this series. I'm sure you're aware of DMD's embedded buttons for you to re-tweet and "share" posts on Facebook. If you're a member of any of those social networking sites and want to help DMD (rather than comment, if you don't have the inclination), clicking one of those buttons would be much appreciated. It would be particularly great to see more Facebook "shares", as very few people seem to ever use that function. It seems to be the more news-based items that appeal to Facebookers.

Anyway, just a polite reminder that the buttons are there to be used, if you think something would be of interest to your friends/followers, or just deserves wider attention.

Generosity of donation

In the previous SotB I drew your attention to my new PayPal donation button in the sidebar, and I'm extremely grateful some of you kindly donated money. Many were astonishingly generous. As I said last time, blogging charity is one of those awkward things to raise in a public forum without feeling like you're pressuring people whose visits and input you already value. I'm just very happy that some of you decided my daily blogging these past five years has been worth a few pennies. Rest assured that all money received will go towards blog-related issues (such as paying for online storage space) and not frittered away on drink, drugs and women.

Commenters: Super 7

Do you ever check the "Top Commenters" under the "People" tab in the Disqus widget in the sidebar? I don't very often, as I've never been convinced it's very accurate, but you may like to. Maybe Disqus have got it working properly, because it looks more plausible now. Bob is the current leader with 245 comments, although David has 74 "likes". I guess that means Bob's more prolific, but more people like David? Oh, this could cause some arguments! Anyway, I thought I'd highlight that feature.

Regarding "commenting culture" here: I've noticed a few discussions have been straying from the subject at hand recently. I know topics can naturally broaden when you start discussing something, but please try and keep your comments on-topic, or steer things back to a relevant point if you go off on a tangent. Others readers who don't comment themselves probably don't want to read a thread that spirals off into irrelevancy.

Addendum

As usual, feel free to use this post as a place to ask me questions, suggest ideas for the blog, or comment on shows I'm not watching or reviewing, etc.

State of the Blog: donations, sponsors, friends, etc.

Penny for the blog?

I've decided to add a PayPal "donations button" to DMD, near the top of the sidebar. The reason for this is simple: while I've always blogged as a pastime (partly to sharpen my writing and work ethic), I think the blog's reached the point where I'd be a fool not to take advantage of an opportunity to earn some extra pennies. An opportuntiy many blogs of lower output/quality take advantage of. So, a few donations would be very much appreciated... but never expected.

I'm quite happy for everyone to keep visiting DMD, as usual, and simply leave comments. This is the way it's been for five years, and I'm quite happy with that arrangement to continue for another five. But, if you do have deep pockets and would like to show your gratitude in a more material way, that option now exists. If you don't feel comfortable donating, for whatever reason, no offence is taken. Honestly. But maybe you'll instead consider clicking a few of the blog's adverts instead? That also earns me commission, while taking nothing from your own piggy bank! Win-win, right?

Businesses: advertise here!

In a related matter, are you a business that would like to sponsor DMD? This blog attracts thousands of visitors every single day, so an advert placed here for 12-months will be seen by over a million people with an interest in entertainment media. And that number's rising all the time. Please email me to discuss rates.

Oooh, fwiend!

I know many of you kindly follow me with a RSS feedreader, via Twitter, or have joined DMD's Facebook page for updates, but I thought I'd mentioned a lesser-known method to get alerts: Google Friend. Scroll down to the blog's footer and you'll find a widget with 71 people who have chosen to follow the blog's updates that way. If you'd like to increase that number to 72, at the very least, I'd appreciate it. 100? Even better! 200? I may just faint.

Boxed up

You've probably noticed DMD's new header logo, of a blue TV next to the blog's title. Every weekend, I'll be changing the logo so a relevant person-of-the-week is framed in the TV screen. It will alternate gender, too. Most celebs will reflect the return of a particular TV show in the week to come, but there may be the odd surprise or comical misuses. Most of the faces will be familiar, some won't be. Occasionally there may even be relevant objects, just to keep you on your toes!

State of the Blog: stars, memes, treatment, poll, etc.

For any new readers, State Of The Blog is a recurring feature of Dan's Media Digest where I basically update everyone on things relating to the blog. It's nothing more complex than that. So if you like reading some inside thoughts and updates about what's happening at DMD, or what I'm planning for the future, this should be right up your alley. If you don't, you may as well click "back" on your browser right now. It's also an informal place where you can ask questions or start discussions on anything you like, provided it's vaguely entertainment-related.

Seein' stars!

I occasionally get asked what my star ratings mean, to me. So, here's the "key" of each star's definition, as I see it:

½ - dreadful (i.e impossible to imagine anyone finding value)
1 - very bad (i.e mostly poor, with a few competent moments)
1 ½ - bad (i.e not good, but contains worthwhile elements)
2 - average (i.e reasonably entertaining but missed clear opportunities)
2 ½ - good (i.e solid work, enjoyable but with problems)
3 - very good (i.e entertaining and involving, with caveats)
3 ½ - great (i.e mostly excellent, but with nitpicks)
4 - excellent (i.e. outstanding on most levels, harsh to pick fault)

Hopefully that elaborates the mystic art of assigning stars to reviews, which is admittedly tricky in the context of TV, because you're effectively rating "chapters of a book" most of the time. BTW, I reserve the right to deliver a ZERO star rating, but it's never happened... yet. One day I'll be forced to break the glass and use one, I'm sure.

But the dreaded "all-grey" star rating does exist. Behold:



See? It's not just a tale horny teenagers tell their friends around campfires. I guess my natural taste means I happen to avoid all the TV drama that would deserve one.

Me-meme-meme-meme-meeeeeme!

What are your thoughts on the irregular "Jump the Blast" meme, which has been running throughout January? It's getting to the point where I'm considering its future after a month's trial. I don't expect comments on those posts, but nobody's submitting their own finds, and I'm unsure if people enjoy this meme. So, do you?

Good treatment, bad treatment

Also, its great news that In Treatment season 2 is finally being shown in the UK. Unfortunately, it's moved from Sky Arts (which I have) to Sky Atlantic (which I don't), so I'm still going to have to wait for the DVD. However, to stay positive, because In Treatment's going to premiere on Sky Atlantic from April, that seems to have hurried the DVD release to 27 June. It'll be one of my summer box-sets this year! It's still a real pain the UK's so far behind with this show, though -- as HBO recently finished season 3 in the US.

OWF - Sky's Best Blog?

You may remember awhile back I asked everyone to vote for Obsessed With Film in a poll run by Total Film magazine. Unfortunately, said poll was vandalized by unfair voting, so it was closed amidst a shitstorm of bitter commenting. Oh dear. Fortunately, Sky Movies have a similar poll, where OWF is one of the four nominees for Best Contributor-led Blog of 2010, and it's being handled in a more gentlemanly way.

The Sky poll actually closes today Sunday! When I last checked, OWF had overtaken its biggest rival Hey U Guys by about 200 votes and was on course to win! But it's changing all the time, so every single vote matters a great deal. I've been tweeting about this poll for the past few weeks, so thanks if you've already voted for OWF. But if you haven't, and you're on Facebook, please visit this page, find OWF under the "contributor-led" tab, and "like" us to effectively leave your vote.

As I've said before, this kind of award may seem trivial, but it can have an astonishing impact for the winning blog -- in terms of increased readership, which leads to ad revenue, which leads to sponsorship, which can lead to the contributors getting paid for their efforts. You can effectively help jump-start a fledgling online business in less than the 15 seconds it takes to vote? Isn't that worth it? I think so.

Finally, folks!

I've struggled to find time to watch the remaining five episodes of Caprica, ready for bite-sized reviews to round that series off, but I now only have 3 to go. Sorry it's taking so long, but I have to prioritize things here -- and a defunct sci-fi drama most people hated doesn't rank highly on my agenda!

That's it! Well, beyond a quick mention that my "will you be watching Sky Atlantic?" poll closes today at 5pm GMT. Leave a comment below, if you'd like.

State of the Blog: 'Firefly', Disqus, replies, rankings

Short break

First, a quick heads-up that I'm away for a few days until Saturday, so updates will be a little erratic until I get back. Luckily, V and No Ordinary Family are on a break, so I probably won't miss too much.

Fireflying high

You may remember I promised to tackle my long-awaited Firefly review over Christmas, for a January post. Did I manage that? Yes! Did I manage to complete the review? Um, no. I think I'm going to stop giving updates on reviews that are tough to fit into my schedule. Doing so used to encourage me to get a move on, but I've becoming immune to that tactic now. And I'm sure you're bored of me updating you on my slothful pace in a few areas. Also, whenever I get some fee days, I don't feel like filling them with more writing. I need those breaks! But still, rest assured that my Firefly (and Alien Anthology) reviews ARE ongoing and WILL surface here one day. Hopefully they'll be worth the wait!

Disqus demystified

To clarify a few concerns about Disqus: Firstly, Disqus is the name of the third-party software that handles DMD's commenting system. A few people didn't know this and were confused reading my last SOTB entry! Sorry about that; I thought it was common knowledge. Secondly, I have been made aware of a weird bug where the commenting box doesn't expand if you type more than a box-full of text. It should adjust automatically, but there have been occasions when the box remains fixed in size and anything you type gets "hidden" if you type more than five lines or so. Sorry if this happens to you! It's not MY fault, but an issue with Disqus itself. I'm enquiring about this error with them, so hopefully they'll have a fix soon.

Also, a few people were wondering how to create avatars, after I suggested more people use them -- especially if they've become, or want to become, regulars visitors. Apparently the process isn't very intuitive, but a few people did manage it. Maybe someone can write a quick how-to guide in the comments. I would assume you just need to visit www.disqus.com and signup for an account. It may ask you some weird questions, but you're not signing up to create a blog/site, just registering your profile. You can also link the created profile to Facebook or Twitter, so if your avatar changes there Disqus will grab the latest version. I know a few commenters here are linked to Twitter in such a way, including myself. It's very handy.

Incidentally, that issue with the commenting space not automatically enlarging as you type is being looked into. It's a fault Disqus are aware of, so just be patient and it'll hopefully be fixed soon.

Silly Face of the Week

CHUCK - "Chuck Versus The Gobbler"

Leave a comment, I'll get back to you...

Finally, in case you'd forgotten, it's impossible for me to reply to comments between 9-5pm (GMT) now, owing to a recent Disqus upgrade that doesn't work with Internet Explorer 6. If you're kind enough to leave a comment anywhere, I'm still able to read them online, but I can't respond until I get home. I'm not being rude if it takes 8-hours to answer any questions you may ask in a comment, etc. Anyway, maybe this will encourage commenters to discuss things amongst yourselves more? That's always good to see.

That's so... rank!

A few readers have asked how I'd rank all the currently-airing TV shows I'm watching, so... ask no more:

1. Fringe
2. Human Target
3. Being Human
4. Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena
5. Chuck
6. The Good Wife
7. Caprica (catchups)
8. No Ordinary Family
9. Glee
10. V
11. Being Human (USA)
12. Primeval
13. Episodes
14. The Cape

Naturally, that list fluctuates every few weeks.