Maybe you’ve been listening for the last several weeks to the radio program, and actually sat through the credits. Or perhaps you visit the website for archives, and came across one of the various available YouTube trailers. Or, if you’re like me, you just so happened to be watching watching basic cable when one of their spots came on. If not, you probably had no idea that Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life is making the jump to television, airing the first of six episodes tonight at 10:30 pm ET on Showtime.

The most surprising thing to me? Ira Glass, far from having “a great face for radio”, is somewhat evocative of David Foley (if he had aged much better), maybe with a dash of John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants thrown in there for good measure. It’s gotta be the glasses.

Earlier I said it airs tonight, but — if you have a Digitial TV service with OnDemand — the first episode has actually been available since March 1st. I took at look at it yesterday.

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If you haven’t seen it, it’s probably is as bad as you’ve heard. If you’ve watched it, you probably didn’t see much or any of the fourth season. That’s a shame, because that’s when the show actually got good.

Both Star Treks Voyager and Enterprise are the brainchild of Brannon Braga, a scriptwriter-turned-producer from the days of Next Generation. His signature trademark consists of stories based on strange temporal/spatial anomolies, hence their preponderance in Voyager (and indeed the premise of the entire show), and the ill-advised Temporal Cold War that consumed Star Trek: Enterprise from the inside out.

The beginning of the fourth season saw Braga replaced by Manny Coto, who put an end to this horrible storyline. What followed were several three-episode arcs dealing with Trek history. From Kahn-like genetically-enhanced humans, to the history of Surak and Vulcan, and an explanation for the Frito-Lay (i.e. “ridgeless”) Klingons of Kirk’s era, this season fulfilled the inherent promise and potential of the series after three grueling years.

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Ever since Russel T. Davies and crew brought back the show to BBC One in 2005, response has been enormous, and things have started moving very fast for the UK’s hottest new producer. 2006 saw a second season of the “regenerated” Who, as well as its first (successful) spinoff, Torchwood. New Year’s Day 2007 saw both the Torchwood finale and a special for The Sarah Jane Adventures, based on a former Who companion from the seventies — Sarah Jane also made an appearance in this year’s Doctor Who. Still coming is a fourth series, based on K-9, “the daft metal dog”.

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Thanks to forum member spooie, we have this blurb in the most recent issue of Nintendo Power:

“Based on the upcoming Michael Bay flick, Transformers will let you play as either the heroic Autobots or evil Decepticons. Each ‘bot will come equipped with unique weapons, moves, and transformations. Activision is planning a Wii version and two DS versions of the game.”

Hmm, game based on a license published by Activision? This sounds like a job for Raven Software.

Our coverage of BotCon 2006 has Powet’s very own Zac Shipley registering for more information at the Activision table (5:45). Activision made a point of showing up to the convention, despite not being able to release any information about their upcoming Transformers games. As Zac says in the video, all they could confirm at that time was there would be an Xbox 360 version. Hmm, I wonder why the Nintendo article failed to mention that…

Atari did a great job with the Armada-inspired PS2 Transformers game. If Activision makes a game that’s even half as good, it should be quite enjoyable.

So why two DS games…? Why haven’t we heard anything about a PS3 version? Come join the discussion at the forums and share your theories!

Wii Remote Wrist Strap Replacement Request Form

Note: you will need to submit your Wii’s serial number in order to be eligible.

An admission of guilt? A small gesture to appease the few who think it’d be fun to let go of the controller and “see what happens”? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a problem with a flying Wiimote. Heck, most of the time I don’t even use the strap. But seeing some of my friends play and after totally pwning a drinking glass during Wii bowling, maybe there’s more to this than I’m admitting. In other words, I already ordered a couple.

Check out a comparison of the new straps to the older ones after the break:

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This video a compilation of fan submissions for the Barenaked Ladies Air Guitar contest.

What makes this whole project unique is that BNL went independent for the release of their newest album Barenaked Ladies Are Me. The album is currently available for download without any copy protection on the MP3s.

This is part of the mission of their new label, Nettwerk Music Group. As they say in their mission statement:

…as per Nettwerk copyrights, we have never sued anybody and all our music is open source to encourage fans to share it with others and help us promote our Artists. As per those Artists we manage on other labels (Majors), we take issue with those labels claiming that litigating our fans is in our interest, as it clearly is not.

Since we at Powet.TV are out to change the way people make and watch television, we thought it was only appropriate to spotlight companies changing the way that music fans listen to their favorite artists.

To read more about how BNL has broken away from the mainstream industry (and the success they’ve had doing so), check out this article over at The Future of Music.

We first reported on the Richard Donner Cut way back in July, and today we are pleased to cover the final product!

Show Notes:
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Famicom Dojo – Wii Launch Day Special

(Show notes after the jump!)

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