I told ya so!

Way back in 2009, I wrote my first blog post about what I predicted was positioning itself to be the first internet talk show to break out of the geekdom and bring in a main stream audience.  In less than a year, Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show has attracted a line up of top notch guests spanning the full range of the entertainment spectrum (see below for the full list) and Pollak has proven himself  to be a consummate host. He possesses the rare talent to put his guests at such ease that we learn more about them, and the entertainment industry, than I have ever seen on traditional television or in print.

Pollak does in depth interviews with his guests, many surpassing the two hour mark, but has yet to enter into the “What tree are you?”/”How did it feel when your dog died?”  Barbara Walters style of interviewing.  The tone is laid back, lighthearted and intimate.  The guests are relaxed and open and uninterrupted.

In light of the recent round of TV talk show wars, Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show stands out as an example of the excellence that can be achieved when the networks are bypassed and talented people are left to do what they do best- entertain.

And, apparently, I’m not the only one that’s taken notice.  Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show has been nominated for three Streamy awards this year, the highest honor that currently exists for internet based content, including a nom for Pollak as best web series host.

Congratulations to Kevin and his on air cohorts Jaime Fox and Samm Levine and to director Mike Rotman and the top notch crew!

Check out the show at http://kevinpollakschatshow.com where you can watch live or catch up on past episodes.  The spiffy new site is jammed packed with other fun stuff as well.  Put aside an hour just to play the neat interactive features.

Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, or #kpcs for the hashtag crowd, will be celebrating it’s one year anniversary this Sunday, March 21 at 3pm PDT.  There promises to be a great line-up of previous guests and as always an live chat room where you can join in the fun.

Follow the cast and crew on twitter-

@kevinpollak  @jaime_fox
@SammLevine

@mikerotman @jason_mcintyre @joshnegrin @tenderbilly @studioemily

Download past episodes via the website, itunes, youtube or directly to your tv via VOD on Tivo.

The Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show website was designed by Jeremy Scott-

@jeremyrscott

Episode Guide And Guests

• Episode 1: LeVar Burton & Samm Levine
• Episode 2: Jim Gaffigan & Joe Mantegna
• Episode 3: Jason Antoon & Elon Musk
• Episode 4: Bobby Slayton & Doug Benson
• Episode 5: Christopher McQuarrie & Paget Brewster
• Episode 6: Jon Hamm & Alex Albrecht
• Episode 7: Matthew Perry & Chris Mallick
• Episode 8: Curt Smith & Felicia Day
• Episode 9: George Gallo & Josh Malina
• Episode 10: Adam Carolla & Dana Carvey
• Episode 11: Nia Vardalos & Illeana Douglas
• Episode 12: Dan Finnerty
• Episode 13: Kevin Smith
• Episode 14: Mike Binder
• Episode 15: Nick Swardson
• Episode 16: Jason Lee
• Episode 17: Craig Bierko
• Episode 18: Paul Scheer & Rob Huebel
• Episode 19: Samm Levine & Steve Agee
• Episode 20: Hank Azaria
• Episode 21: Seth MacFarlane
• Episode 22: Rob Corddry
• Episode 23: Michael Gladis & Rich Sommer
• Episode 24: Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova & Jane Campion
• Episode 25: Kevin Nealon
• Episode 26: Lisa Loeb
• Episode 27: Eddie Izzard
• Episode 28: Paul F. Tompkins
• Episode 29: Weird Al Yankovic
• Episode 30: Kent Nichols & Douglas Sarine
• Episode 31: Brian Tyler
• Episode 32: David Koechner
• Episode 33: Robert Legato
• Episode 34: Nick Kroll
• Episode 35: Chris Hardwick
• Episode 36: Dave Coulier
• Episode 37: Cast & Crew of Drones (Amber Benson, Adam Busch, Samm Levine, James Urbaniak, Marc Evan Jackson, Dave “Gruber” Allen, Dan Bern, Ben Acker & Ben Blacker)
• Episode 38: Billy West & John DiMaggio
• Episode 39: Jason Reitman
• Episode 40: James Urbaniak
• Episode 41: Sean William Scott
• Episode 42: Annie Duke

I bought my first Tivo in 2002.  It was a great innovative product then, and I remained a loyal customer for years.   I brought my Tivo with me when I left Seattle three years ago and moved to LA.  I was happy with my Tivo service in LA.  I knew all the tricks and tips and Tivo was the only DVR at the time that was moving into the area of internet content and that allowed you to record your programs in one room and watch them in another.  I loved my Tivo boxes (I owned four!).

Then, about 8 months ago. the area where I lived moved to a third party satellite provider that would not work with Tivo and I was forced to use the standard DVR that they provided (for a fee).  I don’t know the back story on why some providers will not work with Tivo, so I’ll go to my default and blame Rupert Murdoch, although I have no proof to back up this claim   After a few painful months of spotty service and shows that didn’t record, I canceled the satellite service and went with the only cable provider available to me.  It was better than the other but still fell far short of Tivo’s excellent features and reliability.

Two weeks ago we moved, and much to my delight, my current cable provider was “Tivo friendly”.  One of the great things about Tivo is that you own the box.  If you move or change providers, you retain your boxes and all of the tv shows and movies you’ve saved on them.  But since so much of what I watch now is in HD, I decided to upgrade to the new Tivo HD boxes.  I called Tivo, explained my situation and asked them they would do to get me into a new Tivo box today!   They knocked fifty percent off of the price of each box and gave me six months of free service on each.  Deal!  I had my cable provider take away their substandard cable boxes and HD boxes and replace them with a cable card for each TV.  It was painless and required no installation on my part.

My Tivo boxes arrived in the mail and TR and I did the simple set up ourselves.  Tivo connects to you home wireless network easily- just type in your network name and password using your remote control.  I was thrilled to see the familiar Tivo logo and even more thrilled when I started playing with it and discovered a huge array of new features. Music- yes.  Radio- yes.  Traffic and Weather- yes.   Buy Movie Tickets- yes.   Podcaster- yes.  Games- yes!… and then I clicked in the VOD (Video on Demand).

No, it’s not your cable company VOD, instead it’s a one stop feature where you can access Blockbuster, Amazon Video, Netflix, YouTube, Walt Disney Studios, Jaman Movies and Shorts, Music Choice, access your own pictures and home movies by True Media and there is a new feature call Free VOD and Web Videos.

Using Free VOD and Web Videos you can view video content from Tivo partners like The New York Times, CNET and Onion News Network.  There is a search-able list of videos and web series and if your favorite web series is not listed, you can still watch it through Tivo by simply entering the RSS URL using your remote control. Geek me was in hog heaven!  I dug right in.

As you may already know, I am a friend and fan of  Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show.  Kevin Pollak, his on air sidekicks, Jaime Fox and Samm Levine and his devoted and often hysterically funny crew deliver the most in depth, entertaining and insightful interviews on the web (and tv for that matter).  I watch it live at http://kevinpollakschatshow.com live every Sunday at 5pm PST and I enjoy participating in the live chat room while I watch.  But now,  if I miss an episode, or want to watch it again, I can do so from the comfort of my bed or enjoy viewing with friends in my living room on my big screen tv.

Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show is featured in the Free VOD and Web Videos area of the Video section of Tivo Central.  You can subscribe to Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show or any of the other programs lists the same way you do with traditional television.  You can choose to record one episode, or take a season pass that will store as many episodes as you choose (up to 10).

There are many other Tivo features and hundreds of other viewing choices available through the Tivo service, far too many for me to list here.  But if you have any questions, feel free to ask me or better yet, come on over and lets watch TV!

If blogging came as effortlessly to me as tweeting, this site would be stacked with witty, thoughtful posts, (and uproarious humor). Today the top Trending Topic is “No God’. That got me going for at least two hours worth of tweets, some of the funniest wing nut @replies I ever got and a follow by the amazing @TheBlogess.

I do not have a short attention span and I like blogging. I like any kind of writing. But there is something amazingly addicting about shooting off a one liner and getting 20 immediate responses. The only thing I can compare it to is my one ill fated encounter with a crack pipe.

The first zinger I tweet in the morning is so sweet, I chase it the rest of the day,

I’m counting this as a blog post. I’m going to try to do better.

IRAN’S TOP CLERIC
DENOUNCES ELECTION

LATEST UPDATES: State Department Contacts Twitter Over Iran…
Foreign Press Coverage Banned, Reporters Confined To Hotels…
Iran Council Agrees To Partial Recount… Ahmadinejad Speaks From Russia…
(via Huffington Post)

Q&A with Clay Shirky on Twitter and Iran
(via TED)

Green support icons for Twitter #iranelection campaign
(via Creative Bits)

SUPPORT NET NEUTRALITY

From a land where Rupert Murdoch reigns free (no not Australia)….

Thanks to Jipsi K. Pause the video; he’s the guy standing in front of Tim Horton’s.
Please feel free to re-post! You can follow Jipsi on Twitter @Jipsi

Today is a dark day.  One of my first Twitter followers, Rob Corddy (@robcorddry) has dumped me.  When I made this information public, thousands of high profile Twitter users blocked Rob Corddry.  His WB web show was canceled. They pulled his name off of IMDB.  Jon Stewart bitch slapped him…. and his last hair fell out.  Corddry apologized, but the dye was cast.  His wife has already filed for divorce and taken his children to Tijuana and sold them to gypsies.

I should be happy, right?  Still, I feel an odd emptiness. You never forget your first B-list comedian.
Baby, come back.  You can blame it all on me.

I woke up with morning, with renewed vigor and recommitted to three things.  1. Finish the treatment for the screenplay I am working on with Travis Rink.  2. Cut down on the cigs (I know I know). 3. Posting a daily blog entry.  Number three- done!

Please enjoy these two video clips  I discovered this morning via Twitter posts. The first came (to me) via @feliciaday.  If you still don’t know who Felicia Day is… Google immediately. Then, go out and fly your geek flag high.

This second video link, I received from a new follower, @Wzzy, who I don’t really know yet, but who I like already. Link via @iamkhayyam and @theconstruct.

Six weeks ago,  actor/comedian Kevin Pollak threw his hat into the ring as a talk show host.  Going right passed the television networks, Pollak who is a Must Follow on Twitter, was so impressed by the social networking community, he decided to produce a show for his “followers” and air it on the internet.  It’s a mix of Charlie Rose and Dinner For Five,  with a lot more humor,  a bit less production value, and no pesky waiter (actor?) interrupting the talk.  It’s a roaring sucess. Pollak is relaxed, funny and genuine and the show is intimate and engaging in a way that exceeds any talk show on traditional television.

The Kevin Pollak Chat Show has a couple of mottos… The first is  “We’re not ready” and while there have been a few techinal issues, they only add to the show’s charm.  The second and more significant motto is “This is Your Show” and more than anything else I’ve seen online,  KPCS (as it’s referred to on Twitter) is fan-centric and interactive . Viewers can comment and ask questions to Kevin and his guests in a live chatroom or by posting on Twitter.  Fans can submit their original music to be used as the show’s theme music. Every week Kevin plays the game, “Three Degrees of Kevin Pollak” (because Kevin Bacon is a pussy if he needs 6).  The live audience throws out any actor’s name and regardless of how obscure,  so far nobody has stumped Kevin and his crack staff.

Another fan favorite is the weekly Larry King Game.  At the end of each interview,  Kevin asks his guest to do a bad impersonation of Larry King, reveal something personal and throw to the phones using a hopefully funny city name.  This has spawned the Larry King Game on YouTube (see below).

Previous guests have included actors Joe Mantegna and  LaVar Burton, and comedians Doug Benson and Jim Gaffigan.  Last week Kevin hosted Christopher McQuarrie, the writer of The Ususal Suspects and actress Paget Brewster.  The McQuarrie segment alone ran over two hours, but I’d be surprised if anybody watching even took a bathroom break.  Pollak really is that good at this.

The Kevin Pollak Chat Show airs live on Sundays at 5pm PDT from Maholo Studios in Santa Monica.  You can view the show live at Stickam or for more info go to KevinPollakChatShow.com.  Follow Kevin @kevinpollak on Twitter.   This weeks guests are Alex Albrecht,  host of Diggnation and The Totally Rad Show and… yes I’m gonna say it, be still my heart, Golden Globe Winner for his role as Don Draper on AMC’s Madmen… Jon Hamm!

If you’ve missed the first five shows, they are available on itunes.  If you want to post your best (or worst) Larry King impression to the Larry King Game click here.

Here’s our entry… I was behind the camera, as usual.