If you’re a TV watcher, you’ve sorely been missing your fave shows like I have. (Especially since broadcasters have their brains shut off and run crap instead of good classic shows.) But finally, the WGA strike is just about over (not completely over like Michael Eisner declared, but almost). The full deal is still being drafted and will be reviewed this weekend by WGA members. The irony is that, according to Michael Eisner, many writers will not get the same juicy contracts due to studio “write-downs” because of losses during the strike.

Let’s hope that things work out and that WGA members are satisfied. It’ll still be up to a month before shows go back into production, and longer before new episodes air. So let’s also hope that broadcasters flip the “intelligence” switch back on and air quality reruns instead of the crud reality shows that keep on coming.

The 2005 movie Crash, which won an Academy Award for best picture and an Oscar for original screenplay is coming to TV on Starz channel. Don Cheadle, who co-produced, helped with casting the movie and he’s likely to do the same with the series, in which he is expected to reprise his role as a police detective. The initial run will be thirteen episodes, which will start shooting in the spring and might air by August.

Largehearted Boy has a big list of DVD releases for this week, including many for TV series. [Largehearted Boy]

Microsoft is getting deeper into the entertainment business. They’ve award a new HDi grant to Jason Kohn, director of a prize-winning Sundance documentary. The grant is awarded in joint with the Sundance Institute and is worth about $100,000. [C|net]

Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen will be fighting out yet more custody-related battles in court. [Celebrity Cowboy]

Sacha Baron Cohen has won a lawsuit relating to his Borat movie. The lawsuit – one of several – claims that an etiquette teacher, Kathie Martin, was tricked into appearing in the movie. [UK Press Association]

Chris Noth, aka Mr. Big from Sex and the City, and his girlfriend Tara Wilson now have a baby boy, Orion Christopher Noth. [US, People]

Today was a big day for Apple, with Steve Jobs pushing his media mogul status into new territories: online movie rentals. This move has been speculated upon previously, so it’s really no surprise, but it’s still very important.

The company announced that they’d cut licensing deals with all top film studios. What’s more, the movies available at iTunes Movie Rentals will play on a variety of devices including PCs, Macs, iPods, iPhones, and over Apple TV set-top Wi-Fi boxes hooked up to a TV set. Of course, it’d nice if you can use other media devices. (Whether you can or not, I’m not sure yet.)

Movie rental prices start at $2.99 for older titles and $3.99 for new releases. For high-def versions, each costs a dollar more. You have 30 days to start watching but only 24 hours to finish it. However, you can watch multiple times.
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This is a roundup of recent movie, TV, and entertainment related news.

Dusty Cohl, founder of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) died Friday after a long struggle with cancer. The TIFF is often considered one of the most important film festivals in North America and always draws Hollywood’s celebs.

Bob and Harvey Weinstein reached an independent agreement with striking Hollywood writers. But Warner Bros. is about ready to layoff 1,000 workers. I’m not sure I understand why the WGA is striking independent deals instead of an union-wide deal with the AMPTP so that everyone can go back to work.

Not just for movie pirates: Divx video format tries to go legit at CES.
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Reasons to Go With Blu-Ray?
Gizmodo posts some great stills from the Lord of the Rings trilogy to show the difference between Blu-ray and regular DVD. Of course, a proper comparison would also show HD-DVD stills, except that New Line Cinema has gone exclusively Blu-Ray, as have several other big movie studios.

io9’s Dead Sci Fi Show Poll
io9 has a great poll asking which dead Sci Fi show should be resurrected with new episodes, once the WGA writers strike is over. I’d vote for Quantum Leap and Sliders – plus Early Edition and Mysterious Ways, which are not on the list. (Mysterious Ways is more “speculative” fiction that science fiction, but I say it’s close enough.)

Justice League as Clothed by Middle Earth?
If you’re a Justice League of America fan, you probably already know that a new JLA movie is scheduled for 2010. We’re all hoping that there’ll be some great special effects, of course, but there just might be some great costumes as well. Weta Workshop, the group who made costumes for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, will be making the JLA costumes.

This is a roundup of recent tech news related to film and video.

What’s the Best HDTV Resolution?
With the coming change over to high-def TV broadcasting, anyone in the market for an HDTV unit is probably wondering which of the several resolutions to go with. News.com.au has an indepth article on HDTV and suggest that 1920 w x 1080 h pixels is the ideal resolution.

Web Video at Lunch
The NY Times reports that lunchtime is the new prime time, with web video sites getting a spike of traffic as workers take their lunch break. Now, that doesn’t mean they’re watching full-length TV episodes or movies, simply “video snacking”. For anyone who makes short features of 3-5 minutes, there might be an opportunity lurking in this trend.

China Adding Restrictions for Online Video
Despite the 2008 Summer Olympics launching in Beijing in August, China is increasing restrictions regarding websites, especially those with videos.

Imagine a color display screen so thin that it’s like paper – especially flexible. E-paper displays have been in development for a short few years, but LG.Philips just came out with one of the largest: 14.3 inches on the diagonal. Except it’s only available in Korea, like many new consumer electronics products.

Soon, I hope. Now just add a frame, a box for the guts, increase the size a bit, and we’ll have paper-thin, Wi-Fi-enabled, Internet-connected, TV screens on all the walls of our homes. Maybe not giant screen TVs, but still some nice home theater equipment to look forwards to.

Somewhere, Big Brother is chuckling in anticipation for when we all have giant screens on our walls.

[sources: Engadget, LG.Philips-LCD]

Flatscreen TV manufacturers are reporting that consumers aren’t really buying many sets over 42 inches (diagonal). Is this surprising? Even though prices have dropped considerably, they’re still costlier than regular TV sets. And then there’s the impending changeover to HD broadcasting. And what about space in the home?

There are sets up to 103″ (even a rumored 150″ screen to come), but how many people really have that kind of space in their home? Even if I could find an uninterrupted wall at home that could handle a TV of just 50 inches, I’d have to figure out where to move the furniture that’s already there.

As nice as the Aquos 65-inch TV screens (pictured above) are, and the LG/Philips 52- and 84-inch screens no doubt are, few people can/ are going to move the furniture around to accomodate.

On the other hand, fast forward a few years and if some manufacturer has combined ultra-thin “digital paper” with TV sets and makes them HD-capable, I’d be first to clear some space on a wall, even possible rotate my furniture to suit.

Robin Williams was Letterman’s guest last night and wow was he ever BORRRRRING! He used to be incredible at ad-libbing, but it was painful listening to him, wonder what the heck he was talking about. Letterman – who was sporting a ridiculous white beard – seemed to be wondering as well. Was Williams on crack? The video clip below is of Williams on Letterman in 2006, where Robin has the beard instead of Letterman. I think that segment was a bit funnier.

Eddie Murphy’s marriage to film producer Tracey Edmonds is not valid. Bora Bora is part of French Polynesia, and under the law, a couple must reside there thirty days before they can have a valid marriage ceremony. No doubt Murphy and Edmonds will have another wedding in the US.