Jay Leno to return despite WGA strike

Here's some good news for The Tonight show with Jay Leno fans.

Late-night TV comedians Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien said on Monday they will resume taping their shows on January 2, and cross picket lines if necessary, after nearly two months off the air in support of striking film and television writers.

With no end in sight to Hollywood's worst labour crash in 20 years, the hosts of 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late night with Conan O'Brien" said they were returning for the sake of scores of co-workers idled by the strike.

Both will renew production without their writers, who presumably will still be on strike.

(Source: news.yahoo.com)

Bruce Springsteen Live in Dublin

You can't see the most racially complex and gender-blended band of Bruce's career on this set from Dublin barn The Point (recorded over three November nights last year). But you certainly can hear it - and also how much they had increased in fluidity and sense of purpose from their debut performance in New Orleans earlier that April.

That show had added emotional edge, given the distinctive Crescent City thread Bruce brought to proceedings, in the post Katrina protest climate. Here, though, The Boss’s mastery of several traditions in American music simply teems with glee and finery. On "Old Dan Tucker", second song in, bright country fiddle, weird but rapturous brass and massed harmonies make the overcooked "Atlantic City" seem an odd opener.

Swing out with Bruce this Saturday evening on The Gig.

The Survivor:China logo

The first thing one notices about the new Survivor:China logo are the words “Outwit, Outlast, Outplay”. They've been replaced with Chinese characters.

The Chinese characters mean the following:
Compete in intelligence
Compete in skill
Compete in endurance

Must say the logo has been adapted very nicely for the latest season. The bandanas that the contestants wear on the show are sure to be a huge 'merchandise' hit.

Many cheers to Zee Cafe for bringing the show to India; it's great to know that India will see the show in te same season as the viewers in the US.

Ozzy on Gossip Girl ..!!

The range of music on Gossip Girl runs the gamut from Henry Mancini to Rihanna.

Zee Cafe's brand new show has a super track from Ozzy Osbourne “Mama, I’m Comin’ Home” in an upcoming episode.

It will be featured in the “Dare Devil” episode which will air on 16th November. Talk about your classic heavy metal - we’re talking almost twenty years ago.

Now, that's something to look forward to ..

Dream Theater: Playing on The GIG this Saturday ..

11th August, The GIG on Zee Cafe

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band comprised of James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, John Myung, and Jordan Rudess.

Dream Theater is one of the leading “Progressive Metal” bands in the world. Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music which blends the powerful, guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and intricate instrumental playing of progressive rock.

“Score” is a live album, recorded on April 1, 2006 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. This was the final concert of their 20th Anniversary Tour, labeled "A Very Special Evening with Dream Theater". Though the show had minimal promotion, the show was sold out days after tickets were made available.

How do you find the words?

Adapted from a stage play by Anne Nelson, The Guys (2002) is a drama centering on a slice of the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy.

Nick, a fire captain, who lost eight men in the collapse of the World Trade Center, enlists help from an editor, Joan, to prepare their eulogies.

Nick builds a relationship with Joan, who helps him put together the difficult, heartfelt speeches that he must deliver with honor, humor and poise--all the while, navigating his way through his own emotional response.

This week's Saturday Night Lights - 8 PM (28th July)

"Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad" - on Zee Cafe on 26th July

Here's a news that anyone who loves stand-up comedy cannot afford to miss.

Russell Peters - The top brat stand-up comedian that all Indians love will be on Just for Laughs on Thursday, 26th July @ 9PM.

What's the Rank Structure of the Colonial Fleet on Battlestar Galactica?

The rank structure for the officers serving in the Colonial Fleet are as follows:

OFFICERS: Admiral, Commander, Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Lieutenant (junior grade), Ensign.

ENLISTED: Master Chief Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer, Petty Officer (1st, 2nd Class), Specialist, Deck Hand, Recruit.

There are also Marines aboard Galactica which conform more closely to the traditional enlisted Marine ranks, with Sergeants, Sergeant-Majors, etc.

Unresolved is the question of whether the Marine officers would also adhere to the mixed rank structure.

Catch Battlestar Galactica on Zee cafe, every Monday @ 9 PM
Also, catch it at
Tuesdays 10:30 AM
Sundays 12:00 Noon
Saturdays 11:00 AM
Sundays 8:30 PM
Mondays 4:00 PM

Brad Pitt's on Zee Cafe this Saturday

Saturday Night Lights is showing SPY GAME

When: 8 PM, 14th July.

Cast: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack

TOM CRUISE'S WIFE ON ZEE CAFE

Katie Holmes, Actor
Born: 18 December 1978
Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio
Best Known As: The Dawson's Creek actress who married Tom Cruise

Katie Holmes starred as Josephine "Joey" Potter on the coming-of-age TV series Dawson's Creek. (Joey was the best chum and sometime love interest for Dawson, played by James Van Der Beek; the show ran from 1998-2003.)
Holmes parlayed her TV fame into roles in films like The Ice Storm (1997, with Tobey Maguire), Go (1999), and the academic dramedy Wonder Boys (2000, with Michael Douglas). She also played the lead in Pieces of April (2003, with Patricia Clarkson and First Daughter (2004, with Michael Keaton, co-starred with Christian Bale in the big summer movie Batman Begins, and played an insatiable reporter in Thank You for Smoking (2005).

She became engaged to actor Tom Cruise in June of 2005 after a much-publicized courtship and a proposal from Cruise at the Eiffel Tower. Their daughter, Suri, was born 18 April 2006. They were married at a medieval castle in Italy on 18 November 2006.

On The GIG: HISTORY OF THE CORRS

This Saturday's GIG features The Corrs' concert - All The Way Home.

All The Way Home is the complete story of The Corrs from their early beginnings in Dundalk, Ireland to their current position as artists with more than 30 million record sales.

In their own words the band describe their incredible global success, covering their whole career, including the making of their latest album ‘Home’, a return to their Celtic roots.

AMAZING ALLY McBEAL QUOTES

You only die once!

We're not only wired to want what we can't have, but we're also wired to want what we really don't want.

There's no sin in loving men. Only pain!

When guys are persistent, it's romantic, they make movies about that. If it's a woman, then they cast Glenn Close.

We're women. We have a double standard to live up to.

Law and love are the same - romantic in concept but the actual practice can give you a yeast infection.

I've been dumped before, Renee. This isn't pain I'm feeling, it's nostalgia.

Catch Ally McBeal on Zee Cafe on
Thursdays 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Fridays 12:00 AM – 01:00 AM
Sundays 01:00 PM – 02:00 PM
Thursdays 06:00 PM – 07:00 PM

The X-Files & the Internet grew together

As The X-Files saw its viewership expand from a "small, but devoted" group of fans to a worldwide mass audience, digital telecommunications were also becoming mainstream.

According to The New York Times, "this may have been the first show to find its audience growth tied to the growth of the Internet."The X-Files was seen to incorporate new technologies into storylines beginning in the early seasons: Mulder and Scully communicated on cellular phones, e-mail contact with secret informants provided plot points in episodes such as "Colony" and "Anasazi", while The Lone Gunmen were portrayed as Internet aficionados as early as 1994.

Many X-Files fans also had online access. Fans of the show became commonly known as "X-Philes, a term coined (from the Greek root "-phil-" meaning love or obsession) on an early Fidonet X-Files message board.

In addition to watching the show, X-Philes reviewed episodes themselves on unofficial web sites, formed communities with other fans through Usenet newsgroups and listservs,and wrote their own fan fiction.

As has also become commonplace in television today, episodes never displayed their titles on screen or in TV Guide; the producers disseminated the information via the Internet.
Unusually for the time, review sites and fan groups were also influential on the producers. Chris Carter claimed to read them: "The show originally [from 1993 to 1996] aired at 9 o'clock on Friday night and at 10 o'clock, I could get on the Internet and see what people thought of it."

The X-Files on Zee Cafe
Fridays 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Saturdays 12:00 AM – 01:00 AM
Sundays 12:00 PM – 01:00 PM

Check here for episodic reviews

History on Zee Cafe this Saturday

This Saturday on The GIG: Paul McCartney in Red Square.
Saturday, 5-7 PM

Back when McCartney was a Beatle, his music was considered very dangerous in the former Soviet Union.

The Beatles, it seems, were seen as the epitome of
Western debauchery, proof positive that too much capitalism and freedom leads to a meltdown in values.

Things were different in 2003.

Thousands of Russians packed Red Square to see the rock legend Sir Paul McCartney perform his first-ever concert in the former Soviet republic. McCartney told the audience, "We have come here tonight to rock Red Square", before kicking off the show with the Beatles' classic All My Loving.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who earlier gave Sir Paul a personally-guided tour of the Kremlin, was among the audience.

The BBC's Nikolai Gorshkov in Moscow says people in the audience wept and hugged each other and many called their less lucky friends on mobile phones to let them hear the concert.

McCartney, he says, mastered some Russian to tell the audience how great it
was and how happy it made him.

Fans felt the same.

Don't miss this concert for the world. Only on Zee Cafe.

What's your Cafe Quotient?

Zee Cafe is running Cafe Carnival this entire month (July'07) and giving away some amazing prizes (iPOD shuffles, USB pen-drives, Caps etc..).

All one has to do is wait for the Cafe Quotient question to pop up on screen and send teh answer to 7575 using your mobile phone.

You can also answer the questions on Zee Cafe website.

O.C star to marry billionaire

Kelly Rowan may have played a wealthy wife on the American teen soap The O.C., but the role was nothing compared to the life she could soon be living as the spouse of billionaire David Thomson, one of the richest men in the world.

Rowan portrays Kirsten Cohen on Zee Cafe prime-time soap The O.C

Rowan and Thomson are engaged to be married and will walk down the aisle later this year, Rowan's publicist, Jennifer Plante, said.

Source: Globeandmail.com

The OC 3 runs on Zee Cafe every Friday @ 9 PM

How has F.R.I.E.N.D.S influenced popular culture?

Friends seems to have made a notable contribution to some areas of popular culture - in particular, language and even fashion.

Some examples:

The use of "so" to mean "very" or "really" was not invented by any Friends writer, but it is arguable that the extensive use of the phrase in the series encouraged its use in everyday life.

Also commonly said by the characters, particularly Monica, was the loud "I know!" and her obsessive compulsive order to clean, and to keep everything tidy and in the right place.

The series has also been noted for its impact on everyday fashion and hairstyles. Jennifer Aniston's hairstyle was nicknamed "The Rachel" and copied around the world.

Joey Tribbiani's catchphrase "How you doin'?" has become a popular part of American slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends.

The show also popularized the idea of the laminated list of celebrities that a person's sexual partner will permit them to sleep with.

The phrase "Ross and Rachel" is used to describe an on/off relationship with a 'history', or in a situation like "Are you on a real break, or a Ross and Rachel break?"

Don't miss 5 Back-to-back episodes F.R.I.E.N.D.S every Sunday on Zee Cafe @ 2 PM

What's World Music Day?

The Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day is a festival taking place on June 21, the summer solstice.

It began in France and is the occasion of a mass celebration which has grown more and more successful and has spread to other countries. Its purpose is to promote music in two ways:Amateur musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets. Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public.

From the looks of it, 21st June Zee Cafe promises to be a great place to celebrate music.

The WMD line-up on Zee Café is impressive to say the least:

12:30 PM: Norah Jones Special

1 PM: 10 years of rock special

1:30 PM: Hip Hop Dance Special

2 PM: David Gilmour- The Meltdown TV Special

4 PM: The Concert for Bangladesh

'Real Life' DOOGIE HOWSER

Balamurali Ambati, M.D. (born July 29, 1977) was the youngest ever person, according to Guinness Book of Records, to become a doctor.

Ambati graduated from New York University at the age of 13 and Mount Sinai School of Medicine at age 17, becoming the world's youngest doctor in 1995.

His father Dr Rao fought school administrators to allow his son to study at his own pace, which was nearly twice as fast as his peers, and says that he taught Balamurali and his brother to be focused and to desire accomplishments.

He completed an ophthalmology residency at Harvard University, where he developed strategies to reverse corneal angiogenesis, after becoming a winner at the Westinghouse Science Talent Search and the International Science & Engineering Fair and becoming a National Merit Scholar.
Source: Wikipedia

Clapton - The Unplugged Concert

Zee Cafe is featuring one of Clapton's best performances on The GIG this Saturday (June 23rd).

For viewers who want to know a few facts before they sit down to watch the legend perform, here are a few interesting ones.

Unplugged is an album by Eric Clapton released in 1992. It was recorded live at Bray Studios in London for the the 'Unplugged' series.

The album includes an acoustic version of the hit single "Tears in Heaven" and a heavily reworked acoustic version of "Layla". Clapton earned two Grammy Awards for the album: Album of the Year and Rock Male Vocal.

Clapton performed the show in front of a small audience on January 16, 1992 at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England.

Clapton was both critically praised and criticized for reworking many of his famous songs into an acoustic context. Critics contended that some of the tracks were almost unrecognizable, most notably with his version of "Layla" (before he performed it, he commented "see if you can spot this one").

In 2000 Q magazine placed Clapton's Unplugged at number 71 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.