Last year while searching for Christmas gift ideas, I found some fun TV related ones. So, this year I set out to find some more fun gift ideas for the TV fan on your list. Have you found any fun TV related gift ideas this year?

Parks & Recreation Pyramid of Greatness T-Shirt – Lots of great things have come from Ron “F***ing” Swanson on Parks & Recreations, but the Pyramid of Greatness, as seen in the third season premiere, “Go Big or Go Home,” is well, one of the greatest. It is also available in poster form. Both are on sale at the NBC Store.

Psych Toaster – Have some fun with your food and toast a pineapple onto your bread in the morning. It has seven heat settings and removable plates and is presently on sale at the NBC Store.

Glee Magic 8-Ball – Just like the classic Magic 8-Ball, this Glee inspired version will answer all your questions with 20 different talking and singing phrases. I wonder what it would say if you asked it why season two sucked so bad? Found at Amazon for under $10.

Doctor Who TARDIS Talking Cookie Jar – Any Doctor Who fan that also likes cookies would love this gift, even if it isn’t bigger on the inside than on the outside. And, while it doesn’t actually “talk,” it does make authentic TARDIS sounds. A great place to store those out of this world chocolate chip cookies. Found at ThinkGeek.

NCIS Caf-Pow Cup – Get this “Caf-Pow!” travel cup and be just like Abby. Fill it with 32oz. of your favorite caffeinated beverage or whatever it is you like to drink. If you want to be just like Abby, you can get some Caf-Pow! Energy Drink. Found at the CBS Store.

Soft Kitty Singing Plush – Now you can be just like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory when you get sick. Just press the paw and it sings “Soft Kitty” to you as many times as you want. Found at ThinkGeek.

Kindle Fire – What’s more fun than watching TV shows and movies? Watching them whenever and wherever you want. Sure it’s built to get you to buy your TV and movies from Amazon Instant Video, but you can also download the Netflix and HuluPlus apps and watch them too. Plus, you can check email, surf the web, listen to music, and so much more than just read books. Yes, it’s no iPad2, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s built mainly for consuming media and it does a fine job of doing so for only $199. Available at Amazon.

Links are affiliate links, which means if you buy something that TVaholic.com will receive a small percentage for referring the sale. You get the same price as if you had come across the item yourself at that site, but are helping to support this site in the process. It’s a win-win-win. Hope you find the list helpful. Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping!

• Printable Summer 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Summer 2013 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Fall 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.17.2013.

A few days ago @danieltwalters of The Pacific Northwest Inlander tweeted that he was “writing a list of suggested New Year’s #TVShowrunnerResolutions” and asked if anyone had any to add. To which I tried to think of some, but couldn’t come up with any. Then he posted his list of Suggested New Year’s Resolutions for TV Showrunners a couple days ago. Great list, I only disagreed with one of them. Yet, I still couldn’t think of anything to add.

On Thursday at work, it was a slow night, my mind wandered onto this topic and by the end of my shift I had come up with seven more resolutions to add.

TV Showrunners Should Also Resolve the Following:

“I resolve that my police procedural will not have a coroner with some weird or wacky trait.”

“I resolve that I won’t use certain elements on my premium cable show just because I can.”

“I resolve to not write midseason/season ending cliffhangers that are so easily resolved in the first few seconds/minutes of the next episode as to not have mattered at all.” – The White Collar rule, if you will.

“I resolve to not remake a foreign and/or old show unless I have a truly new and unique version of the story to tell.” – The Battlestar Galactica rule. Updated Note: I called this the BSG rule cause they did it right, which I see now given how I named the previous rule could have been misinterpreted.

“I resolve that I will not kill off a character just because the episode will be airing during sweeps and/or the show needs a ratings bump.”

Conversely, “I resolve not to keep a character around too long, just because the fans, the network, or I really like them.” – The Sylar rule.

Lastly, “I resolve that I will never have a character say, ‘I just peed a little’ or ‘I just threw up in my mouth a little bit’ ever again.” – This is a TV pet peeve of mine, but every time I hear a character utter the words “I just peed a little,” it makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

And in case you were wondering, the resolution from Daniel’s list I disagreed with is the one about never having favorite characters hook up romantically. I believe that the “will they/won’t they” question should be answered, one-way or the other, before the last episode of a series. I think there are just as many problems with dragging out this type of storyline with obstacle after obstacle as there are with resolving it at some point the way most fans would want to see. There’s a wealth of stories to be told in the context of the latter and it’s kind of sad that most never will.

What New Year’s resolutions for TV showrunners/writers would you add? Which ones do you disagree with? Let us know in the comments.

• Printable Summer 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Summer 2013 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Fall 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.17.2013.

I was browsing around the web over the last week looking for some fun Christmas gifts for friends and family when I came across the pizza cutter shown below at ThinkGeek. While there I found some other cool items that many a TV fan might enjoy and I just had to share them. So, the idea of the list was born. I added a few more fun gift ideas for the TV fan on your list from the CBS and NBC stores and below you will find the result. Links are affiliate links, which means if you buy something that TVaholic.com will receive a small percentage for referring the sale. Today is about the last day you can order stuff online with ground shipping and still have it arrive before Christmas. Have you found any fun TV related gift ideas this year?

Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutter – While searching for fun Christmas gift ideas; I came across this very fun metal pizza cutter in the form of the famous NCC-1701 Enterprise ship from Star Trek the original series. Now, the Trekkie on your list can boldly cut pizza where nobody has cut before.

Magic Wand – Programmable TV Remote – After coming across the pizza cutter above, I found this while browsing the same site. It might just be the coolest remote control I’ve ever seen. Up to 13 different functions on your TV can be operated with just the flick of the wrist, once you get the hang of it, like magic. Watch the video at the site.

Psych ‘I’ve heard it both ways’ T-shirt – Shawn’s “I’ve heard it both ways” in response to being corrected after misusing a word is one of my favorite bits on Psych. So much so that the line has weaved its way into my list of frequently used idioms.

Community – Troy and Abed In the Morning Mug – The Community end tags are full of some of the most random things, but are almost always funny. The “Troy and Abed in the Morning” bit is one of the best. What Community fan wouldn’t want to drink their morning cup of coffee in one of these.

How I Met Your Mother Slap Bet Commissioner T-Shirt – White – The “Slap Bet” episode from season two and the “Slapsgiving” episode from season three are two of my favorites from How I Met Your Mother. Now, you can bestow the trusty Lily-type in your group with the honor of being Slap Bet Commissioner.

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock iPhone Case – They also have this on t-shirts and other items, but it would be pretty fun on your iPhone. I wish they made one of these for my phone, but alas they do not.

Bazinga! T-Shirt – Any fan of The Big Bang Theory would surely like this shirt. Or, maybe the hoodie or the lunch box.

• Printable Summer 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Summer 2013 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Fall 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.17.2013.

Obviously, I’m thankful for my family and friends, a roof over my head, and a job that pays the bills, but this is a TV site. So, I’m going to focus on things related to TV that I am thankful for on this Thanksgivng holiday.

The TVaholic is Thankful For:

1. Every TVaholic.com reader and TVtimesThree podcast listener, as I love chatting about TV with you. Whether via the comments sections here and there or over on Twitter via @theTVaholic, talking about TV with fellow fans is one of my favorite things to do. Next to actually watching the shows of course.
2. My DVRs, as they allow me to watch much more TV than I could ever do without them. And yes, I am fully aware that by fast-forwarding through and thus not watching the commercials that I am helping to slowly kill the medium I love so much.
3. On Demand content from Xfinity, well really I’m thankful when it actually works properly and updates shows promptly. This too has allowed me to watch much more TV than I would be able to without it.
4. TV show screeners, as I love being one of the first to get to see a new show or upcoming episode and am very grateful to those cable outlets and TV networks that have seen fit to allow me to do so.
5. Comedies like 30 Rock, Community, Cougar Town, and Modern Family that consistently bring the funny.
6. Smartly scripted dramas like House, Sons of Anarchy, and Terriers that have great characters and superb story arcs.
7. And lastly, shows like Castle, Chuck, and Psych that so adeptly merge the comedy with the drama.

I could probably list many more TV things I’m thankful for, but now it’s your turn. What TV related things are you most thankful for? Let us know in the comments.

• Printable Summer 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Summer 2013 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Fall 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.17.2013.

Overall the ads during Super Bowl XLIV were pretty lackluster. Even the seven I picked below as my favorites weren’t really all that great.

The one thing I didn’t particularly care for was the number of ads that showed guys to be spineless, jerks, and cheaters, among other less than desirable characteristics. On the face of it, it just seems dumb. I mean, who do you think the largest group of people are watching the Super Bowl? It’s guys, dudes, men, males, etc. Is this the way to influence them to buy your product? Anyway, here are my favorites.

7 Best Super Bowl XLIV Ads

1. The Late Show With David Letterman Ad with Dave, Oprah, and Jay Leno – This is the one ad that made you go what, wait, what? Plus, it was funny and a brilliant marketing move for both Jay and Dave, even though it was supposed to be an ad for >The Late Show. It got people talking about both of them. Plus, it was a nice play off the Dave and Oprah ad from 2007 when CBS has the Super Bowl last.
   
   Ad Result: While my favorite, it won’t get me watching either of the late night hosts’ shows.
2. Snickers Ad with Betty White and Abe Vigoda – This was the first ad that at least got me chuckling. Great representation of not feeling like yourself, even if a Snickers bar won’t really get you going, the ad was funny. Plus, Betty White is the queen of comedy and has a great sense of humor about herself, which is showed off quite well in the ad.
   
   Ad Result: I won’t be buying any more Snickers than I already occasionally do.
3. Bud Light Stranded Ad – Nice parody of Lost, which right now is at the top of my TV viewing thinking, so really liked this one.
   
   Ad Result: I don’t drink, so had no shot of working.
4. Doritos House Rules Ad – Little kids are funny, especially when they do something you aren’t expecting, like telling his mother’s suitor to keep his hands of his mother and his Doritos.
   
   Ad Result: I won’t be buying any more Doritos than I already occasionally do.
5. Google Parisian Love Ad – It’s always interesting just how little you actually need to tell a compelling story, like a few search terms for example. It was cute, told a nice story, but didn’t quite get the people that were getting all weepy over it, it wasn’t that good of a story. Mostly, I was just shocked to see an ad for Google on my TV, as I don’t recall ever seeing one before.
   
   Ad Result: I already pretty much use Google as my main search engine and wasn’t planning on changing anytime soon.
6. Bridgestone Your Tires or Your Life Ad – I’m just partial to misunderstood words and sound a likes in my comedy, so enjoyed this one. But, seriously didn’t expect the wife to be hot.
   
   Ad Result: Don’t see myself seeking out any Bridgestone tires the next time I need new tires.
7. HomeAway.com Hotel Hell Vacation Trailer Ad – It’s the Griswolds on vacation, so I’m in right off the bat. Haven’t gone and watched the whole short film yet, but probably will.
   
   Ad Result: May get me to their site to watch the entire video, but doubt I will be using their service to book any future trips.

So, overall there weren’t a lot of very memorable commercials and the ones that were don’t really do a good job at what a commercial is supposed to do, get you interested in spending your money on their product or service.

What did you think of this year’s Super Bowl ads? What was your favorite? Least favorite? Let us know in the comments.

• Printable Summer 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Summer 2013 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Fall 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.17.2013.

Actually, I may have more than seven reasons TV fans should be using Twitter, but I tried to put them into seven categories. I’m sure there are more.

First, you may be asking yourself, “What is Twitter?” Well, it is a cross between an instant messaging service and a micro-blog. It allows you to put forth 140 character messages, or “tweets” that anyone can follow respond to, unless you keep your account private. But, what fun would that be?

Twitter is actually kind of hard to explain, for something so easy to use, but this Twitter introduction video posted over at TwiTip does an excellent job of doing just that. TwiTip is a great resource for learning more about what Twitter is and how to use it. A good place to start there is with this setting up a Twitter account tutorial and then checking out these 10 steps for Twitter beginners.

Once you’ve got your Twitter account ready to go, or even if you’ve been using it for a while, you need to be following people to get the most out of it. People that you share a common interest with, which in this case is television. But, who should you follow and why? Well, here are my seven reasons you, as a television fan, should be on Twitter, along with a few suggestions of who you may want to start following.

7 Reasons TV Fans Should Be Using Twitter

1. Follow Other TV Fans and Friends – One of the best things about Twitter is coming in contact with people you would have never met any other way, all because you share the same fascination with Lost or some other TV show. Twitter gives you the ability to chat with friends and find others that share a love of TV or anything else for that matter. For example, I exchange tweets periodically with pedrobeck, a “TV freak” that lives in São Paulo, Brazil. Where else, but on a service like Twitter, would a guy from Seattle (me) be able to talk Heroes with a guy from Brazil in the course of your normal daily life.
2. Follow TV Actors From Your Favorite Shows – While chatting with family, friends and other TV fans is great, how cool would it be to ask a question directly of someone you watch on TV. Well, more and more TV actors are extending their presence online with blogs and social media services like Twitter. Are you a Heroes fan? Then you might want to follow breagrant, dividepictures (Milo Ventimiglia’s production company), or greggrunberg. Other familiar TV faces on Twitter are: DavidBlue, dhewlett (David Hewlett), feliciaday, jimmyfallon, levarburton, michaelurie, pennjillette, rainnwilson, and wilw (Wil Wheaton).
3. Follow TV Bloggers and Podcasters – TV bloggers and podcasters like myself, theTVaholic, and my fellow TV times Three podcasters, mytakeontv and raelee, are what you might call extreme TV fans. We so love TV and watch so much of it that we started our own TV themed websites or podcasts to talk about the entertainment medium we enjoy spending so much time with. If you want to talk about your latest Lost theory or how great that last episode of Chuck was, then these are some of the people you will want to follow. Here are a few to start you off with besides the three mentioned above: allyourtv, daemonstv, deekayw, gmmr, hitfixdaniel, justjody, memles, seat42f, televisionary, tvmadman, tvpicks, and TVTalkRadio. There are a lot more, but these are the ones that I regularly follow and converse with about TV. Another reason to follow people in this group is because of interviews. Some will post about an upcoming interview and solicit questions from their followers. Others will post comments and quotes as they happen during an interview, or what one might call live-twittering. This type of thing also happens from events like the upcoming Paley TV Fest in April or Comic-Con in July or just while watching an awards show like the Emmys etc.
4. Follow TV Critics, Journalists, and Publications – Even with all the talk of new media taking the place of newspapers and magazines, these venerable old media outlets still tend to get more access to stars, producers, writers etc. in the TV industry. So, if you like to keep up with the behind the scenes aspects, or what some might call scoop, on your favorite TV shows, then you might want to follow: EWAusielloFiles, EWPopWatch, kristinalert, LATimesent, LATshowtracker, popcandy (USA Today), and TVGuide. On the TV/media critic side of things you may want to follow: brianstelter (NY Times), Deggans (St. Petersburg Times), moryan (Chicago Tribune), and tvbarn (Kansas City Star).
5. Follow Your Favorite TV Network or Cable Outlets – Many of the networks and cable outlets have started using Twitter to promote their wares. Why might you want to follow the likes of: FOXBroadcasting, tbsveryfunny, tntweknowdrama, or lifetimetv? Well, other than updates on what’s coming up on their respective channels, they also use their Twitter feeds to announce things like contests, giveaways, online chats you can join with the stars of their shows, interviews, video clips and more fun stuff for fans of their shows.
6. Follow Your Favorite TV Shows – Many of the networks are also starting to use Twitter for individual shows like NBC with latenightjimmy and theofficenbc. Much like the network feeds mentioned above, you will find links to giveaways, fan chats, interviews, video clips and more about that specific show. But, there are other ways to follow your favorites shows like: OfficeTally (The Office Fansite), Privileged (Behind the Scenes), _S_A_R_A_H_ (Sheriff Carter’s Smart House on Eureka) or wendilynnmakeup (Makeup Artist on Heroes). There are a lot more to find and more getting on Twitter everyday.
7. Follow TV Writers and Producers – More and more writers and producers are going straight to there audience with things like Twitter. Much like following actors, how cool is it to hear straight from the people that are putting your favorite shows together. You can ask them questions directly about their shows and many of them will answer you. Some you may consider following are: blue439 (Jeff Greenstein is working on his No Heroics pilot), charliecraig (Exec. Producer and Writer of Eureka), DiabloOnTara (Diablo Cody’s United States of Tara), Flashpoint_TV (Co-creator of Flashpoint), globalcouch (Jesse Alexander has worked on Alias, Heroes, and Lost. Now working on his pilot, Day One), and jrorci (Writer and Producer of Fringe).

Well, that is my seven reason TV fans should be using Twitter, but it really comes down to only one, communication. The ability to chat, communicate, converse, talk, etc. about TV or anything else. As I’ve mentioned before, where else but on a service like Twitter can the average TV fan get access to their favorite TV actors, bloggers, critics, networks, other fans, podcasters, producers, publications, shows, writers and so much more related to television.

I hope you’ve found this helpful and if you’re not on Twitter yet that you will be soon. If you’re a TV fan that is already using Twitter, then let us know in the comments what your favorite thing about it is. Also, do you have any favorite TV follows that I didn’t mention? Or, an eighth reason TV fans should be on Twitter? Then jump in the comments and let us know, so we can check them out too.

• Printable Summer 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Summer 2013 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Fall 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.17.2013.

In yesterday’s Tonight on the Tube post, I stated, “The Giants continue to surprise, but the TVaholic has the feeling we are in for a Patriots blowout. Really hope that I am wrong, as a Super Bowl that is close like the last game of the season between these two teams would be outstanding. So, hopefully there will at least be some good commercials.” Well, there wasn’t a blowout, but only one of my hopes came true. We got the “outstanding” game that went down to the wire, but the commercials were pretty terrible. It is a bad sign when the FOX promos for Prison Break, House and American Idol were better than most of the commercials that companies paid millions to produce and air. So, in a pretty lackluster field of competition, here are the TVaholic’s prime seven Super Bowl XLII commercials for 2008.

Top 7 Super Bowl XLII Commercials

1. Bud Light “Breathe Fire” – Not overly original, but still funny none-the-less.
   
2. T-Mobile “Wade & Barkley” – Wade finally gets into Barkley’s Fave Five, but lives to regret it. They have been setting up this payoff for quite sometime. Although, I still like the one where Barkley calls Wade as he is about to sink a putt that would get him in Barkley’s five is the best of this series of ads.
   
3. Bud Light “Jackie Moon” – Letting Will Ferrell just ramble on can be hit or miss, but it works out pretty well here. Wouldn’t you like to see the outtakes on this one?
   
4. Vitamin Water: “Horse Race” – It’s Shaquille O’Neal on a horse. That’s just funny.
   
5. Budweiser “Rocky” – Classic Budweiser commercial, as it hits the cute target right smack dab in the center.
   
6. Pepsi “Justin Timberlake” – Who doesn’t enjoy seeing Justin Timberlake take a mailbox post to the crotch and a flat screen TV to the head?
   
7. Diet Pepsi Max “What is Love” – Not really that funny, until Chris Kattan makes a cameo at the end. But, you just can’t stop bobbing your head when this song starts up. And hey, now both of the Butabi brothers have made the top seven.
   

It wasn’t a very good year for Super Bowl ads, at least the game turned out to be good. So, what were your favorite Super Bowl XLII commercials?

• Printable Summer 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Summer 2013 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.16.2013.
• Printable Fall 2013 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) - New as of 5.17.2013.