Must See HDTV (August 13th – 19th)

With the Olympics finally concluded, it's back to our regular programming. While that includes a number of premieres this week including such highlights as Oh Sit!, a musical chairs game show (really), Stars Earn Stripes and BBC America's first original series Copper, there's also a long list of anticipated Blu-ray releases like Shaft and this weekend, The Hunger Games. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

Jaws

Just in time for Shark Week, Steven Spielberg's classic Jaws is here on Blu-ray looking and sounding better than ever. There's a bunch of special features included but the main attraction is that massive reason to never, ever go in the water again. Check out a quick clip about the restoration embedded after the break.
($17.99 on Amazon)

The Closer / Major Crimes

Tonight as The Closer ends with star Kyra Sedgwick leaving the show, Major Crimes picks up the baton as Mary McDonnell (of Battlestar Galactica)'s Captain Raydor takes over the unit. We'll see if the changeover happens smoothly enough to keep this police procedural humming, but there seems little reason to believe it won't.
(9 & 10 PM, TNT, August 13th)

The Raid: Redemption

This Indonesian martial arts flick contains some of the hardest hitting action sequences we've seen and definitely counts as a must-see for fans of hand to hand combat, currently rocking an 85 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Following a police unit trapped in a criminal-infested building on an ill-fated attempt to capture a gang leader, it doesn't have the largest budget of 2012 or the most plot development, but who needs those anyway? If you're still unsure about this one, check after the break for a featurette on the film's score as well as a claymation remake of many key scenes.
($19.99 on Amazon)

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Must See HDTV (August 6th – 12th)

Must See HDTV August 6th  12th

This week continues to be all about the London 2012 Olympics, with most shows diving out of the way of NBC's ratings juggernaut. We do have a few premiers and several season finales though, so give the schedule a close look to make sure you don't miss a favorite's wrap-up. Also on deck is a healthy slate of preseason football, while we've got most of the national broadcasts listed, you'll want to keep an eye out for your local team. Also worth noting? A slew of flicks hitting Blu-ray this week including personal favorites Clue and Adventures in Babysitting. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

Olympics
For a second week in a row, it's all about the Olympics, in one way or another. Either you're watching and keeping up with early starting schedules from London or you're not watching, and your favorite summer shows are on hiatus. No matter which side you're on, things wrap up this weekend with the Closing Ceremony, although not soon enough for NBC to try to slipstream two sitcom premieres off of the Games' popularity with Go On and Animal Practice.
(All Week, NBC & NBCOlympics.com)

Shark Week
Discovery's Shark Week kicks off its 25th year Sunday night with two specials,including Air Jaws Apocalypse and Impossible Shot. This time around the big hook is internet integration since it's hosted by "internet celebrity" Philip DeFranco, has tie-ins with Discovery's iPad app for second screen info, and encourages voting on the Facebook / Twitter page to determine what the robotic Sharkzilla will crush next. Whatever, as long as they bring the sharks, we'll always be there.
(August 12th, Discovery, 9PM)

Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell
Produced by Chris Rock, this comedy series has been pushed as hard by FC as NBC is pushing its new premieres for the week, but with Chris Rock as a producer and the network's track record (Louie, Wilfred -- we'll forget Brand X and the Charlie Sheen show) we actually might check it out. Six episodes long, its run begins this week broadcasting Bell's commentary and sketch comedy -- check out a quick behind the scenes look embedded after the break.

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Must See HDTV (July 31st – August 5th)

Must See HDTV July 31st  August 5th

London 2012 Olympics
If TV broadcast tape delay and streaming restricted to pay-TV subscribers isn't entirely ruining your experience, the first week of the 2012 Games has started off with a bang. There's plenty of sporting action to go around and the world records have already started falling. Live coverage is early in the day for US time zones, while NBC is keeping some of the more anticipated events off TV and only online until its prime time airing later.

For viewers we have a few tips, like using Google to search Olympics + [sport] to get a minute by minute schedule of the events in your local time so you don't miss 'em on the live stream. Also, check your cable or satellite provider, most have expanded options to help you catch all the sports, while Cox and DirecTV are doing the multiview thing, Comcast has added Olympics specifics filters to its remote apps, and Time Warner Cable has added more channels to its streaming iPad app.
(All week, NBC channels and online)

Total Recall (Mind-Bending Edition)
The Paul Verhoeven / Arnold Schwarzenegger classic is back on Blu-ray and should be better looking this time around. So, why opt for this one instead of a ticket to the remake this weekend? Beyond the obvious reasons, it's also cheaper, currently listed at $7.99 on Amazon.
($7.99 on Amazon)

NFL Preseason
It's finally time for football again, and while it's just preseason action, we'll be ready to see the Saints take on the Cardinals Sunday night from Canton Ohio. Also worth checking out, the HOF induction ceremony Saturday night as DB Jack Butler, C Dermontti Dawson, DE Chris Doleman, DT Cortez Kennedy, RB Curtis Martin and T Willie Roaf take their place among the other all-time greats.
(August 5th, NFL Network, 8PM)

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Must See HDTV (July 23rd – 29th)

2012 London Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympics kick off this week in London, and you'll want to have your TV, computer and mobile devices at the ready. This time around NBC has made the laudable step of promising every sport will be available for streaming live on the internet, however the Opening Ceremony TV broadcast on Friday will be tape delayed until the evening. Hit the NBCOlympics.com site to sign in with your pay-TV account for streaming access and grab the necessary apps, as well as see full listings for every sport, the action will actually get started on Wednesday with a slew of soccer matches, so make sure you don't miss anything.
(All Week, NBC & Online)

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One
The full remastered first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation debuts on Blu-ray this week, and as we've seen from the clips and teaser release earlier this year, the quality is top notch. Whether or not the first season of adventures with Picard, Riker, Worf, LaForge and company is worth buying is your decision, although the current Amazon price of $60 for the six-disc set doesn't seem terribly prohibitive.
($59.99 on Amazon)

Alphas
Last week we said goodbye to one excellent sci fi series in Eureka, and this week one of our new favorites Alphas comes back on the air. An X-Men-style drama focusing on people granted with super abilities of various types teaming up to take on evil doers the plot is familiar but managed to mix things up a little during the first season, we'll see if season two can keep the excitement going.
(July 23rd, Syfy, 10PM)

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Must See HDTV (July 16th – 22nd)

Must See HDTV June 16th  22nd

Eureka
The five season run of Syfy's Eureka ends tonight and while we never know quite what to expect from the quirky show, hopefully will wrap things up nicely for the fans. We've tried to glean hints from the title "Just Another Day", but we're coming up empty on predictions. Drop your best guesses in the comments below, and if you're not a regular viewer, this is your last opportunity to check out one of the better sci fi shows on as of late.
(June 16th, Syfy, 9PM)

John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show
While John Oliver is known by many for his Daily Show correspondent pieces and bit part in Community, we'll be tuning in to his line up of stand up comedians as it kicks off a third season this week. The slate is ever changing but the quality is consistent, if you want to laugh you'll give this one a look.
(June 20th, Comedy Central 11PM)

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Must See HDTV (July 9th – 15th)

Must See HDTV July 9th  15th

Senna
This documentary about the life of legendary Formula One driver Ayrton Senna finally gets a US release on Blu-ray this week. If you haven't already watched it in theaters or on Netflix Watch Instantly then you should (trailer included after the break), as the combo of voiceovers and archived footage create a flick that should reach you whether you're a racing fan or not. The picture quality probably won't blow you away, since it's largely grainy videograbs from three decades ago One note - the US version reportedly only contains the 106 minute theatrical release, if you want the extended cut then you may want to get the UK version instead.
($19.99 on Amazon US)

Breaking Bad
Season five kicks off Sunday night (presumably without Dish Network) and should be an exciting one for Walter and Jesse. We'll try to avoid spoilers for those who haven't caught up yet (trailer after the break), but it seems safe to assume that this season will include being pursued by the DEA, cooking lots of meth and dealing with various unsavory characters in the drug underworld. We're still having trouble understanding how this is the guy who played the dad on Malcolm in the Middle.
(July 15th, AMC, 10PM)

The Closer
Brenda & crew come back for their final season on TNT, and there's always more murderers to catch. We've heard talks of a spinoff, but if this is it for The Closer then it's been a good run. There's a mole in the department that still needs to be exposed and the threat of lawsuits continues to hang over the division's head which should keep the storylines fresh for the final six episode run that kicks off tonight.
(July 9th, TNT, 9PM)

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Must See HDTV (July 2nd – 8th)

Must See HDTV July 2nd  8th

UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II
This weekend Chael Sonnen gets his wish. Most of our wishes don't include being locked in a cage with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, but it's the only way for Sonnen to take the belt he's been chasing for the last few years, including a loss in their first title fight in 2010. While we'll be interested to see if the "best fighter on the planet" Silva can extend his 14-fight winning streak, that's not the only fight on the card as Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin square off for the third time as light heavyweights. Plus, unlike other sports, UFC isn't purely tied to subscription pay-TV, so you can watch on YouTube, Roku, Xbox 360, PC or mobile device if you'd like. Check out a video preview for the fight embedded after the break.
(July 7th, PPV, 10PM ET)

Tour de France
Cycling's biggest race is going on all month on Versus, oops, we mean NBC Sports Network / NBC. While we usually try to avoid getting up early for anything other than Formula 1, fans of the sport can get their stage action at 8AM daily (with a few exceptions). Epic hillclimbs, peloton crashes, inevitable accusations of doping, what's not to love?
(All week, NBC Sports Network / NBC)

Wimbledon
Completing the sports trifecta for this week's highlights, Wimbledon action continues after the early rounds last week. Also broadcasting from Europe, Wimbledon is bringing a morning and daytime schedule finishing up with the men's and women's finals on Saturday and Sunday. ESPN has locked up the entire schedule and will be broadcasting it live, including on ESPN 3D.
(All week, ESPN / ESPN 3D)

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Must See HDTV (June 25th – July 1st)

Must See HDTV June 25th  July 1st

Louie
Comedian Louis CK's offbeat comedy show returns to FX this week for its third season, and while it's not distributed via a PayPal-supported downloadable honor system, we'll watch anyway. The show's been among the funniest selections out there for the last few seasons and we expect it to remain there. The only difference is the packed lineup FX has arranged around it, with fellow returnee Wilfred and new series premieres from Charlie Sheen in Anger Management and Brand X with Russell Brand.
(June 28th, FX, 10:30PM)

Weeds
Nancy Botwin is back (?). After the up and down last few seasons, that statement isn't at interesting as it used to be, but after the cliffhanger finale, we'll tune in to at least see what's going on. Drugs are bad, kids, mmmkay?
(July 1st, Showtime, 10PM)

XIII
We don't point out that ReelzChannel HD is reairing this French / Canadian thriller series from last year because we think it will be good -- we have no idea. We're just pointing it out because we're in it (well, our source code is). Flattery will get you everywhere.
(June 29th, ReelzChannel HD, 9PM)

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Must See HDTV (June 18th – 24th)

Must See HDTV June 18th  24th

NBA Finals
The NBA Finals rolls into week two with two more games in Miami, and Game six sunday night in Oklahoma, assuming the Thunder can score a win or two to keep the series going. So far both sides have lived up to our expectations in creating a competitive series, with any luck we'll see it extended to all seven games before it closes out next week.
(Tuesday / Thursday / Sunday, ABC)

Futurama
After being cancelled and brought back on the air, Futurama is ready to kick off its seventh season on Comedy Central. The Planet Express crew is up to its usual misadventures, and a quick preview of the premiere episode (embedded after the break) shows Bender playing with his kid, hopefully this turns out better than the last time his mini-me's nearly destroyed the world.
(June 20th, 10PM, Comedy Central)

The Newsroom
Aaron Sorkin is back with a new TV show as The Newsroom premieres Sunday night, taking a peek at the behind the scenes lives of employees at a fictional cable news channel. Jeff Daniels is the lead, an anchor forced to contend with a new team after his co-anchor starts a rival program and takes much of the existing staff with him. Hmm, sounds kind of ridiculous if you ask us. Check out a video trailer after the break, although we're pretty sure Sports Night, The West Wing and Studio 60 fans have already circled their calendars.
(June 24th, HBO, 10PM)

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Must See HDTV (June 11th – 17th)

Must See HDTV June 11th  17th

NBA Finals
The NHL Stanley Cup could be decided in just a few hours if the LA Kings can (finally) take care of business and send the Devils home for the summer, but the NBA finals are just getting started and this should be a good one. The LeBron James-led Heat face off against Kevin Durant's Thunder, pitting (arguably) the game's two best players in a best-of-seven battle for the championship. If you're a fan of basketball, this should be the matchup for you.
(Tuesday / Thursday / Sunday, ABC)

Falling Skies
TNT is all out of NBA coverage for the season, but now its exciting sci fi series is returning for the summer. It doesn't have the biggest special effects budget, but the producers seem to get a lot out of what they're given and the writing improved as its first season went on last year. Noah Wylie of E.R. fame stars as the main character (Moon Bloodgood also appears, if that matters to you), a history professor turned resistance militia member after aliens take over the planet, and somehow manages to pull it off. We'll be watching again for the two hour premiere Sunday night, check out a season two preview trailer embedded after the break.
(June 17th, TNT, 9 & 10PM)

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