With Black Friday just around the corner, we here at theTVaddict.com thought now might be as good a time as any to offer a handful of ideas for that very special TV Addict in your life.
Slingbox
There is a very good reason why the Slingbox continues to find its way to the top of our annual Holiday Gift Guide year after year. Simply put, short of our iPhone, it’s hands down the coolest gadget we’ve ever owned. Seriously. Years later we still marvel at the fact that a little black box plugged directly into our cable box gives us the ability to watch TV anywhere there is an internet connection. Laptop, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android, Blackberry or Windows 7 Device, your entire PVR/DVR is only click away. [On sale for $179.99 $156.95 on Amazon]
Books
For those of you who naturally assumed that the printed word would be the sworn enemy of a guy addicted to the spoken small screen one, well… think again. In fact, the only thing we relish more than watching hours upon hours of sometimes duplicitous, sometimes funny and almost always beautiful characters play doctor/zombie/politician/dad/cop/secret agent… well you get the idea, is a book chronicling all the backstabbing and egomaniacal players that helped turn those very shows into a success. Favorites include TV Tomes such as Bill Carter’s look at “The Late Night Wars,” Susanne Daniel’s first person account of “The Unexpected Rise & Fall of the WB and UPN” and John Ortved’s Uncensored, Unauthorized History of THE SIMPSONS.
Apps!
Hate commercials, but can’t afford a DVR/PVR in these tough economic times? Welcome to the wonderful world of Apps, a handy-dandy way to quickly kill two minutes when you’ve run out of trips to the bathroom and/or refrigerator! Love to spell? May we suggest the maddeningly addictive Scrabble-esque Words with Friends! Have a Katherine Heigl royalty complex? We Rule gives you the opportunity to build your very own kingdom! Hate The Walking Dead? Help protect your house from Zombies with the help of some very powerful Plants! Or at the risk of suggesting games that will have you not just skipping commercials, but rather entire hours on end, feel free to check out Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and Bejeweled Blitz… at your own risk.
Magazine Subscriptions
As much as we like to make jokes at print media’s expense, a gig at Entertainment Weekly is still on our bucket list. Which is why, in an effort to ensure that “our bible” is still around should that day ever come, we thought we’d take this opportunity to pay it forward. Breaking News: Print magazines still exist! What’s more, not only have they never been more affordable, unlike an iPad or iPhone, they’re far less likely to electrocute oneself should their owner inexplicably decide to them into a bubble bath! [See subscriptions for Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Vanity Fair]
Paley Festival on iTunes
Whether your reason for failing to attend last year’s Paley Festival has to do with a lack of funds, or an aversion to getting molested by a TSA agent, have we got the next best thing for you: The Paley Festival on iTunes, where the stars and creators of your favorite television shows (WEEDS, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, HOUSE, GREY’S ANATOMY, and GOSSIP GIRL to name a few) converge throughout the year for live and unscripted discussions. It’s all the fun and informative entertainment of being there, with the added bonus of being able to fast-forward through some of the inane fan questions and self-indulgent moderators. [Visit iTunes to check out 30 plus episodes available for only $1.99 a piece] 