Justin Wright » Television

5 Things I Learned While Buying A New TV

Justin Wright — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:40:12 +0000

If you still don’t have digital cable, you probably have seen the big analog symbol at the top of your TV. They constantly remind us about getting a converter box. However, my girlfriend and I decided it would be better to just by a new TV. So we went out looking this weekend and ended up buying an LCD TV (I’ll review it later this week).

Anyways, here are a few things I learned from the whole experience:

1. Best Buy Employees Are Annoying

In my opinion, Best Buy has gotten even worse than it used to be about their employees constantly asking you if you need help. Maybe they are trying even harder now that Circuit City is gone…who knows.

Yesterday, I managed to get 6 or 7 employees to come by me and ask if I wanted some help with something. And this happened in less than 20 minutes and I only looked at one section of the store. So all of the employees came to me.

If that wasn’t enough, I even managed to get two Best Buy/DirectTV employees to come over and offer me some information on their new “pilot” program. Luckily, I lost them at “neither” when they asked if I had Satellite or Cable.

2. Target Has Some Weird Sale Prices…

Another thing I learned when shopping for TVs is that Target likes to “cover up” the real prices. Or at least that’s what it seems. Almost every television had a sale sticker stuck on it, but a quick look under the flap revealed a price sticker that had the same price, sometimes even less. And these stickers were stuck right on the shelf so they were definitely not temporary stickers.

And the TV that we ended up buying had a sticker under the flap that said $299.99. Their was no actual price so we had to ask for help…guess what? They decided it’s now $329.99. Even after talking to the departments manager and the store manager, they still wouldn’t match the price it was supposed to be.

3. TV Stands Are Pretty Important

Something I quickly learned after getting home with the new TV, is that my girlfriend and I didn’t have a place to put it. It’s pretty easy to buy a TV and totally forget about the TV stand. Luckily, Wal-Mart had a few for less than 40 bucks and it actually looks pretty cool.

4. Cables Are A Ripoff

After buying a new TV, I knew that I was going to need some cables to hook it up right. Specifically, an HDMI cable for the DVD player and some sort of cable for my computer. So I looked at Target and Best Buy, only to see that most of their HDMI cables were more than 50 bucks. Ouch! Worse yet, I needed a DVI to HDMI cable for my MacBook and Best Buy had one for $100!

So instead, I hopped online and did some browsing on eBay. Next thing I knew, I had ordered a DVI to HDMI cable for less than 7 bucks. Sure, a lot of people will argue that the cable is far less quality but I just don’t believe it. Especially when it comes to a 22 inch LCD TV. How much different can the quality really be? So the lesson I learned is to buy them online and save a boat load of money.

5. Paid TV Is A Waste Of Money

For the past 8 months or so, I have been cable free. Relying on bunny ears to get all the of the basic channels. But the thing is, almost every show I watch is on free TV anyway. Lost, CSI, Big Bang Theory, even Two and Half Men. All free of charge.

And now that I am using an HDTV antenna, most of these channels come in HD with no static what-so-ever. They look better than a DVD and cost nothing. There are even a few extra HD channels that the TV is picking up now. So now I have no worries about ever getting cable again.

Have you purchased a new TV lately? What was the experience like?

Season Premiere Of Lost Tonight!

Justin Wright — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:39:41 +0000

Well it’s finally January 21st…the day that season 5 of Lost Premiers on ABC. It’s one of the only shows I watch these days so I’ve been waiting for this day to come.

Funny thing is, I have never watched Lost on TV before. This past Christmas, I rented season 1 and 2 and started watching them. After watching the first two seasons, I became super addicted to the show and couldn’t stop thinking about it. So over a period of like two weeks I managed to watch all 4 season of lost. Yeah it’s pretty pathetic…

The hard thing was, I watched all of them back to back. When I got done with the season 4 finale, I was ready to drive to the studios and demand answers. Luckily, the premier is tonight and it starts with a 1 hour recap followed by two episodes. Woo!

Season 5 Trailer

Here is a trailer for the upcoming season:

Check It Out

So tune in tonight at 7 C and watch it. It’s a great show and even if you haven’t watch it before, the recap should clue you in on some of the things that are happening.

Rock of Love 2 vs. Tuesdays

Justin Wright — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:02:15 +0000

You read that title right. Today’s debate is between Rock of Love 2 and Tuesdays.

I have officially changed my mind and now believe that Tuesday is the worst day of the week. I used to think Monday’s were the worst, but not so much anymore. Monday is just a slow transition from the weekend to the work week. I really do not put forth much effort until at least Tuesday.

The nightlife on Tuesday sucks here. I wanted to go out last night in Phoenix but could not find a good place to go to save my life. When I lived in Wisconsin and Hawaii, Tuesdays were always a great night out. So please, if you know of a good place to go out in the Phoenix area on Tuesdays, let me know. Otherwise Tuesday will continue to be known as the worst day of the week.

Rock of Love 2…don’t even get me started on this show. If you missed my post yesterday about The Hills, you’ll see that I devoted the whole post to the show and how much I hate it. Well last night, I ended up watching the Rock of Love 2 since I could not find a single thing on television worth watching.

The really sad thing is it is the second season of the show. Like one wasn’t enough. I mean do we really need to watch a bunch of girls compete to win Bret’s heart? Is this really where society is going? I thought love was something you found on your own, not by winning a reality TV show.

I just hate the fact all of these reality shows are obviously scripted. You can tell a lot of the “contestants” are actors because they have been on other reality shows. Why can’t they just put some “real people” on a show and see what happens. I would rather watch a bunch of drunk people try and find their way out of a corn maze.

Paris Hilton Needs A New Best Friend

Justin Wright — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:20:14 +0000

Today, bored at work like usual, I managed to come across the website for Paris Hilton’s new reality TV show. It seems she is in need of a new best friend, and MTV is going to help her find one with a show entitled “Paris Hilton’s My New Best Friend”.

When I first saw this, I must admit, I laughed about as hard as anyone possibly could. If I would of had milk in my mouth, it would have flown out both nostrils.

Is this what television has come to? Seriously, has television gotten so bad that now we have to watch average people compete to become celebrities best friends?

I am pretty sure Paris Hilton should not have any trouble finding a new best friend. Come find me Paris, I will be your new best friend. Obviously the only reason she is doing this show is to get back on television, and I cannot blame here.

Anyways, as much as I hate the entire plot for this new show, I figured what the heck? I might as well setup a profile for it. If this show is going to be on television, they might as well throw someone crazy on it like me. Maybe I can make the show interesting by blowing everyone else’s minds with my outlook on life, jobs, and everything in between. Besides, I would make a great celebrity BFF, wouldn’t I?

So today, I would like to officially announce my candidacy to run to become Paris Hilton’s new best friend. My goal of this blog was to blog my way to fame, so I figured I might as well give this a shot. Besides, MTV needs something different, and I am the difference (at least I like to think so, lol).

It seems that the casting is based on a voting game where the more votes you get, the more likely you are to get casted. However, I have already noticed that it looks like some candidates are finding ways to get tons of votes.

One of the requirements for becoming a possible cast member, was answering a few questions provided by MTV. I did not feel like spending a lot of time on them, so here are some of the answers I threw together when I was filling out the application:

Do you consider yourself fabulous? How so?

Yes, I would say I consider myself fabulous and it is for many reasons. I am a very intelligent and outgoing person that enjoys taking risks. I am not the average Joe who sits back and lets things happen to them instead of making them happen to you. I try everything, and often work as hard as I can to accomplish everything I hope to accomplish.

What qualities make you the perfect celebrity BFF?

I think the number one quality that makes me a great celebrity BFF is my personality. I have stories I could tell forever and they would never grow old or stop laughing. I live a not so ordinary life and it makes me a unique person. I am also very energetic and not afraid to be around lots of people, even strangers.

It’s hard to stay in the public eye. How would you maintain the limelight?

I would have no problems whatsoever maintaining the limelight. I pretty much put everything out there for everyone to see. I have been approached a few times about my blog and I enjoy the attention. Being in front of cameras and tons of people is what I live for, so bring it on.

So everyone that is willing, please vote for me by visiting my profile here. All you have to do is click on the vote for me button and then you are allowed to vote once a day so I would be very appreciative if anyone is willing to vote for me as much as they can. I placed a button on my right sidebar which should make it real easy. I plan to give out some rewards to those that vote for me the most (Entrrcards perhaps?).

I promise, if I somehow get on this show, this blog will become even more entertaining. Just imagine what my posts would be like if I am hanging out with Paris Hilton. I’d have even more time to come up with ideas like the Bathroom Stall Hammock and Why You Should Party on Weekdays.

Wish me luck!

The Start of Acting: Being An Extra

Justin Wright — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:06:15 +0000

First, let me start by saying yesterday’s video was a success. I heard tons of good feedback and everyone said it was hilarious. I even managed to have a girl come up to me at ASU and ask if I was in a YouTube video about a hammock. Not bad for throwing a video together in such a short notice. I even received a few phone calls from back home in Wisconsin and one from Hawaii about it.

Anyways, last night I had another interesting experience with acting. I was an extra for an infomercial for some health cleansing product. In other words, I was one of those people hanging out at the “Party” while the hosts give there pitch for the product. It sort of reminded me of the infomercial for the Magic Bullet blender that used to be on TV all the time.

You really do realize how fake television is when you are on set of an actual show. For example, during a pool party scene I had to hold a plate with a hamburger bun on it and a half full glass of apple juice. It was supposed to look like I was eating and having a good time drinking some beer.

We had our pool party attire on but we were all freezing since it was only 55 degrees last night when we shot the scene. I wanted to dive in the pool but it was not heated so that was not going to happen. Maybe in a few months when it is 100 degrees outside.

The best part about being an extra is that you are always on set with a lot of people around. I met a lot of nice people in the industry last night and hope to stay in contact with some of them. It is a great place to hear about future openings and casting calls as well. I am hoping to be in a few more shoots very soon.

As an extra, you also start to learn the ropes about film and television. You start to learn when to be quiet, when to speak up, and when to act. Some of the terms used by directors and other members of the film crew start to make sense. Best of all, it helps you get used to being in front of a camera all the time. It also helps you get used to shooting retakes over and over again.

In conclusion, being an extra is actually a lot of fun. Plus it pays good for the amount of work you have to do. It was not as fun as The Weekenders Golf Tour but it was still a great time. Plus it really helps network with others in the field and can really help to open a few doors in the industry.

I have been managing to get myself on camera quite a bit lately and my only hope is to get on it even more. I really want to get back on reality television because it is so much fun to shoot. So if anyone out there is currently casting for a television show, please let me know.

In the mean time, keep an eye out for a some new YouTube videos. Greg and I plan on shooting a few this weekend and will be posting them as soon as we can. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for some short videos, please comment on this post or send me an E-Mail.

How to Get on a Reality TV Show

Justin Wright — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:51:31 +0000

So you want to be one television? Most people dream of being on television in front of a large audience. There are tons of shows, especially reality television shows. However, there are also a ton of people that want to get on these shows. So the question is, how do I get on television?

I recently filmed for a up and coming reality television show here in Scottsdale and I can tell you the best shot you have at getting on one, is to Know someone working on the show!

The only reason I landed a spot on this show was because one of my awesome friends just happened to be part of the production team. Thanks again!

Knowing someone on a television show crew can help your chances of getting casted tremendously. Sometimes people drop out at the last minute and the producer will ask his employees if they know anyone that could fill the spot. This is the perfect in to getting casted because you can skip the whole audition process and save a lot of time. This happens more than you think and I hope to get on another show in the near future.

It all comes back to networking, which seems to be the common theme to get anything done nowadays. The more people you know, the better your chances for success, whether its in a career or simply getting on television.

The hard, but more common way to get on television, is by using casting websites such as TalenHunter.com. TalentHunter offers a lot of open casting calls in the majority of large cities in the United States. The only downside is a lot of the casting calls require a gold account in order to view the details. This will cost you somewhere around 20 dollars a month to subscribe.

Well, I hope this small tip helps you fulfill your dreams of getting on television. It did for me Feel free to leave any comments or add me as a friend using the links found to the right.

The Weekenders Golf Tour

Justin Wright — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:00:53 +0000

Yesterday was officially my first time on set of a reality TV show. I must say, it is a great experience and definitely something I would like to do a lot more of in the future. I really am on the lookout for the next show I can get on.

The show I was on, is called The Weekenders Golf Tour and it is a show about average Joe golfers competing on television. You can read more about The Weekenders Golf Tour by following this link: The Weekenders Golf Tour Official Website

I am not allowed to discuss any details about the outcome of the show until after it air’s on television. But what I can say, is that it was a great time. My teammate and I started drinking at 9 AM with another team and it created some fun times. The cool thing about filming for television is the people you get to work with and the environment. You get to eat catered food and hang out with some cool people. And if you are lucky, they even throw an after party for everyone involved in the show. Plus a free round of golf never hurt anyone. Plus the weather was great until the very end of the day but we had already finished shooting so the rain did not affect us.

Following the shoot, we were invited to an after party at the Gordon Biersch restaurant in Scottsdale. We managed to slam back a few too many beers since they were “on the house”. We also got free food and had a great time talking with the rest of the crew.

At that point, I should of called it a night since it was such a long day. Instead, my teammate and I met up with a friend at the 6 Lounge in Scottsdale. Wednesday nights are always packed there and last night was no exception. It was a good time but all I was thinking was I really need to get to bed, tomorrow is going to be one long day at work…

The Week Ahead…Reality TV Filming

Justin Wright — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:43:29 +0000

Starting tomorrow, I will be shooting for an upcoming reality TV show. I am really looking forward to it and hope to have a lot of fun in the process. It is my first time shooting for television since the only other acting I have done has been via YouTube videos.

I really hope this can help kick start my career as an actor and hope I can get someone to notice me while I am on the show. I am still working on my “look” for the show and hope to throw something together tomorrow. If you know of anyone looking to cast for any upcoming movies, commercials, or other gigs in the greater Phoenix area, please wander over to my contact page and shoot me an email.

As far as the show, I cannot go into details about the show, so everyone will have to stay tuned until I find out more information on when it will be airing on television.

Check back later this week as I will try to post some new information.