I finally got a taste of current TV tonight (DirecTV 366). I say “finally” because I’ve heard about the channel but never bothered to find it and take a look. I thought it was interesting, fresh. If you’re not familiar with the idea behind the channel:

“We slice our schedule into short segments that we call “pods” — each just a few minutes long. And much of it comes straight from you. We call it viewer-created content, or VC2. Right now, VC2 makes up about a third of our channel — and that share is growing. Anyone who wants to contribute can upload a video. Then, everyone in the Current online community votes for what should be on TV.”

It was sort of like 60 Minutes for people under the age of 70. Very sharp graphics. And they include a little status bar near the bottom of the screen to let you know where you are in the segment. Nicely integrated with their website. I’ll be going back for another taste.

Lost Remote offers a fascinating alternative to today’s TV model: “Getting cancelled is the best possible thing that could have happened to Arrested Development. No longer shackled by the whim of a fickle network, “AD” can take advantage of all the technologies now available for video delivery and make more money. The model is just waiting to happen: AD, a pioneer in its style of comedy, should pioneer this, too.”

If you’re in the network business (TV or radio), this is worth a read. [via The Long Tail]

NYPD Blue co-creator Steven Bochco is developing another cop show, this time for the WB. Variety.com describes it as “a young-skewing hourlong cop/mystery show revolving around two Hollywood homicide detectives at the LAPD.” Bochco says the untitled project will be “a little lighter in tone. It’s not heavy-duty or long on procedural. It owes more to ‘Columbo’ than ‘CSI.’ “

Bochco wrote a pretty fair Hollywood mystery novel a couple of years ago (Death by Hollywood) but I’m wondering if what I liked most about NYPD Blue came from the (then) tortured mind of David Milch.

Excellent piece at nytimes.com by Virginia Heffernan on Jeremy Piven who plays Ari Gold on HBO’s “Entourage.” Love the show. Love the writing. You gotta believe every agent in Hollywood is watching.

To the assistant of an elusive executive, he (Ari Gold) offers dictation: “I want you to pass this message along to Dana. Tell her that I still have the pictures from Cancun. Tell her that I’m going to start a Web site. I’m going to take a full-page ad out in The L.A. Times advertising it. Tell her it will be called I’mahollywoodexecutivewhore.com and that no password or fee will be required. Tell her I want a call back.”

PS: Piven had a small but wonderful part in Grosse Pointe Blank. When I clicked over to IMDB, I was reminded of the great cast of that movie: John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Hank Azaria.

The new season of Reno 911 kicks of June 14th. … Stephen Colbert’s new show on Comedy Central —The Colbert Report— will be a satire of TV talk shows such as The O’Reilly Factor. You can hear the NPR interview here. I’m counting on the show being funnier than the interview.