Video games get a convincing depiction in the new season of HBO drama "In Treatment." Read more...

Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was rumored to be making a guest appearance on "Saturday Night Live" last night. The rumors were a bust.

But I did tune in long enough to watch the politically-themed, 30-minute series of sketches make a note to callout -- and mock! -- music game fans.

Co-anchor Seth Meyers made a jab at the announcement of DJ-centric "Scratch: Ultimate DJ," which Totilo covered yesterday, and made a dig at playing "Guitar Hero" in the process.

Timely comedy, SNL writers, but you might want to tell your interns to update their image folders. Their primary news image was a GameCube controller!

Scroll to 2:48 to check out the joke for yourself.

Flipping through the channels on TV last night, I stumbled upon the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory."

The show is about two socially inept physicists who live next door to a boisterous blonde waitress (I've never seen the show before).

Now what does this have to do with "Age of Conan"? Well, last night's episode featured one of the main characters, physicist Sheldon, playing the game. He starts spouting things like "AFK," which the in-studio audience (or canned laughter?) finds hilarious. Then the blonde woman Penny becomes obsessed with it. Comedy ensues as she bugs Sheldon to help her level her character.

To watch the beginning clip featuring the game (no gameplay is shown), click here. It's also mentioned throughout the entire show.

Gamers, what do you think of your video games making appearances on TV sitcoms? Do they help or hurt?

Johnny Drama, star of "Viking Quest" and brother to "Aquaman" actor Vincent Chase, is upset about being left out of the profits from a video game version of his once-hit fantasy show.

The game is tied to the release of the DVD box sets of "Viking Quest," prompting Drama to use the Internet to express his anger. "I won't have it," he exclaims. "And nor should you! I want you to rise up and be heard!"

There's a big catch to all of this: none of it is real. It's all part of a viral marketing campaign for the season premiere of the HBO show "Entourage." Johnny Drama is actually actor Kevin Dillon and Vincent Chase is really Adrian Grenier, and they're not brothers.

Drama is complaining about not being compensated for the "Viking Quest" game's use of the character he portrayed. He's also complaining that it doesn't look like him. We've seen big publishers work hard to ensure that their virtual actors look like whichever real ones they're based on. See Activision's efforts to make virtual James Bond look just like Daniel Craig, for example. But one has to wonder how often, in real life, a star might have reason to complain that their gaming self doesn't quite resemble their flesh and blood self.

You can actually play two levels from the "Viking Quest" video game -- which has been rated V for Viking, of course! -- on another viral website. Poke around enough, however, and eventually the site gives up the farce and promotes "Entourage"'s return to TV.

Comedic video game tie-ins are not foreign to TV; a video game version of "The Office" was released on the PC last fall, and is still scheduled to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade sometime. Did anyone actually play "The Office"? Chime in with a comment if you think it's a worthy endeavor for Hollywood.

There's no indication the "Viking Quest" game will become an actual storyline this season, but "Entourage" fans know it wouldn't be out of character for Johnny Drama. Just in case, we'll be tuning in on Sunday to find out.

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I may have a problem. Every time I go to the movies, I'm seeing video games.

This happened by accident when I saw "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," but that wasn't the case last night with "The Incredible Hulk."

I watched the movie with the connection in mind. It didn't take long to start connecting the dots.

By the second act, I had already identified "The Incredible Hulk"'s boss pattern.

Read more...

The latest entry in the ongoing "feud" between actor Matt Damon and late night show host Jimmy Kimmel premieres tonight on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

I know this because the PR team behind this week's "The Bourne Conspiracy" told me. There's good reason to suspect "The Bourne Conspiracy" will be featured as part of tonight's joke, even though Damon wasn't involved with the game.

Maybe that's part of the joke!

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" runs weeknights on ABC.

Hollywood director Brett Ratner continues to plug the "Guitar Hero" series. Ratner has been spotted (thanks Go Nintendo!) directing the latest music video for kid pop sensation Miley Cyrus.

In the video, she'll apparently be smashing instruments to express her anger. That includes the same guitar bundled with "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.". A Miley Cyrus fansite has an extensive series of pictures from the video shoot, including the "Guitar Hero" smash.

Where will Ratner and "Guitar Hero" show up next?

At one minute and 28 seconds into Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" music video, Jack McBrayer (who plays Kenneth Parcell on "30 Rock") begins to serenade a seductive Carey with the help of "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock"'s Les Paul peripheral. Is this at all a plausible situation?

Read more...

Internet memes come and go. Today, it's LOLcats. Tomorrow, it's something else.

The new Weezer music video for "Pork And Beans" is an homage to memes of the past.

It even pays tribute to the infamous "Zero Wing" meme "all your base are belong to us." This time, however, they own all your pork and beans.

According to a statement on the Weezer website, "an amazing group of well-known 'YouTube celebs' was tracked down and flown in so they could do their thing(s) with the Weezer men."  Curiously, there aren't any LOLcats in the "Pork And Beans" video.

You can check out the video in question for yourself.

Games show up in unexpected places.

I never expected to be catching up on episodes of "30 Rock" and discover Tracy Morgan's character Tracy Jordan, the star of the fictitious comedy show featured in the sitcom, attempting to make a porn game.

In the most recent season, Morgan decided he needed to leave his children a legacy, and set out to combine his two favorite hobbies: porn and video games. The arc spanned several episodes, starting with episode 13 ("Succession") and concluding in the season finale ("Cooter").

"A porn video game? It can't be done," quipped co-worker Frank Rossitano in response to the idea. "Look, Tray, histories greatest perverts have tried -- Walt Disney, Larry Flynt, the Japanese -- but they can't do it because of the uncanny valley."

Frank then explained the uncanny valley in terms of -- what else -- "Star Wars." Morgan retreated to his office before coming through with the brilliant name of his revolutionary new game: "Gorgasm: The Legend of Dong Slayer."

It has a nice ring to it. You can scope out the episodes for yourself on Hulu.com.

Have you been watching a TV show or movie and seen games pop up out of nowhere?