The Budget Geek’s TV Shows of the Week (descriptions courtesy TV Guide):

The Big Bang Theory - Monday, May 24, 9:31pm CBS
“The Lunar Excitation” Season 3, Episode 23
Episode Synopsis:    In the third-season finale, Wolowitz and Koothrappali play matchmaker for Sheldon by setting up an online-dating profile for him. Meanwhile, Penny thinks that her relationship with Leonard has affected her ability to date “normal” men.

The Budget Geek’s Blu-ray of the Week

Trick ‘r Treat (2008)

A creepy, darkly comic celebration of the scariest night of the year from producer BRYAN SINGER (director of X-Men and Superman Returns) and writer-director MICHAEL DOUGHERTY(co-scripter of X2 and Superman Returns). Trick ’R Treat takes the Creepshow/Tales from the Crypt approach to nefarious new depths with four interwoven tales set on Halloween night: a high school principal (DYLAN BAKER) moonlights as a vicious serial killer; the quest of a young virgin (ANNA PAQUIN) for that special someone takes a gruesome turn; a group of teens carries out a cruel prank with disastrous consequences; and a cantankerous old man (BRIAN COX) battles a mischievous trick-or-treating demon.

The Budget Geek’s What’s New in Stores and Online This Week:

Blockade Billy by Stephen King (Hardcover, Unabridged Audio Book)

A quirky baseball player with a past shrouded in secrecy is the tragic hero of this macabre tale from the dark side of the all-American sport. In the voice of George Granny Grantham, retired third-base coach of the New Jersey Titans, King (Under the Dome) recalls the spring of 1957, when Billy Blakely, a catcher called up from the Titans’ Iowa farm system, helped to boost the team out of the basement and add some excitement to the national pastime. Billy hits with such power and guards the plate with such determination (hence his eponymous nickname) that teammates are willing to forgive such eccentricities as his frequently addressing himself in the third person, or bloodying runners who collide with him. Of course, these kinks are clues to a shocking pathology that King coaxes out in a narrative steeped so perfectly in the argot of the game and the behavior of its players and fans that readers will willingly suspend their disbelief. As King’s fiction goes, this suspenseful short is a deftly executed suicide squeeze, with sharp spikes hoisted high and aimed at the jugular on the slide home.

The Budget Geek’s Podcast Pick of the Week:

Imperial Holonet Radio

A podcast revolving around everything Star Wars, from the movies and discussions about them, to comic books, to games, and everything else!

The Budget Geek’s TV Shows of the Week (descriptions courtesy TV Guide):

The Big Bang Theory - Monday, May 10, 9:31pm CBS
“The Plimpton Simulation” Season 3, Episode 21
Episode Synopsis:  The arrival of a famous physicist (Judy Greer), has Sheldon and Leonard competing for her attention.

The Office - Thursday, May 13, 9:00pm NBC
“The Chump” Season 6, Episode 23
Episode Synopsis:  Newbie parents Jim and Pam are sleepless in Scranton, as they learn that it’s awfully hard to stay awake at the office. Meanwhile, Michael displays unforeseen maturity when he discovers something negative about Donna (Amy Pietz). And it’s the wrath of Angela when Dwight reneges on their most unusual contract.

The Budget Geek’s Blu-ray Release of the Week:

The Karate Kid (1984)

A fatherless teenager faces his moment of truth in The Karate Kid. Daniel (Ralph Macchio) arrives in Los Angeles from the east coast and faces the difficult task of making new friends. However, he becomes the object of bullying by the Cobras, a menacing gang of karate students, when he strikes up a relationship with Ali (Elisabeth Shue), the Cobra leader’s ex-girlfriend. Eager to fight back and impress his new girlfriend but afraid to confront the dangerous gang, Daniel asks his handyman Miyagi (Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita), whom he learns is a master of the martial arts, to teach him karate. Miyagi teaches Daniel that karate is a mastery over the self, mind, and body and that fighting is always the last answer to a problem. Under Miyagi’s guidance, Daniel develops not only physical skills but also the faith and self-confidence to compete despite tremendous odds as he encounters the fight of his life in the exciting finale to this entertaining film.

The Budget Geek’s What’s New in Stores and Online This Week:

Five Classic Stephen King Novels Released As Unabridged Audio Books

May 13th sees the release of five classic Stephen King novels in unabridged audio book format.

Christine

A love triangle involving 17-year-old misfit Arnie Cunningham, his new girlfriend and a haunted 1958 Plymouth Fury. Dubbed Christine by her previous owner, Arnie’s first car is jealous, possessive and deadly.

The Dark Half

For years, Thad Beaumont has been writing books under the pseudonym George Stark. When a journalist threatens to expose Beaumont’s pen name, the author decides to go public first, killing off his pseudonym. Stark isn’t content to be dispatched that easily, though. Beaumont’s alter ego comes to life and begins to stalk those responsible for his demise. The police suspect Beaumont is responsible for these violent crimes.

The Eyes of the Dragon

Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Delain, King Roland is murdered and his son and heir, Peter, is framed for the crime. Peter and his loyal friends must battle an evil wizard and Peter’s usurper brother, Thomas, for the throne. Imprisoned in a tower, Peter conceives an escape plan that will take him years to execute before taking on Flagg, the powerful sorcerer who has masterminded this coup.

IT

A promise made twenty-eight years ago calls seven adults to reunite in Derry, Maine, where as teenagers they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Unsure that their Losers Club had vanquished the creature all those years ago, the seven had vowed to return to Derry if IT should ever reappear. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that summer return as they prepare to do battle with the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers once more.

The Tommyknockers

Writer Bobbi Anderson becomes obsessed with digging up something she’s found buried in the woods near her home. With the help of her friend, Jim Gardener, she uncovers an alien spaceship. Though exposure to the Tommyknockers who piloted the alien craft has detrimental effects on residents’ health, the people of Haven develop a talent for creating innovative devices under its increasingly malignant influence.

The Budget Geek’s Podcast Pick of the Week:

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast

The HT Guys, Ara Derderian and Braden Russell, are Engineers who formerly worked for the Advanced Digital Systems Group (ADSG) of Sony Pictures Entertainment. ADSG was the R&D unit of the sound department producing products for movie theaters and movie studios. Two of the products they worked on include the DCP-1000 and DADR-5000. The DCP is a digital cinema processor used in movie theaters around the world. The DADR-5000 is a disk-based audio dubber used on Hollywood sound stages. ADSG was awarded a Technical Academy Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2000 for the development of the DADR-5000. Ara holds three patents for his development work in Digital Cinema and Digital Audio Recording. Every week they put together a podcast about High Definition TV and Home Theater. Each episode brings news from the A/V world, helpful product reviews and insights and help in demystifying and simplifying HDTV and home theater. Our email address is hdtvpodcast@mac.com

The Budget Geek’s TV Shows of the Week (descriptions courtesy TV Guide):

Caprica - Friday, February 26, 9:00pm Syfy
“There is Another Sky”
Episode Synopsis: Tamara befriends gamers while haunting the virtual world; Joseph and Will go on an emotionally revealing fishing trip; Daniel feels compelled to fight for his professional life.

The Budget Geek’s Podcast Pick of the Week:

The ForceCast

The Weekly ForceCast is the number-one downloaded Star Wars-themed podcast currently in production. Hosted by Jason Swank, co-hosted and produced by Jimmy “Mac” McInerney, the Weekly ForceCast podcast features news, commentary, and discussion about the Star Wars films and universe. Most episodes are recorded with a live online audience and distributed later via direct download. Other Star Wars podcasts found on ForceCast.net include:

The Budget Geek’s What’s New in Stores and Online This Week:

Danse Macabre (Audiobook, Unabridged) by Stephen King

Long before he gave us “a one-of-a-kind classic” (The Wall Street Journal) with his bestselling memoir On Writing, Stephen King crafted a nonfiction masterpiece in Danse Macabre, “one of the best books on American popular culture” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

The author whose boundless imagination and storytelling powers have redefined the horror genre, from 1974’s Carrie to his new epic Under the Dome, reflects on the very nature of terror — what scares us and why — in films (both cheesy and choice), television and radio, and, of course, the horror novel, past and present.

Informal, engaging, tremendous fun, and tremendously informative, Danse Macabre is an essential tour with the master of horror as your guide; much like his spellbinding works of fiction, you won’t be able to put it down.

The Budget Geek’s TV Shows of the Week (descriptions courtesy TV Guide):

Caprica - Friday, February 19, 9:00pm Syfy
“Gravedancing”
Episode Synopsis: Daniel appears on a talk show, but his intentions alienate Amanda; Joseph has a change of heart and tries to stop Sam from killing Amanda; Agent Duram homes in on Clarice.

Additional Caprica Links:

Follow Serge, the Graystone’s servant / security housebot on Twitter @sergegraystone.

Keep up with all of the happenings on the planet Caprica by reading The Caprican.

The Budget Geek’s Podcast Pick of the Week:

This Week in Tech (TWiT)



Your first podcast of the week is the last word in tech. Join Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Patrick Norton, and other tech luminaries in a roundtable discussion of the latest trends in high tech. Winner of “Best Video Podcast” in the 2009 People’s Choice Podcast Awards. Released every Sunday at midnight Pacific. Bandwidth is provided by AOL Music, Spinner.com, and Cachefly.

The Budget Geek’s What’s New in Stores and Online This Week:

UR (Audiobook, Unabridged) by Stephen King

Tapping into our primal fears of modern technology that made Cell a #1 bestseller, Stephen King sets his sights on the latest high-tech gadget in UR, in which a mysterious e-book reader opens a disturbing window into other worlds.

Reeling from a painful break-up, English instructor and avid book lover Wesley Smith is haunted by his ex-girlfriend’s parting shot: “Why can’t you just read off the computer like everyone else?” He buys an e-book reader out of spite, but soon finds he can use the device to glimpse realities he had never before imagined, discovering literary riches beyond his wildest dreams…and all-too-human tragedies that surpass his most terrible nightmares.

From vintage cars (Christine and From a Buick 8) to household appliances (Maximum Overdrive) to exercise equipment (Stationary Bike), Stephen King has mesmerized us with tales of apparently ordinary machines that take on lives of their own. UR gives this classic theme an up-to-the-minute spin, resulting in a horror masterpiece for our time and for the ages.

Horns (Audiobook, Unabridged) by Joe Hill



Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a pair of horns growing from his temples.

At first, Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who had been raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once, the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed. But Merrin’s death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. Nothing Ig can do or say matters. Everyone it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone that is, but the devil inside… .

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. It’s time for a little revenge … it’s time the devil had his due . . .

(For more details on Horns, click here.)