KLRU, Austin's PBS affiliate, turns 50 this year. The station is celebrating this auspicious anniversary next week with diverse activities, most of them free and open to the public. more ›

Rob Thomas (who we interviewed last year) will be in town next Wednesday for an in-depth discussion of the critically-adored caterer comedy series "Party Down", which he directed and wrote. more ›

Considering that some of the best writing and edgiest creativity in the arts now takes place on the small screen, it’s only fitting that a festival showcasing the best and brightest television contributions is happening in a city that knows a thing or two about throwing a blockbuster event. more ›

Plucking showrunner geniuses from the pool of Austin Film Festival panelists for a word or two about the origin of their content, their writing habits, and their unique experiences in this eclectic city is one of our favorite past times. This year, we had our sights set on Austinite Rob Thomas, the cult-fan-favorite television darling that has sprinkled absorbing, relatable stories across several mediums, including YA novels, film, and even the local music scene. We sat down at AFF homebase, the Driskill Hotel, in an attempt to discover how exactly a show (and even a soundtrack) gets the Thomas touch, as well as discover the fate of his future projects. more ›

We stumbled across an Austin Reddit user who jokingly auditioned for the 'Jersey Shore' spin-off reality show coming soon to Austin. The prankster is a 32 year old with a graduate degree and some social anxiety, but he got an email from the show's casting associate "Little Chad" advising him to submit a video audition. He also included instructions on how to make the video. more ›

The producer of MTV's "Jersey Shore" is casting a new series called "Lost in Austin". According to the website, the show is looking for "Texans who are at least 21 years old who have moved to Austin (or want to) for the party of a lifetime!" This sounds like a lot of fun for people who frequently get kicked out of Kung Fu Saloon, eat most of their meals at Denny's, and save up money for bottle service. Oh, and college kids. The information page suggests the show will be filmed at a house 'in the heart of downtown Austin' and challenges potential cast members to ' rule the bar scene, rope in the hottest of the hot, drink anyone under the table.' Sounds like a good time, you should go audition. more ›

A child of the northeast, Zach claims Austin as home, and we're happy to adopt him as our own. He burned down the internet last summer with his video bid for a contestant's spot on Oprah's Your OWN Show. more ›

While tuning in to the KLRU-produced Austin City Limits is always a good idea, this week's episode holds an especially big place in our hearts. Saturday's show features a co-bill of The National and Band Of Horses, bands that have each grown from playing SXSW sets in the volleyball pit at Pok-E-Jo's (Band Of Horses, circa 2006) and matinees at Ruta Maya (The National, 2005) to deserving, full-bore festival headliners over the last half-decade.

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Paul Feig, creator of Freaks and Geeks and director of every-other-critically-acclaimed-show-that-the-cool-kids-love, came to bedazzle a number of extremely lucky panels at the Austin Film Festival this weekend. On top of marrying Jim and Pam on The Office a few weeks ago, Feig is currently directing Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and HBO’s Bored to Death in New York. Given that Feig’s X-Men ability is apparently multitasking (have you read his books or figured out that he’s a Twitter connoisseur yet), Austinist tracked the incredibly charismatic man down for a series of questions at the Stephen F. Austin hotel. Note: Paul was kind enough to provide actual detailed answers and anecdotes to each question, so we decided to forgo editing out...pretty much anything. In fact, scratch out interview because this is now deemed Storytime with Paul Feig. more ›

With Elvis Costello, it's all about timing. The restless nature of the man's creativity seems to dictate that he never stay in one place for too long, be that physically or creatively. As such, fans hoping for a pass through Costello's greatest pop hits were likely disappointed at the setlists that emerged last week both at Austin City Limits and at Bass Concert Hall. We suspect, though, that those fans were in the minority. As fans of Costello's great mid-80's record King Of America, we welcomed the chance to see Elvis return to a genre he seems awfully good at given that he's not exactly a folk or country lifer. more ›

A recent Nielsen report listed Austin as the fourth least-prepared city in the country for the upcoming DTV transition. In less than two weeks when television stations end their analog transmissions and broadcast only a digital signal, up to 30,000 Central Texas households could lose their television reception. more ›

The producers of Supernanny have a new show on the way: World's Strictest Parents. Casting will be in Austin this week looking for parents willing to school young punks take a rebellious teenager into their home and deal with them firmly. The showrunners are eager to find "parents with unique interests; parents with strong family values; conservatives; farmers; parents with devout religious beliefs; academics; eco-friendly parents; and parents who have ordinary or extraordinary circumstances." Casting is also looking for rebellious teens who want a break from their parents, specifically "teens with unique interests; technically savvy teens; hippies; urbanites; slobs; surfers; affluent teens; liberals; defiant teens; and teens who have ordinary or extraordinary circumstances." Interested? Call 1-888-418-3367. [World's Strictest Parents site] more ›

Although most local stations (KXAN, KVUE, and even FOX7), are sticking with analog past February, the Washington Post reports today that about 500 stations nationwide are going ahead with the digital transition on the originally scheduled date of February 17. Given this tweet posted yesterday saying "KEYE will stop broadcasting its analog feed on the original planned digital conversion date, Feb. 17," KEYE looks to be one of them. Also: KLRU CEO on the delayed switch. more ›

• Winter storm warning update
• Weather closings and postponements (will keep updating)
• On Perry's State of the State speech today. . .

State Senate starts off the session with a tense closed-door discussion on the two-thirds rule. It's official: Straus is now Speaker of the Texas House after a unanimous vote. Because of confusion re: the permitting process, City Council mulling over a temporary hold on outdoor music permits. The helicopter crash yesterday on the A&M campus killed a Lufkin soldier. Meals on Wheels and More accepting converter box coupons to pass on to their homebound clients. T. Boone Pickens hopes that some stimulus funds will go towards converting commercial trucks to natural gas. 1978 Dallas rape/homicide case overturned by an appeals court, meaning a man who's been on death row for 30 years could soon be freed. more ›

Austin office vacancy rate rose to 19% in 2008. as the same woman robbed two Central Texas banks in the past few days? Woman faces two years in jail after shoplifting soap and sausages from an Austin grocery store (she had two prior convictions). Hope you've got your DTV converter voucher already. . . Today is DTV Answers Day in Central Texas. The interns at KBH's exploratory committee need better editing skills. Straus in, Craddick out as Texas Speaker. more ›

If you've never seen KLRU's brilliant documentary program "Downtown", you're in luck--the first three seasons of the locally-produced show are now available for viewing online. And for your convenience, they're separated into bite-sized segments and organized by category (which makes them perfect for lunchtime or study-break viewing). more ›

The Amazing Race is holding a casting call in Austin this Friday afternoon. For those unfamiliar with the Emmy-winning series, teams of two travel around the world with the teams going up against each other in challenges, all in an attempt to be the first to get to Phil's mat at the pit stop. The show in its 12 season run has made stops in six continents (no Antarctica pit stops yet). The winning team gets a million dollars in the end, but usually the first team to reach the mat at each pit stop wins a little something. more ›

Earthquake in China is thought to have killed thousands of people in a county of the Sichuan province. Scientists say that atmospheric CO2 levels are at record highs. After a weekend of tornadoes through the midwest, this year could have the highest number of twisters since the '50s. more ›

The Mohawk presents a solid double bill of local pop this evening. The Lemurs have been writing new material over the last few months and a handful of those songs will be included in their set tonight. The band enjoyed a stellar 2007 -- highlights included licensing their music to NBC show Las Vegas (as well as an Australian indie flick called Newcastle) and touring with Canadian act Stars. This past Sunday, ME Television telecast a 2nd ME Live! featuring The Lemurs' shimmering melodies in concert at a recent La Zona Rosa gig. more ›

What’s the Deal: There’s one main, overwhelming reason why The Blow made it into this week’s Le Diamant, and that’s because of their song “Parenthesis.” It’s the kind of cute and quirky pop tune that made the songs off the Juno soundtrack so viral. The Blow is the devious and rascally spawn from the mind of musician, visual artist and performer Khaela Maricich. The other half of the creative team that is The Blow is (or was) Jona Bechtolt. According to the group’s MySpace, Bechtolt has left the band, most likely to further his singing and programming in his solo project, YACHT. The Blow have this whole middle school crush ‘Do you like me? Check yes, no or maybe’ thing going on that sinks its teeth in all the way to the gums with a swirling mixture of video game-style electronics and poppy folk. more ›

It’s not just going to be an overdose of tasty barbeque that puts people in a trance Friday night at Lamberts. No, you’ll be able to get a hefty portion of ambient, experimental orchestral sounds when The Noise Revival Orchestra Experience lays into their set at the release party for their latest 5-song E.P. The 13-person ensemble made up of trumpet, trombone, tuba, flute, synth and the usual rock suspects is sure to fill their set with thrilling compositions thick with layered instruments and vocals. The E.P. laden with triumphant textures sliding over one another will be dispersed in the form of USB drive, and it will contain a remixed track produced by DJ Jester the Filipino Fist available at this show only. more ›

Her hand-sewn, saliva-marked, grass-stained outfits were reality show ratings gold, but after six episodes former Austinite and University of Texas graduate Elisa Jimenez took the dive on last night's episode of Bravo's Project Runway. more ›

As Christmas approaches, good shows tend to get sporadic and good friends tend to leave town, but the promise of Emo’s Free Week will carry us into the empty canvas that is 2008. Still, we have ten days or so to find that one last good moment of 2007. more ›

The Strange Attractors MySpace] | [The Koreans MySpace]