.| UrbanNerd |.

Source: Variety

The ratings are in, and according to Variety, Heroes performed even better than was expected:

NBC drama “Heroes” opened to strong numbers on Monday, dominating its broadcast rivals and looking like the first breakout performer of the fall season. The Peacock captured the night in 18-49, with CBS on top in 25-54 and total viewers.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, “Heroes” (5.9 rating/11 share in adults 18-49, 14.3 million viewers overall) topped CBS’ second-place comedy block of “Two and a Half Men” (5/12 in 18-49, 15.7 million viewers overall) and “Old Christine” (4/10, 12.6 million viewers overall) by a hefty 31% in adults 18-49 and also led in total viewers. This is the best fall premiere for an NBC drama since “Crossing Jordan” five years ago.

If it comes up a tick in nationals, “Heroes” would match ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” as the season’s highest-rated premiere for a new show in adults 18-49.

“Heroes” provided a nice lead-in for “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (4.4/12 in 18-49, 11.2 million viewers overall), which declined 16% from its premiere.

Clandestine info about Apple’s upcoming iPhone (see fake pic above) keeps trickling in, and the latest assertion has Apple and Cingular teaming up to distribute the phone at first, with Cingular snagging exclusive rights to Apple’s iPhone for its initial six months on the market. After that, other providers will also be join the fun.

As the story goes, the candy bar phone with a 2.2-inch display, iTunes and 3-megapixel camera is still on track for an early 2007 release. Those in the know think Apple will sell 25 million iPhones next year. Those are some big numbers, considering that 50 million of the wildly popular Motorola RAZRs have sold since its release in late 2004.

Source: Think Secret

Source: Michael Caine

Michael Caine says on his official website that he will reprise the role of Alfred Pennyworth in The Dark Knight starting in March:

In January I start shooting a remake of “Sleuth” with Jude Law directed by Kenneth Branagh with a very different screen play from the original by Harold Pinter. After that in March I reprise my Butler roll in the second “Batman” again directed by Christopher Noland starring Christian Bale. This one is “The Joker” and the Joker is Heath Ledger. Great casting.

Visit the link above for more of his post.

CHIBA, Japan — The Tokyo Game Show 2006 bowed for its 10th anniversary over the weekend with record numbers of exhibitors and attendees and with the rapidly growing mobile phone game industry exhibiting their products for the first time this year. Though the show was punctuated with highlights, perhaps the most talked about was Sony Computer Entertainment’s invitation to the public to try out the company’s long-awaited PlayStation 3 consoles.

SCE Inc. president Ken Kutaragi on Friday unveiled some of the launch titles. PS3 stole the thunder of the other exhibitors at the show, held at the Makuhari Messe convention center, east of Tokyo. Before the official opening of the Sony area, a line of 120 black-clad young women stood shoulder-to-shoulder and bowed in a choreographed ripple from one end of the line to the other to the waiting crowds.

As soon as the stand opened, they quickly got out of the way to give those with itchy game fingers a test drive of the 27 PS3 titles on show, including “Warhawk” (Incog Inc. Entertainment), “The Eye of Judgment” (SCE Japan) and “Formula 1 Championship Edition” (SCE Studios Liverpool), all of which are published by Sony Computer Entertainment.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

20th Century Fox has picked Academy Award-winning visual effects house Weta Digital to oversee the upcoming film Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer. The studio tapped Weta to create a state-of-the-art version of the Marvel Comics character Silver Surfer.

Noted character actor Doug Jones (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) will provide performance and movement references for Weta, in a process similar to the way Andy Serkis portrayed Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The voice casting of Silver Surfer has yet to be determined.

The Hollywood Reporter says Weta has developed an advanced computer-generated animation process that employs motion-capture techniques updated to add further dimensionality to the liquid-metal hero.

Source: Warner Bros. Pictures & ComingSoon.net

Warner Bros. Pictures has provided ComingSoon.net with the five first photos from the highly-anticipated Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, opening in theaters and IMAX on July 13.

In the fifth film, directed by David Yates, Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community is in denial about the teenager’s recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort, preferring to turn a blind eye to the news that Voldemort has returned. Fearing that Hogwarts’ venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort’s return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge’s Ministry-approved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves “Dumbledore’s Army,” Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.

The DA

View them all here

Coming in at #1? myspace.com, here is their explanation:

Yes, we know. With more than 90 million users, MySpace is now more popular than Elvis, “American Idol,” and ice cream. But the Web’s most visited destination is also its most poorly designed and counterproductive.

The ease with which anyone of any age can create a page, upload photos, share deeply personal details of their lives, and make new “friends” quickly turned MySpace into a one-stop shopping mall for online predators. That in turn has made the site an easy target for politicians who pander for votes by playing on parental fears. In an era when the basic tenets of the Net are under attack by both Ma Bell and Uncle Sam, MySpace is a headache we don’t need.

But let’s put all that aside for a moment. Graphically, many MySpace pages look like a teenager’s bedroom after a tornado–a swirl of clashing backgrounds, boxes stacked inside other boxes, massive photos, and sonic disturbance. Try loading a few of those pages at once and watch what happens to your CPU. Watch out for spyware, too, since it turns out that MySpace has become a popular distribution vector for drive-by downloads and other exploits. And in a place where “U are soooooooo hot!!!” passes for wit, MySpace isn’t doing much to elevate the level of social discourse.

In response to a public backlash and some well-publicized lawsuits, MySpace has begun modifying its policies–for example, limiting adults’ ability to contact minors. That’s hardly enough. Requiring some kind of authentication from MySpacers–or their parents–to validate their ages and identities would go a long way toward scaring off the creeps and making the site a kinder, gentler social network.

Is MySpace totally bad? Not at all. Are we old farts? Yeah, probably. But the Web’s most popular site needs a serious security reboot. And probably a makeover. Until then, MySpace won’t ever be OurSpace.

Read the rest of the 25 here

The $250-ish price of the Nintendo Wii gaming console sounds good, but that number reminds us of the $2 pizza syndrome. Oh, you want cheese on that? Pepperoni, sausage, tomato sauce? That’ll be $29.95. Get the skinny on the Wii’s real cost with the Nintendo Wii Calculator, a Web site configurator that helps you figure in essentials like the Wiimote, Nunchuks, Retro Controllers, and of course, a few $50 games. Hey, wait. What do you mean the Nintendo Wii costs $835?

Check it out here

Back in this post I had wrote about the M300 Wristwatch Phone I told you I had done more research and found that you could purchase the Phone for roughly $490 US. Well, I just received and email, and thought I would share the wealth. I was sent a coupon for $150 off, but only for this weekend. Not sure if itis AUS, or US but either way its not a bad deal. Detail below!

Coupon Code ef3d9581 We are offering $150 discount this weekend only. Offer
will end Australian Eastern Standard Time at 12am Monday 25th

Get your while they last, I know I’ll get mine!

The Sopranos will be filming in a casino in Atlantic City on October 3rd and 4th. Grant Wilfley Casting is looking for upscale patrons to work as background in the episode. We are not providing transportation from NYC so you must be from the area or able to get there on your own. If you are available and fit the description please email your pic along with your height and contact info. Must be available both days. Please indicate if you are Sag or Non-Sag.

Contact: sopranosextras@gmail.com