A fresh coat of Oscar brilliance.

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An update to last years 31 Days of Oscar spot produced by Fresh Paint for TCM, a little late after award season I know, but still one of the most creative executions of what is essentially just a collection of clips I’ve seen.

Out with the Sci, in with the Fy.

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While opinion remains mixed, I’m still a huge fan of the SciFi to SyFy rebrand, and think its one of the more clever name changes we’ve seen recently.

To mark the dumping of the old brand, Syfy have produced a series of idents wiping the old logo away to make room for the new. BBC Three did a very cute and similar thing when they relaunched last year.

A portrait of True Blood’s return.

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If there’s one thing I love more than a good cast photo (like the cast of the Sopranos on a boat, or the cast of Scrubs.. also on a boat), its a good cast promo.

Full or overly symbolic references and imagery, its the kind of stuff you can only get away with when your playing outside the bounds of the shows usual narrative (or at least a dream sequence) and quite frankly no one does it better than HBO.

Take for example the series return of True Blood, set to the Bob Dylan track “Beyond Here Lies Nothing” is a beautiful moving portrait, open to intrepretion of what we might be able to expect from the latest instalment of the vampire thriller.

Another show that was rampant in there use of seasonal teasers was Six Feet Under, watch some examples after the jump.

Season 5, featuring the song “Breathe Me” by Sia.

Season 4, featuring the song “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone.

Season 3, featuring the song “A Rush Of Blood To The Head” by Coldplay.

MTV Brasil launches Acesso.

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Brazillian based agency Santa Motion have created this strange yet compelling opening sequence for a new MTV show called Acesso.

The broad concept behind the video is about how information changes people, an idea represented through the various transitions. MTV Latin America have always pumped out really interesting stuff, including this from a few years back.

Kath and Kim: Australia v America.

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Comparing the opening titles of the original Kath and Kim to the American remake, its clear this isn’t going to be a line-for-line remake. Most importantly though, for the millions of American’s who will meet Kath and Kim for the first time this Thursday on NBC, I think they might just enjoy themselves.

The pilot made its pre-air debut on iTunes not long ago. All you need to do to download a copy if you’re outside of the States, is get yourself an iTunes account.

From the makers of Six Feet Under: True Blood.

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True Blood is the latest creation from Alan Ball, the creator of Six Feet Under and American Beauty screenwriter. Just like Six Feet Under, the main titles for True Blood have been designed by Digital Kitchen, who also did the opener for Dexter.

The high concept premise behind True Blood revolves around the co-existence of vampires and humans in the southern US state of Louisiana. And from the pilot episode at least, it appears Ball intends to draw on vampires and their recent “outing” into mainstream society as an allegory for the struggle to achieve homosexual rights, racial equality and acceptance.

The gritty and compelling opening sequence, accompanied by the track Bad Things by Jace Everett, even goes so far to feature a sign saying “God Hates Fangs”, an obvious play on the famous protest signs of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Homer Simpson gets a colonoscopy (for charity).

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In a rare show of solidarity, three of the big commercial networks in the US dedicated an hour of commercial free programming to broadcast the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon. With the usual mix of serious appeal and humour, the highlight of the night was Homer Simpson’s fantastic voyage into his own colon.

NBC, ABC and CBS simulcast the event Friday night with all money raised going to the translational cancer research, which “encourages scientists to collaborate rather than compete, translating basic science into applicable therapies for patients.”