Sure now we get live HD from the ISS like it's nothing, but much of the last half century of space exploration has never been seen by most in anything other than grainy analog broadcasts. That'll change in June once When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions debuts on Discovery Channel, drawing from more than 150 hours of NASA footage, called a cross between 'The Right Stuff' and EHD fave 'Planet Earth.' The Orlando Sentinel mentions the new doc is part of a push to ensure funding to speed further space explorations, as long as they provide more great HD opportunities we're all for it. Look for the Blu-ray boxed set July 24 for $79.95. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

What we're watching tonight:

• NBC (1080i) has 'My Name is Earl' at 8 p.m., 'The Office' at 9 p.m., followed by '30 Rock' and 'E.R.'
• ABC (720p) lines up 'Ugly Betty' at 8 p.m., followed by 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Lost'
• CBS (1080i) brings 'CSI' at 9 p.m. followed by 'Without a Trace'
• ESPN HD (720p) covers the NBA Playoffs with Cavaliers/Celtics at 7 p.m. followed by Hornets/Spurs
• ESPN2 HD (720p) has MLS action with Chicago Fire/D.C. United at 7:30 p.m.
• CW (1080i) has 'Smallville' and 'Supernatural' starting at 8 p.m.
• TLC (1080i) has 'Overhaulin''' at 8 p.m. followed by the season finale of 'American Chopper' and 'Miami Ink'
• History (1080i) premieres 'Tougher in Alaska' at 10 p.m.

You might remember that last summer NBC announced that it would be pulling its shows off iTunes because it wanted to saddle its videos with more restrictive Digital Rights Management (DRM) and be able to jack up its prices. Regardless of its motives, fans of NBC, Sci-Fi Channel, or Bravo shows who also had iPods and iPhones were out of luck.

But five months after the official end of the iTunes and NBC partnership, there is some hope on the horizon for the fans of at least two of NBC's Thursday-night comedies. The network has launched an iPhone and iPod Touch friendly version of its Web site featuring full episodes of two of its most popular shows, 'The Office' and '30 Rock,' with more to follow, we're sure.

Best of all, the episodes are free, unhindered by DRM, and completely lacking commercial interruption. Just don't exit Safari or you'll be forced to download the videos all over again. [Source: Silicon Alley Insider, Via: Geeksugar]

We got to plant our eyeballs on Pioneer's second-gen KURO plasma display (bottom center), along with all that other new gear Pioneer released today. While all by its lonesome the new flagship display is no doubt impressive, when stacked up against the competition it becomes quite clear that this new KURO is the one to beat.

Granted, this was Pioneer's own setup designed to make us believe precisely that, but we certainly did find the new display notably blacker than its predecessor, and quite a lot better than the competing offerings Pioneer had on display. The new KURO projector was also quite impressive, and we even got treated to the much-improved start times of Pioneer's new Blu-ray players.

The Criterion Collection's long-awaited HD debut -- delayed by that annoying format war -- finally has a date, as well as a list of the first movies getting a definitive release in 1080p. If that wasn't enough, try this bit on for size: They won't charge viewers extra for the privilege. That's right, according to the e-mail that went out to subscribers today, all Blu-ray releases will feature HD picture and sound (no word on what codecs, although we expect nothing but the best considering the company has been mastering and restoring all releases in HD for years now), all the supplemental content and a matching (unspecified) price to their standard DVD editions.

The complete e-mail and list of a dozen movies follows after the break, along with a note that The Last Emperor will also be released in its original theatrical version on both formats for $39.95, while Walkabout will be an all-new edition. Check out Criterion's message after the break. [Source: DVD Times]

[Thanks, Erik]

What we're watching tonight:

• Fox (720p) has ''til Death' at 8 p.m., followed by 'Back to You' and 'American Idol' at 9 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) brings a new 'Law & Order' at 10 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) starts with 'The Price is Right' at 8 p.m. followed by 'Criminal Minds' and 'CSI: NY'
• TNT (1080i) keeps up the NBA Playoffs action with Pistons/Magic at 8 p.m. followed by Jazz/Lakers
• ESPN HD (720p) has Indians/Yankees at 7 p.m.
• HDNet Movies (1080i) premieres 'Surfwise 'at 9 p.m.
• History (1080i) has the season finale of 'UFO Hunters' at 10 p.m.

What we're watching tonight:

• ABC (720p) has 'Dancing With The Stars' at 8 & 9 p.m., followed by 'Women's Murder Club'
• Fox (720p) brings 'American Idol' at 8 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) has a new 'Law & Order: SVU' at 10 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) has 'NCIS 'at 8 p.m. and 'Shark' at 9 p.m.
• ESPN2 HD (720p) presents 'Bud Greenspan: at The Heart of the Games' at 9 p.m.
• TNT (1080i) brings Game 1 of Celtics/Cavs at 8 p.m.
• CW (1080i) has 'Reaper' at 9 p.m.
• Sci Fi (1080i) has 'ECW 'at 10 p.m.
• Discovery (1080i) lines up 'Deadliest Catch' at 9 p.m. followed by 'The Alaska Experiment'

For quite some time, if you Googled "Greatest Living American" and hit "I'm Feeling Lucky" you'd be redirected to faux-pundit Stephen Colbert's page. Colbert achieved that status thanks to asking his legion of fans to "Google Bomb" his name with that term, posting it everywhere possible to increase his ratings. He no longer has that honor, thanks to another would-be who is bribing people with free software if they link to him instead, but Colbert has had an undeniable presence online, and now he's getting some official recognition from the Webby awards.

The Webbys Awards is an annual celebration of online culture; an Oscar for the Internet, if you will. Colbert is to be given the Webby Person of the Year award, granted, because of his skillful use (or exploitation) of the Web. In addition to Google Bombing, Colbert dominated his own Wikipedia page and managed to get thousands to donate at DonorsChoose.org.

Other winners this year include a lifetime achievement award for David Bowie, while Flickr's hardcore fanbase won the Community award. And, in the Weird category, the winner is our favorite LOLCat hub, I Can Has Cheezburger. [Source: Webby Awards via CNN]

The former host of Web news show 'Rocketboom,' and Web video pioneer, Amanda Congdon is returning to her roots after a couple of years in the media wilderness. Amanda spent a year at ABC News, and runs her own video blog, which hasn't been updated in about six months.

But fear not, fans of the geek lust icon and comedienne, Congdon is returning to the Web with a comedy show called 'Sometimes Daily' that promises more-frequent, if irregular, updates than her current Web video efforts. Keep checking SometimesDaily.com as the show is set to launch soon. [Source: NewTeeVee]

It's no secret: the NFL Network isn't in nearly as many homes as the league had hoped when it launched in 2003. As it stands, the channel has only wiggled into 10 million abodes, whereas the NFL was estimating 32 million. At the network's third annual "upfront" presentation, commissioner Roger Goodell looked media buyers and advertisers in the eye and stated that it would "make the NFL Network a success." Not surprisingly, the biggest obstacle here is distribution, but it seems the league is adamant to find ways to broaden the channel's audience. We suppose the battles will live on, eh? [Source: Reuters]

You heard it right -- Hitachi's UltraThin 1.5 family that caused such a stir at CES is finally available for US consumers. Available in 32-, 37-, 42- and 47-inch sizes, the lot has been broken down into two distinct clans: the Director's Series (X) and Ultra Vision (V) models. Each member of the former comes with a 2-year warranty and a sticker ranging from $1,999 to $4,699, while the latter gets a 1-year warranty and price tags between $1,799 and $4,499. Curiously enough, it seems that several sets (the UT47X902, UT47V702, UT32A302/W, UT32V502/W, UT42V702 and UT37V702) may actually not yet be ready for shipping judging by their July to September availability dates, but we'll leave it to you to sort out the contradictions in Hitachi's press release with your dealer. Hit the read link for more details. [Source: The Earth Times]

What we're watching tonight:

• Sci Fi (1080i) has 'Battlestar Galactica' at 10 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) starts 'Ghost Whisperer' at 8 p.m., followed by 'Moonlight' and 'Numb3rs'
• ESPN HD (720p) has an NBA Playoffs doubleheader with Celtics/Hawks at 8 p.m. followed by Rockets/Jazz
• ESPN2 HD (720p) has Cavaliers/Wizards at 9:30 p.m.
• Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoff hockey with Stars/Sharks at 10 p.m.
• CW (1080i) has 'Smackdown!' at 8 p.m.
• History (1080i) brings 'Shockwave' at 9 p.m., followed by the season finale of 'Battle 360'
• TLC (1080i) lines up 'What Not to Wear' at 9 p.m. followed by '10 Years Younger'
• HBO (1080i) presents 'Ringo Starr: Off the Record' at 11 p.m.
• HDNet (1080i) has 'HDNet Fights presents Dream' at 10:30 p.m.

You might remember Hulu, the video streaming service backed by most of the major networks, being touted as the legitimate answer to watching episodes of your favorite shows (in 6 pieces) on YouTube. Now in some sort of delicious, cosmic irony, Hulu has dragged the networks back to YouTube where it has created its own channel and is hosting clips from shows from Fox and NBC that can be seen in full on Hulu.

Right now, we only saw about 70 videos of clips from shows like '30 Rock,' 'Arrested Development,' 'Saturday Night Live,' 'Moment of Truth' and 'Family Guy.' We're still waiting for more, but it's a start in getting NBC clips, at least, back on our favorite online destinations . Next stop for NBC's return? iTunes, we hope. [Source: NewTeeVee]

We can't say we're too terribly fond of purchasing movies on a proprietary set-top-box (à la VUDU), but for those with no real attachment to physical media, Apple's looking to hook you up. Aside from announcing that day-and-date DVD releases were coming to iTunes, Cupertino has also enabled its Apple TV to purchase full-length films; prior to today, users could only rent them for a window of time. Details are pretty scant at the moment, and we're not even sure if HD films can be purchased (or if a premium is added on), but feel free to fire up your box and let us know how it goes in comments below. [Source: iLounge]

What we're watching tonight:

• ABC (720p) lines up 'Ugly Betty', 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Lost' all starting at 8 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) has 'My Name is Earl' at 8 p.m. followed by 'The Office' at 9 p.m., '30 Rock' and 'E.R.'
• CW (1080i) has new 'Smallville' at 8 p.m. and 'Supernatural' at 9 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) brings 'CSI' at 9 p.m. followed by 'Without a Trace'
• TNT (1080i) has Pistons/Sixers at 8 p.m.
• ESPN HD (720p) has MLS action at 7 p.m. with Red Bulls/Toronto FC
• Versus (1080i) has Penguins/Rangers at 7 p.m. and Red Wings/Avalanche at 10 p.m.
• History (1080i) has 'Gangland' at 9 p.m.
• TLC (1080i) lines up 'Overhaulin'' at 8 p.m., followed by 'American Chopper' and 'Miami Ink'