The list of the 101 Greatest TV Shows of All Time is finally finished and non-negotiable. The article is coming along nicely (it'll be in issue 120 of DVD & Blu-ray Review in the shops 21 August).

Here's a little teaser:

The Muppet Show is at number 42

Prime Suspect is at number 43

That means The Muppet Show is better than Prime Suspect. But only by one place.

What do you say to that!

Last Friday, approx 7.00pm and  DVD & Blu-ray Review is doing a telephone interview with the affable Ray Stevenson, star of Nazi Zombie movie Outpost who's soon to play Frank Castle (aka 'The Punisher') in the new movie The Punisher: War Zone. He's over in the US having been at Comic Con and we're having a lovely chat about manly subjects like war and guns. Suddenly, from the other end of the office comes this insanely loudly rock music. 'Cranked up to 11' loud. Loud like we're in a dirty rock club. Mr Stevenson is understandably flustered. I can't remember what I was talking about and have to do the wild finger-clicky thing to get Editor Ali's attention (which he loves) to find out what the hell's going on.

Apparently it's 'Stereo Wars'.

We share an office with our naughty-big-sister publications Classic Rock and Metal Hammer. This is what CR Editor Sian Llewellyn had to say on the matter:

"Oops. ;)

"Since CR got a very nice new stereo a few weeks ago, we and Hammer have indulged in a spot of after-hours “Stereo Wars”. We each pick a song and then crank it up to all hell to see who wins.

Said night in question, CR was prepared for battle with Whitesnake’s 'Still Of The Night'. Hammer were trying their luck with The Scorpions’ 'Rock You Like A Hurricane'."

Alexander Milas, Metal Hammer Editor responds:

"Ms. Llewellyn, These stereo wars you speak of are in flagrant violation of the Future code of conduct and I’m dismayed you’d implicate me into such an egregious abuse of stereophonic equipment in some ridiculous ‘stereo war’. Especially seeing as CR’s is so inferior to ours, I’d find it more appropriate to term such competition ‘A stereo slaughter’."

The tykes.

Well fine. But don't come running to us if The Punisher wants to have a word about where the missing 15 seconds of his interview went. We hope he smashes your bloody stereos... (we don't).

The interview with Ray Stevenson will be featured in issue 120 of DVD & Blu-ray Review, in the shops on 21 August. Outpost will be reviewed in issue 121, out 18 Sept.

The office is on fire. It's not actually on fire, you understand, but it is ablaze with debate as we prepare our definitive, all encompassing list of the 100 best TV shows of all time. It'll be exciting. It'll be controversial. But it'll be a celebration of 100 of the best bits to hit the box since TV began.

Above: Production Ed. Dan is unconvinced about the inclusion of Dawson's Creek

DVD & BLU-RAY REVIEW NEEDS YOU!

Everyone's got something to say about what the best shows were - we'd like to hear your thoughts. Are you a sucker for Supergran? Do you get high on Heart Break High? Do you love to hang with The Kids of Degrassi Street?* Email us (dvdbr@futurenet.co.uk) or pop over to the forum and let us know your top three TV shows ever. Send us a few words about why those shows float your boat and we might put you in the magazine!

*Even though Degrassi Junior High was clearly better. 'No Way Stephanie Kay!' Legendary stuff. Unbeatable...

Words: Ailsa Caine

Anyone familiar with the work of Kevin Sorbo in the TV series can stop mopping their fevered brow: the subject is due to get a serious makeover. ‘Hancock’ director Peter Berg is set to produce and direct Universal’s ‘Hercules: The Thracian Wars’.  Talking to Variety, producer Barry Levine said what appealed to the creative team was that Hercules was “character driven, about a character who’s more man than god, with conflicts and redemption".

The film will be based on Steve Moore’s five-issue comic book series released through Radical Publishing, with the script penned by Ryan Condal. Radical are the publishers behind ‘Caliber’ which is being developed as a project for John Woo, so there could be an interesting run of big budget flicks coming our way.

Or, Berg could potentially run out of steam before he’s even got going. Considering he’s already signed up to direct the Frank Herbert epic ‘Dune’, this feels like a scramble to cash in on what Berg achieved with ‘Hancock’.

Despite the success of the flick, there was some mixed feeling about how Berg handled the material. Whatever - we liked it. A ‘Will Smith Charisma’ vehicle was unlikely to go too far wrong, so it’ll be interesting to see how subsequent projects pan out. 

Whatever the conclusion, the powers that be have racked up a fair few projects to keep Berg busy over the next couple of years. Here’s hoping that it’s not a case of pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap.

Read what Berg had to say about Dune as we chatted to him following the Hancock release, check out this alternate opener and why not have another look at this piece of Hancock hilarity. Still funny.

Do you like good movies? We've got four classics from the BFI to give away to five Review readers...

This week we've spent hours agonizing, bickering and debating to finally come up with a ranked, definitive, all encompassing list of what exactly are the 100 greatest TV shows of ALL TIME. We have a white board. We have little bits of paper with TV shows written on them. We have blue tack. It's been a tough ride, there were paper cuts on the way, but we think we've finally cracked it. At last we have what we believe to be a truely comprehensive list of the GREATEST shows to ever adorn our screens - from US event TV to classic British comedy, from super heroes to housewives, political satire to teen angst, we've got it all.

The full list is going to be appearing in issue 120, in the shops on 21 August. We don't want to spoil it but we thought you might like a little teaser of the work in progress, so here's a snapshot of our white board, mid-way through the creative process. Enjoy. Or even discuss.

Hello!

Deputy Editor, Mike Carhart-Harris here – soon to be no-longer Deputy Editor. The longest-serving member of the editorial team by some way, after issue 119 I’ll be leaving DVD & Blu-ray Review for pastures new and, literally, greener (Dorset, if you must know...) for a life of actually having to buy the DVDs I want to watch like a normal person. Mad.

If you’ve read an issue of DVD (& Blu-ray) Review magazine over the past four and a bit years, there’s a good likelihood that you’ve been confronted by my fevered scrawlings (well, typings) on all manner of digital versatile discs littering the pages. (For your info, first one was the R1 of the eminently forgettable – and forgotten – Duplex in issue 64. Last was the brilliant Son Of Rambow, coming soon to issue 119. I call that progress.)

You may have wholeheartedly agreed with them. They may have had you spitting blood all over our lovingly put together pages. In both cases, I’m glad. If they made you go out and buy a DVD that’s brought you endless joy (or avoid one that could have spelled untold misery), even better.

Since joining the mag team in March 2004, I’ve had tons of fun, had the chance to interview lots of genuinely famous people and – best of all – been paid to sit and watch films and TV for a living. (Believe me, it becomes a chore after a while. No? You’re right, I’m a jammy git.) Oh, and put together the reviews section for the world’s greatest – and still the UK’s No 1 – DVD magazine. Erm... why am I going again?

Having now completely contradicted the title and intention of this blog post – about which you probably care not a jot – I wish you a fond farewell... and thank you for not sending me too many threatening letters!

Goodbye!

Compelled by three-way lesbian love triangles? Released on DVD this week, Céline Sciamma's Water Lilies is a must have for fans of French cinema. We've got five copies to give away…

Jesus, Fidel Castro and ‘the biggest and most scandalous fraud inquiry in Europe since the Second World War' are themes of our latest giveaway - win ICA DVDs Jesus Camp, Blame It On Fidel and A Comedy Of Power...

No, HD DVD hasn't come back from the dead. But, smarting from its loss to Blu-ray, its chief advocate Toshiba has regrouped and launched a comeback bid with a new, rival format: DVD Download DL. Basically old-school DVD upscaled plus new-fangled, Blu-ray-style internet connectivity, for which the Toshiba-led DVD Forum recently approved the below logo...

So is this going to spark another round of the format war? And what exactly will DVD Download DL offer, apart from further confusion and stress to punters and the likes of us? Details remain cloudy, but check out technology site Tech Radar's musings on the situation here...

News broke on Friday that UK independent distributors Tartan Films has gone into administration. Tartan’s closure reportedly leaves all of the company’s staff redundant and apparently affects both Tartan Films (theatrical) and Tartan Video (home entertainment) divisions. Reports says employees arrived for work on Thursday to find the London office doors shut and were informed later in the day by boss Hamish McAlpine that the company had closed for business.

Tartan has been one of the most well-regarded independent DVD labels over the last few years, with the extra yard taken with audio-visual presentation including DTS soundtracks pretty much as standard. The news will be a blow to DVD and Blu-ray collectors, with Tartan recently having adopted the hi-def format. It remains to be seen what will become of Tartan’s impressive back catalogue, that includes a host of cult and Asian cinema hits including Oldboy and Lady Vengeance.

Tartan’s US division was closed down earlier this month with its 100-strong back catalogue sold off to Palisades Media.

DVD & Blu-ray Review would like to offer our condolences to the staff of Tartan who now find themselves out of work and thank them for the sterling DVDs they have sent our way in recent years. We will bring you news of further developments as they happen.

It's a gusher! Epic neo-Western There Will Be Blood is out to own on DVD and Blu-ray from July 7th. To celebrate we've got an amazing giveway: win a copy of the Blu-ray disc, a 42” Plasma Screen TV and a Panasonic Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player!