T TV

Bostonist watched the rerun of Total Recall on the Movie Loft (which has just named new hosts) a couple of weeks ago and gawked at the little TVs that were in those trams on Mars. They were full blown tube TVs, envisioned by movie makers in an era before the LCD TV had been invented and plasma was only something they really wanted at the Red Cross. This morning we learned that it’s coming. The MBTA will be selling advertising on televisions to be installed on the Blue, Orange, and Red lines. There’s no doubt that as the screens go in the news and weather information that will be provided is going to be billed as a service to MBTA passengers and that the ads we see in between, read: most of the time, will be deemed necessary to support the service. Bostonist thinks that it would be sweet if the new sets would provide us with live updates of the "disabled train" that is causing delays up and down the line. But alas, being informed on why you’re late for work when taking the subway seems to be a pipe dream. The $3.5 Million estimated revenue better not interfere with our iPod listening.