We’re in love with TV here at Media Predict. That’s why we’re putting up some great prizes for our next contest . . . all about the Upfronts!

What are the Upfronts? It’s the time of year when TV execs decide which shows survive — and which shows get the axe.

So you’ll be able to call all the cancellations and renewals, as well as special markets for season finales, American Idol — and maybe even if Jack will end up with Kate on “LOST.”

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AND YOU THOUGHT the holiday shopping season came earlier every year. Yep folks, we’re already launching our first Oscar market because – well, it’s fun. And this year promises to be more interesting than ever, as new rules changes will allow for ten nominees for Best Picture, instead of the usual five. By expanding the number surely The Academy wanted to reach out to commercial hits that so often get snubbed in February. The broader category, for example, might have allowed “The Dark Knight” to snag a nomination last year – and “Up” may well be the beneficiary this year. All that said, our first Oscar guinea pig would probably have snagged a nomination in any year, as it looks the part to a tee. Starring multiple-winner Hillary Swank, this historical biography (with stunning airborne visuals) is tailor-made for hardware, so much so that the main risk seems to be backlash from voters who feel like they’re being bullied into a nod. That factor actually may keep “Amelia” from winning the top prize, but as far as nominations go, we’ll definitely recommend a buy. Stay tuned as the real beneficiaries of the new rules – journalists and betting parlors worldwide – follow the nomination process down to the wire.

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Our next great contest is now live! It’s the best time of year for TV, and what better way to stay on top of it than with your friends at MP?

That’s right, we’ve launched a new contest — with a new twist. This time, you can win just by participating in special prize markets, which we’ll launch throughout the fall TV season.

Keep your eyes peeled for “TV PRIZE MARKETS” to be launched throughout the fall TV season. Every dollar you earn in a prize market will be worth 1 ticket in a lottery drawing for the cash prize. Drawings will be held immediately after the close of the market.

Each market will have its own prize, so you’ll want to think hard and make your very best bets.

We’ll launch these markets throughout the fall TV season, so you’ll have plenty of chances to win. We love our users and we love Fall TV. Thanks for being a part of Media Predict — and happy trading!

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THE SUMMER TV SEASON is more and more about original cable series, with superb shows from “True Blood” to “Mad Men” stealing the network limelight in recent years. So MP had to get in on the act. But what should we predict? Cancellation markets are out of the question, since the smaller networks will air the ordered episodes no matter what. Viewership numbers can be low without hurting a show’s fortunes (see “Mad Men”). So we decided to cut to the bottom line: will this sucker live? And our first test case, “Nurse Jackie,” looks like a strong bet. Yes, we’ve seen medical dramas before, but Edie Falco will bring a bluntness and edginess missing from the folksy soundtrack of “Grey’s Anatomy.” (Hint: Jackie will dip heavily into the hospital’s drug cabinet.) Add in a doctor with an inappropriate-touch tic, as well as Showtime’s usual brilliance, and this looks like another hit from a network that brings back “Weeds” on the same night. Buy.

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Rumors have been swirling so fiercely over a potential acquisition of Twitter that betting exchanges and prediction markets worldwide are opening odds on its future. (At press time, Media Predict forecasts a 25% chance of acquisition before Q3.)

As we saw recently, TechCrunch has openly argued that the company should stay independent and “spread its wings.” But those with a Hollywood point of view are asking a different question: “What would The Jonas Brothers do?”

After all, Twitter’s founders have more in common with the Jonas boys than you would think.

It’s easy to forget that Twitter is at the concluding phases of a phenomenal rise. Spinning off from the struggling Odeo and surviving countless outages, it grew and picked up an unofficial corporate sponsor in CNN – whose eager Rick Sanchez couldn’t do enough to plug it, so they called in Ted Turner and Ashton Kutcher to mop up.

Could the buzz be more intense than it is right now? Probably not. There’s no steady term yet for it (tech-sation?), but we all know that web destinations can suddenly emulate flavor-of-the month entertainment acts or consumer goods. In these moments their technical product is less like Apple’s (a good buy at any time), and more like the Tamagotchi (an item everyone wants right now). After all, the public always needs something to toy with in the internet. This was as true for the early web game “Gay or Eurotrash?” as it was for MySpace, YouTube, and then Facebook. Twitter is the latest to get the call.

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GOING UP AGAINST the formidable “Brüno” in early July, you’d think that “I Love You Beth Cooper” would have something special up its sleeve. Yeah . . . not really. Revisiting the craziest-night-of-my-life teen movie formula – familiar from “Sixteen Candles” to “Superbad” – the trailer says one thing. You can’t get into “Brüno,” kids, so at least you can get some raunchy fun here. In the film, a valedictorian geek confesses his love for Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) smack dab in the middle of his graduation speech. He hits a soft spot, so she attends his party that night as all hell breaks loose – showers are had, towels are dropped, cars are crashed, Ding-Dongs are consumed in pornographic fashion, and a geek’s virginity (maybe!) is lost. None of this goes over well with her Marine boyfriend, who tries to kill people now and then. We see no love for the B-rate “Beth Cooper,” as audiences offer up $12 million and little more.

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STARRING THE UNDISPUTED King of Summer, Christian Bale, and with the former King of Summer, Johnny Depp, “Public Enemies” will catch a lot of people’s eyes. The question is whether it will actually get butts on seats. Based on the true story of charismatic bank robber John Dillinger, played by Depp, the trailer offers an “Untouchables” vibe from the first moment (down to the trench coats and hats). Bale, single-minded as always, plays the FBI agent who takes down the bad man. It sounds promising, and we’re psyched to see Michael Mann take the director’s chair, but the trailer doesn’t quite live up to the headlines. The firing Tommy-guns and racing model-Ts seem a little too familiar, and, after all, we already know how the story ends. Since there are no special effects to necessitate big-screen viewing, one could easily envision audiences waiting for the Blu-ray come Thanksgiving. Despite its plumb opening date, we fear that “Public Enemies” will disappoint.

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WE’VE SAID IT before. While we like to think that kids really like the things we adults like, it just ain’t so. Thus for every “Ratatouille” – with cooking jokes and Parisian skylines to delight every Mom – there are five Pokemon sequels, “Bolt,” and another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, all making us wonder what chaos really goes on in those little minds. The “Ice Age” franchise fits the latter category, by our lights. The animation pales in comparison to Pixar’s. The stories don’t make sense. Critics are never impressed. But there is one thing no one can dispute – the last installment debuted to a stupefying $68 million. Given that everyone will have already seen “Up,” parents will be dragged in for “Ice Age 3,” after which we can all scratch our heads together at the $70 million it seems likely to deliver this time around, too. 5/25/09.

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THE PREMISE HERE isn’t bad. First, of course, there’s the comfort element: we get a Loner Drama with a “House”-like charismatic figure, this time the head of a mental ward. Then, there’s the twist: the show goes inside the heads of seriously messed-up people, dramatizing fantasies of, say, invading flying saucers. Sounds decent. But will it be a hit? We have reservations about lead Chris Vance (“Prison Break”), who seems a bit low-key in comparison to charismatic counterparts Simon Baker and Hugh Laurie. But we like the flashes of edginess in the trailer. To cite one example, Vance’s character tells a colleague to have a nice day and leaves, after which she says, following a nice pregnant pause, “Dick.” Humor like that could keep this one from becoming another forgotten Summer serial. But given its relative lack of originality “Mental” will have to introduce some fun insanity to survive.

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MIKE JUDGE BROUGHT an uncharacteristic edge to the surprisingly durable “Beavis and Butthead” and “King of the Hill,” and whether he brings the same comedic mojo to “The Goode Family” will decide this show’s fate. Why? Because without his name attached, this one looks painful. The show depicts a politically correct family who does everything “right,” all the way down to using only hybrid cars to tote their vegan groceries. We have no problem with Judge diving straight into the left-right culture wars, but he also risks turning everyone off in the process – as too-serious lefties refuse to laugh at themselves, and right-wing curmudgeons reach for the remote. There’s a reason why this is premiering in summer, folks. We see things turning bad for “The Goode Family” before the 10-episode mark.