Given that sports and pop culture, are followed with almost religious fervor here on our Prime, I can't help but feel that adding sports seasons, interplanar TV series would be an interesting addition to UP. There would be some need for entertainment, and with the coming of the modern age, our modern pop culture seems ripe for the picking.
Modern cities don't feel particularly modern unless they have some features like these. Anyone have ideas on some possible versions of planar pop culture?
Actually, I could see some major planar portal cities creating interplanar leagues. I don't think every outer plane would have different favored sports, so much as a different approach to the games in general.
The Baatezu DEFINITELY would love American-style football. However, I don't think they'd care about the players as much... Which might make it somewhat more popular actually. Same with the Acheronians. They would likely be top contenders in most championships.
Abyss, I don't know how it'd work, simply because of the Abyss being.. the Abyss. Carceri-dwellers, I'd see playing hockey for sure.
Of course, I think the Upper Planes might have a basketball fascination. The entire law/chaos/neutral thing would work in basketball, since it has so many different strategies that work well. Plus, the non-violent part of basket seems to be a very Upper-Planes thing.
Sigil though, that's interesting.. because it's definitely linked to the outer planes, even though it isn't part of the outer planes. That was where I imagined a lot of the more interesting sports bits being, as Sigilians would probably watch/favor more sports in general.
I think that Sigil would have several types of sports teams, like soccar, football ect. And they would probably duke it out with teams from the Outer Planes, the gate-towns and Nexus.
And the baatezu would win the Planescup by injecting every member of every opposing team with narcotics.
I can imagine a Canada vs. former Soviet Union kind of a match going on in hockey, except that it's Baator vs. Abyss.
As for pop-culture, I've had this wonderful image of a beholder with a hat, and lots of golden jewelry around it's eyestalks. The orbs of cool!
Sigil would probably be the Hollywood, Broadway and every other starmaker of the Planes. Want to be part of the film industry? Go to Sigil. Same for everything else. Why? No control about contents of the film, nor censorship. Not after the factions left.
The chaos planes would produce about 70-80% of the trends, while all the lawful planes would make angry newspaper articles where they demand that someone should pull the kids off the streets and back to school.
This ofcourse leads to lots of teenagers joining the Xaositects, and never growing up 
Don't forget about Nexus. It will also have movie/tv studios as well.
Speaking of Nexus, I was thinking it, Sigil and another city (like Foothold) would have like a huge sports event once every three years, something very similar to the Olympic Games. I was thinking of calling it the TriCity Tornamunt. What do you think?
Don't forget the memes.
All your base are belong to us.
Abyss - either Rugby, or lacross. But only if said lacross was played in the original traditional style... you know. Where it wasn't really a game unless someone got a bone or three broken.
As an Australian, I feel obliged to point out that rugby isn't that bad... heck, the leagues have their own little courts to rule on penalties, and can fine or suspend players for a number of weeks according to their offense.
Aye. It's not so much that I think they'd play it the normal way. But that knowing Tanarri - they'd play it with the physical impact and full contact of american football, and the protection (or rather - lack thereof) of rugby.
Like the tanarri need protection, with all of the natural armor and DR they have.
Considering the opponent also has DR, natural protections... oh and claws and teeth?
Reality TV in the Planes:
The Abyss: What you'd expect; bloodbaths, gladiatorial combat, torture, etc.
Carceri: Carceri doesn't make reality TV, it watches it... particularly if it's in a place outside of Carceri
Hades: Hades only broadcasts 24/7 webcam footage of the plane's denizens; they have no interest in entertaining people.
Gehenna: Something akin to America's funniest home videos, showing climbers plummet to their death off of the mountain. Very popular.
Baator: Almost identical to "The Apprentice", except more cut-throat, sometimes literally.
Mechanus: When the Mechanites sit down after a long evening of labor, they watch CourtTV, or some kind of house-makeover show.
Arcadia: Happy families sitting around fires and having dinner watching other families do exactly the same thing. A niche taste.
Celestia: Reality TV doesn't fit into their volunteer work schedule.
Bytopia: Your neighbours will wonder why you are wasting your time watching Reality TV.
Elysium: Elysium only watches news; they're socially concious.
The Beastlands: A lot of hunting programs. The hunters, however, can sometimes be the animals.
Arborea: Arborea has no interest in Reality TV, not when you could be outdoors white-river rafting.
Ysgard: Sometimes the battles are filmed... not often, since cameramen have a hard time dodging bullets and swords.
Limbo: Slaadi often film their finest moments, such as leveling a Githzerai Citadel. The Githzerai don't appreciate TV very much.
Pandemonium: Pandemonium Idol is not very popular. After all, who'd want to be Pademonium's idol?
No matter where you filmed it, the broadcating station would have o be in Sigil. That way, it goes everywhere. This works because of the ripple effect mentioned in Something Wild. The portals of Sigil would allow the transmission to go across the outer planes, and maybe some of the inner ones. Even if it doesn't go everywhere in the outer planes, it's likely to be available in the areas near portals to Sigil.
SBC News: "All the news the Lady sees fit to allow us to broadcast..."
Inspiring, I can imagine that there are tons of broadcasting companies in Sigil each trying to out do the other. There could be a special "broadcasting ward". In fact, maybe they can be the basis of a Media-centered faction; imagine it, the Escapists: "It's OK to vicariously enjoy the lives of other through the media, your life will never be that exciting anyway." Hmm...
Inspiring, I can imagine that there are tons of broadcasting companies in Sigil each trying to out do the other. There could be a special "broadcasting ward". In fact, maybe they can be the basis of a Media-centered faction; imagine it, the Escapists: "It's OK to vicariously enjoy the lives of other through the media, your life will never be that exciting anyway." Hmm...
Or if the Dustmen should suddenly return:
Dustmen News
*no cheery music*
"Today we have recorded 7529 deaths across the Planes, not counting the Blood War. Let us all weep for ourselves and hope for a better tomorrow so that we could die a happy death."
Unless they produced their own news, there would be a gigantic "THE OPINIONS OF THE DUSTMEN ARE NOT THOSE OF PRODUCIING COMPANY X, headquarters based on Black Street 19, Dis, Baator". That last bit of course goes through with the speed of light.
It WOULD be pretty funny if different factions would have commercials about themselves.
Anarchists: *the normal show suddenly dissappears* "You, there in the seats. Do you think you are happy? Do you think you are free?"
Doomguard: "The end is coming, and you all know it. Stop pretending otherwise. Even as we speak, your TV is falling apart, and the only one who could fix it is now in Carceri. So just give up. Accept it."
Xaosmen: "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! *bark bark*" *somebody runs before the cameras for a second, then the commercial ends*
Given the prohibition on magical signals coming in and out on Sigil, I'm reluctant to think that the Lady would permit electromagnetic waves to penetrate her ward.
After all, if TV signals can be sent out, then Powers can set up stations to broadcast into Sigil, complete with subliminal messages and all sorts of dirty tricks.
Unless it's a purely one way signal. The portals are pretty definatively under Her control. There's nothing to say Her Serenity can't let it go one way and not the other.
Alternatively - have the broadcast stations set up in either the Elemental plane of lightning (electromagnetic radiation at it's best). Or in the Cyber Plane that's been postulated as a new transitive plane?
This would disregard the notion that the Lady is as much a prisoner of Sigil as She is its ruler. The rule has been that Her wards work both ways-just as you can't teleport into the Cage, you can't teleport out of it.
That being said, communication via land lines is still possible-there could be several portals that are kept open permanently with wires running through them.
Of course it may only work for informational signals / non material objects.
Or alternatively, she's not as trapped as she seems (Aoskar's corpse shudders in memory 
)
But physical lines work as well if we want to do those instead.
Eh... I still think it could be done. A widespread magical effect on a single Outer Plane managed to leak through, I'm pretty sure a tv signal specifically modified by magic might do it. Besides, the Ripple Effect from something wild was directly hazardous to the inhabitants of Sigil, she didn't block that. Why bother to block a simple TV signal?
Any while she might not like religious programming (on the TV, not the mind) you dont think there arn't Clerics standing on soap boxes in Sigil now? Besides, all we have to do is create the Sigilian Broadcasting something to oversee TV signals to make sure anyone doesn't use enchantments via the TV. After all, veiwers turned to religious nuts who run off to fight a holy war don't stay veiwers for long.
What other types of TV shows would you find in the Outer Planes (including the Outlands)? And what kind of shows would they have in the Inner Planes?
I'd imagine that the Inner Planes would not be conductive to film-making, although movie-makers from the outer planes might set scenes in the inner planes (and spend a fortune on protection). The only one I can brainstorm right now would a "Days of our Lives" type of soap-opera set in the City of Brass... 
, otherwise, I'd imagine the elementals to have pretty esoteric tastes.
The Outlands, as the most Earth-like environment and the most alignment-diverse, probably releases the most interesting and variable films and shows, and probably closer to the kind of movies we release on Earth.
On the Lawful Good planes, all shows and movies would be morality plays where the main-character is faced with some sort of hard choice, and in the end chooses the "right" decision. Action movies, on the other hand, would be oddly popular (DESTROY EVIL!), except no one wants to admit it.
Chaotic Good would specialize in art films, quirky "feel good" comedies, dramas dealing with lesser-known issues, and out and out spoofs like "Airplane!".
Chaotic Evil makes plenty of films, but only about itself. "My name is Vorgal, Demon Overlord of the Abyss, and this is my army!" (shows a mob of Dretch). They desperately try and get published to fuel their own vanity, but unfortunately, their films are so bad no one wants to see them. Chaotic Evil sometimes does release a good film, but this almost always a self-expository by the rare demon with good taste.
Lawful Evil releases two kinds of films: cheap, hollywood spiel, written for the lowest common denominator just to make money, or films it makes for itself. Their own films are almost always about powerful individuals fighting power struggles against other powerful individuals, full of intrigue and courtroom battles. Lawful evil also writes pretty cruel satire, which says more about themselves than about the topic of their ire
Remember, the Outer Planes are centers of belief, so if enough people think you're team is gonna win, it does!
Actually, I could see the Chaotic Evil types doing REALLY biting black comedies... although most would still fail, because they don't all understand humor.
The 'loths and 'dands would be specialists both at producing reality TV gameshows. and would be heavy consumers of it. They would probably find them to be interesting studies of mortal behavior, (betray your friends and do evil for money?? That suits the types really well...) and entertaining just because they offer great views of so many types of evil.
I could see Rilmani as documentary producers.
Quickie ideas on sports and the outer plane:
Pantheons-each pantheon has a particular sport they favor, which each power fielding there own team.
On the Planes of Law, (american) football is big. Each plane has its own league (Baator Football is like XFL on speed). Interleague play is common.
The Abyss is home to a sport that is equal parts basketball and gang warfare. Soccor is also popular, if only for the excuse to amass an Abyssmal Hooligan Horde.