Macbook won't detect an external display

Recently I decided to attempt to connect my Macbook to my new Sharp LCD TV. I have a mini DVI to DVI cable and then a DVI to VGA. When I hook up my Mac, nothing comes up. The television similarly displays 'No Signal'. The screen on the macbook goes blue briefly and then back to normal, but nothing has been detected. I've tried to use Detect Display but nothing happens. Do I need better cables? There's an HDMI port as well as the VGA port on Sharp TV do you think that would work better?
Any help would be much appreciated!

The Apple Mini DVI to DVI Adapter can only pass digital signals, not analog ones. So trying to use another cable or adapter to go to VGA won't work. Since you already have the DVI adapter, you could get a DVI to HDMI cable and try that.

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