awakeAnyway, so I’m listening to Radio Three, and they’re talking about how Peter Mansbridge is miffed because they’re going to pre-empt The National for The One: Making a Music Star. This bugs me in two distinct ways:
1. Our public broadcaster is pre-empting our national newscast for an American reality show.
2. Moreover, this isn’t American Idol (which is broadcast in Canada on CTV, in addition to our own Canadian Idol), this is the B-grade music reality show, the knock-off. And they’re pre-empting the national news for it.
So they’re doing this; meanwhile the Senate comes out with recommendations, among these:
1. CBC should get out of commercial television all together and stop trying to compete with the big private networks (or, more often these days, specialty channels) in a zillion-channel universe. Maybe we should have more Nature of Things and less of The Simpsons. I’d personally like to see them get rid of commercials altogether.
2. They should get out of sports broadcasting. No, please. Hockey Night in Canada is a Canadian institution. The Grey Cup is also Ours. I hold the traditional point of view that everything should take a backseat to Saturday night and playoff hockey broadcasts. Yes, broadcasting the exploits of millionaire athletes on a public channel that is supposed to educate and inform the masses may seem like a bit of an anachronism. But it’s a Canadian anachronism.
I remember the days before we got cable when I used to watch the CBC a lot more. I mean a lot more; I’d plan my Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights around what was on. Was I wasting time watching so much TV in my formative years? Probably.
Still, it’s just good to know that all those shows are still there, even if I don’t take the time to actually watch them. I don’t really watch any shows, for that matter – the only things I generally go out of my way to tune in are playoff hockey games and the Majors of the golf world. Other than that, I’ve got too many books to read, and I don’t have the time to really get into anything. I remember getting hooked on Lost when I was in PEI last April. It was a great show, but I just can’t be bothered to sit in front of a television at the prescribed time, and taping it would just be way too much trouble, and a PVR far too expensive.
I guess I’ll just stick with the seek button for now.
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Seen tonight on The Onion:
Devastated By U.S. World Cup Team's First-Round Loss, Nation Grinds To Halt - The headline says it all.
Carolina Residents Confused, Terrified As Victorious Hurricane Players Riot In Streets - This is very funny; it describes the silent, deserted streets upon which the Hurricanes celebrate their Stanley Cup victory.
