All entries for Friday 12 January 2007

A Blog Entry in Two Parts (Part 2)

Follow-up to A Blog Entry in Two Parts (Part 1) from The randomness of tomorrow, today!

Previously, on The randomness of tomorrow, today!:

Discounting actual programmes that annoy me (Big Brother and the like to name but a few) one of the main things that annoys me about television programmes manifests itself in two ways, the second of which is more annoying but both of which are essentially the same sin:

1. Something I can only recall Knight Rider doing off the top of my head, which is providing a short - but detailed - preview of the upcoming episode prior to the opening titles. While it's true that this particular example is easy to skip in recordings since it goes Preview, Titles, Episode - such as to have an easily identifiable break between preview and proper content - it still seems completely pointless to me; if I want to see what's going to happen in the episode, I will watch the actual episode - this is, after all, the point...

2. The most annoying one requires a break for adverts (which makes it even more annoying in shows that don't even have adverts...) which is where they give a detailed preview of what's going to happen in 3 minutes time! That one really gets me - my attention span is not so short that a three minute ad break is going to stop me from watching a program I'm enjoying; and if I'm not enjoying it, no amount of "here's what exciting stuff is coming up" is going to keep me watching...
Also not only do we get the preview before the adverts, but afterwards we get a review of events witnessed just three minutes ago! I don't mind reviews such as prior to some Stargate SG-1 (for example) episodes where they tell you what happened 7 days ago - or possibly several months for some recurring themes - but my memory is good enough to remember what's already happened before the adverts in the current episode.

Also, I hate "Next Week" for precisely them same reason - don't spoil the surprise; the preview of upcoming events is not the basis of my decision to continue watching the series (not that I'm expecting any to read this, but a hint to any writers/producers/directors/etc: Decent content, not previews, are what keep people watching...)

I'm glad I got that off my chest.

: 12 Jan 2007 20:22 |  Tags: A Blog Entry In Two Parts Randomness Rant TV |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A Blog Entry in Two Parts (Part 1)

Follow-up to A Blog Entry in Two Parts (Part 2) from The randomness of tomorrow, today!

Discounting actual programmes that annoy me (Big Brother and the like to name but a few) one of the main things that annoys me about television programmes manifests itself in two ways, the second of which is more annoying but both of which are essentially the same sin:

1. Something I can only recall Knight Rider doing off the top of my head, which is providing a short - but detailed - preview of the upcoming episode prior to the opening titles. While it's true that this particular example is easy to skip in recordings since it goes Preview, Titles, Episode - such as to have an easily identifiable break between preview and proper content - it still seems completely pointless to me; if I want to see what's going to happen in the episode, I will watch the actual episode - this is, after all, the point...

Coming up, after the break:

2. The most annoying one requires a break for adverts (which makes it even more annoying in shows that don't even have adverts...) which is where they give a detailed preview of what's going to happen in 3 minutes time! That one really gets me - my attention span is not so short that a three minute ad break is going to stop me from watching a program I'm enjoying; and if I'm not enjoying it, no amount of "here's what exciting stuff is coming up" is going to keep me watching...
Also not only do we get the preview before the adverts, but afterwards we get a review of events witnessed just three minutes ago! I don't mind reviews such as prior to some Stargate SG-1 (for example) episodes where they tell you what happened 7 days ago - or possibly several months for some recurring themes - but my memory is good enough to remember what's already happened before the adverts in the current episode.

Also, I hate "Next Week" for precisely them same reason - don't spoil the surprise; the preview of upcoming events is not the basis of my decision to continue watching the series (not that I'm expecting any to read this, but a hint to any writers/producers/directors/etc: Decent content, not previews, are what keep people watching...)

I'm glad I got that off my chest.

: 12 Jan 2007 20:11 |  Tags: A Blog Entry In Two Parts Randomness Rant TV |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem