To Be or not TV?
Watching TV here is a unique experience. Sometimes there are more adverts than show, especially for big sporting events. The ads are also not as subtle as in the UK and just involve people shouting very loudly about how great their product is. Imagine Barry Scott in each commercial and you have a good idea of what it's all about.
Shows are also different. I have talked about the dubbing of kids shows, but I haven't mentioned the different formats that each show can take. I want to use Deal or No Deal as an example. Now in the UK this is presented by Noel "fluffy jumper" Edmonds. If you haven't seen it I should warn you that it is highly addictive and Edmonds is very good at building the tension. I shall try to explain what happens. Differing amounts of money ranging from 1pence to 250,000 quid are placed randomly in 22 different boxes. There are 22 contestants who are given one box each. Then one of the 22 contestants is chosen to compete. They take their box up to be with Noel. The main goal of the show is to sell your box for the highest amount. You do not know what is in your box so in order to find out you open up other boxes by selecting them. There are no questions, it is pure luck. The 1st time the contestant has to choose 5 boxes to open, each box opened will show a different amount and will mean that the contestant can't have that amount (so if they choose box 4 and it has a penny in it then they know they can't have a penny in their box and so that is a good thing, likewise if they choose box 4 and it has 250,000 pounds in it then that is a bad thing as they can not have 250,000 in their box) then a mysterious banker calls and offers an amount for the box that the contestant with Noel has, based on the boxes they have opened, then the next round and each subsequent round they open 3 and then the banker calls again until a deal is struck.
I hope I have still got you. The big difference in the US is the size of the winnings, here it is a million dollars, but still that would normally be enough to pull the punters in to watch so they have also upped the sex appeal. Now remember in the UK the other 21 people opening the boxes are just random punters, here there are 26 cases (not boxes) and they are all held by female models in revealing evening gowns. There is loud music played between each choosing of the case, and it is all hosted by Howie Mandel who is a comedian, and dresses in a smart suit. He also is bald, so is at the opposite end of the presenter spectrum from bouffant Edmonds. Apart from that the show is the same, people just choose cases from models rather than boxes from Joe Bloggs. Oh and this week as it was season premiere week the highest case contained $6,000,000.
There are differences on the Weakest Link, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, as well as things like Big Brother (no swearing, no nudity, no fun), and it is really funny to watch films here on network television as they are all cut for swearing and nudity (although not for violence). About 2 years ago IMontereyoneterey and we were in a bar which had a TV on. On the TV they were showing Showgirls (terrible movie, the only saving grace being the amount of nudity in it) but as it was on network TV they had cut out all the nudity, which left a terrible movie even worse as there was no nudity in it. Yet even with all the cutting out of swearing kids still swear here. I have yet to here anyone in the heat of an argument say "Forget you" or :Frigging". Watching Gordon Ramsey is fun here, but you have no real idea what he is saying at times because of all the beeps!
Shows are also different. I have talked about the dubbing of kids shows, but I haven't mentioned the different formats that each show can take. I want to use Deal or No Deal as an example. Now in the UK this is presented by Noel "fluffy jumper" Edmonds. If you haven't seen it I should warn you that it is highly addictive and Edmonds is very good at building the tension. I shall try to explain what happens. Differing amounts of money ranging from 1pence to 250,000 quid are placed randomly in 22 different boxes. There are 22 contestants who are given one box each. Then one of the 22 contestants is chosen to compete. They take their box up to be with Noel. The main goal of the show is to sell your box for the highest amount. You do not know what is in your box so in order to find out you open up other boxes by selecting them. There are no questions, it is pure luck. The 1st time the contestant has to choose 5 boxes to open, each box opened will show a different amount and will mean that the contestant can't have that amount (so if they choose box 4 and it has a penny in it then they know they can't have a penny in their box and so that is a good thing, likewise if they choose box 4 and it has 250,000 pounds in it then that is a bad thing as they can not have 250,000 in their box) then a mysterious banker calls and offers an amount for the box that the contestant with Noel has, based on the boxes they have opened, then the next round and each subsequent round they open 3 and then the banker calls again until a deal is struck.
I hope I have still got you. The big difference in the US is the size of the winnings, here it is a million dollars, but still that would normally be enough to pull the punters in to watch so they have also upped the sex appeal. Now remember in the UK the other 21 people opening the boxes are just random punters, here there are 26 cases (not boxes) and they are all held by female models in revealing evening gowns. There is loud music played between each choosing of the case, and it is all hosted by Howie Mandel who is a comedian, and dresses in a smart suit. He also is bald, so is at the opposite end of the presenter spectrum from bouffant Edmonds. Apart from that the show is the same, people just choose cases from models rather than boxes from Joe Bloggs. Oh and this week as it was season premiere week the highest case contained $6,000,000.
There are differences on the Weakest Link, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, as well as things like Big Brother (no swearing, no nudity, no fun), and it is really funny to watch films here on network television as they are all cut for swearing and nudity (although not for violence). About 2 years ago IMontereyoneterey and we were in a bar which had a TV on. On the TV they were showing Showgirls (terrible movie, the only saving grace being the amount of nudity in it) but as it was on network TV they had cut out all the nudity, which left a terrible movie even worse as there was no nudity in it. Yet even with all the cutting out of swearing kids still swear here. I have yet to here anyone in the heat of an argument say "Forget you" or :Frigging". Watching Gordon Ramsey is fun here, but you have no real idea what he is saying at times because of all the beeps!
posted by Nick at 10:56 AM
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