February 12, 2011

The black hole that is TV

Nuthin' on.
I mentioned the other day that was excited because I recorded an old Mets game from 2000, against Atlanta. I was really looking forward to watching it. But last night I tried to watch it and found yet another example of the Great American Decline.

The game began normally and continued for about three minutes, at which point the recording screwed up and the screen went black. After a moment they went to commercial. After at least six minutes of commercials, they came back to the game, beginning at the same point where it began the last time. And it continued for about three minutes, screen went black, and they went back to another slew of commercials. And then it came back on and did the same thing again!

At this point, I realized nobody was home at the station. This was being robo-presented and they didn't even have a staff person watching to see how things were going. It probably continued that way for the entire game, with the computer seeing black screen and automatically switching to a commercial. The robot didn't know anything was wrong, and with no one monitoring the robot, it just continued along the same loop of failure. I deleted the game without going any further because of the hopeless nitwits that run the MLB station.

This is one of the reasons why TV is such a black hole: nobody's home.

5 comments:

Anna Guess Pick said...

I'm filling that black hole on my TV with DVD's. Sunshine arrived today, actually Sunshine times 2. Not only do I have the SciFi version but also Sunshine with Ralph Fiennes, a very long 3 hour drama of a Jewish family's struggle to survive anti-Semitism, war and corruption in Hungary. I never know why they have to make those movies as long as the struggle themselves. The Sci-fi movie will be viewed first.

Sorry to hear about the 'passing' of your classic Mets game...RIP.

writenow said...

If you watch it tonight, you'll have a very bright evening.

Did you ever see "Das Boot"? It's a rather long movie that was presented on German television as a series, about a six-hour event. It's about live aboard a German sub, and it's the most amazing commentary on war. Subtitles but I always forget them within minutes. I loved it.

You asking why do they have to make these things so long, and mentioning war and corruption in Hungary, brought this to mind. It's not a complete non sequitur. (A bit, though.) Enjoy Sunshine.

Anna Guess Pick said...

OK....great sets and photography and ending. Sunshine on my face is always an energizer.

PS - Great song playing over the closing credits..... "Avenue of Hope" by I Am Kloot.

PPS I did see "Das Boot" the movie. Sometimes with a good sub-titled movie I forget to 'read' totally absorbed in the action on the screen.

writenow said...

I didn't want to say this until you'd seen the movie -- didn't the end remind you of the end of The Perfect Storm? The feel was so similar. I felt like the two movies were overlaid for a moment.

Anna Guess Pick said...

Yes, you're right...The Perfect Storm was the most tense movie of all time....I was exhausted.