Commercial appeal

Alas, I left America before the big Tivo craze. It was probably a good thing in the end, because it just would have been yet another thing I would have had to learn to live without. My husband keeps wondering when Tivo will make it to Greece, but I seriously have my doubts it can ever work here.

The main Greek networks seem to have problems telling time. Or perhaps they are using some kind of clock the rest of the world isn't familiar with, because at some point every day, usually sometime after the 8pm news, the T.V. programming schedule is off. It can be off by a manner of a few minutes at first, and by the end of the evening it can be an hour or more behind schedule. One of the major networks actually has shows come on several minutes early sometimes. I wonder how they manage that. Can you imaginewhat kind of pandemonium and chaos would ensue if American networks were like this? Can you imagine the heart attacks that would occur in the upper management offices of the big networks if this happened on a regular basis? Hell, they start to stress if the President's speech runs too long, or the Academy Awards runs long - networks in America simply do not like it if their schedule is off. And I think it is safe to say, neither do the American people.

Of course, the shows that usually end up being late are the "foreign" (read - U.S.) shows that are shown after all the "real" (read - crappy Greek shows) programming is over, although sometimes the big movies they show at 9pm or so are late. Now, I have to imagine that the Greek audience likes when their stupid shows run over, but I personally can't imagine watching one show that lasts for 2 hours, especially if it is a crappy talk show (like Aipnies on Alter channel). Maybe it speaks to my American attention span, but I don't enjoy watching an aging fake-blonde woman constantly primping herself on camera with guests of a questionable nature. I suppose to Greeks it might be like watching a train wreck, but I can only take so many minutes of a train wreck. Now if Greek television writers were like their ancestors and there was an Aeschylus or Sophocles among them, I might be interested. But if there are Greek writers like that (and I am sure there must be some), I highly doubt they write for T.V.

Another big difference between Greek and American television is the commercial. Commercials tend to come in 5 to 10 minute (or longer, if it is between shows) blocks and at less frequent intervals. For the most part, I actually like this, because it gives me time to go to the bathroom, get a drink, put out laundry, do dishes, and any one of a hundred mundane tasks I have put off til the evening. Unfortunately, however, they don't time commericals well, and usually they cut to commercial in the middle of a scene, sometimes when a character is mid-sentence. Worst of all, they will often cut to commercials when there are only a couple minutes of a show or movie left, so you have to wait 10 minutes for the conclusion.

In the end, I suppose it could be worse. At this point, I have gotten used to the vagaries of Greek television. Still, I don't think it would hurt them to stick to their schedule. But I guess that might be an impossibility for Greeks.