I am getting increasingly fed up with television at the moment. I have to sit constantly with the remote in my hand so that I can mute the sound between programmes, as there are endless trailers for Broadchurch, Mr Selfridge, Downton Abbey etc, which give away so much of the story - which I find very annoying. In the current Mr Selfridge trailer there are clips from 65 scenes. How ridiculous!
Another pet hate is that programmes have to tell you all that is going to be in the programme, usually before the credits. This can go on for 5, even 7 minutes. Then you get constant "Still to come!" sections. If I'm already watching a programme, I don't want to know what's still to come. Do they think I'm going to suddenly stop watching a programme because I don't know what's left in it? Sometimes it is counterproductive, because if I see that there's nothing that I particularly want in a programme - I turn off. Whereas, if I hadn't known, I would have watched the whole thing. So they actually lose me as a viewer.
Even worse is the "Next time" section that now follows so many drama episodes. If I'm watching a serial, I don't want to see all that is going to happen in the next episode - it spoils it. And if you're in the middle of a series, do they think you're not going to carry on watching it unless you see in advance what is in the next episode? You used to be able to switch off after the end credits and miss the "Next time" trailer, but now they show it immediately after the final scene, before the credits. I have to quickly mute the sound and look away, but then you miss the end credits if you don't look back in time. Not that you can read the credits anyway, as they squash them into a corner so that they can trail future programmes..... and if you want to listen to a programme's theme music, hard luck.....as some inane continuity announcer will chatter away all through it, as if the music is only there for them to talk over! Heaven help you if you want to know the name of an actor or actress who has played a specific part.
It's lovely to watch a DVD of an old drama series and see that you had the opening credits and theme music right at the start, and then the programme began.. Whoever came up with the idea that we need five minutes of the programme before the title sequence?
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