Though we don't have a TV, we aren't a TV-free zone. There are a few shows that we watch online. But we don't watch telly randomly - except in public spaces. Hotel breakfast rooms always have a TV burbling. So does the place where I get the car serviced. Today I took a friend to a dental appointment, and discovered that they've installed a TV in the waiting room. So while my friend had an hour of treatment, I got to watch The First 48 on the A&E Channel.
Well, first of all I couldn't get my head round the idea that there'd be such a thing as an Accident and Emergency Channel - until I remembered that if that did exist, over here it would be called the ER Channel. A&E apparently stands for Arts and Entertainment. However my original assumption really fitted the bill better, because The First 48 is all about the first 48 hours of a murder investigation. It's the most horrible concept for an "entertainment" show - cameras following a real life police story, with a breathtaking level of intrusion. I watched one half-hour episode, feeling like some sort of awful rubber-necker; but I turned away and read a book when the second episode came on.
I realise whenever I accidentally watch TV (in hotels it's usually mind-numbing rolling news; at the car place Deal or No Deal) that day-to-day I'm quite sheltered from popular US culture. And I'm so glad.
No comments:
Post a Comment