Unexpectedly Interesting Wallpaper TV Of The Year
Sumo TV
Being male, Sky Sports News usually acts as a sort of 'screen saver' for our TV set when we're at home but doing something else. Sometimes though, such as when there's an England match that Sky have got the broadcast rights to, they're prepared to drone on about events so inconsequential even we can't be bothered with it. As we're not going to start watching Setanta Sports News until it stops being rubbish, we can often find ourselves turning to Sky channel 144. Sometimes, Sumo will do little other than run 'user-generated content' that isn't even good enough for YouTube (yes, that bad), but quite often their output consists of material from archive.org's collection of public domain films.
This means we can to do Other Things to a soothing backdrop of American public information films, advertisements and propaganda shorts from the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s. All of which is the sort of thing that excites us tremendously, which is possibly we shouldn't be admitting in public.
While there's a disappointing lack of Massingham Magic (hey James 'Loaded' Brown! They're in the public domain, too! Come on!), it all makes for a lovely diversion if you're awake near a television on a Sunday morning. Certainly better than watching Tim Lovejoy pretend he gives a stuff about cooking and that no, he certainly isn't sorry he'd left Soccer AM for the sake of a few hundred thousand people willing to watch a programme about the MLS.
Things That Should Have Happened In 2007 But Didn't (But Hopefully Will in 2008)
US Television Networks Biting The Bullet, And Dealing With The Writer's Strike Not By Chucking On A Load Of Re-runs and Quiz Shows, But Rather By Actually Showing Something From Overseas For Once
Well, we could but dream. Given the (relative) success of Extras on HBO, despite 98% of the audience clearly not knowing who Hale, Pace or Dean Gaffney are, maybe the bosses at NBC, Fox and ABC could challenge their assumption that the American public will be scared and confused by people saying things in an accent that isn't American. Maybe, just maybe, a showing of Life On Mars, Jekyll or Doctor Who (or even something from Australia, say) won't cause rioting in the streets of Chicago. If the networks are commendably capable of crediting their audience with the intelligence to enjoy House or Arrested Development, why not this? Hey, and it might stop everyone over there thinking British television is full of little else but Benny Hill and Are You Being Served?.
This means we can to do Other Things to a soothing backdrop of American public information films, advertisements and propaganda shorts from the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s. All of which is the sort of thing that excites us tremendously, which is possibly we shouldn't be admitting in public.
While there's a disappointing lack of Massingham Magic (hey James 'Loaded' Brown! They're in the public domain, too! Come on!), it all makes for a lovely diversion if you're awake near a television on a Sunday morning. Certainly better than watching Tim Lovejoy pretend he gives a stuff about cooking and that no, he certainly isn't sorry he'd left Soccer AM for the sake of a few hundred thousand people willing to watch a programme about the MLS.
Things That Should Have Happened In 2007 But Didn't (But Hopefully Will in 2008)
US Television Networks Biting The Bullet, And Dealing With The Writer's Strike Not By Chucking On A Load Of Re-runs and Quiz Shows, But Rather By Actually Showing Something From Overseas For Once
Well, we could but dream. Given the (relative) success of Extras on HBO, despite 98% of the audience clearly not knowing who Hale, Pace or Dean Gaffney are, maybe the bosses at NBC, Fox and ABC could challenge their assumption that the American public will be scared and confused by people saying things in an accent that isn't American. Maybe, just maybe, a showing of Life On Mars, Jekyll or Doctor Who (or even something from Australia, say) won't cause rioting in the streets of Chicago. If the networks are commendably capable of crediting their audience with the intelligence to enjoy House or Arrested Development, why not this? Hey, and it might stop everyone over there thinking British television is full of little else but Benny Hill and Are You Being Served?.
3 .:
Hey
I'm going to look for this magic stuff today :)
Glad you like the channel.
Although I'm pretty sure we have run the Don't Spread Germs clip already.
Really? Excellent. Run it more often!
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