What's On the Telly

Some observations on being a couch-potato abroad...


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Reruns:

Although we don't have a phone or internet, we do have Sky TV, which means we get to watch our favorite episodes of Friends. Over and over again. I don't know what the obsession is, but the damn show is on all the time.

I get the feeling that the Brits don't like to miss their favorite shows. Which explains all the reruns, and the fact that a bunch of channels has a back up channel. I do not joke. The other channel shows the exact same lineup, except with an hour delay so you can't miss a thing, even if you wanted to. So there's E4 and E4+, Home and Health and Home and Health + and so on and so forth.

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Animal rescue commercials:

I'm sure everyone's seen the ASPCA or WWF ads that are on back in the States. There's all those sad cats and dogs with their huge pitiful eyes with the mournful Sarah MacLachlan songs playing in the background. Those are so hard to watch, I find myself almost breaking an arm scrambling for the remote control to change the channel.

The Brits have a different approach. First, they want to rescue much more than just cats and dogs. I've seen appeals for cats, dogs, polar bears, mules, jaguars, and tigers. I'm sure I've missed a few animals along the way. Something else that's different is that all the animals talk. Well, they're all voiced by British actors. As sympathetic as I am to seeing animals in distress, it's just weird and disconcerting to hear a rescue cat speak in the voice of a middle-aged man with a British accent.

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Adverts in general:

As annoying as the commercials back in the States can be, I only truly understood the true misery a minute and a half can bring after moving here. There are all sorts of annoying jingles being sung by an overweight Jeeves look-a-like in a pyramid, a bicycling pigeon shilling for phone cards, an older woman with the most annoying laugh ever and some teeth that really do require the attention of an experienced dentist promoting online bingo. Thank goodness for the mute button.

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X-Factor:

It's huge. It's a lot like American Idol with a few key differences. There is no age limit, and there are four different categories of acts: male, female, groups, and over 28. Each group is mentored by a judge, who selects their songs and guides them through the whole competition. I think pretty much everyone in the UK must be familiar with the competition somehow just because the show is everywhere - TV, magazines, news. I have to confess, James and I are addicted. And if you watch, who the hell is voting for Wagner?