Athens Olympics on TV
The opening ceremonies for the Athens Olympics were on TV the other night. Living in Vermont, we get two choices - NBC and its many variants, and CBC, the Canadian TV system. Thanks to a longer time delay between NBC and CBC, I was able to toggle between the two networks for an interesting version of the show. I noted that the CBC was able to follow the script that must have been provided to all media in Athens. This was a script that explained the symbolism of the living statues and imaginative set design in the ceremony. NBC, on the other hand, must have either thrown out the script, or been unable to understand it. The two NBC commentators babbled on about everything except the show at hand. What was even odder was that as the show moved on from one spectacular scene to another, the NBC broadcast made a number of unusual camera changes, most often to avoid showing any statuary genitalia, such as they were, to the US audience. I know this because the CBC broadcast showed the program as it was meant to be, human anatomy and all. The most obvious example of this was the ending, when the pregnant woman walked down the ramp and out into the water. CBC followed her and explained that she represented life and hope for the future. NBC showed her, but without any explanation as to why she was there. When her belly lit up, NBC didn't even comment, while CBC explained and showed through overhead shots, that she was a part of the growing lights in the large pool of water, which represented the Milky Way, etc. Meanwhile, NBC was almost silent. What asses. They must be afraid that the FCC will get after them for broadcasting something that offends the pinheads in Washington. I'm glad we live close enough to Canada to get some interesting coverage of the Olympics. Fewer loathsome ads, too.