ITV / SKY / C4 documentaries.... advert breaks.. recaps!!!!

[Tony*T3]

Why the f**k do the commercial TV programme makers think that the audiance cant remember what happened before the last comercial break and have to spend the first 2 minutes of the next part of the programme recapping?????

Its really annoying. Talk about stretching the content of a programme.

For example. Watching a program on Iraq conflict last night. After every commercial break the makers recap what happened in the last segment of the show. FFS give us a break and get on with it.

And yes i know, i dont know when to use program/programme. Tired, so live with it,

[mechsympathy]

I record anything I watch on commercial channels. It does mean I invariably miss out on the PH Grand Designs/5th Gear chat though.

[Altrezia]

It's just filler isnt it? makes a 30 min program fill an hour..

[MrV]

I thought it was all part of the dumbing down of the audience.

[Simpo Two]

There are too many channels to fill and not enough material.

Hence instead of 'Programme/Adverts/Programme' it now goes: 'Ridiculously Expensive CGI Intro/What's coming up/Content (4 mins)/Recap/Channel ID/Sponsor's sting and no I'm not going to the bloody Movies with Peugot and I don't use Steradent/Adverts featuring that really annoying one for a bank, then Sponsor's sting again/Channel ID/Recap and so on...

Bah.

[Randy Winkman]

Tony*T3 said:

Why the f**k do the commercial TV programme makers think that the audiance cant remember what happened before the last comercial break and have to spend the first 2 minutes of the next part of the programme recapping?????

Its really annoying. Talk about stretching the content of a programme.

For example. Watching a program on Iraq conflict last night. After every commercial break the makers recap what happened in the last segment of the show. FFS give us a break and get on with it.

And yes i know, i dont know when to use program/programme. Tired, so live with it,

The really extraordinary thing is that there are even programmes on the BBC - with no adverts - where they do this.

[rpguk]

I'd imagine that'd be to make them more appealing to overseas commercial broadcasters.

[krallicious]

Americanisation of British television?

[mouseymousey]

And don't forget the 'coming up' part just before the ad break!

[adycav]

A valid point OP.

However, I have also noticed this irritating phenomenon with some BBC programmes! They tend to be the things the wife watches on BBC3 - people who only eat chips, people in debt etc.

[anonymous-user]

krallicious said:

Americanisation of British television?

For proof, contrast the UK version of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares with the (utterly unbearable) US version. The Yank version must only have about 50% of the content, padded out with inane recaps of what you've just seen and tedious "coming up next" bits, which spoil what you're about to see

[Tony*T3]

mouseymousey said:

And don't forget the 'coming up' part just before the ad break!

Good point. I had.

[spitfire-ian]

adycav said:

A valid point OP.

However, I have also noticed this irritating phenomenon with some BBC programmes! They tend to be the things the wife watches on BBC3 - people who only eat chips, people in debt etc.

These tend to be programmes where they are then shown on a channel with commercials. A half hour programme on BBC then becomes a 45 minute one with commercials. The recaps happen after every ad break.

[chris watton]

I find the US history documentaries are the worse for this – most is recaps, and the rest is how much better America is compared to the history they’re supposed to be studying! I watched something about the ‘Real Queen of Sheba’ – very little info, many recaps, and the program seemed more inclined to focus on the life story of a US guy who reportedly found the evidence – I knew more about this guy and was left none the wiser about the ‘real’ queen of Sheba by the end credits!

Most US documentaries are the educational equivalent of primary school Ladybird books, compared the European versions, anyway, coming up……..

[spitfire-ian]

You've got to remember that any US show shown here has probably had half the commercials taken out already, hence the unnecessary recaps

[DamoLLb]

Ben fogle’s extreme whatever was horrendous for re-caps and introductions. Very annoying to say the least!

[anonymous-user]

chris watton said:

I watched something about the ‘Real Queen of Sheba’ – very little info, many recaps, and the program seemed more inclined to focus on the life story of a US guy who reportedly found the evidence – I knew more about this guy and was left none the wiser about the ‘real’ queen of Sheba by the end credits!

Maybe that bloke was actually the real Queen of Sheba

[Jasandjules]

MrV said:

I thought it was all part of the dumbing down of the audience.

Yep, that's what we thought.

[Simpo Two]

Tony*T3 said:

mouseymousey said:

And don't forget the 'coming up' part just before the ad break!

Good point. I had.

I hadn't

The one that's getting me turning over now is trailer/advert thing with children miming to famous speeches. Bloody annoying; still don't know what it's for.

[MartG]

Agree with the recap thing - someone needs to tell them that the type of person who watches a documentary in the first place generally has a better memory than a concussed goldfish.

Another thing that annoys me about some documentaries is when they show the same bit of film ( often a bit of CGI simulation )several times - one I watched recently used the same clip over 11 times in a 1 hour programme ( about 25 minutes if you removed the ad breaks, coming up, and recaps )