I turned on the television the other day. Nothing weird about that, you may say. But you don’t understand – I actually watched TV.
For the past four or five years, the flat-screen TV hanging on the wall of my apartment has merely been an extension of my laptop. Anything I watch, I stream on the Internet: movies, serial dramas, documentaries, or music videos.
But what this means is that I tend to binge-watch more, which in turn means less variety.
When I was young, watching TV with my parents on an evening meant being exposed to many different forms of entertainment. We’d watch a soap opera, then maybe a quiz show, then the news, then a police or hospital drama, then maybe a wildlife show, and then a film, which is when my father would inevitably fall asleep. (He has a frustrating habit of nodding off within the first 10 minutes and waking up just as the end credits start rolling, only to ask, “What happened?”)
Those days are long gone, it seems. Today, I can spend an evening watching an entire season of Mad Men, or episode upon episode of the BBC family comedy Outnumbered. I’ve lost count of the amount of times my wife has asked me, “Haven’t you watched this one already?”
I probably have, yes – many times.
So the other night, I switched on the TV, grabbed the remote, steeled myself for the unknown and went old-school flipping.
I started in safe territory: China Central Television’s sports channel was showing a replay of a European soccer match from the previous weekend. It was 2-0. The commentators repeated haoqiu until they’d truly diminished its meaning.
Flip!
A costume drama with a lot of people talking very seriously one on one (makes a nice change from WeChat groups), with the action switching between two virtually identical rooms. There was tinkling, overwrought music throughout, and a guy with white hair and long eyebrows who gave me the creeps. My wife tells me there is something like 126 episodes.
Flip!
A Jerry Springer-type talk show, only in this one the guests were wearing sad party masks. One of them, a woman in her 50s, started cry-talking – you know, when a person is actually trying to form words but it just ends up a wail. Worst party ever, I guess. Plus there was tinkling, overwrought music throughout.
Flip!
The news. All very standard: Man in suit stares at camera; woman with strangely large hair nods a lot (probably due to the weight of the hair).
Flip!
A madcap comedy movie in which several misfits end up in some ludicrous situation together, forcing them to make ever-more ludicrous decisions until everything all works out. One of them gets a girl in the end.
Flip!
That time was the off switch. I’d had enough, but at least it had reminded me why I started streaming in the first place.
Who says variety is the spice of life?
Broadcaster:
Greg Fountain is a copy editor and occasional presenter for China Daily. Before moving to Beijing in January, 2016 he worked for newspapers in the Middle East and UK. He has an M.A in Print Journalism from the University of Sheffield, a B.A in English and History from the University of Reading.
2017届高考英语广东版英语测试报高三上学期综合版训练:第3期 B2(外研版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修4 Unit5《Theme parks》(新人教版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修2 Unit5《Music》(新人教版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修5 Unit1《Great Scientists》(新人教版)
2017届(浙江、江苏)高考英语一轮复习题型重组训练:第18组(牛津译林版含解析)
2017届高考英语广东版英语测试报高三上学期综合版训练:第4期 A2-3(外研版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:选修6 Unit2《Poems》(新人教版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修5 Unit2《The United Kingdom》(新人教版)
2017届(浙江、江苏)高考英语一轮复习题型重组训练:第19组(牛津译林版含解析)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:选修6 Unit4《Global warming》(新人教版)
2017届高考英语广东版英语测试报高三上学期综合版训练:第3期Practice听说训练录音材料(外研版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修4 Unit2《Working the land》(新人教版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修3 Unit1《Festivals around the world》(新人教版)
2017届(浙江、江苏)高考英语一轮复习题型重组训练:第26组(牛津译林版含解析)
2017届(浙江、江苏)高考英语一轮复习题型重组训练:第15组(牛津译林版含解析)
2017届(浙江、江苏)高考英语一轮复习题型重组训练:第17组(牛津译林版含解析)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修2 Unit2《The Olympic Games》(新人教版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:选修6 Unit5《The power of nature》(新人教版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修4 Unit1《Women of achievement》(新人教版)
2017届(浙江、江苏)高考英语一轮复习题型重组训练:第21组(牛津译林版含解析)
2017届高考英语一轮复习夯实练习:必修2U3《Computers》(新人教版含解析)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修3 Unit5《Canada-The True North》(新人教版)
2017届(浙江、江苏)高考英语一轮复习题型重组训练:第13组(牛津译林版含解析)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修2 Unit3《Computers》(新人教版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修4 Unit3《A taste of English humour》(新人教版)
2017届高考英语广东版英语测试报高三上学期综合版训练:第4期 A1(外研版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修2 Unit4《Wildlife protection》(新人教版)
2017届高考英语广东版英语测试报高三上学期综合版训练:第3期 B版答案(外研版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修5 Unit5《First aid》(新人教版)
(新课标地区)2017届高考英语一轮复习课件:必修3 Unit4《Astronmy the science of the stars》(新人教版)