Oh my... geek alert
Jan. 23rd, 2007 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shinytoasterSo I've watched some cheap, tawdry TV in my time. Much of it was Big Brother. Everybody Loves Raymond was scraping the bottom of the barrel somewhat. My Hero went through the bottom of the barrel and burrowed thirty feet down before exploding with a grotesque, idiotic farting sound. The man who commissioned You Are What You Eat should have been shot. You get the picture.
Imagine these shows in all their utter hideousness. Now, End Day was worse.
Normally, I'm quite a fan of the old doomsday scenario docudrama where a BBC newsreader who is fully aware that this is the most exciting their job will ever get announces in a breathless voice that a supervolcano has erupted in Wyoming, or a meteor has just wiped out Berlin or whatever. They amuse me with their implausibility and they keep Bill McGuire in windcheaters.
But this was a docudrama so utterly cheap that it defied all imagination.
Scenario 1. A sign reading Yellowstone Park set before an imposing cliff with a clear blue sky overhead. It could be Yellowstone. It looks more like a gravel quarry. The camera pans back to reveal an SUV pulling up. The SUV is a right-hand drive Land Rover. The SUV is carrying British licence plates. Luton ones.
This is a show produced so cheaply that they couldn't afford to get an American car off the props department.
Scenario 2. A plane pulls into a terminal. It is a grey day. The pilot's voice crackles over the intercom: 'Welcome to JFK, where the local time is....' Through the portholes we catch a glimpse of passenger bridges coming to meet the plane. The bridges read Berlin Tegel.
This is a show produced so cheaply that they couldn't afford someone to edit the pictures.
Scenario 3. And why bother travelling to Germany in the first place? A man emerges from an airport terminal. Above him a sign reads JFK. Below it is a sign that the production company didn't cover up. It reads BAA. North Terminal Departures.
This is a show produced so cheaply that not only could they not obscure the fact they were filming at Gatwick, but they can't even tell the difference between departures and arrivals.
I weep.
Imagine these shows in all their utter hideousness. Now, End Day was worse.
Normally, I'm quite a fan of the old doomsday scenario docudrama where a BBC newsreader who is fully aware that this is the most exciting their job will ever get announces in a breathless voice that a supervolcano has erupted in Wyoming, or a meteor has just wiped out Berlin or whatever. They amuse me with their implausibility and they keep Bill McGuire in windcheaters.
But this was a docudrama so utterly cheap that it defied all imagination.
Scenario 1. A sign reading Yellowstone Park set before an imposing cliff with a clear blue sky overhead. It could be Yellowstone. It looks more like a gravel quarry. The camera pans back to reveal an SUV pulling up. The SUV is a right-hand drive Land Rover. The SUV is carrying British licence plates. Luton ones.
This is a show produced so cheaply that they couldn't afford to get an American car off the props department.
Scenario 2. A plane pulls into a terminal. It is a grey day. The pilot's voice crackles over the intercom: 'Welcome to JFK, where the local time is....' Through the portholes we catch a glimpse of passenger bridges coming to meet the plane. The bridges read Berlin Tegel.
This is a show produced so cheaply that they couldn't afford someone to edit the pictures.
Scenario 3. And why bother travelling to Germany in the first place? A man emerges from an airport terminal. Above him a sign reads JFK. Below it is a sign that the production company didn't cover up. It reads BAA. North Terminal Departures.
This is a show produced so cheaply that not only could they not obscure the fact they were filming at Gatwick, but they can't even tell the difference between departures and arrivals.
I weep.
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Date: 2007-01-24 07:29 am (UTC)I haven't watched any of the Beeb's doomsday docs, mainly because I don't have a TV (which makes it rather difficult to so do). That said, I do rather like post-apocaluptic stuff, so possibly I'd watch it if I could... although your glowing review suggests that maybe I wouldn't have had the staying power...