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Enforced day off

Actresses in an advert for health product Dulcoease
  • Posted at 5:10pm
  • 05 February 2009
  • by AlisonGraham-RT
  • 6 comments

Apparently, one in five of us couldn't get to work after the British public transport system wrapped itself in a duvet and went back to bed the day that the snow came (Monday 2 February, in case you've already forgotten).

So, how nice, a totally unexpected, extra day off; how luxurious and just a little bit naughty. I did the snowy thing - I went for a walk, very pretty, ah, look at the trees, it's like a Christmas card, I feel like a kid again, I wish I had a pair of wellies, etc, etc - but professional pride and a little bit of guilt drove me home again fairly quickly to watch telly.

Considering I'm RT's TV editor - the clue is in the title - this shouldn't be much of a stretch, but the thing is, I never get to watch daytime telly. To me, "daytime telly" is synonymous with being "off sick with flu". It's almost an undiscovered country, apart from the odd Saturday afternoon when I might watch a dusty Morse or Poirot adventure on ITV3.

I'm sure daytime TV is a delightful companion to many people throughout the land, who probably can't get through the afternoon without Jeremy Kyle or Smallville. But, dear people, how can you put up with the adverts? So many car insurance companies, so many price comparison websites. Then, right at the other end of the emotional spectrum, there are the sad, guilt-inducing pleas for money to help neglected children and hard done-by dogs.

And what about that woman who complains to her friends about her "hard stools" as they chat over coffee? She's not talking about uncomfortable kitchen chairs, either, believe me. I think it's the most excruciating, witless TV ad in history, dressing up problems with poo as some kind of Sex and the City episode. God, they even make a weak joke about men at the end. How daft do you think women are, advert-people?

This torrent of drivel got to me in the end; having my viewing of a Hill Street Blues episode on More4 interrupted just once too often, I spent most of the rest of the day watching the rolling news channels, BBC News and Sky News. Pictures of snow. More pictures of snow. The same pictures of snow. Again and again.

The effect was soporific; I could see what was happening outside my own window, I didn't need to watch it on telly. But there is something quite comforting in knowing that you are partaking in a shared experience; one that isn't unpleasant and one that will be over all too quickly.

**

Alison Graham is TV editor of Radio Times - read her column in the latest issue of Radio Times magazine, on sale now.

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Post a comment | 6 comments

Comments

  • Posted on 06 February 2009
  • at 9:00pm
  • by Martin

At least the adverts fit most of the programmes. Daytime TV is largely anodyne, brainless drivel, which is sad in an age where not everybody works 9–5. Surely some challenging programmes could be repeated in these hours? I work shifts, and almost everything I watch during the day has been recorded the previous evening (or earlier). The one daytime thing I do watch is Countdown, which primarily has adverts for cod liver oil and stairlifts despite the show's famed popularity among students.

  • Posted on 06 February 2009
  • at 8:32pm
  • by Fiona

I would rather watch paint dry than Jeremy Kyle! Infact I think the adverts are more entertaining!

  • Posted on 06 February 2009
  • at 7:31pm
  • by Arthur

Spot on as ever. Stool softeners, runs cures, thrush cures,sanitary towels, and of course eventually .... death.

My wife and I love your comments. CSI Angry Crab, had us in stitches.

  • Posted on 06 February 2009
  • at 7:16pm
  • by joyce

I get some sense of power by flicking the mute button on when ads come on.

Your right about women and hard stools. most unpleasent. Now we have one which more or less syas ALL women suffer from urinary incontinence, This does nothing to support a positive image of momen, just allows us to be the butt for more offensive jokes.

  • Posted on 06 February 2009
  • at 6:37pm
  • by Brian

but wasn't Hill Street Blues brilliant? I fell right back in love with it in one episode/

  • Posted on 06 February 2009
  • at 8:59am
  • by lastgang

You should watch more cable TV, they have those ads on all the time (on second thought, better not!) Sadly, some of us have 'proper' jobs and had to battle our way through the snow and still go to work. Jealous? You bet...

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