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Deja View

Or Re-Hash Festive Telly

By Nigel BoneyPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Love it or loathe it, it's that time of year, when the TV bosses and programme planners , and heads of department, are, no doubt, scratching collective heads and scribbling on clipboards in an attempt to decide which Festive programmes are likely to win the toss for Christmas 2018.

Yep! It's that potential re-hash TV time again, whether we like it or not. Now, firstly, I'm not deliberately wearing my cynical hat (just yet), and secondly, it can be quite rewarding, in a weird sense, seeing a show you might have missed the first time around.

But, honestly, do we have to be subjected, every time, to endless re-runs of Mary Poppins, The Sound of Musicm and Gone With the Wind, just because Santa is rehearsing another shoe-horning session down the world's chimneys in around eleven months from now?

Presumably! And you bet your bottom dollar, you can virtually guarantee that Henry (or Indiana Jones) will no doubt be venturing into The Last Crusade. Much like The Last Crusade he went on last Christmas. And possibly the Christmas before that.

And, while we’re on the subject, how many Lost Arks is it possible to search for?

You would think that with the myriads and myriads of shows, TV specials, and films out there, those at the top of the proverbial heap in TV land would be on the hunt for a bit more variety. And, dare I say it, festive content a little less tried and (frequently) tested.

Personally, I think the shopping channels have a lot to do with it. And before anyone raises a puzzled eyebrow, let me try to clarify.

These wonderfully glossy shows have an annual tendency of bringing Christmas to our screens well before the real thing. Usually June or July.

So, the said programme planners and TV bosses are now in a collective quandry. So busy are they with their planning, that no one has time to glance at the calendar and realize the real Festive period is ages away. Not clicking at the heels like the shopping channels would make us think.

This, in turn, produces a pandemic of mass hysteria as the schedules—so they believe—have less time to be put in place.

Thus the whole process goes into a complete panic, mixed with a potent amount of hyperdrive, with ideas and counter ideas, and counter-counter ideas getting hurled into the collective mix with reckless abandon.

No one has the time, nor inclination to check the rear view mirror to see what was on last Christmas, and the inevitable result is a series of Festive repeats, counter repeats and counter, counter repeats…oh and don’t forget the Queen’s speech.

…Or the Carols from Kings.

But by that time, post huge turkey dinner mixed with several glasses of pre-dinner port, as well as a fair share of the red or white grape, entire swathes of the UK population is likely to be semi-comatose, fully comatose, or as close to it as humanly probable.

So, in that semi-conscious blow-out/gastric afterglow, is it ironically possible, that the programme bosses and planners and TV minions actually got things 100 % right?

Are we, as a nation, now so thoroughly, and completely, brain-fuddled and totally OTT'd with festive over indulgence, that we simply fail to notice the telly schedule is a virtual carbon copy of last year....or even the year before.... or possibly the year before that?

Personally, based on my own experience with festive consumption and festive viewing, I think it very probable. What time did you say Gone With the Wind is on at?....

satire
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About the Creator

Nigel Boney

Been hacking away since 2009 in various online media. Dabbled a bit in showbiz and entertainment as well as travel sites. Have a Diploma in freelance journalism through the British College of Journalism (November 2013). Am based in the UK.

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