I\u2019m just wondering when TV presenters became more interesting than what they\u2019re presenting \u2014 or rather, when they think they did. And when producers encourage them.<\/p>\n
I think there is an incredible, just incredible fear that people won\u2019t watch anything. We have to be told that this is interesting, by a bloke \u2014 it\u2019s usually a bloke \u2014 who stands in the way of whatever it is. There\u2019s the turn to camera that says gosh, this is exciting and I\u2019m wonderful. Here\u2019s the dialogue to camera saying what\u2019s next is really interesting, immediately followed by the dialogue to camera saying what you just briefly glimpsed was really interesting, and I\u2019m wonderful.<\/p>\n
Or you\u2019ll recognise this. \u201cIt\u2019s morning now, but in ten hours the whole day is meant to turn into night. Can the day make it in time?\u201d Entirely, derisibly false pressure \u2014 \u201cit\u2019s hotting up now\u201d \u2014 over something that would actually be pressured, that would actually be really interesting, if we could just please see it.<\/p>\n
Some presenters are worse than others, true. Some have gone to that school where they are trained \/ to speak only \/ three words at \/ a time in \/ case we can\u2019t \/ follow what they \/ are saying now. To which I have to tell you \/ I have screamed.\/<\/p>\n
Then Giles Coren used to make me wish for the TV set to be divided into two. He co-presented \u201cAmazing Hotels\u201d with chef Monica Galetti who actually knew what she was talking about. If you ever had the smallest doubt that Coren was clueless, you only had to wait a few minutes before he would tell you that he was and seem to think this is something we should be really interested in watching for an hour.<\/p>\n
Or Gregg Wallace. Now persona no grata for his behaviour, I can count the number of tiimes I saw a listing for a documentary that sounded really – oh, it\u2019s him. Never mind. It was twice, actually.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s definitely an argument that I present too much in my 58keys YouTube channel<\/a>, but I\u2019m only on that because I\u2019m cheap and available. I\u2019ve been introduced at events as the finest writer we could find in our price range and I want that as a poster quote.<\/p>\n This is all on my mind because the other day I heard Kirsty Wark presenting on BBC Radio 4 and I couldn\u2019t help thinking yes, that\u2019s how it should be done. Or recently the podcast 99% Invisible celebrated its 15th anniversary by interviewing the show\u2019s presenter, Roman Mars. He was literally the subject of the episode, and yet without dodging questions, he made it be about the topics the series has covered.<\/p>\n I\u2019m minded of the seven pilot episodes I made of 58keys as I tried to concisely convey why anyone should listen to me on whatever the topic is. Every one of those was thrown away and I have never since tried to justify the series, I just get on with it and trust that either you\u2019ll find the subject interesting or you\u2019ll find something better to watch.<\/p>\n Next week\u2019s 58keys is about Shortcuts on the Mac, iPhone and iPad, and you\u2019re already thinking of watching a dozen Philomena Funk short clips instead. But I promise you, if you were to watch, you wouldn\u2019t hear me saying this is really interesting and I\u2019m wonderful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m just wondering when TV presenters became more interesting than what they\u2019re presenting \u2014 or rather, when they think they … Continue reading