Relative Something

Last night I had a moment of discovery while watching NBC’s prime time Olympics broadcast. For those blissfully ignorant of the evening Olympic coverage in the US, it is a mish-mash of each day’s events deemed worthy of replay, presented as if happening live, yet cunningly carved up to allow multiple repetitions of commercial advertisements to be shown throughout.

One complaint being levied toward NBC, by both critics and spectators alike, is about the heavy dosage of self-promotion the network is hoisting upon innocent sports fans, for programs scheduled to air following the games. It was the umpteenth repeat of one of the ads for some program being hyped, that sparked a new insight for me.

The program –some rather stupid looking premise that has a predictable storyline that I expect will fight to achieve weekly topics that fit into the framework– is not one I would watch. I have seen about a half-dozen promotions, multiple times now, and what I discovered was, the result of the repetition brings enough familiarity to make each comic tidbit more interesting. It was enough last night to make me feel some affection for the bit that I have come to know so well, even though my impression of the show is that it looks dumb.

If I saw that scene pass by a single time, at normal broadcast speed (which means, immediately preceded and then followed by some other doofy schtick) it wouldn’t do a thing for me. The way I see it, the repeated presentation of the bit, in the commercials, develops an impression of worthiness.

I don’t mean to belittle those who find such shows entertaining. If my interpretation resonates for anyone other then myself, let it provide some perspective of why one might feel drawn to want to watch these programs after seeing the ads. It may also explain why viewing the entire program when it runs (one time through), can turn out to be less fulfilling than one might have expected it to be.