Too much TV

Wow! I just saw a really great advert for a car. Before I continue to describe it, I am not representing any car manufacturer nor have any loyalty to any car brand, and this advert has not influenced me to buy the car, but I like it anyway.
In a car park stands a conductor with about 60 voice adult choir standing in four rows, decked out in their smart black and white performance attire. The viewers are informed we are going to hear the sounds of this car as performed by the choir. Only using their voices and hands, they simulate the sounds of a car starting up, travelling through various road conditions and weather conditions. We see the car (looking very smart and sleek, of course) going through the various scenarios, and then back to the choir as they perform the various sounds. They simulate the sound revving the engine before putting into gear, travelling over gravel, pavement and cobblestone. We hear the sunroof opening during the ride, the change of tone as the car passes through a tunnel, the Doppler effect of oncoming traffic. The car is parked for a while, when a quiet rain starts falling on the car, and then car resumes motion, splashing through puddles and using its “windscreen wipers” (we would called them windshield wipers in Canada). I have only seen this advert once, but I was riveted!
In some ways I find British television quite diverse yet somewhat predictable at the same time. I’m glad they run their soaps around prime time, (such as Coronation Street, East Enders, Keeping Up Appearances, Emmerdale, The Bill, etc.) because I don’t like watching them, so I am not tempted to be distracted during my lesson planning preparations that evening. I do watch the news, and have become used to their format. In the channels that I use to watch the news (2 of the 4 available to me), the hour broadcast is split: half the time from the London, reporting on national and international news, and half the time a different pair of presenters present the news on East Anglia (which includes the counties of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire). One broadcast company really likes to come across and hi-tech, as the presenters stand in front of wide semi-circular screen while images are projected to tower over the presenters.
They like their trivia games (Who Wants to be a Millionaire, The Weakest Link, Deal or No Deal). Right now as I am typing this up on the laptop and flipping through the four channels, Anne is berating celebrities on an episode of Celebrity Weakest Link. The Brits are into their reality T.V. shows (I’m a Celebrity, get me out of Here! And they just started yet another round of Big Brother). Pop Idol (which Canadian Idol is based on), X-factor (it’s overly hyped-up twin), Soapstar Superstar, and other talent contests (e.g. Strictly Come Dancing and this new one where celebrities compete in ice dancing) are hugely popular here. We get some American shows here, such as The Simpsons, Futurerama, The Family Guy, and Friends, but I still haven’t figured out their time table. I’ve heard that CSI is on Tuesdays, but I haven’t found it yet. Naturally there is opportunity to take in sport as well. The Snooker tournament was on a week or two ago, right now they are near the end of a Darts tournament, and Football is often on weekends, particularly on the first weekend in January (something to do with the Premiere Cup or something). They do have some really interesting science shows, but they are not in regular time tables, so a watch them here and there when I have time. Once in a while they show movies, but they have a late start thus a late end, so rarely can I watch them.
Except for watching the news and reminiscing with the Simpsons once in a while, I haven’t really gotten hooked on particular shows. Back home, I was getting too familiar with the TV shows and it ate up some of my time. Here I am too busy to watch much T.V. during the week, and on weekends, I find only some of the shows interesting. I have to pay £120 a year for a licence to plug in my TV, and I am unwilling to shell out any more to get cable. Besides, I don’t really have time for TV while teaching in my first year, and I judging from the amount of TV information I just wrote, I already watch too much. But, I am getting to know more of the British culture this way!

Shalom
Kevin