Thumbs Up for London, Epic Fail for NBC

I just watched most of the opening ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics. I had to turn away. NBC, in the form of Meredith Viera and Matt Lauer, destroyed any enjoyment I may have gotten from the show.

The opening ceremonies were amazing, and fun, and a spectacle to behold. I amused myself thinking that this is what we would get if the UK ever got off its butt and actually won Eurovision for a change. Yeah, it was that kind of spectacle.

There was a battle between Voldemort and Mary Poppins, a jab at America and our lousy healthcare system, appearances by Mr. Bean, JK Rowling, Daniel Craig and The Queen, tributes to the world wide web and children's literature, and a touching love story told through the history of British pop music. We even had a three second audio cameo of the TARDIS sound during "Bohemian Rhapsody." Like I said, amazing.

The problem was NBC had Viera and Lauer over-explaining everything to the audience at home. This isn't the freaking Rose Bowl Parade, and we are not dull children. We have brains, and failing that, Google, we don't need you to explain it all. I don't know what shocked me more - the things they did not know or what they thought we did not know. I know I will never watch any program with them involved again. Even with thousands of Twitter folks telling them to shut up live, they continued their idiotic banter.

A note to the folks at NBC who put this together… Do you ever wonder why the rest of the world hates the United States? Tonight, it's because of you.

High Definition

You know that the next level in television technology has been reached when you will watch something you have zero interest in – just because it looks so damn good.

I don’t care all that much about the Olympics, and now that they’re every two years, they’re not even that special any more. Yes, the opening and closing ceremonies are sometimes fun in a train wreck sort of way, and yes, it’s great when the US is winning or some new hero with a heart-pulling back story makes good, and heaven forbid someone dies – but for the most part – don’t care, don’t care, where’s my Okama Gamesphere, ya know?

New Year’s Day we got ourselves a late Christmas present, a big old widescreen high definition television. Now we’re spoiled and loving it. But there are interesting side effects. The Olympics. Whoa. They just look so good in high def. It’s the most stunning stuff I’ve seen on television since the switch. I am mesmerized.

Now excuse me while I go watch curling...

Chuck Found

Sorry for the scare, folks. For those who read my last entry and were as upset as I was regarding the status of NBC's "Chuck," no worries.

"Chuck" will be back. We'll just have to wait until January for it. NBC will be using the Winter Olympics to relaunch the series for a thirteen episode run. I would have rather had twenty-two, but I'm just happy we have "Chuck" back.

Check out the extremely cool Alan Sepinwall's interview with "Chuck" co-creator Chuck Fedak here.


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