Sped-Up TV Shows: "The Waltons" are the new "Keystone Cops?"*

Ugh. Sounds like an attempt to squeeze more commercials into the programming.

I'm going to add this to the list of reasons why I don't have cable/ watch TV.

 

if your a fan of the shows get the DVDs...pleasurable viewing.

 

Goodnight, John-boy....you knucklehead! Knyuck Knyuck Knyuck!

I do agree, though......some of this digital time compression really goes overboard sometimes.

 

I watched the Man from UNCLE on TNT several years ago and it was so time-compressed, Illya and Napoleon sounded like The Chipmunks.

 

Maybe I don't watch enough classic TV, but I can't say i've ever noticed time compression. Now I'm going to have to go watch The Waltons. (I did like the series when it originally aired.)

John K.

 

I'm adding an episode to my DVR so I can have a laugh.

 

I was watching First Blood on AMC last night and noticed that Stallone and Dennehy sounded like chipmunks. I remembered seeing a report about how cable channels are speeding up the shows as much as 10% to stuff more commercials into the rime alotted.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/cable-tv-shows-are-sped-up-to-squeeze-in-more-ads-1424301320

Anyone else notice this?

jerol

 

I've heard about this being done - awful.
All I've noticed is the credit crawl is now a scamper in the corner of the screen

 

The people responsible don't care. It's all about getting as much revenue as possible from commercials. I'd even be willing to bet that the majority of viewers don't even notice.

Reminds me of when I go visit my dad and he has his widescreen set configured to always fill the screen. It drives me up the wall, and he claims that he doesn't even notice that all of the circles have turned into ovals.

 

This WSJ story is now asking for a log in to read the article but before it was locked down I read it and it included a clip from Seinfeld, same episode, but from a local station or DVD and from a TBS broadcast. Within seconds the TBS broadcast was ahead of the other clip, and by the end of the clip it seemed to be that it was almost full minute ahead of the regular speed clip. If I can find that YouTube link I will post it here.

 

OK, maybe not quite a minute ahead but this gives an idea of speeding up shows and so on.

 

back in the 80's TBS ran the Munsters sped up...it wasn't funny nor enjoyable.

 

In addition to speeding up the closing credits and relegating them to a small corner of the screen, I've heard that TBS has also been doing this with the opening credits of at least one show (Friends). Remember when TBS used to actually be a channel worth watching? Those days are long gone.

 

The strange things that happen in Americaland never cease to amaze me. We get the wash here of course but it's diminished by the time it gets here. (I hope).

 

Just don't forget to pay your monthly cable bill...

 

If you paste the URL into a google search window and click the link from there, you can still read the entire thing.

 

Not with First Blood, but I did notice the same chipmunk effect with Little House on the Prairie when it was broadcast on one of our cable channels. I found it really distracting.

 

Thanks, didn't realize that. I originally followed a link that Steve Cox had shared.

 

I guess when this becomes (even more of) a norm, people will no longer bitch about PAL speedups (which is about 4%).

 

LOL!

My dad does the same thing.