Resident Scholars of the A.P.I.
NBC And CBS Coverage of theThanksgiving Day Parades SUCKED!
I am 55 years old and have been watching the Thanksgiving Day parades on television since I was a child. I even had the opportunity to attend the J.L. Hudson parade in Detroit several times when I was a little girl! Oh, how I love the parades. Year after year, decade after decade, everyone in our home was always up early to enjoy the parades.
CBS used to carry the wonderful parades in New York, Detroit, and Phildelphia. NBC used to carry the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and actually show the parade, you know, the floats, balloons, marching bands, and the little kids and their families lining the block. Watching the parades used to include ooohing and ahhhing at all of the different floats, listening to the high school bands as they marched proudly past the camera, jugglars, clowns, balloons, and of, course Santa!
The last several years have been a major disappointment for we parade watchers. No one cares about a Disney parade on Thanksgiving, the Hawaian parade will never measure up to those in the big eastern cities, and please no more parades out of Nashville.
Macy's parade has sold out and morphed into something else entirely. It has become a combination broadway review and promotional tour for the latest so-called recording artists. Boring, boring, boring! Floats bearing blonde Barbie clones and trendy singing groups lip-syncing to electronically enhanced recordings of unremarkable, very forgettable songs trumpet the commercialism that has over taken the Macy's holiday parade. Bring back the unicycle riding clowns and the shivering majorettes who twirl their batons to marching band music!
Unfortunately, our family's longtime tradition of watching the parades on Thanksgiving morning ended in disgust this year. Sadly, we turned the television off because the parade coverage at both CBS and NBC was so poor. I don't use the expression "suck", but in this case, I had to, it is so descriptive of the broadcast presentations of this year's parades. CBS and NBC your shows SUCKED!
I have just discovered that Local 4 (Detriot) webcasts the Detroit Parade live. It is too late for this year but next year I won't even bother with CBS and NBC. We will watching the Parades on our computer.
...Oh, how I love the parades......
......Kitchen Window Woman.......
CBS used to carry the wonderful parades in New York, Detroit, and Phildelphia. NBC used to carry the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and actually show the parade, you know, the floats, balloons, marching bands, and the little kids and their families lining the block. Watching the parades used to include ooohing and ahhhing at all of the different floats, listening to the high school bands as they marched proudly past the camera, jugglars, clowns, balloons, and of, course Santa!
The last several years have been a major disappointment for we parade watchers. No one cares about a Disney parade on Thanksgiving, the Hawaian parade will never measure up to those in the big eastern cities, and please no more parades out of Nashville.
Macy's parade has sold out and morphed into something else entirely. It has become a combination broadway review and promotional tour for the latest so-called recording artists. Boring, boring, boring! Floats bearing blonde Barbie clones and trendy singing groups lip-syncing to electronically enhanced recordings of unremarkable, very forgettable songs trumpet the commercialism that has over taken the Macy's holiday parade. Bring back the unicycle riding clowns and the shivering majorettes who twirl their batons to marching band music!
Unfortunately, our family's longtime tradition of watching the parades on Thanksgiving morning ended in disgust this year. Sadly, we turned the television off because the parade coverage at both CBS and NBC was so poor. I don't use the expression "suck", but in this case, I had to, it is so descriptive of the broadcast presentations of this year's parades. CBS and NBC your shows SUCKED!
I have just discovered that Local 4 (Detriot) webcasts the Detroit Parade live. It is too late for this year but next year I won't even bother with CBS and NBC. We will watching the Parades on our computer.
...Oh, how I love the parades......
......Kitchen Window Woman.......
posted by Kitchen Window Woman at 1:10 PM
5 Comments:
The commentators always annoy the bleep out of me. All that artificial cheer. Just show me the darned parade. I really don't want to see your smiling face.
You nailed this one, KWW. I loudly complained Thanksgiving morning to all within ear range, that the parades did not seem to be for kids anymore. I hate all of the Broadway "show-stopping" numbers and the girlie/poptart singers. Like you, I wish only to see the parade and a few faces of wonderment in the crowd. Is that too much to ask?
PAT...I can't stand the commentators either! I don't tolerate phonies well. Yep, we could do with out their false smiles and forced cheer.
AUNTIE...You know I think I heard you from way across the country! We must share a genetic trait for disliking bad parade coverage! I really miss the high school bands - they really work hard to get to do a big parade...the least we could do is watch them. I miss all of those little faces, too. They have plundered the wonder from the television coverage.
Hi KWW ...I live in Canada and I haven't seen the parade in over 30 years. As a child, with many American relatives, we often visited each other on this holiday and enjoyed the parade together. This year (2006) I took some vacation time and was looking forward to seeing the parade and maybe relive some of those warm memories. What a major MAJOR disappointment!
It's a year later and a country further, but I heard auntie also, it's really one big ad for Broadway, pop singers and new movies all against the Macy's backdrop. I too miss the high school bands, as with Pat I found the commentators just annoying.
Unfortunately I sat thru the whole thing, naively hoping that the coverage would soon improve ... no luck ... and so I lost 3 hours of my life that I will never get back.
But the rest of the day was lovely enjoying a delicious turkey dinner with my American wife.
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving
Ray
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