According to Nielsen, you were probably watching ABC’s Dancing With the Stars finale/Grey’s Anatomy combo last night; it ski-jumped over the Olympics‘ closing ceremonies on NBC, which had half as many viewers. So you probably missed the Fellini-esque circus that marked the end of the games. For those of you who didn’t TiVo it (or who did but don’t have the patience to sit through all four hours of surreal fun), here’s a quick visual summary. Yes, that’s an Alice in Wonderland-style pack of living playing cards, probably marching to cut off Bode Miller’s head. Yes, that man is snowboarding on air. Yes, the harlequins were on horseback. And yes, the Olympians wore red rubber noses. Any other questions?
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Comments (1-18) of 18 Add your comment
What did you watch Gary? I imagine the Olympics did get TiVoed in there unless your like Elvis and have multiple TV sets running at the same time.
The Olympics? When are they on?
I watched it in afternoon, saving my evening for DWTS of course.
Italy did a great job (being that my Mom’s Italian, I admit to being biased. Vancouver 2010 looks fab (being that I’m Canadian…wohoo Canucks..24 medals!!).
Funny how when the Olympics were in Salt Lake City, Utah, on American soil, the ratings were through-the-roof, yet nobody watched when they are in another country.
Hmm…maybe there is something to the fact that many in the world think Americans are are a me-me-me, self-centre country.
I just couldn’t get into this year’s Olympics. The little bit I watched was so packed with commercials that I thought my poor TiVo was going to burn out fast-forwarding through them. That, and having the power of the Internet to tell me who won and who lost 12 hours before the event was televised didn’t help matters.
The time difference didn’t help. If you get the results online, why wait six hours to see NBCs bloated coverage of events you only watch every four years. The me-me-me part is right though.
I love the Olympics…they’re like the only sports program I watch. The opening and closing ceremonies were surreal, but fun. The people floating on air were the best! Yay for Apolo Ohno!
The closing ceremonies were great…despite being rather trippy. I thought the Olympics were good this year, my only disapointment being that usually at least one channel has coverage on 24/7 but at times when I expected to be watching them (like on a Saturday afternoon) there was nothing.
As for the comment about why Americans don’t watch when its in another country…Americans tend to be xenophobic and frankly, rather idiotic. Personally, I much rather watch Olympics that take place in a different country in order to see what the culture is like, while American culture bores me for the most part (and yes, I’m born and raised in the U.S.). Isn’t that the point of the Olympics?
Americans are ‘idiotic’ because we don’t watch the Olympics? Um, I loved the Olympics, and tivo’d almost every minute of them, but I suspect that the lack of widespread appeal had more to do with the facts that: a) these are sports that aren’t that popular in this country to begin with (even hockey has moved to a minor cable network) b) thanks to the time delay, everyone knew the results of the events long before they aired and c) NBC made their presentation so boring and ad-packed that I can’t imagine how anyone got through it without a fast-forward button.
I didn’t quite mean that all Americans were idiotic. Just the ones who seem to think that the Olympics are unimportant unless they are taking place in our own country and Olympics aside, just the general reaction people tend to have toward anything foreign.
::shrug:: Winter Games are my favorite as I enjoy the snow and ice sports a lot more than any of the track, field, and other summer sports. I do enjoy swimming and diving though. The time delay had a lot to do with it and the commercials became grating for those who watched it straight off the broadcast but that’s the same problem with any show.
Internet sorta killed it for me this year. I was online a few times a day to see who won. So it was boring to watch when I got home at night. Vancouver should be more interesting. Since they are in the Pacific time Zone.
The American coverage of the Olympics (NBC) is VERY much bloated and seems to focus on Americans only. As someone else it is the international stories that are interesting, different cultures, customs, ect.
Not to brag, but the Canadian coverage (CBC) is excellent, lots of info. on the host country and other athletes, very well-rounded coverage (and less commercials), focuses on ALL countries, not just our own. Then again, that is the Canadian way, humble, modest and interested in others besides ourselves..OK, now I am bragging.
I watched some of the curling and actually found it entertaining. The men’s bronze medal match and the women’s gold medal match were pretty exciting once you understood what was going on (a little more complex than just seeing who can go the fastest without falling down).
The best reality TV moment of the year though was during the original Ice Dancing event. The Glare – if you missed that, you missed gold.
The Olympics were one big yawn. Let me count the ways: 1) I don’t get this curling thing. It looks like you’re sweeping ice. How did this get to be a sport? 2) Bad costumes + lots of falling down = not great ice skating. 3) Can we PLEASE see one sport at a time and not jump from ice skating to downhill skiing to another sport in minutes? How am I suppose to sit through one sport if you keep switching so much? 4) Bob Costas. Someone needs to muzzle him once and for all. 5) Torino? The city is called Turin but the knuckleheads call it Torino? Who’s the idiot that came up with this iead? And 6) Dick Button (I believe his name is) a.k.a. Negative Nancy. Does he ever have anything positive to say about anyone? Jesus! NBC, you totally blew it!
Curling is great and fun to watch. There’s actually a lot of skill involved to place the stones just right or to knock off your opponents. The sweeping helps to either slow down or speed up a stone, as well as dealing with its “curl” to one side or another.
Americans, buy yourselves a satellite dish and tune into the Canadian coverage in Beijing 2008. I guarantee you that even with the time differences, you’ll get to see more complete coverage than NBC’s pre-packaged canned coverage. Besides, you guys will probably rule in the summer games, so the investment in a satellite dish will be worth it.
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