A Nation of Idiots (Part 2)

Flicking through the channels today, I stumbled across a repeat of the BBC's entrepreneurial X-Factor, Dragons' Den. In case you haven't seen it, a bunch of wannabe inventors put on their cheapest suit and nervously stutter their way through a business pitch in front of five way-too-smug potential investors. Looking like they were rounded up and kidnapped back in 1993, the 'Dragons' scrutinise the poor hapless fools in front of them, before giving them a grilling about their business plans.

Pulling all of this together is genial host Evan Davies, once likened by Jeremy Paxman to Tigger, and apprently one of Britain's most influential gays. N.B. The 'apparently' refers to his level of influence, not his sexuality, which seems to be well documented - like here in a Times article which even makes passing reference to a Prince Albert. And although he might be a fine economics editor for the BBC, as a presenter on Dragon's Den he's unbearable.

I appreciate that not everyone who owns a TV is a high-flyer in the city, I'm certainly not. But are we all so far removed from the world of pin-striped business that we need an explanation of what just happened, after every line of dialogue? Here's how it goes:

Wannabe Entrepreneur (let's call him Dave): "Basically, I'm looking for £100,000 in exchange for a 20% share in my business."
Theo Paphitis: "I'm not sure you've got your numbers right."
Evan Davies: "Theo is concerned that our Dave hasn't got the numbers in order."
The Paphitis: "Because of that, I'm out. Deborah?"
Evan Davies: "Theo is out. Now it's up to Deborah to help Dave raise the £100,00 he needs."
Deborah Meaden: "Have you safety tested the product?"
Dave: "Yes."
Evan Davies: "Deborah discovers that Dave has had the product safety tested."

And so it goes, on and on. It's like having someone read out stage directions while you're trying to watch a play. And it's yet another sign of how we're allowing ourseleves to be conditioned into stupidity.

When people talk about the dumbing down of TV, I'm not sure they're talking about the content. It's the format that seems to be getting more fidiotic. Just think about how many shows now start with a recap of last week, then show what's coming up on tonight's show, before the opening credits. Then they tell you what's coming up after the ad break before the ad break, and some of them even recap again about the things they promised in the coming segment. Once you've edited out all of the highlights, recaps and 'coming up's, most of these shows have halved their running time.

It's bad enough on the commercial channels, where they at least have logical breaks. But when the BBC follows suit, you know they've had to invent breaks during which they can pause and recap. I'm starting to feel like Leonard Shelby in Memento, with no ability to form new memories. I need to be reminded what's happening every six or seven minutes.

Now, coming up in tomorrow's post...