It's funny that you should have written this because on Thursday morning I was also feeling pretty negative about the TV coverage of the parade (I turned it off after a few minutes), and I was wondering if I was just getting old and grouchy (. . . bah humbug . . etc.)! So it's something of a relief to see that others were thinking along pretty much the same lines (or, at least, I'm not the only person getting old and grouchy).

Some other thoughts:

Although I've been watching the parade off and on since the mid-1950s, my recollections regarding the specifics of the TV coverage over the years are somewhat fuzzy. It would be interesting, though, to actually analyze TV coverage of the parade over the years using kinescopes or videotapes (if anyone actually made them and/or kept them).

I do recall that at one point (in the early or mid 1990s?), it really bothered me to see that all the TV "chatter" was so minutely and obviously scripted and calculated -- and the delivery so lame. But more recently, the anchors seem to be more adept at delivering this kind of canned speech, so it hasn't bother me as much.

By the way, in some ways this focusing by TV on the performances being given in front of Macy's on Herald Square has an even greater negative effect on the parade in person -- especially for those viewing the parade toward the end of the parade route:

The last time I went to see the parade in person was in the mid-1980s and I made the mistake of trying to view it from about 38th St. Each time one of the performing acts was being shown on TV from in front of Macy's, this would stop the entire parade behind it. And my recollection is that all the parade marchers (even the bands) would then just stand still doing nothing -- which made the scene eerily quiet and awkward for both the marchers and the parade viewers.

This, combined with the foggy overcast skies that day, seemed to create a very somber and "downer" mood amongst the crowd, something like, "We came all the way down here for 'this'?" (But then again, maybe this was all in my imagination -- I went alone at the spur of the moment and didn't have anyone to compare notes with.)

The day was "capped" and encapsulated for me, though, by the following "Fellini-esque"(?) moment:

As the balloons were being emptied of helium on a side street before dispersing parade goers, I remember one loud-mouth homeless type "street character" ranting to the silent and (seemingly to me) somber crowd of onlookers something along the lines of, "How come we can waste all this helium when there are starving children in Harlem?"

P.S. -- It seems to me that they could avoid this problem (if it is indeed a problem and not just my imagination) if the performers performed in front of Macy's 34th St. facade, instead of in front of the Herald Square one. This way those portions of the parade not scheduled for extended TV viewing could continue to proceed down Broadway and then turn off on 33rd St. -- and thereby not hold up the rest of the parade. (Of course, this only solves the problem -- if it idoes solve the problem -- for those viewing the parade in person. It doesn't really help the TV viewer, though.)

Posted by: Benjamin Hemric on November 24, 2007 2:48 PM

My wife and I were had similar issues with the parade, but we eventually turned it off due to the commercials. Two minutes of parade, then five minutes of commercials got out of hand ... Don't worry, in about five years, broadcasts of the parade will end when the ratings go down. They'll cancel it because "it's just not as popular as it was in the past".

On the other hand, the already stratospheric ratings for NFL games just keep going up and up despite the fact that a televised game consists of an endless array of commercials for cars, beer, life insurance and limp-d*ck drugs, interspersed with bits and pieces of actual, you know, play.

Posted by: Peter on November 25, 2007 7:35 PM






Post a comment

Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember your info?