Wednesday, October 29, 2008

...Broadcast news makes me want to kill myself... (alternate: makes my brain melt)

For some reason I thought we were supposed to do the flow analysis thing of the half hour of TV we watched, and even though no one else did that (so I'm guessing I misheard), since I already did it, I'll just post that.  It's pretty interesting--it's like the normal fragmentation of tv on crack (as there's a new story like every 10 seconds minimum pretty much), but there's distinct themes that run across sections of a few of the segments to keep it semi-continuous even though it's shifting stories so rapidly (i.e., the illusion of continuity to disparate subjects).

Anyways, here's a half hour NBC news (with commercials!--from 5:53-6:23 today):

-man driving in car, reporter says you can save gas by driving manual cars.  It goes back to the woman in the studio to end the story.
-commercial--two men fishing, talking about bank--New port fed.  One of them is getting tangled up in his fishing line as he talks about his current bank which is bad or something.
-political ad for Jack Reed--images of him talking and shaking hands with happy, smiling people.  He's for cutting taxes, creating jobs, alternate energy, lower healthcare costs.
-commercial--man bowling--Alzheimer's ad--his wife is confused at the bowling alley--prescription Arecept--image of old people happily going on boat, then at the beach.
-Back to the show--Image of fire burning in Florida.
-image of gunshop--man in studio says gun sales are up in the bad economy--people feeling unsafe
-lead singer of Bare Naked Ladies arrested for coke possession.  Image of him in courtroom.
-high heels race--image of drag queens
-man in studio--then reporter giving preview of what's to come
-Access Hollywood commercial--tonight at 7:30--something about a "spooked stage" and "psychic medium"
-Political add against Question 1--woman at hospital
-ad for potato bacon soup--images of soup and other things up close.  White background.
-Toyota ad--zero financing--cars driving up and then away.  White background.
-NBC news intro. animation/graphic
-quick previews of stories to come (go by to fast for me to write even a bit about)
-ethics case dropped against Bill Irons--image of hime--back to studio--to reporter in Providence.  Reporters talking to Irons.  Shot of ethics commitee
-Back to studio--man talking--something about Urciuoli (someone's last name)
-mother charged in child abuse case--his father had already been charged
-Fed. cuts interest rate--image of capitol building--images of Wall street--market closes down despite rate cut--graphic of stock market
-back to studio
-reporter--talking about people trying to unionize
-interview--female busdriver talking about efforts to unionize (she's fighting for it)
-reporter outside hospital--nurses vote to join union
-woman talking about healthworker unionization
-rescue workers rallying outside hospital, trying to unionize
-woman in studio
-reporter in Providence--in front of workers picketing against change in healthcare plans (from Blue Cross to United Healthcare)--crowd booing mayor as he walks by
-interview with mayor--says he's confused with reaction, that the plan is good, that it will save taxpayers 8 million dollars.
-reporter says many taxpayers agree with mayor
-interview--woman saying she doesn't get how people can say that, people won't have healthcare.
-man in studio--Rhode Island students protesting new fee increases
-graphic--statement from RI College
-gambling sales down--images of various gambling games--graphic of lottery sales (they're down)
-traffic update--reporter in different location, in front of screen--graphic of roads, dotted lines represent traffic, the color of the lines the amount of traffic.
-weather update (in different location, in front of screen)--wind speeds fairly high--says cold will stop soon though.
-previews of news to come: cats found abandoned in tupperware containers, troops headed for Iraq, some others I didn't catch
-RI bank ad
-Jack Reed ad--same as earlier one
-Nissan ad--advertising fall sale--car showroom
-NBC news --advertising it's radio show
-tomorrow on NBC news--state worker story--something about stealing taxpayer money--that's all i caught
-woman in studio--soldiers going to Iraq--images of soldiers, American flag waving in the wind
-family members of soldiers/soldiers talking about leaving--how hard it is
-police officer had his badge, gun, other police items stolen from his truck at his home by teenagers--he was suspended without pay for a week
-image of construction workers taking down bridge--reporter assures us it's only supposed to last a few days
-next at 6--cats abandoned in tupperware (again)
-Cerrones GM-car ad
-carpet and flooring ad-man installing-->happy couple in newly furnished house.  Ends with cartoon and song.
-Ad-man says Democrats in control of congress are taking to much taxpayer money--urges people to vote Republican
-bath splash showroom ad--images of bathroom stuff
-Cerrones GM ad again--this time he's in front of 4 cars.
-studio-cats
-reporter-they were in bad shape--image of cat scratching itself--person who left them unknown--interview with woman saying where she found the containers they were in--outside animal shelter--workers there describing how bad their condition was--images of cats in cages scratching--says in a month or so people who want to adopt them can
-reporter gives a number to call to adopt them
-elementary school closing--kids will be transferred to other schools--images of school--teachers to lose jobs, apparently like a similar event recently.
-mayor and recycling coordinator taught recycling to kids at a public elementary school
-author of Scooby Doo and You (I have no idea) talking to kids
-image of dog dressed like skunk--woman in studio (or maybe a reporter) asks for people to send in their Halloween photos
-weather report--graphic of globe (mostly North America)--image of jetstream--cool air here currently will be replaced by warm air brought by the jetstream--but, tonight cold--images of clouds

...and thank god, that's the last of it.

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