Films on Channel 5 in the UK - Why they suck.

Before I get someones ancient cathode ray tube television screen thrown at me, I know what you are thinking...

You were thinking "TrueBrit, you silly git, where would we be without that Channel 5 airing of The Terminator every three months?". Well, I have news for you. You should watch the DVD or the Blue Ray, or the VHS if it comes to it. You will see more of the film. Apart from the massive number of advertisements, and the appalling timing with which the film has been cut to allow for those advert breaks, one can also expect to lose ENTIRE SCENES from movies played on that Channel.

My buddy and I were sitting in my buddies front room a few nights ago, chilling out and shooting the breeze, and my buddy turns to me and suggests putting a film on, to which I responded positively. We both enjoy the film Little Nicky, and my buddy had recently recorded the film from Channel 5, using the record function on her Freeview box, which is a perfectly legitimate thing to do to both movies and television shows of course.

So we start watching the movie, and before too long it becomes apparent that there are some serious issues with the people who edit the films on Channel 5 for television. First of all, pretty much every curse word is missing from the film, and although there are not a massive number of them, each time they are uttered in the unaltered movie, they are necessary to the comic timing of the gag or scene playing out, and their being removed left the scenes which contained them, seriously flat. Furthermore, some of those curse words, AND THE ENTIRE SCENE THEY WERE UTTERED IN were removed, in such a way as to leave the viewer unsure as to just what the hell was going on in the film!

Furthermore, EVERY cut to advertisement break, was poorly executed in the extreme, with whole bits of dialogue (usually the part which explained what was going on in either the scene previous, or the next scene) being faded out in favour of placing the correct number of seconds of advertisement break.

In short, that film got cut up as if it were being autopsied by a meth crazed lumberjack. This is not the first time I have been disappointed in this regard either.

NOW... It is true, that the time of night may have had a little to do with the edit heavy nature of the showing. However, if it is going to mean that half the Godamn movie is out of bounds, then it would be better if they either did not show it at all, or waited until later to show movies which dance on the edge of the watershed.

It was appallingly bad!

The whole channel sucks big time

I can't remember the last time I watched anything on it

a reply to: TrueBrit

It's okay man, you can always watch the star wars prequels on itv EVERY SINGLE WEEK!!!

If you're lucky they might be showing Jurassic park for four nights in a row.

I hate watching television on any channel with adverts. I've started recording regular programmes with adverts, I then put them on after about fifteen minutes so I can fast forward them.

The only good thing about BBC is that its advert free.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Channel 5 is crap.

Too much editing and too many advertisements.
And I'm sure it's target audience are the most dumbed down of our population.

Channel 4 isn't much better.
Full of arty claptrap and PC nonsense.

ITV is going the same way - perhaps it can't compete financially with Sky, who knows.

At least the BBC is free of commercials and does offer the occasional quality viewing.

I hate Sky and all it stands for - but like the hypocrite we all are sometimes I have got it so that I can at least watch some decent programmes and sport.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Well...Im not across the pond with you, but I can tell you a bit about programming. Its really cheap and easy for them to pay one price to use movies...lets just say like "The Terminator". They pay once and run it a thousand times.

That provides them with content to sell advertising for. Even if it is the same movies days after day, week after week. When you see THAT happening....thats why.

Pay one price...watch all year...the "creative editing" is another story.

a reply to: Deckard9645

LOL! But it can't be as bad as ITV2's constant airing of "Twister"! It seems every time I scroll through the EPG, it's on!

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: TrueBrit

Channel 5 is crap.

Too much editing and too many advertisements.
And I'm sure it's target audience are the most dumbed down of our population.

Channel 4 isn't much better.
Full of arty claptrap and PC nonsense.

ITV is going the same way - perhaps it can't compete financially with Sky, who knows.

At least the BBC is free of commercials and does offer the occasional quality viewing.

I hate Sky and all it stands for - but like the hypocrite we all are sometimes I have got it so that I can at least watch some decent programmes and sport.

C5 is awful. Beyond awful even. If it's not airing "reality" crap, it's inserting so many ads into movies that stretch out a 90 minute film into a two-and-a-half hour slot.

Channel Four defines the phrase "shadow of it's former self". I remember when it launched with all it's ground breaking, thought provoking and cutting edge shows that were way ahead of it's time. That's when it was must-see TV. Now it's gone down the "reality tv" route. In it's defence though, it does have the best nightly news programme on UK TV. Channel Four's sister channel, More 4, used to be great. Now it isn't. Enough said.

ITV has it's many faults, but it does produce the best original British dramas on TV (sans Sherlock, Doctor Who IMO). Just a shame it's schedules are full of reality shows, talent shows, quiz shows and soaps. ITV2 has to be THE worst channel on British TV. It makes C5 look watchable. ITV3 is my favourite British TV terrestrial channel. But the constant repeats kill it. And I never watch ITV4 sans the odd film.

BBCOne is a channel I rarely watch nowadays - so different from, say, a decade ago. That sort of tells you about what I think of it's shows. BBC2 and BBCFour are great channels for the niche market. Less said about BBCThree the better! What the BBC excels in is televised sport. Even better than SKY, IMO.

The SKY branded channels are vastly overrated. I think I'm the only one who dosn't rate SKY Atlantic much. Not everyone is innterested in US imports (as great as some of them are). I seem to enjoy the British dramas/comdies on that channel more. SKY One isn't a patch on what it once was - but at least it shows more BRITISH produced programmes. Sky Living = C5/ITV2. The movie channels and sports channels are what they are. SKY ARTS 2 is a great music/documentary channel. The rest of the 600+ channels are of no interest to me - and I doubt I watch any more than 10 of them.

Maybe this explains why I have bought so many TV boxsets these past two years!