to get excessively annoyed by TV programmes where something must be done in limited time.?

[TaggieCampbellBlack]

Like cooking things, bake off or gardening or renovating a house in 24 hours.

And its all dramatic music and massive pressure and Oh No we're running out of time and it's all stressy.

Why do they not just give themselves as much time as it takes.

I wouldn't only give myself 10 minutes to make a pavliva or expect paint to dry in half an hour.

So what's the point?

To make otherwise utterly dull things slightly interesting. With the decorating/makeover programmes you are literally watching paint dry.

And the rooms are always a bit shit because they didn't have enough time for the nice features the designer wanted.... What's the point?

Quick! Quick! Quick!

Um. No. I'll take my time and do it properly.

Yes Euphemia, this always spoiled Time Team. If the things they're finding are so important and interesting, then why have the suspense and peril of time running out?
Everything they find is really interesting, also the reconstructions and plans, but they have to use the time limit and 'characters' because they think we'll lose interest otherwise Grrrr.

The 'false jeopardy' trick! Loathe it. Mitchell and Webb did a sketch about if recently. I also hate the way most of these shows tell you what's going to happen in the programme/ after the ad break and then you have up watch it again. Telly is made for idiots?

I always want them to go back 3 yrs later and see the mdf (is that what it is called?) all fallen down and the one layer of rushed paint peeling

Yes! The stupid constant recapping and explaining. Even bbc4 history documentaries do this; overly dramatic music and 'in this programme we're going to show you..', then ten minutes of footage of the show you're about to watch. The same facts repeated over and over.

yes, i know. a bit like Nick Knowles doing a home makeover - DIY SOs.

Yy.... 10 minute shows stretched into an hour of viewing time give me the rage. No matter how interesting the content is, being told the same fact 20 times in the one doc makes me scream

Yes agree. What was going to happen to the chefs on Ready Steady Cook if they didn't finish on time? Public beheading by Ainsley?

Those Changing Rooms makeovers must be an absolute sight by now.

I remember years ago watching an expose type programme about Changing Rooms and how shite it was - literally doing the reveal whilst making sure no-one brushed against wet paint, and curtains stapled onto MDF as there was no time to put poles/track up.

I agree completely. It is as though the producers don't have enough faith in their program's without adding artificial drama.

I would much prefer Bake Off, MasterChef etc with less drama more cooking IYSWIM

Yes, the Mitchell and Webb sketch mentioned above nailed it brilliantly. It starts from about 6 mins 20 seconds in if anyone hasn't seen it.

Nine times out of ten when you have this sort of deadline set up, things are falsely manipulated to make it look as if the people involved are just meeting the deadline. You never see them finishing with several minutes/hours to spare.

It's similar when they have long-distance races on Top Gear (eg one presenter in a car, racing another presenter using public transport, across Europe). However long the race is, it's usually set up to make the finish look really close, often finishing within seconds of each other.

What really bugs me about turbine makeover type shows is WHERE THE HELL IS ALL THE STUFF! It always looks pristine and show-home like, but not a tv, book, DVD or item of clothing in sight! They must spend the next few weeks "moving in" to their own house, and I bet it looks nothing like that once the stuff is back!

Yes! When did all this recapping & reviewing start? Telly never used to be like this.

Before the ads; Coming up.................

After the ads; The story so far.............

Even with my failing short term memory, I am capable of remembering what happened 3 minutes ago !!

turbine = those. D'oh!

I think 60 minute make over is the worst

Even if there wasn't the false deadlines though - it would still all be done just as quick because there's the very real deadline of the production crew being on site, the programming is possible to make, because they only have to have the crew on site for the limited time, if there's lots of days then it would just be too expensive.

Things like Grand Designs, or Gardeners World are open ended in time, so just watch those for your property or garden porn? Cooking is a time limited thing though, so I think YABU about that one all around, you can't just take as long as you want over the sprouts...

I have been watching the reruns of Show Me The Monet on BBC2. There are so few art shows and what would have been a great show was ruined by the pieces to camera by Chris Hollins who explained the proceedure for each part of the show. So 'the artist needs 2 votes to go into the exhibition'. The artist gets the votes. 'the artist got the 2 votes needed'. This was repeated 5 or 6 times per programme. They must have had viewers with the attention span of a goldfish in mind.

It's very American, all of the 'coming up next...'

The Americans do it because they have more breaks and have had hundreds of channels for ages. They know people flick between channels on every break so are often new to the show halfway through. I agree it's incredibly irritating though and I can't watch any US version of a reality show as I can feel my brain cells dying off.

A friend of mine is a TV producer who has worked on all this sort of stuff and she says people are often really upset at the end result and have to be persuaded to look pleased. They do sometimes do finishing work afterwards but often not.

I don't think a deadline is necessarily inappropriate in a cooking programme - after all, if you work in a restaurant you actually are working to deadlines, albeit that it doesn't come down to precise minutes.

But I remember one of the makeover programmes where they'd put a load of little flowers up on a bathroom wall. Because they were in such a rush, they used the wrong type of glue and they didn't manage to conceal the fact that they were already falling down by the time it got to the reveal.

Mind you, if you are made enough to allow someone to do one of those makeover shows on your property you probably deserve whatever you get.

Sorry, mad, not made.