Just a few thoughts-television shows

Television Shows.  At my host family’s house there was a large screen TV.  It was not a new fashion type HDTV but it was large.  The family had cable service and that provided many channels to select from.  There were some regular programs we saw almost everyday.   At breakfast time, there was usually a breakfast/morning type show  "Desteptaria" (Wake Up) or "Prima Ora" (First Hour)  that featured all sorts of topics, interviews, the weather, a little of the news etc.  I always enjoyed the 15 minute segment called Cafea cu Doina Popa.  Usually the guests were artists or performers of some type.  The interview setting allowed me to usually catch more words than everyday conversations, so it was an encouraging way to start the day.  An unusual production effect I noticed was that during the interview there was a background music playing softly underneath the conversation.

Publicitate….one of the first words I tried to learn when watching TV.  It means “commercial break”.  It must be my American upbringing on TV, but I always enjoyed the commercials.  There was a laundry soap called “Bingo” that had several different versions.  Of course there were toilet paper commercials, disposable diapers, doors and windows, apartment complexes in Chisinau, deluxe restaurants for your next wedding, endless adds for mobile telephones from Orange or Modcel.  There were a few public service announcements.  They tended to be health tips.  “Respect the three principal meals every day”, “Drink at least 2 liters of water every day”,  “Reduce the amount of salt, sugar, and fat that you eat”, and “Get at least a half hour of physical exercise everyday”.   My partner joked that in Moldova that recommendation should be, “Get at least a half hour of physical rest every day.”  I did see a few commercials dealing with second hand smoke and also child abuse.  They were not run as often as the first group.

 

In the winter months, I often would be called to supper about 5:30 and the TV would be on.  The channel we often watched was called Jurnal TV.  The lineup of programs in the evening was a variety show, the weather report, then the news, followed by a political commentary.  The variety show was called “Sari si Piper” or Salt and Pepper.  It was based around a varied approach to food selection (not just the traditional Moldovan favorites) and a demonstration of how to cook these items.  Also there were visiting guests from the entertainment business, little reports on weird stuff from the internet, or clever ideas of how to create personal hobbies.  In general, I enjoyed this show a lot.  One thing I noticed was the technique of the camera man in panning individuals.  He always started on the floor at the foot of the person and worked his way slowly up to the face.  So as a new guest was introduced and walked through a doorway on the set:  you heard the name and your first visual image was the shoes, then the legs, then the hips, and then the head and face.  Was I imagining it, or did he delay slightly on the neckline of the women?

The news hour for us was just a half hour actually.  On several of the stations the half hour of news in Romanian was repeated by different news anchors in Russian for the second half hour.  Same news items, just different language.  World news items were included along with local murders, car accidents, political corruption stories, tragic fires, and political coverage of the Parliament.  One practice of Jurnal TV reporters that bothered me the most was their aggressive insertion of themselves at scenes of accidents or hospital patients.   Can you imagine interviewing a young child in bandages from a house fire in his hospital bed?  When reporters chased down unwilling doctors into their offices and were refused an interview, the reporters cried “restriction of the press!”

Some other interesting shows were in Russian most of the time.  There was a Crime and Punishment type soap opera on every day at 12:30.  I enjoyed watching it, even though I didn’t know what they were saying.  Most of the scenes were in city type settings, probably Moscow.  The cast of characters included two or three attractive women.  I guess TV producers have the elements figured out, don’t they.  

Another type of show was like an Extra-sensory Reality Show.  People communicating with spirits of the dead, and ghosts, and discovering the mysteries of past crimes and the connections of the dead with the living.  The show was like a competition between different mystics to solve some unknown mystery.  Once the performance of each mystic was observed, somehow there was a selection of who had solved the mystery the best.   The techniques of each mystic were always very exotic and entertaining.  Candles, feathers, closing eyes and breathing, crosses and skulls, etc.

Another type of show was like a dating show.  I should say more like a match making dating show.  A man or a woman would be seeking a “match”.  Three different suitors would talk about themselves.  One friend of the match seeker, and three regular panel members would address questions to the him or her suitor.  The regular panel members were three women who reminded me of matchmakers.  Sometimes the suitors had a song to sing, or a gift to give to the match seeker.  As each suitor finished their turn on the hot seat, they retired to a room offstage where supporters and friends of theirs waited with them.  As other suitors were questioned, you could see the reaction of the other suitors to the answers.  Finally at the end of the show, the match seeker went to the room of the suitor they found most attractive and the show ended with them coming out arm and arm.

Another type of show was a big Russian type Wheel of Fortune  game.   There was a huge  horizontal spin wheel of prize amounts in the center of the stage.  The center of the wheel was overflowing with fresh food to eat, mostly fruit and bakery goods.  Three contestants were introduced.  Sometimes they had family members along with them.  If there were children, they were given the chance to get up in the center of the spin wheel and help themselves to food.  The women contestants were always presented with generous bouquets of flowers.   At times, the MC would say something in Russian which was literally saying, bring out the surprises.  Beautiful women in tight, short skirts would come out bearing a gift for each contestant.  These were often appliances, like vacuum sweepers, or micro waves, or juicers.   Each contestant had a chance to guess a letter of the hidden word.  If they guessed correctly, they continued.  If they guessed wrong, it went to the next contestant.  Before each contestant took their turn, they would say in Russian, “bring out the surprises”.   They would have something to give the MC as present from their personal home or from the region they came from in Russia.  These would often be types of food preserves, or bottles of liquor, folk items like rugs, etc.  When the correct letters were guessed, of course  Vanna White came out and turned the letter squares.  I’m not sure how the next part was cued, but sometimes the contestants would also perform a song or dance, or their wife or children would be the performers.  These usually were folk music type dance or song, but occasionally they could be modern hip-hop.  And when a contestant won, there was the fabulous list of prizes:  a trip somewhere exotic, a car, a whole room of furniture, etc. etc.

Another type of show was a music imitation contest.   There was a number of B list type singers who were the contestants on this show.  By chance, they spun a big wheel of celebrities that included Hollywood types, modern singers from USA and Russia, opera, broadway, rocknroll, hip-hop, folk .  Whomever they landed on was who they had to imitate.   It didn’t matter if the contestant was male or female, they had to imitate the star they landed on.  Now the imitation performance was very practiced and embellished by lighting, costumes, additional dancers and musicians.  The make up department made the contestant look as much like the star as possible, just like in the movies.  Coaches helped the contestant practice the key gestures and voice qualities of the star imitated.  A panel of four judges voted on the imitation performance given by the contestants.  Of course there was a live studio audience that reacted appropriately as the contestant performed.  Many times the judges showed their amazement at how good an imitation the contestant gave.  In the end, someone of the contestants walked off with a large money prize.

Movies on TV were often Hollywood.   But there were various possible delivery modes.  The Hollywood stars could be speaking perfect Russian with the addition of Romanian subtitles.   This was the greatest number of films.  However, sometimes the English was not blocked and there were Romanian subtitles added.  These were fun to watch because the English came without effort and you could check your understanding of the Romanian as it went along.  Sometimes the film was an old or maybe classic Russian film.   Usually this was a film about the war years, ok so there were many different war years.  These films were just straight Russian without Romanian subtitles.  Sometimes you could follow the story even though you had no understanding of the dialogue.  Perhaps the most amusing combination to me were the films produced in India.  The films are dubbed in Russian and you begin to believe that the people of India really speak Russian.