Why is everything a "show"?

phoenix Wearing national dress in Bavaria is modern and is not a show. It has never been out of fashion but it is Bavarian or Austrian and my husband still wears Bavarian clothes . Jackets etc. I refused to wear a dirndl as I am not Bavarian. We never used to show tourists round our town dressed in the simple clothes that farmers wore in the 18th century.

It all started with all those men jousting in front of castles, and you could see the trainers under their costumes, coupled with a total lack of anykind of horsemanship-

When I watch these programmes about old buidings I can almost always hear the producer giving orders as he sits with his team preparing the show.
Most of the time concentrating on the presenter.

As Sue says, 'show' is what they say for programmes in the US. Everything from there trickles slowly to Britain eventually.Some welcome, more not so much!

It seems we cannot learn anything about history or culture without a sleb getting their feet wet.

I agree about The Stuarts MiceElf, and why do they persist in filming the presenter walking about everywhere? No relevance to the information at all.

A wonderful 'straight to camera' programme was Radical Lives presented by Melvin Bragg. Next one is about Tom Paine. Can't wait. But I bet that will be the last for a year or two. The Stuarts was unwatchable because if the stupid gimmicky tricks and sound effects.

Hear, hear...over and over again, Deedaa!

Digressing here Margaret Mr P and I absolutely adore Munich, and it's fascinating to see how many people there still wear a sort of modernised form of their traditional dress, you see men waiting at the station on their way to work wearing those lovely shirts.

We stay in a little town about an hour from Munich and love to see everyone turning out for church on Sunday morning.

I agree , I hate everything being a show. Some things are serious, and what's wrong with that. Somethings in real life are serious.
I used to love documentary programmes but now they remind me of a talk in kindergarten. (Panarama is an exception to this). Hitsoric scenes are portrayed by films of hoards of Vikings or similar, in sackcloth clothing brandishing weapons, as if we adults can't imagine what a battle is like.
I live in a very old town in Germany and used to show English speaking tourists round, now I would be expected to wear a my hair under a medieval cap, together with a peasants' costume.

Please don't start me on background music and annoying camera angles! Directors seem to do everything they can to distract you from what's being said. How nice it would be to go back to proper programmes where talking heads told us stuff and the camera stayed firmly in it's place.Sometimes the subject is quite interesting enough without all the embellishment!

Its American - they call everything a 'show' and every mediocre bore that's on it is 'starring'. (emoticon for annoying would be nice to use here). Its only a wonder its not ' iconic'!

Surely the correct word on news programmes is REPORT.

I also think the word "story" on the news feels somewhat inappropriate: "item" might be better, especially when the news is about mayhem and slaughter - "story" just feels too trivial.

Here's something else I find odd.
Why is everything on the BBC news a 'story'?

Well said, Phoenix. We also find inappropriate background music, odd camera angles, egotistical presenters, varying sound levels, endless repeats and stupid graphics irritating. Apart from that everything's wonderful!

Phoenix it annoys me as well. To me it makes everything sound trashy.

Glad it's not just me then!

I was saying exactly the same to DH yesterday about Homes Under The Hammer. Maybe they think programme sounds too serious but it's more appropriate I think.

Alan Davies says it on "The Dog Rescuers", that is definitely NOT a "show" IMO.

I agree. I know it's not that important but I find it irritating. To me the word "show" brings to mind light entertainment - dancing, singing, comedy, chatter and the presence of an audience.

I find it annoying when they say "find out what happens .." I know it's clever because it makes you watch the whole of the programme, but it's irritating.

Also the way after every break there is a re-cap of what happened before the break. If people have only just tuned in they should just have to pick it up - but I suppose that results from the channel hopping that a lot of people do now.

I have thought this Phoenix. My DH is obsessed with Homes Under The Hammer . They say 'find out later in the show'. Is it a show? To me it's a programme.