On Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:33:25 +0100, Skipweasel wrote:
or take apart some bit of electrical equipment not designed to
be repaired and repair it.

Such as a TV? Whilst it's plugged in? Extra points for use of tongue.

(Someone made a great point the other day about things that carry "no
user-servicable parts" warnings: once it's broken, you can't use it and
therefore can't be a user, so the warning labels are irrelevant)

Nor do I mean programmes where
the original idea gets swamped by media luvvies who want to make it
"more exciting" like Robot Wars. The rules in that are so skewed that I
threw away the plans I had for a rather nice entry - you're not allowed
to damage the house robots, for example, but they're allowed to trash
you.

Yes, been there myself... the rules were so specific that it prevented
many of the things that would have made it far more interesting as a
science/technology show.

More Ray Mears, less Brer Grills.

My wife flies into fits of rage whenever she sees Bear on TV :-) Sadly
they don't show Ray this side of the Pond - I remember him being very
good. There's some Canadian (I think) guy who's quite reasonable - name
eludes me right now. His ego's a little large, but he does convey useful
info - unlike Bear, who seems to be entirely "hey, look at me!"

More Great Egg Race, less Robot Wars. More real, less "reality".

Sadly there seems to be a belief amongst most programme makers that you
can't be entertained by TV while using your brain at the same time.

cheers

Jules