There’s another thing. The voice-overs that do the link in between programs. I was watching “The Great British Bake -Off” a few days ago and the announcer said “who knew making the perfect pastry could be so difficult?” I was temporarily stunned into silence. I knew! I can’t even make pastry! Do you know why I can’t make pastry? Because it is difficult. Let alone making the perfect pastry! And let’s ignore the fact that it was pastry – it’s difficult to get anything perfect.
Maybe it is unfair of me to blame the voice-over. They may well be reading a script. Regardless, it is the person responsible for the words I am annoyed at. Is it too much to ask that you do a little research? Even maybe just watch the program you’re announcing. I took five minutes to look at a cookery website before I wrote this, just to make sure that making pastry was as difficult as I remembered it being (last time I made pastry, I was still in school).
But something that annoys me even more than general ignorance on behalf of the voice-over is utter wrongness (not sure if that’s the best word to use, but hey). I can’t think of a specific example, but I know I have heard the announcers give “facts” which have been in complete contrast to the information in the program. This is a made up example, but the link may have been “Ever wondered why tigers love Africa so much?” when the program was saying “there are no tigers in Africa”. Perhaps it’s supposed to be sarcasm.
On the other hand, it is funny when the announcer reads the script for the wrong program (“Can the elephants find water before the dry season?” just before Casualty). And I did once see an advert on G.O.L.D. which was saying “Gavin and Stacey is on at 10 pm”. The video was definitely Gavin & Stacey. But what channel did the advert say it was on? Oh, Good Food. Of course! Just where I expected it to be…
Frantic Ranting 