Them big words ain't cool....Dumb it down

I think it's fair to say that as a child, being more concerned with He-Man and Transformers cartoons, I didn't watch many documentary-style television programs. That's not to say I wasn't aware of the genre's existence.

Daddy Ambassador used to watch them - serious adult (not in THAT way) shows like Dispatches, Panorama, Horizon and Today Tonight that dealt with the weighty issues affecting the world.

Although a different topic was covered each week they always appeared in the TV listings under the same title - Dispatches, Panorama, Horizon. Presumably this was to create a brand name synonymous with the consistent integrity and journalistic standards each individual series strived to achieve. Suitably grave subheads differentiated between individual episodes. For example:

• Dispatches: The Case Against War
• Dispatches: The Key to Watergate
• Dispatches: Public Service, Private Profit
• Dispatches: Immigrants - The Inconvenient Truth

All weighty, serious, straight laced issues I'm sure you'll agree.

Last night's TV listings included this little gem of a documentary:

Help, I Smell of Fish

Talk about the dumbing down of the media!

(I'm picturing sea gulls hovering overhead, under the false impression that you have concealed the days catch from a small fishing trawler about your person).