TVSquad

i actually tivo'd it, so i could fast-fwd through all of the singing. i just like the marching bands and floats. anyhow, did anyone else notice that after the first commercial break al roker "interviewed" masi oka, ali larter, and tawny cypress from heroes?

although it wasn't really worth watching seeing as how he didn't really ask them any questions. he asked something to ali larter and she said something about liking that they're playing real people w/ real lives, but they can do extraordinairy things (and she said something about her character having an evil secret or something). the worst part was that al roker screwed up: masi oka's name, called tawny cypress simone, messed up the network name, messed up the tagline for the show (he said "save the hero. save the cheerleader." ugh), and messed up it's timeslot. it was a trainwreck, but masi oka still looked adorable!

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It seems it was all a marketing ploy. They showed brief shots of the parade between the commercials for NBC programming. I only lasted about 30 minutes.

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Watching the Macy's parade was a big tradition in our family when I was a kid, and I always try to watch it now. This year, though, I turned it off; with the balloons hanging low because of the weather, the celebrities on the floats hiding behind umbrellas, and the musical numbers pretaped (at least the ones I flipped past) instead of performed for the parade, it just didn't have the same zing. All that was left was the banter, which was just as awful as ever.

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Love parades, hate tv coverage of parades, NBC's annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in particular. With all the dancing numbers from Broadway shows, lipsyncing musical numbers, promos, plugs, interviews and of course commercials in a three hour broadcast you're lucky to see about 20 minutes of the actual parade itself. CBS is usually a bit better in this regard, so watched their coverage instead.

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CBS showed about 5 minutes of the parade total. They had a 3 minute commericals with a 2 minute parade area then another 3 minute commerical and 5 minutes of credits. It was terrible. I went to CBS to see if they would show some more of the Garfield balloon and they were behind by a few things. They skipped right by Garfield (the last float), along with a few floats, and went to Santa skipping the last 5-7 minutes of the parade.

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I grew up in the 50s when everything that happened on TV was still pretty amazing and you realized what a privilege it was for you to be viewing a live presentation of a big traditional event going on in another city. My parents expected us to watch and for years I did just that.

Finally, sometime in my 30s, I believe, while watching some inane commentator tell me yet again about the wonder that was the Macy's Parade, I realized that I didn't have to do this anymore! I was a grownup (well, sort of, anyway) and I wouldn't lose my citizenship or be put in the stocks if I refused to watch. So I haven't tuned in since. Not the Macy's Parade OR the Rose Bowl Parade. Totally liberating.

Still, I think the parades should be broadcast and that small children should be required to watch them, if only so that one day they can have that same liberating epiphany. It's a rite of passage, how you know you're a grownup . . . the day you realize you don't have to watch those damn parades anymore.

I'm all for traditions, as long as I don't have to participate in them. It's kind of like the last ten years of Gunsmoke. I wasn't watching, but I fully expected that the show would be on the air so that if I ever felt like watching, I could. It was a great American tradition. Somewhere, on some channel, it ought to BE.

So thank goodness for Matt, Meredith, and Al and all the other people who bring us the parades. And thank goodness I don't have to watch.

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TV coverage of the big parades is totally unwatchable. One of the fundamental ideas behind a parade is that it moves. When every minute televised is staged in a fixed location it really defeats the parade concept. I don't mind the occasional shilling for the network show, but they took it to new level yesterday. We only lasted 15 minutes before turning it off.

The Rose bowl parade I can still stomach. At least they aren't trotting out broadway numbers every 5 minutes.

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The Rose Bowl Parade also doesn't have any commericals if you watch it on HGTV.

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I used to record the parade when my kids were in school to see the HS marching bands. But now it's just on in the background and I catch tidbits while I prepare the holiday meal. I love the floats...can't see 'em anywhere else!!! And the musical renditions of broadway and pop singers too!

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#5Suzie and #6 Terri, I agree with you, that years ago as a child I knew that the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade meant the count down to Christmas and the t.v. coverage was much better then....actually how could I remember that. Anyway, the parade, the blah, blah, blah, banter is awful. Daytime television is watchable only to people in nursing homes, or if you are working out at the gymn and passing time on the treadmill. The networks know this and that is why it is not entertainment for t.v. watchers, just advertising income that they care about.

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I didn't watch as much this year as I normally do. That's probably because I was travelling on Thanksgiving morning for the first time. It just didn't seem the same without Katie

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Did anyone see the bit from "The Drowsy Chaperone?" It was completely bizaree. Or did I just dream that?

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I watched the last 20 minutes of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in Decatur, Ga. (Atlanta area) on Thanksgiving. I spent a few days in Atlanta with family for Thanksgiving. Meredith Viera was very good for her first time hosting as well as Al Roker. Matt Lauer didn't really say as much in the broadcast. The floats were fabulous and I loved the bands playing in it! Even the ones that came from long distances such as Arkansas to perform . The music performances were good, even if they're performing on a moving float. It's tough to show a parade live on TV, because you have to see over 100 floats. But they do their best with the hundreds of cameras showing it in New York. NBC did show the Garfield float--don't know why the other networks didn't. And I saw Santa Claus and his float. It's gotten a little commercially slick with the Macy's logo and ads, but the integrity of the parade still stands out to me. Lastly, 34st St looked beautiful with the Christmas decorations all over the trees, street lights and the Macy's entrance.

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