NBC's 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremonies Coverage was Disgraceful

The article title says it all.

Four hours of promo material for NBC's new show "Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer make Comments on Random Things they See."

My personal favorite was when Matt Lauer commented upon the now deceased Kim-Jong-Il's miraculous first golf game.... as the North Korean team entered the stadium for the first time. Bob Costas at least realized the direspect of the comment and gave the anchor equivalent of a "Shut It" by telling Lauer "Sure you joke, you're not going to vacation there."

The epitome of this sycophantic banter comes during the tribute to Britain's national health care system which features thousands of children and doctors (a undoubtedly calculated jab by Boyle at America's current division on the topic.) Vieira comments, "Quite frankly, none of these kids look very sick to me." Really? Your'e taking the piss out right?

And that pretty much sums up the entire experience from the American version of the show. Delayed by 5 hours to make sure it was primetime programming -  NBC's editing was butchery, so you know the delay wasn't to improve the quality of the broadcast. There were constant cuts away to seemingly random clips (such as Rugby during the national anthems at the start.) And at one especially disgusting juncture viewers were treated to a hideously scripted and uninformative interview with swimmer Michael Phelps - instead of a tribute to the victims of the 7/7 terror attacks in London that played in every home outside the United States. Whoever at NBC made that call deserves to lose their job. Make sure to follow the link below and view what NBC decided you didn't need to see.

http://deadspin.com/5929778/heres-the-opening-ceremony-tribute-to-terrorism-victims-nbc-doesnt-want-you-to-see

And it's a shame because Danny Boyle really did create a very cinematic experience throughout the show, the height of which is pictured above. And as a director you know he had a vision of what the telecast should look like.

But if you blinked during the American showing you likely missed it. You would have seen though that 'Chevy Runs Deep' and Visa sponsors the Olympic games. And you most assuredly would have heard about it as there were constant cuts away to the hosts watching the ceremonies unfold. Instead of the viewer. When a beautiful song is being sung to an entire stadium that stands it rapt attention, it is considered bad form to narrate your experience to the audience Meredith Vieira. This isn't radio. We can see it for ourselves. 

Or we could have on the BBC broadcast of the same event.

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/story/2012-07-27/london-olympics-opening-ceremony-tv-blog/56547198/1