Is there anything more boring than Year in Review news?

In My Humble Opinion
1

This doesn’t rise to the level of a pit thread, so I put it here.

Does anyone else hate this week of every year when every news program decides to review the news that happened during the year? I mean, who is the audience here? People that have been in a coma for the last 51 weeks? Anyone else experienced the year, no need to rehash it. They’re not catching anyone up, and there is nothing nostalgic about events that happened so recently. What’s the point?

2

I find them excessive also. Most media outlets beat a story to death anyways and drag it out as long as they can until people are just plain sick of hearing about it. Then come the last week of the year they pull em all out again so you can say “christ, are they still talking about that?”

3

I agree, with the possible exception of “what/who will be the big thing next year” articles.

4

Dave Barry’s year in review articles are must reading.

5

Mostly boring apart from a couple bits:

  1. Anything that I didn’t hear about the first time. I’m an avid news watcher, yet when it comes to things like obituary lists, say, I’m often surprised to discover that <very famous person> died this year.
  2. So you can have a “Wow, a lot went down this year” moment. Though this doesn’t happen every year.
  • 2017 right now is borderline for me; all I remember are one disgrace after another from the white house. But there were things like ISIS getting knocked out and AlphaGo (a big deal for a geek like me). I’ll need to watch an end of year review and then I’ll tell you if a lot went down this year :slight_smile:
6

Yes. The Golf Channel is more boring. If they do a golf Year in Review that has to be the most boring television ever produced.

7

Does he still do those? I haven’t seen one in years but yes those are worth reading.

Similarly, cartoonist Tom Tomorrow normally does a political year in review strip (or two) for his “This Modern World” comic. Although he pretty much threw in the towel this year. As he explained, taking two weekly strips and cramming 30 panels into each one is usually barely enough to cover the entire year. This year he says it wouldn’t have gotten him through January.

8

Yes, it’s in the Washington Post and Miami Herald and others, and still funny.

9

NPR.

10

Here’s this year’s

11

Interviewing a coach or team-sport player after the game.

Absolutely pointless. Either they won (in which case the coach or player praises his team-mates) or they lost, in which case the terms, ‘looking at strategy, reviewing the positions, and moving forward’ are bandied around. Nothing of any actual substance whatsoever.

12

Geez, I WISH the year in review was boring as usual. This year it’s a horror show.

13

I prefer to have my year in review via the UK; here’s this year’s show: The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year 2017. For those who’ve never seen it, it’s a “quiz show” that’s mostly an excuse for a bunch of comedians and other celebs to try and crack each other up. There’s plenty of news that got international coverage that get covered, but there’s also a lot of UK-centric stuff (it’s always fun to learn about other country’s “local” culture stuff like that, IMO).

Anyway, IMO it’s definitely not boring.

14

And also Jesus.

15

Yes I do hate this time of year.
I used to enjoy the countdowns and the recaps when I was still in HS and college. I believe I was never paying attention anyway so it seemed like a good thing. i also used to buy/read Almanacs.
Then after I turned 30 or so - and started to pay attention to what was happening - I got annoyed when I expected new original news/ entertainment and only go recaps.
I think since the time of the internet/social media being even bigger there are even more boring lists.
I still read the best “x” books of the year as there are several I have not heard of.
I guess this is what they say when you become a crotchety old man.

16

I came in here to post this too. It’s definitely something that America ought to do. Your lack of panel shows is a real detriment to your entertainment.

Here in Australia was have a similar comedy news panel show called Have You Been Paying Attention, which had its review-of-the-year a few weeks ago. It’s really the best way to cope.

17

Sounds like these are similar to the hilarious NPR radio show Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. Probably too smart and edumacated for the typical American TV audience. :rolleyes:

18

We don’t do Jesus in Australian sport.

19

Then who picks the winning team?

20

Depends on the news outlet and their slant.

To my surprise, I haven’t seen OJ Simpson’s release from prison on any top 10 lists. I figured it would be on all of them. :dubious: