Agree with the OP. I like how they are always flogging “The year that changed history!”. Well, no duh, doesn’t every year become historic? It’s not that history was changed, it’s just that every year makes history of it’s own.
Also, Tom Brokaw and his “Greatest Generation” shtick. I love history and WWII history as much as the next guy, and can appreciate the sacrifices people of that time made, but it seems he pops-up this time of year to “remember” those who died the prior year who are related to WWII, always reminding me that my generation is not, nor will ever be, the greatest.
One of the things that was most strongly impressed upon me in 2016 and 2017 is that most people have no appreciable memory. I had two or three people tell me that they post things they had done to Facebook largely as a memory aid, not to be social or anything, and there was a clear two week dip in popularity polls for Trump after every large public appearance by him (e.g., the debates), and then everyone would forget why they were so negative on him for two weeks.
Just try talking to people about anything that happened in the past and I think that you will be surprised to discover that they probably will have forgotten almost everything they read or heard about during 2017.
That sounds like an interesting experiment for myself, if nothing else. Keep a small journal for a few months, and then go back and see how much of it I remember.
I usually skip those “year in review” things, but I did tune into an NPR “the year in science” blurb that I enjoyed. It was, however, mercifully short.
If year in review shows are boring, then awards shows, like the Academy Awards, are doubling boring. Not only does it rehash things of the past year, it rehashes particularly unimportant things that happened.
