# Just the Parade **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137 "2019-11-28T18:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hi\_Medlo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hi\_Medlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Medlo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/1 "2019-11-28T18:05:09Z")
Would anyone else rather watch the Thanksgiving Day parade without the stoppages for performances? I mean, just a parade going by with no canned music or lip synced vocals or big dance numbers? ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/2 "2019-11-28T18:19:20Z")
No strong opinion one way or another. Some of the featured acts are mildly interesting. Most barely register with me. I don’t really watch the parade anyway. It’s on in the background while I’m attending to other things. I will say that the only part of the parade that I really do enjoy are the marching bands. When I hear those go by, I focus my attention on the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/3 "2019-11-28T18:42:17Z")
I would like to see _more_ Broadway performances and dances, and less song snippets by autotuned pop “stars” on the floats. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/4 "2019-11-28T18:43:39Z")
Agree 100%. Who cares about the musical acts? The parade isn’t a TV show. I want to see the floats and the balloons. No one along the parade route sees staged musical acts. Because of my uncommon opinion, I haven’t watched the Macy’s parade in decades. But the Rose Parade still gets proper coverage. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/5 "2019-11-28T19:55:44Z")
I don’t get to see what I really want in televised parades: marching bands. Same with football. Halftime belongs to the bands! ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/6 "2019-11-28T21:28:08Z")
You were probably watching the parade on NBC. CBS covers the parade without all the theatrics. That stop does give the bands and other performers a chance for their big moment. And Broadway is probably New York’s biggest tourist draw. I expect there are people out there that are into that. It’s all a lot of holiday schlock. May as well schlock it to the max. I wonder what it takes to get a spot outside Macy’s door to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/7 "2019-11-29T10:32:17Z")
PG&E didn’t restore power here till after the Macy’s parade so we had to be content watching deer stumble through deep snow in our woods. Not that I’d have watched anyway. My last viewing was maybe 1990. Have I missed much? ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/8 "2019-12-03T19:56:26Z")
I’d rather just watch the floats, horses and bands. That is what a parade is supposed to be. When did the Macy’s parade become a musical extravaganza? Was it always like that? And where was Celine singing from? Did she have her own stage inside a building somewhere? Too much of a diva to actually be in the parade? I don’t watch the whole thing. It’s always on in the background as I’m prepping for the day. That’s a tradition. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/9 "2019-12-03T20:07:15Z")
The Macy’s parade has performers “singing” for as long as I can remember, but they “sang” from the floats. Maybe about 20 years ago, they set up the red carpet outside of Macy’s and did production numbers. Since a lot of Broadway shows end up here in Schenectady on tour, it gives a nice taste of what they’ll be like. NBC pays Macy’s to show the production numbers, whereas CBS just shoots the parade going by. I prefer NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/10 "2019-12-05T17:17:55Z")
I’ll pass on parades regardless of the version. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/11 "2019-12-05T17:51:24Z")
I haven’t watched the parades in years, but I always hated when they stopped for performances, especially the lip-sync versions. In fact, that’s pretty much why I quit watching. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/12 "2019-12-05T18:03:20Z")
If I’m watching a parade, I want to see parading. If you want to put a stage on wheels, and drive it down the route, then do whatever performance you want on it. Or a dance is fine, if it involves all of the dancers moving (on net) in the same direction, at whatever the parade’s average speed is. Or just keep walking while you’re singing. But when you stop to perform, it isn’t a parade any more. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/13 "2019-12-05T18:19:05Z")
Never stopping is hard on the cello players. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9LQj0ufQRdY/hqdefault.jpg "WOODY ALLEN TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN CELLO MARCHING BAND SCENE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LQj0ufQRdY) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/14 "2019-12-06T02:45:27Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > I don’t get to see what I really want in televised parades: marching bands. > Same with football. Halftime belongs to the bands! Yep, that’s what I watch the parade for. That and the balloons. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/15 "2019-12-06T04:02:31Z")
I vaguely remember that Macy’s is basically bankrupt except for the value of their brand name and the parade has basically become a giant infomercial for broadway shows and pop artists. It’s not nearly the big deal for me as a former marching band geek, there’s plenty of cool marching band shows on YouTube, just too bad PBS doesn’t cover the drum corps finals any longer. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/16 "2019-12-06T07:35:57Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Yep, that’s what I watch the parade for. That and the balloons. …and BEADS! Throw me some BEADS, Mistah! ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/17 "2019-12-06T08:19:34Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I’ll pass on parades regardless of the version. Same here. I’d rather watch a test pattern than a stupid parade. Unfortunately because of my career choice I end up working a lot of parades. I suppose I should take solace that at least I’m getting paid to be there. I still hate’em! > [@Aquadementia](#): > > Never stopping is hard on the cello players. > [https://youtu.be/9LQj0ufQRdY?t=236](https://youtu.be/9LQj0ufQRdY?t=236) LOL!😛 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/18 "2019-12-06T14:01:28Z")
The only parade that isn’t worthless is the Rose Parade. Every other parade sucks ass in comparison. Those dance numbers and lip synced singing are torture. Bands, floats, and horses are what I want to see. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/19 "2019-12-08T08:31:35Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The only parade that isn’t worthless is the Rose Parade. Every other parade sucks ass in comparison. Those dance numbers and lip synced singing are torture. **Bands, floats, and horses are what I want to see.** Go to non-televised local parades for those quaint features. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-the-parade/844137/20 "2019-12-08T15:52:50Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Quote: > \*Originally Posted by CelticKnot > I don’t get to see what I really want in televised parades: marching bands. > Same with football. Halftime belongs to the bands! > \* > Yep, that’s what I watch the parade for. That and the balloons. I’ll sign the petition. ETA: That quote-within-a-quote didn’t work out quite right