- Title: The Art Show: How To Watch Television
- Date: 19th December 2003
- Summary: Once in a while a genuinely useful and informative programme comes along which allows the viewer to take away some useful nuggets of knowledge. Charlie Brooker's How to Watch Television is such a programme. Unsurprisingly from the title of the programme, the film attempts in one half hour, to teach the viewer how to watch television. In the course of the film, it offers a wide variety of informed information about what a television is, what's on it and how to view it. Using the supremely helpful format of the public information film How to Watch Television mixes live action, animation and a host of useful captions to guide the viewer through the highly complex system of actions needed to watch the box; "If you're about to watch television, the first thing to ask is 'do I have a television?'. If the answer is 'no' you'll have to go and buy one." Covering technical information about such things as "aspect ratios" ("Widescreen televisions have many advantages. For example this scene in which a man carries a ladder horizonatally toward the viewer loses 40% of its impact viewed on a regular screen. But widescreen isn't all fun with ladders") as well as offering invaluable information on programme content: "For instance a title such as The World's Bloodiest Police Shootouts tells you the broadcast is likely to contain horror, violence and grainy CCTV footage of leaking felons - whilst When Checkout Girls Bend Over is a hard-hitting investigation into female sexuality". Even delving into subtle nuances such as: "a general rule of thumb, the more self-explanatory the title is, the lower the quality of the broadcast itself. A programme entitled America's Gooiest Clips in Which a Kitten Pokes Its Head Out of a Wellington Boot should be avoided by anyone except the most gurgling simpleton" prove that this programme is a must for all those wishing to master the rudiments of watching the box. The section on additional words in programme titles will prove especially useful in saving time for all would-be viewers. Explaining what the word "uncut" means in a programme title: "if the 8 o'clock showing of A Touch of Frost shows David Jason arresting a man for murder, the midnight showing of A Touch of Frost Uncut will show him arresting a man for murder with his bum out". Charlie Brooker is the creator of TV Go Home , the hugely successful comedy website which attracted around 400,000 hits per month and spawned a book and television series of the same name. He also writes the deeply cynical Screen Burn, a weekly TV column for The Guardian Guide . Last year, the readers of Esquire ranked him number 13 on their annual list of "Britain's 50 Sharpest Men". He is currently working on something featuring "people and furniture" with Chris Morris.
- Description:Charlie Brooker will tell us how to watch tv properly.
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:Zeppotron Ltd.
- Programme Episode:Episode 1
- Transmission Date:19/12/2003
- Rights:UK and Eire
- Decade: 2000s