Television in Paris… Je Dois en Savoir Plus
La Vie: I enjoy media - all forms. When it comes to the ever-loving “idiot box,” I enjoy television shows, news broadcasts, and cable television originals. Watching television in Paris is quite interesting. I have to learn more… (Je dois en savoir plus).
Parisians are taxed for having a television (you pay the tax once a year regardless of the number of TVs in the home) and some of the tax revenue go towards French programming. This seems rather fair… everyone should be able to see shows they like.
There are many U.K. and U.S. programming that contain “French-dubbing” and/or French subtitles. I respect that the dubbing matches the scene and mouth movements; it’s not like the Kung-Fu movies from the 80’s where the voiceover didn’t match the characters!
French programming is scripted and edited a bit differently. There appears to be more explanation of what is happening in the scenes, unlike in the U.S. editing where they “elude” to a lot of information (example: making coffee and suddenly a character is drinking coffee. One can assume the coffee poured, etc.).
There are three distinct differences I have observed in French television and American television programming:
American shows aim to pull the viewer into the characters, as if they actually exist in real-life. French shows seek to provide a “glimpse” into the character’s world.
French shows aimed at pulling you into the series, do so by involving other media (computer, website, etc.) In watching re-runs of the series Détectives, I was impressed with the participant involvement element. American shows aimed with the same premise seem to drag viewers through too much social media and advertiser relevance, which can be annoying.
Image from: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/detectives/
French cable has A LOT of programming for a decent price. I paid over $100 for basic cable packages in the U.S. and in Paris, I pay about 70 euros for cable, a landline, Internet, and a mobile phone!
There are a lot of American programs shown in Europe; but sometimes the seasons may be out-of-synch (U.S. is on season 4, France is on season 2). I should also note that simply changing my setting on my TV to version originale (the native language for the program), allows me to watch shows like Friends, Big Bang Theory, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, etc. in English.
Image from: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/detectives/
The best thing about French programming - using English closed caption setting so I can continue building my French language skills! To enjoy more French flair… follow me on Instagram!
À bientôt!