For want of anything better to do at the moment and stringing it out in deepest China , I've started to watch Chinese T.V.
There's a most peculiar programme showing at the moment. Its a sort of never-ending soap opera , set in Berlin , during the last months of the 2nd. World War. It's been going on for at least 3 weeks and for about an hour [or maybe two !] every night. I don't THINK the language is Chinese , Russian or German but there are Chinese sub-titles. [This doesn't preclude some sort of Chinese , as there are many Chinese languages ].
The characters never really seem to do anything , except talk in cafes and cars. There are occasional , "glimpses " of Hitler , Bormann and Himmler. I guess it's about a Russian spy who has infiltrated the S.S. but I could be wrong about that.You see the same outdoor and indoor shots , over and over and over again. You keep expecting a bit of action but it never happens.
I keep yearning for the Russians to arrive and , indeed , they keep showing old newsreels of the Red Army advancing. I would guess the film was made on the cheap in East Germany in the '50's. God knows where they filmed it.
The strange thing is , I've become addicted to it ; I must admit , I've never had the stamina to sit through one complete programme but , much to my shame , I have watched for over an hour sometimes before biting the carpet. God knows how the film ended up on Chinese television . They must have bought it when East Germany was , "red" and no-one 's had the courage of slinging it in the bin.
Anybody else been both fascinated and bored at the same time ? I suppose it's a bit like watching repeats of Des O'Conner

Fascinated yet bored? I know the feeling.

When my children were babies...and keeping me up at night, I got hooked on Mexican "telenovelas", or soap operas.

Most of them were shown on Telemundo, or Televisa. Even with my extremely poor spanish, I found it wasn't that hard to follow the plot. In one, a woman from a wealthy family murdered her husband, then promptly framed her poor, but hardworking, honest maid. At the end of course, the evil, rich woman was exposed as being a murderess, and the poor servant goes free. Sounds silly, but it really draws you in.

They also showed a few "Jerry Springer" type talk shows, probably only fit to be seen at 2 am. Those were really entertaining.

For awhile, I considered taking a spanish class just to be able to better understand these shows!

:) Sierra

Thanks for your reply , Sierra. Nice to know I'm not the only addict to this subject !
I forgot to mention in the , "Chinese " case that the film is in Black and White , which makes dating it a little easier.
It's difficult to tell the nationality of the cast , by their appearance ; most of them look vaguely Russian.
What makes it more frustrating is the way they keep showing the Red Army getting nearer and nearer and you think , "At last some action , some drama , coming up !"-----but then it goes back go two characters having a serious discussion in a cafe for about 20 minutes.
You wouldn't think anyone could remotely make a boring film about such a dramatic moment in History but whoever made this film has managed it.It really is gruesome !
I suppose you get a similar effect with a road accident -----you don't really want to see any gore -----but you are rather mesmerised by the event.
What keeps me watching this is the PROMISE of action , although , paradoxically , deep down , I know there won't be any. !
One last thing:-----in about 3 weeks of watching it , off and on , I don't think I've seen one character really smile. Grimace , sneer , smirk , a faint movement upwards of the lips -------yes , but never a genuine smile. I keep yearning for someone to make a rude noise , all the cast to burst out laughing and then to call it a day !

FarEast, I suggest you temper your TV watching with a reading of Marcel Proust's novel 'A la Recherche du Temps Perdu' (Remembrance of Things Past). As the complete work is 3,000 pages long, I will wager that it will fill in the time quite nicely. Also, it will cause you to see the programme you mention in a completely new light and to regard it (in comparison with Proust's magnum opus) as equivalent to Mad Max 2 in terms of action packed excitement.

I used to waste away entire summer holidays back in the days of school summer holidays watching CMTV. Insane... Yes Foolish... Yes.

Lord Chaverley ,
Thank you for your excellent advice.
I suppose what I could do is to have Proust , on hand , whilst watching the film and if it looked like things were going to happen , I could keep turning to the book , to calm myself down.
As a sort of standby , I could perhaps have a book on Serbo-Croation Grammar , in case of extreme tension or over-excitement.
In the , "Chinese " , German film , I'm sure someone kept inserting newsreel shots of the Red Army , firing away on all sides , just to rub it in how slow and deadly the rest of the film is ! In fact , I suppose it could be one big gigantic joke at everyone's expence .

It sounds like the at dopey program "Map and Lucia", what the hell was that about ? Nothing ever happened, the highlight of each episode was someone having a cup of tea.

Nick, what happened to your previous Avatar? I much preferred it to the current one

I fancied a bit of a change, and I was watching Les Dawson the night before.