Design of the Week | Slow TV
Known as Sakte-TV in Norway, Slow Television (Slow TV) is essentially a "marathon" program airing ordinary life events in real time. I became aware of Slow TV after stumbling across an article covering an episode All Aboard! The Country Bus that drew almost a million viewers to BBC Four in England. The episode captured footage from the front of the bus traveling around Yorkshire Dales, and lasted over two hours.
Slow TV began in Norway, where episodes have included 7 hour train rides and old women knitting for 4 hours. I recently saw that Netflix will begin streaming Slow TV episodes. This makes Reality TV as we (Americans) know it, seem like total bullshit. Slow TV is hard-core, unforgiving reality TV.
Perhaps there's a connection to the trend in some recent successful European literature—such as Elena Ferrante and Karl Ove Knausgard's My Struggle series—where writers take the pedestrian, relatable moments from life and wring the drama from them. I'll let you read into it. Or not.
Maybe if I'm adult enough to host a Christmas party this year, Slow TV might have to replace the Yule Log program playing in the background.
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