We have a special satellite connection which gives us almost solely English and German stations. We have only one Italian station, RAI UNO, but we prefer to watch it so we can improve our Italian. This morning I found a show which resembled Regis and Kathy Lee; light news with some fun demonstration segments and chatty talk. It is somewhat of a joke in Italy that the news personalities are often sexy women. This one was no exception and throughout an interview on the upcoming pasta strike (more on this later) the camera often zeroed in on her while she turned away from the conversation to smile and strike a pose. These interviews were interspersed with practical segments, one in which a woman demonstrated how to decorate drinking straws with fish cut out of Styrofoam and coral cut from a pink plastic laundry bottle. The point seemed to be to identify your straw somehow so you wouldn't accidentally drink from the wrong glass. The weather, at regular intervals, was reported by a weatherman dressed in a full military costume. The show ended with a dance performance where the hostess wore a pucci-esque unitard (sans one arm and one leg).
The television in the middle of the day and early evening is far more subdued. "Murder She Wrote" is huge here. In the Italian series priests and nuns figure heavily. Chris and I have begun to watch "Don Matteo 5" a show where the main character is a priest who seems to assist women with their romantic problems. We're not sure what the five after the name means.
The commercials here are no less humorous. There is one where a woman gives her daughter a chocolate bar in the morning while explaining, "It's hard to make breakfast." The AXE commercials are famous here. The guy usually puts on the cologne and the woman, upon smelling it says male fantasy line like, "Let's watch football all day today!" Last night I saw a Martini and Rossi commercial where a guy gets a drink from the bar but there isn't any ice left. As he looks across the room he sees a bull made out of ice and a woman dressed as a matador, complete with a sword. I can't write what happens next, because this is a PG-13 blog. Suffice it to say, I don't think that would have passed the FCC in America.
The television in the middle of the day and early evening is far more subdued. "Murder She Wrote" is huge here. In the Italian series priests and nuns figure heavily. Chris and I have begun to watch "Don Matteo 5" a show where the main character is a priest who seems to assist women with their romantic problems. We're not sure what the five after the name means.
The commercials here are no less humorous. There is one where a woman gives her daughter a chocolate bar in the morning while explaining, "It's hard to make breakfast." The AXE commercials are famous here. The guy usually puts on the cologne and the woman, upon smelling it says male fantasy line like, "Let's watch football all day today!" Last night I saw a Martini and Rossi commercial where a guy gets a drink from the bar but there isn't any ice left. As he looks across the room he sees a bull made out of ice and a woman dressed as a matador, complete with a sword. I can't write what happens next, because this is a PG-13 blog. Suffice it to say, I don't think that would have passed the FCC in America.
PS. I've added an photograph I took of this morning's dance routine. This time our hostess was wearing a pokka-dotted leotard.
1 comment:
That ad with the bull was the one with George Clooney right?
I agree those ads wouldn't be shown in the U.S.
Post a Comment