Zvorykin and others

The death of the President of Poland, who was flying to Katyn to honor the memory of the Poles killed there 70 years ago, shocked the whole world and our television too. TV, in fact, has become accustomed to the fact that terrible events occur with frightening regularity, and usually maintains an enviable calm. But here they reacted adequately: there were no delays with information, empty words and inappropriate entertainment programs. A rare moment when those who make television were not ashamed.

The great scientist and inventor Vladimir Zvorykin, the founder of television, despised television broadcasting itself more than he loved it, and knew its true value. Leonid Parfenov’s film “Zvorykin-Muromets” thrillingly told about the incredible fate of a Russian genius who miraculously escaped death in Stalin’s camps. Perhaps, for the first time on our TV there was a successful experience in reconstructing past events, an organic fusion of fiction and documentary fragments. The only drawback is the narrator's excessive presence in the frame. There is so much Leonid Parfenov that the thought inevitably creeps in that narcissism is not at all alien to him. Especially when there is an advert for a famous bank, which he trusts so much that he gave him his face. On the other hand, why not? Even if the well-known mobile network is advertised by the dumb Gerasim and his poor dog Mumu. Such a crazy commercial could only have been composed in a fit of incomprehensible euphoria.

How to create a program schedule on Channel Five, when the films “Intergirl” and “Memoirs of a Geisha” were shown one after another on the same evening. Probably to compare the fates of different women engaged in the same business. Or, after an incriminating report about the difficult everyday life of sex workers, put on a weekend porn film, traditional for the REN channel.

“We think in different hemispheres,” said Ksenia Sobchak, the host of another program with her participation that she can no longer count. And she's right. The other hemisphere is thought by those who fill all the channels with it, serious talk shows, dances, and entertainment programs. “I am the main PR genius” is another quote from Sobchak, which this time shone in the new format of “Russia 1” - the “Girls” project. More precisely, the format is old and has long been successful on the neighboring channel. Only there are boys, and here are girls. They clearly demonstrate a lack of intelligence, taste and charm. They gesticulate endlessly, fuss with their faces, say vulgarities and nonsense, try to make people laugh, but nothing comes of it. It’s especially touching that the same line about men stuck in airports making excuses that “they’re having an eruption” was heard in both SpotlightParisHilton and Girls. As one smart person rightly noted back in the century before last, there is only one answer to the question of what is happening in Russia - they are stealing.

Spring is a time for renewal, and in April TV channels tried to dress up some long-standing programs in new clothes and find new presenters. It didn't work out. For example, “Cinema Magic” on “Culture” is now hosted by two people - a writer and a journalist. It would seem, who, if not them, could shine with an interesting, meaningful, paradoxical conversation? But this cannot be done if the presenters read their lines from a teleprompter. You cannot argue based on a pre-written text. And since the living word turned out to be unnecessary, then why were these changes?

But what am I talking about? Even the brilliant Zvorykin did not foresee positive changes in television broadcasting. It's just a box with bright, mostly meaningless pictures. You can give it for Victory Day to an old grandfather who went through the entire war and for 65 years has never been awarded a new apartment. He, not accustomed to care, will definitely be happy. And he will thank his country and its president.

Olga GALITSKAYA