Norway: The Capital Of Slow TV
The capital of slow TV is Norway. Norway is, in fact, a capital for many good, slow things. Its G.D.P. is high; its higher ed is free. It is known for hunting down and lauding the most peaceful human beings on Earth. The iconic slow-TV program is “Bergensbanen: minutt for minutt,†the real-time recording of a train journey, from Bergen to Oslo, in 2009. That show was nearly seven and a half hours long, and consisted mostly of footage from the train’s exterior as it moved. Andy Warhol would have been proud. Soon after the train show, Norway’s public-service broadcaster, NRK, aired a twelve-hour program about firewood. It featured people chopping logs and then discussing how to stack it. That took four hours; the remaining eight of “National Firewood Night†depicted the logs burning in a fireplace. Stephen Colbert had to respond: “It destroyed the other top Norwegian shows, like ‘So You Think You Can Watch Paint Dry’ and ‘The Amazing Glacier Race.’â€
