Bad Television, Good Television, and the Difference between Them

Tonight I tried to watch the Emmy Awards, which recognizes excellence in television. I turned the show on and watched it for 20 minutes or so. It was such a snooze! There was no host, but there was a voice telling jokes and making comments as a transition among the various presenters and awards. I decided it was better to watch a rerun of a good detective series than this terrible awards program. However, I was still determined to find out if any of the good or great television shows that I love would win an award. So I decided to continue watching detective shows while checking the winners on Buzzfeed, an internet news source. One of the best results was that the award for best limited series went to Chernobyl, an outstanding miniseries based on the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986.  The performances, writing, and directing made most compelling viewing. Though the Emmy Awards show was bad, I was glad to see a great television show like  Chernobyl win a much-deserved award.

Chernobyl trailer (click here)

Actors Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard   

Vocabulary

Emmy Awards (noun) -- awards for excellence in television

a snooze (noun) -- a boring event/time or person (in  North American slang)

host (noun) --  person who receives or entertains guests 

transition (noun) -- change

detective series (noun) -- a television program about solving crimes

miniseries (noun) -- a television drama or comedy in a few parts or episodes

nuclear disaster (noun) -- a terrible event or tragedy involving atomic energy

Chernobyl, Ukraine -- a city in the country of Ukraine in Eastern Europe

performances -- acting

compelling -- very interesting

Vocabulary Exercise

Crossword Puzzle

Grammar Point:

The passage above uses the past tense of verbs. Some sentences have the irregular past tense of the verb to be  -- was and of  to make -- made, and others have the regular past tense of the verbs with an -ed ending. Write a paragraph of five sentences about your favorite television program or movie.