Slow TV - Pass Time In A Mellow Fashion

Does anyone have any more recommends in this vein…

4 Likes

I’m all for this :sweat_smile:

I was a bit late to the party but Ogmios’ Zen School of Motoring is genius - him driving around London refusing to get wound up and forgiving all the lunatics around him.

I also tend to watch a lot of Youtube channels on permaculture and homesteading, mainly as I want to build a rural self sustainable life some time soon but also it’s oddly relaxing watching other people feed the chickens, plant cover crops, dig irrigation channels and secure water supplies. Probably less so when I have to eventually do all that :rofl:

3 Likes

Ah yeah the school of motoring was killer. These are great. What about that guy that built the swimming pool out of clay? What was that one.

Don’t know that one, but this young dude building a log cabin in the Swedish wilds just using old techniques had me hooked for god knows how many hours!

1 Like

These were the original slow TV on the BBC, I still have these recorded on my PVR and go to them once in a while. The definition of mellow.

(Can find glass in a single upload)

1 Like

My current guilty pleasure for slow is Cracking the Cryptic on YouTube. Watching Simon Anthony solve sudoku can ease the end of any day.

In the same way that Keith can cry at a pot, it’s nice to see someone get over emotional at the beauty of a variant sudoku.

Not tv, but I do like the slow radio podcast on BBC at bedtime.

this is right in my lane. in recent years, i’ve become almost phobic about movies or TV that exist to make me “feel” something - i don’t really watch dramas or thrillers (or much of anything really) as i’m strangely sensitive to feeling emotionally manipulated. that goes double for fiction - i’ll allow myself to feel certain ways about people in documentaries because those things actually happened - i get mad about stories about love or tragedy or injustice or anything that’s purely imaginary. cringe comedy is agony. it all feels taxing and unnecessary. yes i’m weird.

so i keep my TV habits relatively simple and low-stakes. i love watching people do almost anything, as long as they do it well. so, I watch a lot of skate videos, NBA basketball, cooking shows, musical performances, home-repair fix-it shows, that sort of thing. most of the comedy TV i watch is old - i’ll absolutely sit and watch a ton of newhart or mary tyler moore - the stuff i grew up on.

i may have always been this way - i used to come home from the clubs, smoke tons of weed and watch the NASA channel back when that was a thing. it was literally just fixed cameras of space shuttle missions - depending on what time you caught it, it could just be a few tiny screws floating in space for an hour, or it could a two guys having coffee and discussing an SOP at mission control.

here in the states, PBS is the slow-TV channel (for the most part) - it’s here you can see things like antiques roadshow or art 21 or america’s test kitchen or craft in america - all favorites. many years ago i got a super gnarly flu and watched dick proenneke’s “alone in the wilderness” like five times in a row. thanks PBS!

3 Likes

“informs that an early version of it was Andy Warhol’s ‘Sleep’ film from 1964 which showed a poet named John Giorno sleeping for 5 hours”

i’m not much of a poetry guy - and this is the opposite of slow anything - but i’m a BIG john giorno fan. i first learned about him in the 80’s and was like THIS is the kind of oddball art i need more of. i’d post some youtubes of his poetry, but it’d absolutely disrupt the entire vibe of this thread.

Think these were the swimming pool guys?

1 Like

I humbly submit the BBC’s “Gardeners’ World”. Never thought I’d be “that person” who watches this programme but, during the Lockdowns, “GW” provided a weekly balm to soothe and unwind. Whether it’s Monty’s quiet, gentle voice, the many shots of his dogs sleeping in the sun or loyally following him around, the plentiful birdsong on the soundtrack, long, lingering shots of beautiful flora, or insights of the gentle souls who work with Nature to create works of beauty, I’m not sure - but, IMHO, it’s a great example of slow-ish TV.

5 Likes

me and my friends call it ambient tv and gardeners world is our go to. i think it’s monty’s voice, very soothing. pottery throwdown is another.

5 Likes

I hope you’re putting it all to practice, one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done is grow things from seed and then eventually take it to the table - whether it was veg, weed or just beautiful plants when I’ve been fortunate enough to have an outdoor space.

3 Likes

Sounds wonderful. I’m growing flowers as part of a gardening club, so putting some of the learnings into practice. Just being in and of nature is brilliant.

3 Likes

Love Monty and Carol Klein… Perfect slow TV.

2 Likes

This fits the bill. All about how a special kind of steel called tamahagane is produced (by hand). Which is essential for Japanese sword making.

1 Like

I use to grow psilocybe cubensis. I still remember that first one I ate on a Tuesday night, with work in the morning. Was a proper buzz.

4 Likes

this dutch guy bought an old building in the italian alps and set to restoring it…there’s a ton of videos and its all pretty relaxing and interesting to watch

1 Like

Here is something I just enjoyed that might fit the bill. Posh boy Fogle might be a bit of a turn off for some but this is not bad at all. He goes on a journey through the Inner and Outer Hebrides, talking to the islanders that enjoy a slower pace of life, and looks into their spiritual connection to the islands. Some genuinely jaw dropping vistas too.

1 Like

love this! In the same vein:

Also, lots of unintentional ASMR on youtube can be included in this thread I think…