They've ruined it, I tell you!

So "Summer Under The Stars" is in full swing on TCM and today they're highlighting Charlie Chaplin.

Early this morning, they showed three one-hour specials titled Unknown Chaplin back-to-back. I caught a little of episode 3 while I was getting dressed and it seemed pretty cool. This afternoon, I set the ReplayTV to record the first Chaplin movie I ever saw, Limelight - and it's not a silent film.

In the same high school film class where I watched Limelight, I was also priveledged to watch some of Chaplin's silent films, including The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator. Both of which I recall enjoying very much.

As I write this, The Gold Rush is playing on the TV above my computer. When I first turned it on, I started fondly remembering the movie and my days in the high school class with Dr. Tally. Within less than 30 seconds, those fond memories were shattered by the voice of the narrator. That's right, like colorization, Turner broadcasting has again decided to sully a classic by turning a perfectly good silent film - that carries itself very well with nothing more than a music track - by adding narration and dialogue. It sounds like this guy is reading a story from a book - "let's go off and visit the little fellow, she said"

Blech. It upsets my stomach. Why do they have to do that?

It's just as well... the cat just ruined my recording by sitting on the satellite receiver remote and changing the channel to Big Brother 5 until I could get to the living room and change it back.