504 replies to this topic

[Add It Up]

I always laugh at the cruel irony of music videos being closed captioned. It sort of seems like the televisions stations are rubbing it into the deaf community's face saying "This is what you should be hearing."

[RedHotDoc]

Not those who believe everything they read, if the mistakes in my C.C. are representative of all the captioned show out there.

[mrsdalgleish]

It's better than nothing. My dad can't make out most of what's on tv these days, especially since everyone talks so fast.* CC gives him a fighting chance to figure out what's going on.

*and hell, most shows are "lit" so darkly that you couldn't read lips if you wanted to.

[ladyDonna]

Closed captioning is great whether you have hearing problems or not. It even enhances kids' literacy skills.
What?! It's true! I read it somewhere!!

Edited by ladyDonna, Jun 24, 2005 @ 8:34 PM.

[Kim]

I keep the closed captioning on most of the time, recapping or not. It started as a habit of my husband's, because his sister is Deaf, and he grew up watching captioned TV. Now I have a hard time watching TV without captions.

But it is also useful for recapping, especially with mumbly actors. They also sometimes change the script at the last minute, so there's not time to change the captions, and I find that interesting. Because I'm a huge nerd.

Edited by Kim, Jun 24, 2005 @ 1:20 AM.

[choochi]

As someone who is hard of hearing, I'd be lost without captioning. It's better in terms of timing and accuracy on a recorded show but usually delayed and nearly unintelligible when it is real time, like on the news or a sports show. If you really want to understand how inane most sportscasters are, hit the mute button and read their commentary instead of listening to it.

[MisterZ]

I love having the CC on, except for live events like news & sports. (And pro wrestling, which is neither.) EWD, however, hates it, so I only get to have it on occasionally.

[GraydonCarter]

I would think all of the recappers use CC. That way they avoid having to say "That part's a little fuzzy. And I'm not even drunk."

Now I have a hard time watching TV without captions.

It drives my kids crazy, but it is my preferred mode for watching a movie. It eliminates the need for "what did he just say - rewind it please." I sometimes watch TV (with the CC on) and listen to music from my stereo at the same time.

[Hercules Q. Einstein]

"That part's a little fuzzy. And I'm not even drunk."

I'm sure Keckler has never had that problem with Enterprise. The "not even drunk" part, I mean.

[ferretrick]

I would think all of the recappers use CC. That way they avoid having to say "That part's a little fuzzy. And I'm not even drunk."

It's not like we'd believe them when they say that anyway.

[sjpard]

It's also helpful for the night-owls (aka: me ) who want to watch TV without waking the whole household up. Also, if I'm listening to music. And closed captioning on music videos is actually helpful because i can't understand half of what they're saying most times. and because I am a control freak who must know all the words or none of them.

[nelamm]

Closed captions are very handy indeed, and best on videos, where they've been reviewed. When watching TV, though, I tend to listen more than watch, so CC wouldn't really help. Maybe I need a voiceover: "Luka is now brooding."

[JenD]

I used CC, well subtitles (that's kinda the same thing, right?), in south america and it really helped me with my spanish. The audio was in english and the subtitles in spanish.

[Miss Alli]

I never turn the captions on, ever. It ruins both comic and dramatic timing for me.

[Cleo256]

I never turn the captions on, ever. It ruins both comic and dramatic timing for me.

Same here. It makes me more aware that the actors are reading a script when I can see the script printed on the screen. It completely kills my ability to lose myself in the fantasy.

[dagny]

It's also helpful for the night-owls (aka: me ) who want to watch TV without waking the whole household up.

Its also great when your Mom calls you and talks to you for 40 minutes during your show. Because God knows that flipping through channels is more important than paying attention to the person who gave birth to you.

It does drive most of my family batty though, but too many actors mumble.

[cal331]

I have noticed that sometimes, the caption pops on the screen before a given line is said. That can be a bit of a spoiler. But I do like it for deciphering mumbly actors.

[Maleficient]

To me, there's nothing bad about the closed captioning because they obscure the popup banners at the bottom of the screen, most of the time, and they give my eye something to focus on while I watch TV. I'm flighty, so if I don't have something to read, I get distracted by shiny things and forget to follow the narrative that's on screen.

[BanjoSteve]

The beautiful thing about closed captioning with TiVo is that you can watch it without caption but if there's a particularly mumbly scene, then you just turn the captions on and rewind. I do the same thing with the English subtitles on DVDs. Some DVDs don't have them though (Joan of Arcadia, I'm looking in your direction. If God was one of us, he'd have a bit more concern for the hearing impaired.)

[Cress]

I use CC a lot. The only thing bad/annoying about it is when I'm watching the news, and they put on some talking head that I don't know. They'll show the person's name and title on the screen, but it's always obscured by the CC. So I have to quickly turn the CC off for a second so I can see the person's name before they take it off the screen. Otherwise, it's great.

[tonkacat]

If you really want a treat, watch Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare with the CC on.

[Eegah]

I mostly just turn them on on the off chance there'll be some humorous description of a noise, like Joan of Arcadia's infamous "struggle grunts." I've heard something about a show where a dog barks and the captions actually say "woof woof woof," which I find hysterical.

[jadeddaisy]

I'm flighty, so if I don't have something to read, I get distracted by shiny things and forget to follow the narrative that's on screen.

Yep, that's why I love the captions as well. I process information strictly by sight, and I can never pay any attention to what I'm listening to. Captions help me focus and pay attention. Sadly, I've lived for the past year with an old television incapable of displaying captioning. As a result, I miss out on all the nuances of my favourite shows that I have to pick up from TWoP. (Not that I mind visiting!)

[Fox]

There's a scene in a zombie-infested subway tunnel (don't ask) from the Alias season 4 finale that has, I have heard, the most amusing captions ever, because Every. Single. Background. Noise. is captioned. I have the tape, so I could see it myself, but I'm afraid it somehow won't live up to the description.

[idledandy]

I always have to have the CC on during Jeopardy so I don't miss hearing the answers, but mostly I use it to watch Saved By the Bell while I blowdry my hair.

[timeonmyhands]

I use CC all the time. Mostly because I have the world's crappiest tv but also because it's funny sometimes.

If you really want a treat, watch Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare with the CC on.

The funniest thing I ever saw on CC was during this show. When it was supposed to say "blows raspberry" is said "blows dewberry". Dewberry was the name of a contestant on the show.

[totalTVaddict]

I love closed captioning. Otherwise my choices are turn the volume up and get blasted by sound effects/music, or miss dialogue. I hate when background music is so loud it drowns out actors speaking sotto voce.

I'll turn it off for sitcoms, because it will ruin the punchline of jokes, and at the beginning of TAR, because it blocks out the starting times (which is the only "time" you really see how close/far apart the teams are.) But for dramas, the news, Jeopardy! it's great. I love to read, so it's two great tastes together for me.

As others have pointed out, captioning descriptions of sound effects are hilarious. Plus you sometimes get an altered script, where the edit room has changed or added/deleted audio dialogue, but never altered the captioning. It's two for one scenes!

[Mmm... Free Goo]

Once during the last season of American Idol, they screwed up the closed captioning for the phone numbers. For some reason, even though the voting numbers are already on an on-screen graphic, they still caption them whenever Ryan Seacrest says them. Well, one week they accidentally put the same contestant's number (ending with 01) for the captioning of all the subsequent contestants as well. Since when do deaf and hearing impaired people vote on American Idol? Although that *does* explain why Carrie Underwood won this show and Clay Aiken didn't. ;)

The captions on AI are also funny when they try to decipher song lyrics, and sometimes they fail. The delay bugs, though, but it can't be helped since it's live. Although sometimes the other extreme bugs too. For example, Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare spoils the eliminations for you, so now I look away when he's about to say it.

I basically like captions for previously taped stuff but not for live events, but my old remote that came with the TV broke when I had them set on and I don't know how to turn them off with the new universal one.

[aquarian1]

I don't like the cc, although I do agree that the descriptions of noises are funny. But for me it distracts from what's going on. When the captioning is on, it covers up much of the picture, plus I tend to concentrate too much on reading and miss what is actually being done. Without the captioning, I can watch and hear at the same time and get the "full picture", so to speak. Also, not being in sync with what's being said just annoys me. It's a pet peeve and I can't get over it. Whether it's the delay for live shows, and the spoilering for recorded shows.

Although, I do hate when the "background" noise drowns out the talking, especially when it's of the main characters. It's fine to drown out the extras, but not the major dialogue that's going on. I don't find that happens too much with TV shows, but am finding it in more and more movies. I might just try using the cc again the next time that happens in a movie I'm watching.