To expand on PGage's original point, there are a few uses for editing
Olympic events:

- Simple cutting for time. They'll go to commercials during a time out
at a volleyball match with the score 4-3, and come back with a score
of 8-6. If the missing points aren't especially important, that's
tolerable. If the commentators are going to keep referring back to
what happened then, it's a problem.

- Summarizing an event. In the Winter Olympics, for something like
luge, NBC will often show the runs of the American team(s) and the top
few medal contenders. I can imagine how that could frustrate serious
luge fans or fans of a particular Swiss sled, but in the context of
the whole Olympic show, it's understandable.

- In a sport where several performances go on simultaneously, like
gymnastics, cutting to make it more accessible is OK. (Lopping out
long breaks is all right, too, although it should be possible to show
other events during those breaks.)

- Accentuating the drama. This is apparently what happened in the
gymnastics, and that's way over the line. For me, the gymnastics are
usually unwatchable because so little of the coverage is actual
performances. To make that worse in the name of keeping the drama
alive is unacceptable.

As far as the Eastern vs. Pacific time zone carping, if they want
their program in prime time, it will either be three hours earlier or
21 hours later in the east. The former makes more sense.

-- 
TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People!
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