Every year at Easter, it’s time to see The Ten Commandments on ABC. It runs 217 minutes (three hours, thirty-seven minutes), but on television the running time is 4.75 with commercials. This allows plenty of time for sinful snacking and subsequent trips to the restroom.
I’m not one to snack, and normally Saturdays are pizza/taco/Chinese take-out nights anyway, so I tend to associate Charlton Heston with fast food. Funny thing, since food in this movie looks very Paleo and everybody is skinny. No matter, since I’ll brew a hot pot of tea to go with it (nothing like antioxidants to go with the trans fats) and probably top off the meal with some sherbet or ice cream, to be consumed while the Hebrew slaves raid the temple granaries.
There is something about epic cinema events on regular television that improve upon the whole viewing experience. First of all, they are better than most of the current season offerings, proving once again that age and experience trumps 21st century innovation. As far as I know, the technique used to part the Red Sea in Commandments is still used on the Universal Studios tour in Hollywood. When I’m 75 or so, if blogs are still relevant, I’ll come back here and let you know what 2014 programs withstood the years. And I’ll bet Commandments will still run on ABC every Easter.
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