30 lies per second

Next time you're watching a TV documentary about people doing something dangerous or arduous - climbing up a mountain face, slashing their way through a jungle, or opening an ancient tomb - step out of the TV-induced trance for a moment and ask yourself "Who's filming this?" How did the camera operator get to the top of the mountain before the climbers got there, in order to film them from above, making that last heroic ascent? Then consider that there's not only a camera operator, but also a sound technician with a boom mike, a couple of "go-fers", a producer, and probably a retinue of people cooking their meals and driving them around. If you saw all of that - a wide-angle shot they never show - the drama and danger might seem considerably less compelling. TV, as they say, is "30 lies per second."