What with the constant ad breaks and then the "recap" just so you don't miss anything from earlier. Watched a crap one the other day on the worlds most dangerous airports. Would have been maddening to watch it in real time with the constant recap. Must have only been 25 minutes of proper content.
Sadly that is the standard to which many "documentaries" have fallen. I took up the issue of editing with a TV producer, of another series who told me that the TV station (in his case ITV) determined the look and editing of the series. He was only responsible for the actual production, i.e. filming and providing the wherewithall for the programm to go ahead.
So it is the station that commissions the series which hold all the cards, the rest are just customers. It is perhap indicative of the fact that these were primarily aimed at an American TV audience who appear to be less discerning than certain other nations
. So as P T Barnum said ""No one ever made a fortune by over estimating the intelligence of the public". The lowest common denomiator wins.
So it seems we are to blame for accepting it without protest.