Further to Mark’s recent post about TV-Land (or, more accurately, the comment I made in reply to it), the following is the complete entry from the Sky Digital TV onscreen guide for a programme recently shown on the Arts Channel:

“Boris Akunin is interviewed by the famous French TV journalist Christine Ockrent, producer and anchor of the weekly current affairs programme France Europe Express on France 3 Television.”

Now, call me as old-fashioned as Rob O’Neill, but wouldn’t it be helpful for Sky/the Arts Channel to give their viewers a few hints about the man being interviewed? Or has TV’s cult of personality become so dominant that the identity of the host has entirely eclipsed that of her guests?

And yes, I am ashamed I didn’t know that Boris Akunin, a.k.a. Grigori Chkhartishvili, is a fellow writer. That and $2.95 will get you a cup of coffee or a week’s subscription to the Arts Channel. Whichever you’d prefer.