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In case you're wondering why the Olympic coverage seems oddly unsatisfying, here's 20 minutes of your life you can never get back:

Following Michael Phelps' dramatic gold medal performance in the 200 IM, NBC offered you four minutes of commercials you'd already seen ad nauseum. 

They followed that with the playing of the U.S. National Anthem. Note to NBC: we've heard the national anthem before.

Then four more minutes of commercials, including promos for shows that are comedies, ironically, only because they think they are.

Then several minutes of showing Phelps meandering around the pool waiting for his next event with a clock ticking off the minutes since his last competition. Evidently NBC was oblivious to the fact that it was also cataloging the time since its audience had last seen any action.

Then an interview with Ryan Lochte, who had finished fifth in the event and had, like all the other media-savvy swimmers, nothing to say.

Followed by four minutes of commercials. 

Or at least I assume it was four minutes. I turned off the TV at that point and read a book -- without commercial interruption.