Paris Summer Olympics opening ceremony was going to provide NBC viewers a little bit of everything that was simultaneously available on every other channel.

We got Lady Gaga in a tribute to a French song of the past. We got a picture of Marie Antoinette with her head chopped off. We had the Mona Lisa (presumably not the original) floating in the Seine.

There were songs. There were dances. There was a religious act that some took to be sacrilegious. There was a fashion show with a runway march on a bridge through the rain.

Freedman

There were also athletes, representing 205 countries, floating on paddle boats along the Seine River, past iconic landmarks of the City of Lights, past the Louvre, under bridges, to a parking place at the Eiffel Tower lit up brighter than a Christmas tree.

Every four years I catch up on my geography, as in, Who knew there were 205 countries on the planet? I learned there is a nation named the Kingdom of Eswatini, but then discovered it was formerly called Swaziland. Eswatini probably had more Internet clicks in an hour after the team’s cruise than in the previous year.

I stuck with the opening ceremony for all four hours, including listening to Kelly Clarkson ooh and ahh. If Clarkson she does any more commentary during the Games, I might move to Eswatini.

This was some of the most bizarre television of all time. The ceremony was clever in that it took the proceedings out of a stadium for the first time ever.

The ceremony was wacko given how the masked and hooded torch bearer leapt from roof to roof seemingly forever. That was compelling because we didn’t know if he (or she) was going to take a fall or eventually deliver the torch.

The entire history of France was examined, Revolution definitely included, scenes from “Les Miserables” included. Don’t ask how the yellow Minions cartoon characters got their own off-the-wall skit in the middle.

The spectacle – and it was that – was part Mardi Gras, part Broadway musical, part Moulin Rouge. It was an assault on the senses and for every cool moment there was a gratuitous one. The ceremony lasted twice as long as it should have, but it takes considerable time to transport 10,500 athletes, plus administrators, down the river unless higher-speed motors were attached to the boats.

Since the French were spending around $10 billion to host the 33rd Summer Games (and first for Paris since 1924), there was a determination to get their money’s worth.

Increasingly, as the Olympics have grown, there has been louder debate by countries on what makes it worthwhile for them to become the world’s host for two weeks every four years. Paris had most key venues in place. The cost will be frightening for anyone that does not have infrastructure already up. In 2028, the Summer Games host is Los Angeles. L.A. has so many teams at so many sports sites it doesn’t need any new buildings.

Shortly before the Paris Games opened, the International Olympic Committee awarded the Winter Games of 2034 to Salt Lake City. Salt Lake was the only city bidding. Nobody else wanted the winter experience. Perhaps because of looming climate change, some cities wonder if it will snow at all, jeopardizing the entire thing.

Salt Lake did an enthusiastic job hosting the Winter Games in 2002. Utah built all kinds of venues within about a 30-mile radius of the city for cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping and the like. Utah was already big into Alpine skiing. Those resorts continue to thrive and those venues new in 2002 continue to be used. Salt Lake organizers basically said, “Hey, if no one else wants the Winter Games, we’ll take them.”

The Olympics have always been portrayed as a coming together of nations, a chance for one nation to show off, as Paris is doing, and as an advertisement for peace on earth. That ideal often falls short.

The Games are used to make violent political statements, such as the terrorists who killed members of the Israeli Olympic team in 1972.

A bomb was set off during the Atlanta Games in 1996, if people remember. Russia is not invited to participate in these Olympics because the country is making unprovoked war on the Ukraine. Earlier on the day of the Paris opening ceremony, there was a coordinated arson attack on the city’s rail system.

Often in recent years, there has been talk of the IOC selecting a permanent home for the Summer Olympics, with suggestions pointing to Athens, Greece, the home of the ancient games, and in 1896, the site of the first modern Summer Games.

Concurrent with the recent choice of Salt Lake City, there was mention maybe there should be a permanent winter home, too. Salt Lake seemed poised to step up and accept that responsibility.

Athens and Salt Lake City, enduring homes to the Olympic Games. That may be our future.