Am I somehow British at heart?

[Bok_Tukalo]

Why is it that there are very few American television shows that I have enjoyed over the years but so many British ones?

Seems the only thing we can do better is sci-fi and even that is only marginally better.

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. Dry humour and subtlety vs. idiotic laugh-tracked stupidity...

and over-the-top cheesiness?

No, you just have taste...

[Historic NY]

2. I am drawn to them too...now watching the series an Island at War on

PBS. Very well done as most British productions are.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/islandatwar/

[Taverner]

3. Simple why BBC is better than American fare

BBC is supported by the state. IN the US, all shows are driven by the profit margin. If a show can't command an advertising audience on the first show, it's dumped or not even considered.

BBC is driven by taxes rather than profits, so it can take risks.

[joeybee12]

4. Bingo!

Proof market-driven is not always the best route.

[Bok_Tukalo]

8. I'm not sure it is that simple.

What makes you think American culture would not demand "Friends" even if it were State sponsored?

[Taxloss]

5. Oddly, we Brits are enjoying a surge of American drama now.

CSI, CSI:NY and Desperate Housewives have all just started here, as has Curb your Enthusiasm.

As a diehard Atlanticist, I maintain that we enjoy each other's cultures because we are uniquely compatible as nations, but Bush has destroyed that relationship. When a Conservative leader of the opposition condemns a Republican president, Atlanticists shudder.

[Bok_Tukalo]

10. Desperate Housewives?

Oh man, I'm really sorry to hear that. It's like learning a McDonald's opened up next to The Louvre.

[Taxloss]

12. We do have a lot of shit TV, you know.

Just as we only get what's considered the best of US TV, you only get our cream.

[Bok_Tukalo]

14. Are "The Royle Family" and "Coupling" and "Red Dwarf" considered

the British cream?

[Taxloss]

17. Oh God, I hated the Royle family.

Coupling was vaguely amusing, and the early series of Red Dwarf are brilliant, but I think what most Brits would say the cream was is The Office, State of Play, The Power of Nightmares, Green Wing, Garth Marenghi's Dark Place and anything by Jon Ronson.

And you should get our news. It is brilliant. We get ABC World New Tonight with Peter Jennings and CNN; you guys NEED BBC News 24 and NewsNight. And Channel Four News.

[Bok_Tukalo]

18. I didn't realize The Royle Family was considered to be crap

What hooked me on Coupling. An entire show that was the setup for one line:

"I've got the key to the gates of paradise but I've got too many legs"

I have rarely laughed as hard watching a show. The only thing that comes close was an American sit-com that used an entire show to set up the line:

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

[Taxloss]

19. The Royle Family was considered to be genius by many.

I, and many like me, found it boring and exploitative.

[hickman1937]

36. WKRP in Cincinati?

when they flung the turkeys out of the helicopter?

[Bouncy Ball]

24. You shall be smited for saying that about "The Royle Family"

I LOVE that show. Wish I could get it on DVD but apparently it's not on DVD. It's very subtle humor at times (I thought). Other times, not so much.

I did have a hard time with the accents. There are honestly whole chunks of dialogue I cannot understand.

I just liked the slice of life-ness it offered. Poor trod-upon Antony and the sister who was lazy as hell and always whining and whinging.

I loved the mom.

[Taxloss]

25. Well, that's just my opinion.

I'd rather watch "Married with Children". I think that would be an equivalent stereotype.

[Bouncy Ball]

27. YIKES! REALLY???

I was watching the British version of Married with Children? Yuck.

Is it bad that I laughed out loud at a lot of moments in The Royle Family? Or cried when the dad would have a rare sweet moment. Like when he sang to baby David? Or right before his daughter (why can't I remember her character name?) got married?

I loved Nana.

You know, now that I think about it, I can see what you're saying. A lot of the humor was crude, AND I was always uncomfortable with how they bashed other characters like Joe and Mary's daughter, who was always trying to lose weight (that actress was in "Shaun of the Dead!").

[Taxloss]

28. Well, TRF is much more subtle and sensitive than MWC.

But I find MWC funny, and not TRF.

However, they are both comedies about blue-collar families.

[Huckebein the Raven]

34. I wish we did get your news

We get BBC World news and NWI broadcasts ITV news but in my case that's about it.

[Huckebein the Raven]

35. Do you watch Spooks which is called MI-5 here in the states ?

[Taxloss]

44. No.

I understand it's good, but I've never caught it.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

38. I loved Garth Marenghi's Dark Place

I'm still waiting for that to come out on DVD.

[Taxloss]

43. Yes, I'm waiting for the DVD too.

It was seriously underrated.

[Demonaut]

29. Love Red Dwarf............though most yanks lost interest waiting for the

midget to appear......dwarves are funny!

[Bok_Tukalo]

30. I think only sci-fi fans can enjoy it because it is more intelligent than

it appears on the surface.

[khashka]

6. They do better scifi too

Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Survivors, Star Cops, Captain Scarlet. And most special of all, the greatest, the most wonderful scifi TV of all time: Sapphire and Steel.

Khash.

[Bok_Tukalo]

9. Dr. Who can't touch Star Trek

And Battlestar Galactica (the new series) is the best sci-fi ever produced on television.

The only thing that comes close is Red Dwarf and that is satire.

[khashka]

11. Production values and cash

Not good writing or acting.

Look at the DW stories "Ghostlight" or "City of Death". Simply brilliant television. Star Trek in any of it's incarnations never came close.

Or how about "Happiness Patrol"? A silly childish looking indictment of the rightwing and antigay crowd. It comes across as innoccuous but is vicious satire.

Khash.

[Bok_Tukalo]

13. I'm unfamiliar with "Ghostlight" and "City of Death"

And I tend toward more adventurous science fiction than say, "The Prisoner." But even "The Twilight Zone" was one of the best at seditious messages hidden in allegory.

[Deja Q]

21. Thanks for the gut-wrenching giggles!

I know you can't be even remotely serious for the remake of "Battlestar Galactica", a show I officially gave up on yesterday - what a joke. It takes the visuals from Firefly, character names from the original, and the characterizations from a tortise speed racing contest (and there's not much that's more bland or boring than a tortise racing contest...)

Unless you prefer monetary production values over plot and character, in which case the US is going to win.

But plot ideas and characters? American sci-fi is blander than beige.

In 5 years, people will look at the new BG and call it stupid, just as a new series - based on an old one - comes out with even more dreary characters and better looking effects. And that's the biggest joke of them all; what mindless boring crap people will watch and call it well made. :eyes:

[Bok_Tukalo]

22. Didn't like the torture scene with the ominously familiar use of simulated

drowning?

Of course those who wish to insulate themselves in (supposed) superior dialog and story lines find it easy to comfort their own arrogant tastes when faced with a genuinely superb package of all elements that make up visual science fiction and quickly abandon the sense of adventure which is the bedrock of the genre.

Oh aren't we just so clever Brit Brit.

[joeybee12]

7. I'm with you--my favorite shows these days are British...although this

country once did comedy well..Lucy is still damn funny.

[HEyHEY]

15. Feel the need to drink tea and occupy india?

[Bok_Tukalo]

16. My rebellion is manifested in my addiction to coffee

<eom>

[Deja Q]

20. In terms of budget? Or writing and characterization? US sci-fi sucks!

Hope you're wearing insulation! I've attempted sitting though many modern American sci-fi: The last three bermantrek spinoff series, the 'new' battlestar galactica, stargate... it's BLAND and sleep-inducing.

And let's not forget some of America's previous attempts at sci-fi:

Buck Rogers

the original Battlestar Galactica (it's better as a miniseries, folks)

Star Wars (which is far more corny, lightweight, and hammy than anyone wants to publicly admit because "it's part of America's culture" and the usual defensive pablum)

While American sci-fi benefits from a bigger budget, Americans can't seem to get characterization down... nevermind the quality of writing that can only truly appeal to toddlers.

You'd NEVER see "Blake's 7" made in the US for political reasons and in 1978, it was VERY adult and gritty (for the first few episodes, but even later ones still were not G material) and ahead of its time. Watch the pilot episode "The Way Back" and tell me otherwise.

The American big attempt to rip off "Doctor Who" was "Bill and Ted"'s two godawful movies. Need I say more on that shite? (FOX and Universal teamed up in 1996 to make a telemovie of Dr Who, but that was pretty much crap too. Glad FOX didn't take it on as they chose to keep Who or keep Sliders. Now look at Sliders' embarrassing 3rd season and be grateful Who was dropped!)

Hell, Americans couldn't even copy Red Dwarf properly; the two attempted pilots are ATROCIOUS.

Now add in Neverwhere, Crime Traveller, Sapphire and Steel (which is like the X-files except it's 20 years easlier, has more interesting characters, and relies on psychological horror instad of infantile blood'n'guts), and so on.

American sci-fi is generally badly done in terms of what counts in the long run. Pure and simple. Effects always become dated. Plot and character don't. (which also explains why the original Star Trek is more watchable than any of its spinoffs, which are eminently better produced thanks to having more money available.)

[Bok_Tukalo]

26. You are confusing written science fiction with visual science fiction

And considering you rely on the popular American entries into the genre (I'm surprized you didn't throw out 'Independence Day') as opposed to a 'Handmaid's Tale' or similar dialog and story line driven sci-fi film shows you are being disingenious in your criticism.

[Bouncy Ball]

23. Well my husband and I must be Brits now, too.

British comedy is about the only thing we watch anymore. Well that and movies.

I find the quality to be far superior. It's not a country thing, either, I'm simply going to watch the better stuff, period.

[LoZoccolo]

31. Do you like Oasis?

That's a British band.

[Bok_Tukalo]

32. Don't really know their stuff

The last British band I liked was Generation X.

[hollywood926]

33. Yes, probably.

I'm the same way. Do you like Arrested Development? Most English people think that's the best show to come out of the States, well...ever. Yet it's struggling to survive here!

And my script, which is up on Kevin Spacey's website, gets great reviews from English people and poor reviews from Americans!

I guess it's just a different mentality. You're an honorary Englishman. Or woman.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

37. I'm growing more Anglophilic with age

I appreciate verbal wit, the ability to make crazy but appropriate allusions, and subtlety, and Brits seem to have more of it, both in the TV and movies we see here and in real life. (Or is it that only the smartest Brits come over here?)

I think BBCAmerica is, by and large, a vast wasteland of DIY shows and old comedies, but its Monday night line-up of mysteries is consistently brilliant. They have interesting characters, and the writers are not afraid to make them occasionally unlikable or to have unhappy endings.

The Office was hysterically funny, but not like an American sitcom, where you can see the gags being set up. (I cringe at the thought of the upcoming American version.) The characters and situations were funny because they were tuned just one notch up from reality and in unexpected ways.

I wish we could get one of the BBC satellite services on cable here, not the current BBCAmerica channel, which seems to be programmed by suburban business majors bent on underestimating the intelligence of the American people. Did you know that they get better BBC programming in Japan than we do here?

[yellowdogintexas]

39. BBC TV that we see over here is better because

1. They mostly export the best stuff
2. BBC seasons are shorter,thus actors/writers are not overtaxed
3. Actors are chosen for their skills not their glamor
4. Nobody does farce better than the Brits
5. Often, a series starts out with a definite ending to the story in
sight. Example: "To The Manor Born" ...pretty much planned to
last long enough for the romantic leads to realize they were in
love, marry them off and that was it.
6. Many of the BBC actors are also active on the stage. More than one
series has skipped a year between series because one or more of the
cast members had a theatre commitment, so production was halted unti
all the cast could be reassembled
7. The incredible British talent for understatement, wit, droll dry
delivery, and literate writing.
8. There is apparantly no fear of appearing to be insanely ridiculous
and yet not stupid at the same time.

9. Somehow British writers manage to develop and keep multitudinous
running gags going for years which do not ever seem to get old.
They are still funny in series that I have seen so many times I have dialogue memorized. Many of the catch phrases in our household
are from British comedy.

[Joe Chi Minh]

40. Our best

British TV sitcoms were made, I believe, more than twenty years ago, though I believe you will have had your own version of them; which is sad, because I think much of the best in them would be lost, whereas I believe your TV comedy shows are second to none.

I don't believe we've ever created sitcoms with such a stream of brilliant one-liners and great humour as Soap, Frasier (I can barely bring myself to mention it now , Just Shoot Me, Spin City, etc.

Of course, all sitcoms still have their shelf-life, some longer than others. But for me, our best would be Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, Only When I Laugh, Yes Minister, Fawlty Towers, Ever Decreasing Circles, Butterflies, Rising Damp, Minder and a serial comedy called Reggie Perrin. An aunt once said I reminded her of him. The Office is too close to life for me.

[yellowdogintexas]

41. I have seen Reginald Perrin, our local PBS station runs it

every several years .
let's see:
Only Fools and Horses
Open All Hours
Are you Being Served
Butterflies
Fawlty Towers
Yes Minister/Prime Minister
have all been shown here, in fact Yes Minister is running currently.
We have also had:

Monty Python
Allo Allo
Goode Neighbors
To the Manor Born
Waiting for God
Last of the Summer Wine
My Hero
Father Ted (technically Irish, but hysterical)
Keeping Up Appearances
May to December
As Time Goes By
Solo
Mulberry
Goodnight Sweetheart
Executive Stress
two others w/Penelope Keith that I can't remember the name of
Dad's Army
REd Dwarf
Chef
Vicar of Dibley
Coupling
Thin Blue Line
Blackadder I II III IV
Mr Bean
there are a few others that I can visualize but can't remember the names of...

British comedy is very popular in the Fort Worth Dallas metroplex, in fact the very first imported Brit Com was Monty Python and it was imported by KERA in Dallas

[Joe Chi Minh]

45. Dad'sArmy..

another one I like a lot. And yes, there were some great sketches in Monty Python.

Your Sergeant Bilko, of course, is an all-time classic, and I believe in real life, as a young lad, he'd danced on the table for Dutch Schultz and his merry band.

But one of the funniest blokes in real life has to be Peter Falk. After WWII, he and his girl-friend worked with the Yugoslavs in the construction of a railway, and when he later applied for a job with the CIA, the interviewer nearly blew a gasket! The funniest film I have ever seen - though only for the first hour - has to be "The In-Laws".

[mr blur]

42. British actors, even the top ones,

don't get paid insane amounts of money, certainly not by the BBC (one of my kids told me that the cast of Friends were each getting half a million per episode near the end - can this be true?!) Maybe this helps them to concentrate on what they're doing rather than on becoming celebrities.
We do have a tradition of celebrating losers, freaks and weirdos (it seems to be part of our British mindset). Makes for much more interesting watching. And, of course, the BBC is not a commercial station so something can be developed over thirty minutes without being fitted around commercial breaks. And there are no sponsors/advertisers to dictate what is permissable and what isn't.