Should the swarm of American Television stop?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Jan 2006, 13:30

Every time I turn on the TV recently I'm presented with yet another American TV show.

This thread isn't here to discuss the merits of each show but rather the amount of American TV shows being aired.

Has British TV got so bad that we have to solely rely on American TV to feed our hunger?

Sure I hear CSI, 24 and Lost are very good but there are at least a dozen more asking for my attention. I don't know about you but I can't keep up.

Why are British shows such as Only Fools and Horses, Blackadder and Fawlty Towers (they only made flipping 12 of them) still so popular and recent British shows so bad?

Britain used to be known as one of the world leaders in television (especially comedy). What has gone so badly wrong?

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 29 Jan 2006, 13:46

I've personally never been a fan or British TV and don't really like the shows you mention (British cinema on the other hand is a different story).

I find American shows entertaining, namely because of the larger budget so more effort goes into them. Granted you get your fair share of rubbish as well but that's to be expected.

So no, I don't think the swarm of American TV should stop. If British shows were essentially 'wiped out' then it wouldn't really affect me as I don't watch them anyway.

HTH.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Jan 2006, 14:26

Only Fools and Horses is the BEST comedy TV show EVER IMO, followed by Fawlty Towers. The rest I can live without.

Like many American TV shows (Friends anyone) OFAH didn't know when to finish. If they'd stopped when Del and Rodney had become millionaires (as was the plan) it would've been a perfect end but they went on to make some really luke warm comedy.

Come to think of it the last British comedy that was truly any good was Coupling and that's now dead. Why did they stop after 4 series? There were only 5-9 episodes per series too, huh? Many shows go on to long but this one seemed to end before the petrol had run out.

I mean consistently funny: The Vicar of Dibley was funny but it wasn't consistent.

The thing is Dr. Who proved British TV writers still have it in them so come on give us more! Some of those episodes were incredibly well written (especially Dalek).

Mordib · Post by **Mordib** » 29 Jan 2006, 17:39

the simple answer is that the amount of tv stations has grown exponentially, making the core of 'big channels' much larger. as such the big shows are more spread out and the demand is greater, there is plenty of british tv out there (bbc and bbc4 have loads of great stuff) but no where near enough to fill up the amount of airtime available so more american shows have got in.

In my view, with the exception of reality tv (which was surely our fault anyway?) i think there are a lot of good shows in america, its nice to see so many of them filtering their way to us brits.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 29 Jan 2006, 18:52

I don't watch much TV. Only American show I'm a regular with is E.R. As far as British shows go... I've always enjoyed The Bill. Not a lot else, really.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 30 Jan 2006, 10:34

I dont really watch any of the hour-long series, like 24 or CSI or whatever. Main problem with those shows is that I sometimes forget to watch an episode, or they start showing repeats again while they havent finished the season yet, or they fuck the scheduling around etc. I prefer picking the good shows up on DVD sometime.
I do watch some of the shorter US comedy shows, when they're on and if I like them ... but also only when they are aired daily.

Of the british TV, I mainly like the Jonathan Ross stuff, like They Think it's All Over, his own show, his film-magazine, etc...
There arent many good quality british tv series I'd watch. I used to love Men Behaving Badly, and Father Ted, but it's a long time ago those were on.

Should they make more british series: Only if they can give us the same quality as the american counterparts. If it's a poorly written comedy, then dont fucking bother. Enough of those already.
I'm sure there's talent around in Britain to make quality tv-shows.... but I wonder if they would be given the freedom to make/create what they'd like to make by the tv stations.

Also, I think most TV stations would rather just buy a succesfull american tv show, then take a gamble and invest in a local one...

Personally, I'd wish Dutch TV stations would just buy the shows of Letterman, Leno, Stewart and other quality shows, instead of proucing their own local crap-attempts of a late night talkshow. And Dutch comedy tv is also horrible. Painfully unfunny to watch. Let alone all the reality tv crap that's on lately...

I wish I was a billionaire: I'd start my own TV network, buy all my own favourite TV shows and ofcourse lots of azn movies and some anime (subbed), and just watch it become a huge succes.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 30 Jan 2006, 11:47

Big Brother is a Dutch invention

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 30 Jan 2006, 11:48

It is

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 31 Jan 2006, 13:03

I'm surprised Romero J'adore la TV Américaine Jpg hasn't commented.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 31 Jan 2006, 13:25

bradavon wrote:Big Brother is a Dutch invention

Ehm yeah... what can I say... we're sorry!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 31 Jan 2006, 13:58

bradavon wrote:I'm surprised Romero J'adore la TV Américaine Jpg hasn't commented.

America does make good TV though, problem is it also makes crap TV we don't get to see, remember also US TV is far more competitive than ours (like how stuff keeps getting cancelled).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 31 Jan 2006, 21:57

I never said it didn't I said there is to much of it. Bad or good.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Feb 2006, 09:15

OK fair enough

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 01 Feb 2006, 15:52

bradavon wrote:I'm surprised Romero J'adore la TV Américaine Jpg hasn't commented.

No I adore good TV from any country, hell I even tried Korean and HK TV shows on dvd.

Its just america has the film makers, actors, scripts, plots and budgets to make stunning TV shows which excite and get me going as much as most modern films do. Uk makes crap on the whole, as does america, but just dont watch the crap, I dont. I only watch the top stuff and only buy them on dvd, as watching TV shows on Tv sucks!

I want to watch when I want, not when someone say I should.

But on the whole TV at the moment is so exciting. Last year was probibly a better year for TV shows than Films for me. I was blown away by many American Shows which really were simply staggering, a film is 2 hours of pleasure and a TV show like LOST for instance is 16 hours of pleasure, so TV gives you a lot more for you cash thats for sure.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 Feb 2006, 17:30

Personally I think the swarm of British drama should stop. I can't turn on the TV over here at night without being hit by Brit soap garbage like Coronation St, Eastenders, Bad Girls, Footballers Wives, etc. Or some lame-ass Brit crime drama like Spooks, Helen Mirren-rips-off-CSI part 17, The Bill, Midsomer Murders, some crone in the 1000th adaptation of Agatha Christie whodunnit pulp novel trash etc.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 01 Feb 2006, 18:43

Personally UK TV is bland and very uninteresting. I am sick of seeing the same old crap over and over again with the exact same actors and actresses in the same stuff over and over again. I cannot say I watch any UK shows, as really I try and most are soo bad its a joke. The thing is the UK public have some sort of stupid loyalty to UK TV, its sad.

Older UK shows I find far better, they are showing UK comedy One Foot In The Grave re-runs at the moment on BBC1 and for me that better than everything the BBC has made in the last 5 years.

BBC I hate for one big reason, we pay them to make this crap! I wish I didnt have to pay them a penny.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 Feb 2006, 20:45

hell I even tried Korean and HK TV shows on dvd.

Any good?

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 01 Feb 2006, 22:34

The Korean show Damo Lady Undercover Detective, well lets say I loved it

very unusual TV show compared to what I am used to from any other country. It really sucked me in by the end, shame the dvds were poor

but they were the only ones with English Subs so it was the only way. I would get more Korean shows, but most them dont have subs on the best versions sadly.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 01 Feb 2006, 23:06

Started with "Damo" and didn'r finish it. The box is gathering dust on my DVD player ever since I bought it one year ago. I keep it on my DVD player just to remind me that I have to watch the remaining 6 discs or so.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 01 Feb 2006, 23:47

Damo is slow to start with, but by the end it was gripping stuff

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Feb 2006, 08:56

You speak of Agatha Christie/Poirot adaptations like they're new things Eva.

For the record, the Helen Mirren drama you're thinking of (possibly "Prime Suspect"?) came weeeel before CSI.