You must be almost unique in using a DVR to insert breaks rather than skip them !
Saying that, though, my wife is quite similar, in that she can't concentrate on one thing for too long (she hasn't been to the cinema in years) and she isn't distracted by ad-breaks. Unlike me - I hate them!
I am neither British nor American (I'm Canadian, to be specific), and while I have enjoyed what seems like an extraordinary amount of British TV over my life (an extraordinary amount for a non-Brit, that is), British TV doesn't come close to matching the US for what I would call worthwhile shows in the two areas I care about, drama and comedy. The number of bad American dramas and comedies is irrelevant. The total number of productions is so huge that even the good/great "percentage" amounts to a lot more content than I have time to watch. Honestly, it is a problem that causes me no small amount of aggravation. It is inconceivable that I could have such a problem if I limited myself to exclusively British TV drama and comedy. There are good British shows, but not enough. And really, why would it be any different? The US has five times your population, and their TV industry is a lot more than just five times the size of the UK TV industry. If the sizes were equal, it would be quite interesting to see a comparison, but as it is, sorry, you might as well ask whose military, America's or Britain's, would win in a war against each other.
But does British TV "punch above its weight?" Sure. Canada has half the population of the UK but the Canadian TV industry probably isn't even a twentieth as good as the UK's.
LOL! I should, perhaps, have been a bit more specific and said "to deliberately insert breaks...". Of course, if the phone or doorbell rings, then the ability to pause/rewind the TV is fantastic. But to specifically set out to record something so that you can stop it every 10-15 mins does, IMO, make you "a little unusual"
I am neither British nor American (I'm Canadian, to be specific), and while I have enjoyed what seems like an extraordinary amount of British TV over my life (an extraordinary amount for a non-Brit, that is), British TV doesn't come close to matching the US for what I would call worthwhile shows in the two areas I care about, drama and comedy. The number of bad American dramas and comedies is irrelevant. The total number of productions is so huge that even the good/great "percentage" amounts to a lot more content than I have time to watch. Honestly, it is a problem that causes me no small amount of aggravation. It is inconceivable that I could have such a problem if I limited myself to exclusively British TV drama and comedy. There are good British shows, but not enough. And really, why would it be any different? The US has five times your population, and their TV industry is a lot more than just five times the size of the UK TV industry. If the sizes were equal, it would be quite interesting to see a comparison, but as it is, sorry, you might as well ask whose military, America's or Britain's, would win in a war against each other.
But does British TV "punch above its weight?" Sure. Canada has half the population of the UK but the Canadian TV industry probably isn't even a twentieth as good as the UK's.
What about Japanese TV, I hear it's excellent, but mainly for Japanese people, in the same way that you folks over the pond just don't enjoy our exquisite top quality comedy programming, you don't have the aptitude for it, in the same way I just don't have the aptitude for Friends.
I can't think of any US TV series made in the EU. Movies yes, TV not to my knowledge.
Vancouver is very popular since it is in the same timezone as LA so the writers can stay in LA and work with the production in Vancouver. Vancouver also easily passes for a US city. X Files (early eps), Smallville, Bionic Woman, BSG etc all filmed in BC.
LOL! I should, perhaps, have been a bit more specific and said "to deliberately insert breaks...". Of course, if the phone or doorbell rings, then the ability to pause/rewind the TV is fantastic. But to specifically set out to record something so that you can stop it every 10-15 mins does, IMO, make you "a little unusual"
Breaks and intermissions are useful and appreciated.
Unless I missed it, she doesn't say that she paused TSOM while she watched it? Only that it's a long movie of a length which she wouldn't normally sit through in one sitting?
When TSOM was first shown in cinemas, would it have included an intermission?
American TV is like 90% adverts. It's ridiculous over there!
If it was not for the long adverts American TV would win for me. 70% of modern day shows that I watch are all American. I watch hardly any UK Home grown shows.
You have to eliminate people form voting for or against themselves. Only other nationals views can count. In which case we'd probably win. After al, most Americans think that British TV is kewel.
We think that British Telly is terrible because we're comparing it with how it was 20 years ago, when it was a t least watchable.
American TV is honestly the most unbelievable dirge you can possibility ever be afflicted by. They do have some really good shows, network peak-time standards are high, and competition requires that they are. But, watch the normal stuff. The Today Show, which used to be interesting is now completely devoid of any journalistic content, if they brought the chimp back then the intellectual profile of the show would exponentially amplify. Local news is dire and formulaic. Even BBC America is actually wall-to-wall Top Gear. PBS can be challenging and has some incredible original content, often sourced at minimal benchmark costs.
I find some of the US specialist TV shows, great. For example PBS airs Nova. They have some good documentaries. For science I find these better than the BBC shows. The BBC have good history programmes on.
...The total number of productions is so huge that even the good/great "percentage" amounts to a lot more content than I have time to watch. ..
But does British TV "punch above its weight?" Sure. Canada has half the population of the UK but the Canadian TV industry probably isn't even a twentieth as good as the UK's.
The percentage of good material IS important because of the time and effort it takes to trawl through the rubbish before finding good stuff.
Does all British TV punch above it's weight? What fraction of British TV sold abroad comes from ITV or Five?
Does all British TV punch above it's weight? What fraction of British TV sold abroad comes from ITV or Five?
I don't rate ITV or Five programmes myself, but ITV make quite a lot of money from formats they produce or resell in the US like Hells Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Midsomer Murders, 'Idol and Downton Abbey. It's helped them turn in impressive profit figures for the most recent year, while ad revenue is flat.
The creative industry influence can also go far beyond the actual programmes or formats. Watch the behind the scenes documentaries on US-made films and you'll typically find that behind the camera, a lot of the talent have British accents. In many case this can extend to areas such as the score or CGI effects.
Going one further, the remarkable fact that the 'all-American' title roles in that of the new Spiderman / Superman films have gone to British actors Andrew Garfield and Henry Cavill respectively, must in part be down to a reasonably healthy creative industry background in the UK, considering the casting director would have around 5 times the population from which to choose 'actual' American actors for these roles.
One more insight. Lee Child is currently one the World's leading writers of US-based thrillers (books). All the more impressive with being a British native and he puts down a lot of his unlikely success to his years working as a presentation director at ITV (Granada).
Which was virtually unknown here in June 2011 when I made that comment.
Also, GoT is more a mini series than a series. Ten episodes a season compared to the more usual 22 or 24 of a normal series. From what I can tell it was shot more movie style, moving from location to location rather than the 'production line' method of typical series. This means if there are scenes in episode 1,5,7 and 9 set in one location they would have shot them in one go before moving onto the next location. Typical US series shoot each episode at a time, often completing it only days before it is due to air, and if that means visiting a location again and again for each episode then that's what they do.
Which was virtually unknown here in June 2011 when I made that comment.
Also, GoT is more a mini series than a series. Ten episodes a season compared to the more usual 22 or 24 of a normal series. From what I can tell it was shot more movie style, moving from location to location rather than the 'production line' method of typical series. This means if there are scenes in episode 1,5,7 and 9 set in one location they would have shot them in one go before moving onto the next location. Typical US series shoot each episode at a time, often completing it only days before it is due to air, and if that means visiting a location again and again for each episode then that's what they do.
Yeah, only about ten episodes had been broadcast here at that stage....:)
It's not a miniseries, and there has been a trend with non-network US programmes to run for less than the standard 22 or so that the likes of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox show going back more ten years, with the likes of the Sopranos. Typically these programmes will have higher production costs, one of the reasons there are fewer episodes. Much more focus on quality than quantity.
Not sure which country has the best, but I know for damned sure it isn't this one.
The US produces some great quality stuff (particularly HBO, AMC, etc.) but is also responsible for a wealth of utter garbage.
I can't say Danish TV particularly impressed me when I lived there. Some good music shows. Casper Christensen (sp?) never seemed to be off.
Dutch TV is the worst I've experienced. What little scripted drama there is is ropey and soporific. The less said about their stone-age taste in comedy, the better.
Comments
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But does British TV "punch above its weight?" Sure. Canada has half the population of the UK but the Canadian TV industry probably isn't even a twentieth as good as the UK's.
K
Half the US shows are filmed in Vancouver anyway!
Really? No mention of Eastern EU?
I can't think of any US TV series made in the EU. Movies yes, TV not to my knowledge.
Vancouver is very popular since it is in the same timezone as LA so the writers can stay in LA and work with the production in Vancouver. Vancouver also easily passes for a US city. X Files (early eps), Smallville, Bionic Woman, BSG etc all filmed in BC.
Wikipedia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ua2GBX7wzs
Breaks and intermissions are useful and appreciated.
Unless I missed it, she doesn't say that she paused TSOM while she watched it? Only that it's a long movie of a length which she wouldn't normally sit through in one sitting?
When TSOM was first shown in cinemas, would it have included an intermission?
K
American TV is like 90% adverts. It's ridiculous over there!
If it was not for the long adverts American TV would win for me. 70% of modern day shows that I watch are all American. I watch hardly any UK Home grown shows.
You have to eliminate people form voting for or against themselves. Only other nationals views can count. In which case we'd probably win. After al, most Americans think that British TV is kewel.
We think that British Telly is terrible because we're comparing it with how it was 20 years ago, when it was a t least watchable.
American TV is honestly the most unbelievable dirge you can possibility ever be afflicted by. They do have some really good shows, network peak-time standards are high, and competition requires that they are. But, watch the normal stuff. The Today Show, which used to be interesting is now completely devoid of any journalistic content, if they brought the chimp back then the intellectual profile of the show would exponentially amplify. Local news is dire and formulaic. Even BBC America is actually wall-to-wall Top Gear. PBS can be challenging and has some incredible original content, often sourced at minimal benchmark costs.
- The most popular foreign production (UK,US and worldwide).
- Foreign programmes have subtitles (not dubbed unlike most of Europe).
- Quality domestic production: movies, tv series, quizzes and music.
- Quality DTT network with some of the most popular pay channels available for free.
Australia and NZ come second on my list.
OTOH a lot of US television is diabolical.
Game of Thrones
The percentage of good material IS important because of the time and effort it takes to trawl through the rubbish before finding good stuff.
Does all British TV punch above it's weight? What fraction of British TV sold abroad comes from ITV or Five?
I don't rate ITV or Five programmes myself, but ITV make quite a lot of money from formats they produce or resell in the US like Hells Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Midsomer Murders, 'Idol and Downton Abbey. It's helped them turn in impressive profit figures for the most recent year, while ad revenue is flat.
The creative industry influence can also go far beyond the actual programmes or formats. Watch the behind the scenes documentaries on US-made films and you'll typically find that behind the camera, a lot of the talent have British accents. In many case this can extend to areas such as the score or CGI effects.
Going one further, the remarkable fact that the 'all-American' title roles in that of the new Spiderman / Superman films have gone to British actors Andrew Garfield and Henry Cavill respectively, must in part be down to a reasonably healthy creative industry background in the UK, considering the casting director would have around 5 times the population from which to choose 'actual' American actors for these roles.
One more insight. Lee Child is currently one the World's leading writers of US-based thrillers (books). All the more impressive with being a British native and he puts down a lot of his unlikely success to his years working as a presentation director at ITV (Granada).
Which was virtually unknown here in June 2011 when I made that comment.
Also, GoT is more a mini series than a series. Ten episodes a season compared to the more usual 22 or 24 of a normal series. From what I can tell it was shot more movie style, moving from location to location rather than the 'production line' method of typical series. This means if there are scenes in episode 1,5,7 and 9 set in one location they would have shot them in one go before moving onto the next location. Typical US series shoot each episode at a time, often completing it only days before it is due to air, and if that means visiting a location again and again for each episode then that's what they do.
Why not? You can't win. If he/she started a new thread, posters would have pointed him towards this thread!
Yeah, only about ten episodes had been broadcast here at that stage....:)
It's not a miniseries, and there has been a trend with non-network US programmes to run for less than the standard 22 or so that the likes of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox show going back more ten years, with the likes of the Sopranos. Typically these programmes will have higher production costs, one of the reasons there are fewer episodes. Much more focus on quality than quantity.
The US produces some great quality stuff (particularly HBO, AMC, etc.) but is also responsible for a wealth of utter garbage.
I can't say Danish TV particularly impressed me when I lived there. Some good music shows. Casper Christensen (sp?) never seemed to be off.
Dutch TV is the worst I've experienced. What little scripted drama there is is ropey and soporific. The less said about their stone-age taste in comedy, the better.